Sö 298 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 number 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 Uringe Malm, which is about four kilometers west of

Väländan Väländan is a locality situated in Haninge Municipality, 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 t ...

, 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 ...

, 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

This runestone, which is made of granite and is 2.3 meters in height, consists of runic text carved on a serpent that surrounds a

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

. This stone has been known to

runologists Runology is the study of the runic alphabets, runic inscriptions, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics. History Runology was initiated by Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was interested in the linguis ...

for a few hundred years. In 1939 the stone was moved along the road 15 meters and reset. The inscription 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 ...

Pr3, which is also known as

Urnes style Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Vikings, Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th ...

. This runestone style is characterized by slim and stylized animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animal heads are typically seen in profile with slender almond-shaped eyes and upwardly curled appendages on the noses and the necks. Based on stylistic analysis, this inscription has been 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

Halvdan Halvdan is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Halvdan Aarsrud (1878–1925), Norwegian bailiff and politician for the Labour Party * Halvdan the Black (c. 810 – c. 860), ninth-century king of Vestfold * Halvdan Wexel ...

, who is known for his Pr3 style inscriptions and signed inscription Sö 270 in Tyresta. Over fifteen other runestones have been attributed to him. The other inscriptions listed in Rundata that are attributed to Halvdan based upon stylistic analysis include Sö 235 in Västerby, Sö 237 in Fors, Sö 239 in Häringe, Sö 244 in Tuna, Sö 245 in Tungelsta, the now-lost Sö 247 in Ålsta, Sö 252 in Säby, Sö 256 in Älby, Sö 262 in Blista, Sö 269 in Söderby Malm, Sö 272 in Upp-Norrby, Sö 274 in Södersluss, Sö 290 in Farsta, Sö 292 in Bröta, Sö 297 in Uppinge, and Sö 301 in Ågesta Bro. In this inscription, Halvdan used a + as a

punctuation mark Punctuation marks are marks indicating how a piece of written text should be read (silently or aloud) and, consequently, understood. The oldest known examples of punctuation marks were found in the Mesha Stele from the 9th century BC, consisti ...

between each word of the runic text. The runic text states that four brothers Haurr, Karl, Sighjalmr, and a brother named either Véhjalmr or Víghjalmr raised the stone as a memorial for their father Vígmarr. Vígmarr is a fairly rare name, but is recorded on two nearby runestones, Sö 292 in Bröta (which was also attributed to Halvdan) and Sö Fv1971;208 in Säby. p. 209. It has been suggested that the same Vígmarr was the sponsor of Sö 292 and Sö Fv1971;208 and was the deceased father memorialized in Sö 298.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:× haur + nuk + karl + auk + sihia--r + auk + uihialmr + auk + kare + (l)--- -aisa + stain + þina + aftʀ + uihmar + faþr + sin +Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for Sö 298.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Haurr ok Karl ok Sighia m� ok Vihialmʀ/Vighialmʀ ok Kari l tu r�isa stæin þenna æftiʀ Vigmar, faður sinn.''

Translation in English

:Haurr and Karl and Sighjalmr and Véhjalmr/Víghjalmr and Kári had this stone raised in memory of Vígmarr, their father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodermanland Runic Inscription 298 Runestones in Södermanland