The Tillinge Runestone, designated as U 785 under

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 ...

, 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 Ger ...

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 da ...

that was found at the church of Tillinge in

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

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 ...

Description

The Tillinge Runestone inscription consists of a runic text within a serpent. It was initially found within the church wall, but the full inscription could not be read until it was removed from the wall in 1946 and raised in front of the church. Many runestones were reused for materials in the construction of roads, bridges, walls, and buildings before their historical significance was understood. The inscription is dated as being from the first half of the 11th century and is in

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is 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 of Scandinavia and t ...

and written using 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 r ...

. The Tillinge Runestone was raised by a man in memory of his brother who died in

Serkland In Old Norse sources, such as sagas and runestones, Serkland (also ''Særkland'', ''Srklant'', ''Sirklant'', ''Serklat'', etc.) was the "land of the ''Serkir''", usually identified with the Saracens. The exact etymology is disputed. ''Serk''- ma ...

, and ends in a prayer for the brother's soul. It may be one of the

Ingvar Runestones The Ingvar Runestones ( sv, Ingvarstenarna) is the name of around 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration of those who died in the Swedish Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea of Ingvar the Far-Travelled. The Ingvar expedition ...

, but is not included in that group as it does not mention

Ingvar the Far-Travelled Ingvar the Far-Travelled (Old Norse: ''Yngvarr víðförli'', Swedish: ''Ingvar Vittfarne'') was a Swedish Viking who led an expedition that fought in Georgia. The Rus' undertook several Caspian expeditions in the course of the 10th century. The ...

, the leader of a Swedish Viking expedition to the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. As such, this runestone may be a memorial to a

Varangian The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

who died while in service in Asia. The inscription is unsigned and has been attributed either to

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 named Torbjörn or Gunnar.Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for U 785. 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 ...

Pr1, which is also known as 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 ...

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:uifas-- ... : risa : s(t)in : þ(t)ino : ub : at : k-þmunt : bruþur : sin : han : uarþ : tuþr : a : srklant- kuþ halbi : ant : ans

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Vifas r etræisa stæin þenna upp at G �mund, broður sinn. Hann varð dauðr a Særkland Guð hialpi and hans.''

Translation in English

:Véfastr had this stone raised up in memory of Guðmundr, his brother. He died in Serkland. May God help his spirit.

References