Södermanland Runic Inscription 226 or Sö 226 is the

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Database () is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of transliterated runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future resea ...

catalog listing for a

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

located in Norra Stutby, which is about eight kilometers north of Sorunda, Stockholm County,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, which was in the historic province of

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

Description

The inscription on Sö 226 consists of runic text in the younger futhark that is carved on a serpent that circles along the outline of the stone, which is about 1.8 meters in height. A figure of a horse is in inside the serpent at the top of the stone. The horse, which is clearly a stallion as indicated by the phallus, is depicted with crossed legs to indicate powerlessness. The combination of symbols of fertility and powerlessness on the horse may indicate regeneration or salvation. Several other

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n runestones include depictions of horses, including DR 96 in Ålum, N 61 in Alstad, Sö 101 in Ramsundsberget, Sö 239 in Häringe, Sö 327 in Göksten, U 375 in Vidbo, U 488 in Harg, U 599 in Hanunda, U 691 in Söderby, U 855 in Böksta, U 901 in Håmö, U 935 at the

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...

, and U 1003 in Frötuna. The inscription on Sö 226 is classified as being carved in

runestone style :''The term "runestone style" in the singular may refer to the Urnes style.'' The style or design of runestones varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increas ...

Fp, which is the classification for runic text bands with attached serpent or beast heads that are depicted as seen from above. The inscription based on stylistic analysis is attributed to a

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 ...

named Amunde, who signed inscriptions on the now-lost Sö 215 in Sorunda, Sö 223 in Trollsta, Sö 268 in Söderby, and the now-lost Sö 271 in Täckeråker. The runic text states that the stone was raised by four men named Bjôrn, Vébjôrn, Hrafni, and Ketilbjôrn in memory of their father Geirbjôrn. The names of three of the brothers share the common name element ''bjôrn'', which is

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

for "bear," with their father. A common practice at that time in Scandinavia was the repeating one of the name elements from a parent's name in the names of the children to show the family connection. p. 750. The missing portion of the damaged runic text was reconstructed as the words ''ræistu stæin'' or "raised the stone" based upon similar wording on other inscriptions.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:+ biairn + auk + uibiarn × auk: hrafni + auk + ketilbiarn + r---(t)(u) × (s) in: at + kairbirn faþurProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
- Rundata entry for Sö 226.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Biarn ok Vibiarn ok Hrafni ok Kætilbiarn r �isu stæin at Gæiʀbiarn, faður

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

Translation in English

:Bjôrn and Vébjôrn and Hrafni and Ketilbjôrn raised the stone in memory of Geirbjôrn, their father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodermanland Runic Inscription 226 Runestones in Södermanland