U 678 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 ...

catalog number 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 ...

image stone A picture stone, image stone or figure stone is an ornate slab of stone, usually limestone, which was raised in Germanic Iron Age or Viking Age Scandinavia, and in the greatest number on Gotland.The article ''Bildstenar'' in ''Nationalencykloped ...

with 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 ...

located in

Skokloster Skokloster Castle ( sv, Skoklosters slott) is a Swedish Baroque castle built between 1654 and 1676 by Carl Gustaf Wrangel, located on a peninsula of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala. It became a state museum in the 1970s and displays ...

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 runestone was found walled inside a church at Skokloster, and has been moved to a location behind the church. One side of the stone has an image of a man on a horse, and the other side has a similar image with a surrounding runic inscription within runic bands. At the top of the second side with the runic text is carved a man's mask above a Christian cross. Other runestones with a similar mask above a cross motif include inscriptions on Sö 86 in Åby, Sö 112 in Kolunda, Sö 367 in Släbro, Nä 34 in Nasta, and U 1034 in Tensta. Other inscriptions with facial masks include DR 62 in Sjelle, DR 81 in Skern, the now-lost DR 286 in Hunnestad, DR 314 in Lund, Vg 106 in Lassegården, Sö 167 in Landshammar, U 508 in Gillberga, U 670 in Rölunda, U 824 in Örsundsbro, and U 1150 in Björklinge, and on the

Sjellebro Stone The Sjellebro Stone is a Viking Age image stone located at Sjellbro, which is about 12 kilometers southeast of Randers, Denmark. The stone is inscribed with a facial mask. Description The Sjellbro Stone is about 1.7 meters in height and features t ...

. The inscription is signed by 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 ...

Fot Fot (Old Norse: ''Fotr'') was a runemaster who flourished in mid-11th century Sweden. Career Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probably carved messages on pieces of bone and wood.Vilka kunde rist ...

, who was active in the mid eleventh century. His signature in the runic text or ('Fótr cut the runes') is located on the text bar under the figure on the horse. Other inscriptions signed by him include U 167 in Östra Ryds, U 177 in Stav, U 268 in Harby, U 464 in Edeby, U 605 in Stäket, U 638 in Mansängen, and U 945 in Danmarks. He is also noted for the consistency of his use of the

punctuation mark Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...

× between the words of the runic inscription, and this mark is used to separate the words in the text on this stone. Due to the unusual imagery of the inscription, assumed to be from an earlier time period, it has been suggested that Fot used earlier carved imagery to add his new runic text to. This runestone 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 ...

RAK.Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
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entry for U 678. This is the classification for inscriptions with runic text without dragon or serpent heads and where the ends of the runic bands are straight.

Inscription

A transliteration of the runic inscription into roman letters is: :

References

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