The Torsätra runestone, cataloged by

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 ...

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 ...

U 614, 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 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 ...

originally located in Torsätra, which is around 8 kilometers northeast of Bro,

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...

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 is 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 ...

Description

The Torsätra

was raised in memory of one of the Swedish king's tribute collectors who fell ill and died during a trip to

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

. The granite stone is 1.45 meters in height and was originally located near runestone U 613 in Torsätra. The stone was moved from its original location in 2005 to allow construction on a military training area, and is currently in the

Swedish Museum of National Antiquities The Swedish History Museum ( sv, Historiska museet or Statens historiska museum) is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. It is considered to be a good example of

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 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 inscription is unsigned but, along with U 613, 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 ...

Visäte Visäte (Old Norse: ''Víseti'', ''Véseti'') was a runemaster who was active during the last half of the eleventh century in southern Uppland, Sweden. Work Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probabl ...

, who was active in the last half of the eleventh century. This attribution dates the inscription from about 1060 to 1070. Eight surviving

s that are signed by Visäte include U 74 in Husby, U 208 in Råcksta, U 236 in Lindö, U 337 in Granby, U 454 in Kumla, U 669 in Kålsta, U 862 in Säva, and U Fv1946;258 in Fällbro, and over twenty others have been attributed to this runemaster based on stylistic analysis. Although U 613 and U 614 have somewhat different designs, with U 614 having no cross, Visäte is known to have varied his composition when a second runestone was raised near another of his. pp. 293-297. Another pair of his runestones with differing designs are U 293 and U Fv1972;172 at Lilla Vilunda, with U 293 having a design similar to U 613 and the other having a quite different design with one intertwined serpent that is above a runic band that cuts across the bottom of the inscription and no cross. The runic text states that the stone was raised by two brothers in memory of their brother, who was named either Húsbjǫrn or Ásbjǫrn, who fell ill and died while abroad in Gotland. The inscription has the runes kialt * toku * a kutlanti * or ''gjald tóku á Gotlandi'' ("took payment on Gotland") carved outside of the serpent. ''Gjald'' is a term used to refer to payments taken in England on runestones Sö 166 in Grinda, U 194 in Väsby, U 241 in Lingsberg, U 344 in Yttergärde, and Vg 119 in Sparlösa (where the context is unclear), and from this U 614 is cited as evidence that a Swedish king collected tribute or taxes from Gotland. Other runestones which mention Gotland include Sö 174 in Aspö, the now-lost U 414 in Norrsunda, U 527 in Frötuna, DR 220 in Sønder Kirkeby, DR 259 in Fuglie, possibly Sö 47 in Vålsta, where the text has been damaged, and with U 375 in Vidbo referring to a location on Gotland. U 527, similar to U 614, states that the deceased died from an illness while on Gotland. The runes on U 614 that indicate that "he was sick," hnusiok, follow the rule that double consonants are represented with only a single consonant, even if one of the two consonants are at the end of one word and the second is at the beginning of the next word. The

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

of the runic text for these words, hn us, , siok, shows word divisions and a separate s-rune for each of the two words.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:* skuli * auk * folki * lata * reisa * þinsa * stein * iftʀ * broþur * sin * husbiorn * hn us, , siok * uti * þa þiʀ * kialt * toku * a kutlanti *Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
–

entry for U 613.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Skuli ok Folki lata ræisa þennsa stæin æftiʀ broður sinn Husbiorn/Asbiorn. Hann vas siukʀ uti, þa þæiʀ giald toku a Gutlandi.''

Translation in English

:Skúli and Folki have raised this stone in memory of their brother Húsbjǫrn/Ásbjǫrn. He was sick abroad when they took payment on Gotland.

References

External links

Photograph of stone in 1990
–

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 ...

Drawing of U 614
published by

Richard Dybeck Richard Dybeck (1 September 1811 – 28 July 1877) was a Swedish jurist, antiquarian, and lyricist. He is mainly remembered as the author of the lyrics to what is now the de facto Swedish national anthem, '' Du gamla, Du fria''. Biography Dybeck ...

in 1855 – Stockholm Läns Museum {{coord, 59.5744, N, 17.7668, E, source:wikidata, display=title Uppland Runic Inscription 0614 11th-century inscriptions