![Urnesportalen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Urnesportalen.jpg)
:''The term "runestone style" in the singular may refer to the
Urnes style
Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centurie ...
.''
The style or design of
runestones
A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...
varied during the
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 ...
. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increasingly complex and made by travelling
runemaster
A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones.
Description
More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th-century eastern Svealand.The article ''Runristare'' in ''Nationalencyklo ...
s such as
Öpir
Öpir or ''Öper'' (Old Norse: ''Øpiʀ''/''Œpir'', meaning "shouter") was a runemaster who flourished during the late 11th century and early 12th century in Uppland, Sweden.The article ''Öpir'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1996). He was the mo ...
and
Visäte
Visäte (Old Norse: ''Víseti'', ''Véseti'') was a runemaster who was active during the last half of the eleventh century in southern Uppland, Sweden.
Work
Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probabl ...
.
A categorization of the styles was developed by Anne-Sophie Gräslund in the 1990s. Her systematization is considered to have been a break-through and is today a standard. The styles are RAK, Fp, Pr1, Pr2, Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5, and they cover the period 980-1130, which was the period during which most
runestone
A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...
s were made.
The styles Pr1 and Pr2 correspond to the
Ringerike style
Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centuries ...
, whereas Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5 belong to what is more widely known as the
Urnes style
Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centurie ...
.
[Sawyer 2000:32]
Below follows a brief presentation of the various styles by showing sample runestones according to
Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...
's annotation.
RAK
RAK is the oldest style and covers the period 980-1015 AD, but the Rundata project also includes the older runestones in this group, as well as younger ones. This style has no dragon heads and the ends of the runic bands are straight.
Image:Rökstenen2.JPG, Rök runestone
The Rök runestone ( sv, Rökstenen; Ög 136) is one of the most famous runestones, featuring the longest known runic inscription in stone. It can now be seen beside the church in Rök, Ödeshög Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. It is co ...
Image:U 336, Orkesta.JPG, U 336
Image:Öl1, karlevi.JPG, Karlevi Runestone
The Karlevi Runestone, designated as Öl 1 by Rundata, is commonly dated to the late 10th century and located near the Kalmarsund straight in Karlevi on the island of Öland, Sweden. It is one of the most notable and prominent runestones and const ...
Image:Ög165 Runsten vid Vårfrukyrkan, Skänninge.jpg, Ög 165
Fp
This style is from the period c. 1010/1015 to c. 1040/1050, when Pr3 appeared. It is characterized by runic bands that end with animal heads seen from above.
Image:U 778, Svinnegarn.jpg, U 778
Image:SÖ179 Gripsholm Runestone.jpg, Gripsholm Runestone
Image:Rune stone exhibited in the Terminal 2 of the Arlanda Airport (Stockhoml, Sweden).jpg, U FV 1992;157
Image:So194 Brosicke 06.gif, Sö 194
Pr (profile styles)
In the styles called Pr1, Pr2, Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5, the runic bands end with animal heads seen in profile.
Pr1 (Ringerike style)
This style is contemporary with FP dated to c. 1010- c. 1050 when it was succeeded by Pr3.
Image:U 324, Tjusta.JPG, U 324
Image:U 335, Orkesta.jpg, U 335
Image:U 201, Angarn.JPG, U 201
Image:U 161, Risbyle.JPG, U 161
Pr2 (Ringerike style)
This style is only somewhat younger than the previous style and it is dated to c. 1020- c. 1050, and it was also succeeded by Pr3.
Image:Sö279 strängnäs dom.jpg, Sö 279
Image:U 212 (side A), Vallentuna.JPG, U 212
Image:U 137, Broby bro.jpg, U 137
Image:U 165, Vallentuna.jpg, U 165
Pr3 (Urnes style)
This style succeeded FP, Pr1 and Pr2 and is dated to c. 1050- c. 1080.
Image:U 194, Väsby.JPG, U 194
Image:U 240, Lingsberg.JPG, U 240
Image:U 256, Fresta.jpg, U 256
Image:U 148, Hagby.JPG, U 148
Pr4 (Urnes style)
This style appeared somewhat later c. 1060/1070 and lasted until c. 1100.
Image:Runestone Uppland 1975 II.jpg, U Fv1976;107
Image:U 647, Övergran.JPG, U 647
Image:U 152, Hagby.JPG, U 152
Image:Upplands Runinskrift 871.jpg, U 871
Pr5 (Urnes style)
This style was the last one before runestones stopped being raised. It appeared c. 1080/1100 and lasted until c. 1130.
Image:U 104, Ed.jpg, U 104
Image:U 1014, Ärentuna.JPG, U 1014
Image:U 216, Vallentuna.jpg, U 216
Image:U541 Husby-Sjuhundra kyrka runestone.jpg, U 541
KB
This style is used by the
Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...
project, although it does not attribute it to Gräslund's model. The style is common in western Södermanland and it is characterized by bordered crosses.
Image:Sö 84, Tumbo.JPG, Sö 84
Image:Sö 362, Tumbo.JPG, Sö 362
Image:Sö 363, Tumbo.JPG, Sö 363
Image:Sö 85, Västerby.JPG, Sö 85
See also
*
Anglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norma ...
*
List of runestones
There are about 3,000 runestones in Scandinavia (out of a total of about 6,000 runic inscriptions). p. 38.
The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia:
The majority is found in Sweden, estimated at between 1,700 and 2,500 (depending o ...
*
Norse art
Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centurie ...
*
Runemaster
A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones.
Description
More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th-century eastern Svealand.The article ''Runristare'' in ''Nationalencyklo ...
Footnotes
Sources and external links
*
Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...
*Edberg, Rune.
Runriket Täby-Vallentuna – en Handledning'
*Fuglesang, Signe Horn (1998).
Swedish Runestones of the Eleventh Century: Ornament and Dating', Runeninschriften als Quellen Interdisziplinärer Forschung (K. Düwel ed.). Göttingen. pp. 197–218
*
Sawyer, Peter. (1997). ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN, 978-0-19-285434-6
Runestones
Scandinavian history
Danish art
Norwegian art
Swedish art
Viking art