U 1043 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

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 ...

on a

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 or works of a ...

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 ...

located in Onslunda, Tensta parish, and about four kilometers west of

Vattholma Vattholma is a locality situated in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County, 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 Swe ...

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 ...

, which was in the historic province of

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 ...

. While the tradition of carving inscriptions into boulders began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, most runestones date from the late

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 ...

Description

The runic inscription consists of a runic text carved on a serpent that twists around the edge of the stone and circles a Christian cross. The stone is granite and is 1.6 meters in height.Riksantikvarieämbetet
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Swedish National Heritage Board The Swedish National Heritage Board ( sv, Riksantikvarieämbetet; RAÄ) is a Swedish government agency responsible for World Heritage Sites and other national heritage monuments and historical environments. It is governed by the Ministry of Cult ...

record for U 1043. Red paint fragments have been found in the inscription, supporting the theory that many runestones had inscriptions that were also painted. The runic text indicates that it is a memorial by three sons to their father. Consistent with the cross in the design, the text ends in a prayer for the father's soul. Of the personal names in the runic text, the father's name Ófeigr combines the negative prefix ''ó'' with ''feigr'', which means "death bound" or "fated to die" without any negative connotations intended. The father's name could thus mean "not fated to die," which would also be consistent with this runestone identification as a Christian memorial erected in the decades following the

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

of this part of Sweden. This runestone 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 ...

Åsmund Kåresson Åsmund Kåresson was a Viking Age runemaster who flourished during the first half of the 11th century in Uppland and Gästrikland, Sweden. The early Urnes style is represented in his art. pp. 197, 208–09. Work Most early medieval Scandinavians ...

on stylistic grounds. Åsmund was active in the first half of the eleventh century. The inscription 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 ...

Pr3 - Pr4, which is 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 runestone also includes a stylized depiction of a couple engaged in

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetrat ...

. It has been suggested that the couple does not appear to be part of the original design on this stone and that such a depiction is atypical for this period and region. No other depictions of actual intercourse are known to exist from the Viking Age.

Inscription

Runic text

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:u fr *auk ' kuþfastr ' auk, , kuþ untr ' þ-... ...it rita stin þino ' aftiʀ ufih ' fa �r s(i)n ' kuþ hinlbi ont (h)-nsProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
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entry for U 1043.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Ulfr ok Guðfastr ok Guðmundr þ ir l�tu rétta stein þenna eptir Ófeig, fôður sinn. Guð hjalpi ônd h s.''

Translation in English

:Ulfr and Guðfastr and Guðmundr, they had this stone erected in memory of Ófeigr, their father. May God help his spirit.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Photograph of U 1043
in 2001 -

Detail showing couple
- Swedish National Heritage Board Runestones in Uppland