U 1014 is 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 ...

designation for 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 is located in Ärentuna, which is about one kilometer east of

Lövstalöt Lövstalöt is a locality situated in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 1,046 inhabitants in 2010. Lövstalöt is situated 12 km north of the city of Uppsala, in the flat country that surrounds the city. Until the end of the 1 ...

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

This runic inscription consists of runic text carved on a serpent that circles a center where the serpent's head and tail are intertwined. A small Christian cross is in the upper part of the design. The runestone is 1.01 meters in height and made of

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

. The inscription for stylistic reasons has been attributed to the

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 ...

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 ...

, who was active in the Uppland area in the late 11th or early 12th century. It has its

runic inscription A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of El ...

around an intricate animal design and is 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 ...

Pr5, also 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 centuries ...

. 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. The runic text states that a man named either Holmgeirr or Hjalmgeirr raised the stone as a memorial to his two sons, Ígulfastr and Svarthǫfði. The name Svarthǫfði translates as "Black Head," and was often used as a nickname.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:iolmkeʀ ' lit ' raisa ' stain ' ifti � ' iulfast ' uk 'suartufþa ' suni ' sinaProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for U 1014.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Holmgeirr/Hjalmgeirr lét reisa stein eptir Ígulfast(?) ok Svarth]ǫfða, sonu sína''.

Translation in English

:Holmgeirr/Hjalmgeirr had the stone raised in memory of Ígulfastr(?) and Svarthǫfði, his sons.

References

{{reflist Runestones in Uppland, Uppland Runic Inscription 1014