Södermanland Runic Inscription 352 or Sö 352 is a

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 Germ ...

memorial

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 d ...

located at Linga, which is about two kilometers south of Järna, Stockholm County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...

. The inscription depicts a ship with an anchor and a portion of the runic text uses same-stave bind runes on the ship mast.

Description

This inscription consists of runic text carved on two serpents that bracket the image of ship, whose upper mast forms a Christian cross, with the text continued on the top and back of the stone. 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 increa ...

Fp, which is the classification for runic bands that end in serpent heads depicted as seen from above. A runestone with a similar design is Sö 158 in Österberga, and it is believed that the same runemaster carved both Sö 158 and Sö 352 along with the nearby inscriptions Sö 350 at Valsta and Sö 351 in Överjärna. p. 197. Ship images appear on several Viking Age runic inscriptions, but the image on Sö 352 is unusual in that it apparently depicts a rope and

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

below the ship. The anchor does not appear to be made of iron, which was used only in the larger, more expensive ships, but is either a stone or made of stone and wood with rope lashings. Other runic inscriptions from the Viking Age which depict ships include DR 77 in Hjermind, DR 119 in Spentrup, DR 220 in Sønder Kirkeby, DR 258 in Bösarp, DR 271 in Tullstorp, DR 328 in Holmby, DR EM85;523 in Farsø, Ög 181 in Ledberg, Ög 224 in Stratomta, Ög MÖLM1960;230 in Törnevalla, Sö 122 in Skresta, Sö 154 in Skarpåker, Sö 158 in Österberga, Sö 164 in Spånga, Sö 351 in Överjärna, Vg 51 in Husaby, U 370 in Herresta, U 979 in Gamla Uppsala, U 1052 in Axlunda, U 1161 in Altuna, and Vs 17 in Råby. Three stones, the Hørdum and Långtora kyrka stones and U 1001 in Rasbo, depict ships but currently do not have any runes on them and may never have had any. The runic text is in the

younger futhark The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries. The ...

and states that the stone was raised by Helgulfr as a memorial to his kinsman by marriage named Þorfastr, and by Dísa, who was the sister of Þorfastr. The runes uþur sin meaning "her brother" are carved along the mast of the ship under the cross using bind runes. A bind rune is a

ligature Ligature may refer to: * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture used to shut off a blood vessel or other anatomical structure ** Ligature (orthodontic), used in dentistry * Ligature (music), an element of musical notation used especially in the me ...

that combines one or more runes into a single rune. Because the runes are vertically separated along a common stave,

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 very interested in the lingu ...

further classify these bind runes as being same-stave runes. The use of these runes here is considered to have been ornamental. Although the stone is considered to be Christian due to the cross and ship imagery, two of the names in the text have

theophoric A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that deit ...

name elements, with Þorfastr referring to the

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 ...

Norse pagan god

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

and Dísa a nickname related to

Dís In Norse mythology, a dís (Old Norse: , "lady", plural dísir ) is a female deity, ghost, or spirit associated with Fate who can be either benevolent or antagonistic toward mortals. Dísir may act as protective spirits of Norse clans. It ...

, which refers to a protective female deity.

Inscription

Line A is on the front side of the stone with the serpent and ship images, line B is on the top, and line C is on the back.

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:A : ailkufʀ : raisþi : stin : þansi : t: þurfast : mag : sin : tisa : at bruþur sin ... -rþ>u'' :B uþr uu...'' :C tisa : kiarþ... eft... ... sinaProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
- Rundata entry for Sö 352.

Transcription into Old Norse

:A ''Hælgulfʀ(?) ræisti stæin þannsi at Þorfast, mag sinn, Disa at broður sinn. ... urðu(?)'' :B ''dauðr(?) ...'' :C ''Disa gærð æft ʀ... sina.''

Translation in English

:A Helgulfr(?) raised this stone in memory of Þorfastr, his kinsman-by-marriage; Dísa in memory of her brother. ... ... :B died(?) ... :C Dísa made in memory of ... her.

References

External links

Photograph of Sö 352 in 1991
- Swedish National Heritage Board
Photograph of Sö 352 in 1970
- Stockholm Läns Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Sodermanland Runic Inscription 352 Runestones in Södermanland