Uppland Runic Inscription Fv1953;263 or U Fv1953;263 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 listing 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 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 ...

that was discovered at Helenelund, which is in Sollentuna,

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 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 ...

Description

The inscription on U Fv1953;263, which is 1.8 meters in height and made of granite, 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 increa ...

Pr5, which is also known as

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 centurie ...

. This is the classification for text within runic bands with serpent or beast heads that are depicted in profile with almond-shaped eyes. The text, unlike many Viking Age inscriptions, is read from the tail of the serpent counterclockwise towards its head. A

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

is near the top of the stone. The stone was discovered during construction of an access road on October 20, 1953, and is currently raised at the entrance to the Kummeby church. pp. 262-266. The runic text, which is missing in one section of the damaged runestone, states that the stone was raised by Helga in memory of her husband Svertingr and her sons Eysteinn and Hemingr. The text ends with "and Ígulfastr," who is understood as being the runemaster who carved the inscription. U Fv1953;263 is the only surviving runestone signed by Ígulfastr, although the inscription on U 961 in Vaksala states that it was arranged by Ígulfastr and carved by the runemaster

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 ...

. p. 19. Stylistically the work of Ígulfastr is very similar to that of Öpir, although it is not known which runemaster influenced the other. The runic text uses a

bind rune A bind rune or bindrune ( is, bandrún) is a Migration Period Germanic typographic ligature, ligature of two or more Runic alphabet, runes. They are extremely rare in Viking Age inscriptions, but are common in earlier (Proto-Norse) and later (med ...

, which is a

ligature Ligature may refer to: * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture used to shut off a blood vessel or other anatomical structure ** Ligature (orthodontic), used in dentistry * Ligature (music), an element of musical notation used especially in the me ...

, combining an a-rune and l-rune in the name Svertingr. In addition, the runemaster connected the u-rune and l-rune in his signature. In some names on runestones, bind runes may have been ornamental and used to highlight the name. Lastly, an h-rune was left off at the beginning of the names Helga and Hemingr. The Rundata designation for this Uppland inscription, U Fv1953;263, refers to the year and page number of the issue of ''

Fornvännen ''Fornvännen'' ("The Friend of the Distant Past"), ''Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research'' is a Swedish academic journal in the fields of archaeology and Medieval art. It is published quarterly by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, Histor ...

'' in which the runestone was first described. The runestone is known locally as the ''Kummelbystenen''.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:elka ' lit raisa stain ' eftiʀ ' sua=rtik ' b... ... ... -t ' eystain ' uk ' at ' emink ' suni ÷ sina ' in ' ikulfastrProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for U Fv1953;263.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Hælga let ræisa stæin æftiʀ Sværting, b

nda NDA may stand for: Military * National Defence Academy (India), a military academy in India * National Defence Act, legislation for organizing and funding Canada's military * National Defense Academy of Japan, a military academy in Japan * Nig ...

... ... Øystæin/Æistæin ok at Hæming, syni sina. En Igulfastr

isti The "Alessandro Faedo" Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione (''Institute of Information Science and Technologies'') is an institute of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). The institute is located in the CNR research area in ...

Translation in English

:Helga had the stone raised in memory of Svertingr, (her) husbandman ... ... in memory of Eysteinn and in memory of Hemingr, her sons. And Ígulfastr carved.

References

External links

Photograph from 2001
- Swedish National Heritage Board {{DEFAULTSORT:Uppland Runic Inscription Fv1953263 Runestones in Uppland