The Stora Hammars image stones are four

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

image stone A picture stone, image stone or figure stone is an ornate slab of stone, usually limestone, which was raised in Germanic Iron Age or Viking Age Scandinavia, and in the greatest number on Gotland.The article ''Bildstenar'' in ''Nationalencykloped ...

s located in Stora Hammars,

Lärbro Lärbro () is a locality on the Swedish island of Gotland, with 963 inhabitants in 2014. Lärbro is also the name of the larger populated area, ''socken'' (not to be confused with parish). It comprises the same area as the administrative Lärbro ...

parish,

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

dating from around the 7th century CE.

Description

The four Stora Hammars image stones are

phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely ...

shaped. Similar combinations of death with this erotic symbology occur on other Gotland rune and image stones. The images on the Stora Hammars II and IV stones are very worn and not currently decipherable.

Stora Hammars I

Depicted on the Stora Hammars I stone are six panels with mythological, religious and martial background, including panels depicting a woman between two men, a sacrifice scene with a

Valknut The valknut is a symbol consisting of three interlocked triangles. It appears on a variety of objects from the archaeological record of the ancient Germanic peoples. The term ''valknut'' is a modern development; it is not known what term or term ...

over an altar, a woman standing between a

longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nors ...

manned with armed warriors and another group of armed men, and a battle scene. It is interpreted as illustrating the legend of Hildr and its never-ending battle. The stone includes an image of a warrior about to be hanged from a tree, possibly as a

blood eagle The blood eagle was a method of ritually executing a chosen member as detailed in late skaldic poetry. According to the two instances mentioned in the Sagas, the victims (in both cases members of royal families) were placed in a prone position, t ...

sacrifice, with a nearby

nearby (considered to be

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

's cult symbol) giving validity to reports regarding

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

Norse paganism Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peop ...

. Near the altar is a shaped stone, which one scholar has been suggested may be a cult stone similar to the Elgesem runestone.

Stora Hammars III

The Stora Hammars III image stone has four panels, the lower of which shows a ship with warriors. One of the panels has been interpreted as depicting

in the form of an eagle taking the

mead of poetry In Norse mythology, the Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry, also known as Mead of Suttungr, is a mythical beverage that whoever "drinks becomes a skald or scholar" able to recite any information and solve any question. This myth was reported by Snorri ...

, a legend described in section 6 of the ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, in ...

''.

Gunnlöð Gunnlǫð (Old Norse: ; also Gunnlöd) is a jötunn in Norse mythology. She is the daughter of Suttungr, for whom she guards the mead of poetry. Saturn's moon Gunnlod is named after her. Name The Old Norse name has been translated as 'war ...

and Suttungr are shown to the right of the eagle. Another panel depicts a rider on a horse being greeted by a woman who has been interpreted as being a

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...

. The woman appears to be wearing a long serk or underdress, which may be pleated, and a short overdress.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Photograph of Stora Hammars I
- Swedish National Heritage Board
Photograph of Stora Hammars II
- Swedish National Heritage Board

- Swedish National Heritage Board

- Swedish National Heritage Board

- Swedish National Heritage Board Rune- and picture stones on Gotland

Description

Stora Hammars I

Stora Hammars III

See also

References

External links