The Vaksala Runestone, designated as U 961 under 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, 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 ...
that is located close to
Vaksala Church
Vaksala Church ( sv, Vaksala kyrka) is a medieval Lutheran church in the Archdiocese of Uppsala in Uppsala, Sweden. The church is considered one of the most unusual in the province of Uppland.
History
The oldest parts of Vaksala Church, the tower ...
, near
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...
,
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
The Vaksala Runestone is one of the approximately forty runestones made by the successful
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 ...
Ăpir
Ăpir or ''Ăper'' (Old Norse: ''ĂpiÊ''/''Ćpir'', meaning "shouter") was a runemaster who flourished during the late 11th century and early 12th century in Uppland, Sweden.The article ''Ăpir'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1996). He was the mo ...
, who signed this inscription and was active in the late eleventh and early twelfth century in
Uppland
Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, VÀstmanland and GÀstrikland. It is also bounded by lake MÀlaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...
. The inscription is classified as being in
runestone style 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 afieldâparticularly in the British Isles and Icelandâduring 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 inscription states that Ăgulfastr arranged and Ăpir carved the runestone on the behest of the widow and the daughter of the deceased. Ăgulfastr is otherwise known from his signature on inscription
U Fv1953;263 in Helenelund. Ăpir was known for using loop patterns in his inscriptions, and used a three loop pattern for U 961.
[ pp. 38-39.] Other signed inscriptions where Ăpir used a three loop pattern include
U 142 in FĂ€llbro,
U 210 in Ă
sta, U 279 in SkÀlby, U 287 in Vik, U 566 in VÀllingsö,
U 687 in Sjusta, U 893 in Högby,
U 898 in Norby, and U 1106 in Ăskelunda.
The Vaksala Runestone was used as building material for the construction of a wall in the churchyard. Many runestones were used in the construction of buildings, roads, and bridges before their historical importance was understood. It has been removed from the wall and placed in its present location in the churchyard.
Of the personal names listed in the runic inscription, KetilbjÇ«rn means "Kettle Bear" and RĂșnfrĂĂ°r combines ''RĂșn'', a word which means "Secret" or "Mystery" and which is related in Old Norse to "rune" and "writing," and ''FrĂĂ°r'', which means "Peace."
The runic text is missing a
possessive pronoun
A possessive or ktetic form (Glossing abbreviation, abbreviated or ; from la, possessivus; grc, ÎșÏηÏÎčÎșÏÏ, translit=ktÄtikĂłs) is a word or grammatical construction used to indicate a relationship of possession (linguistics), possessio ...
, the word "her" before "husbandman." Ăpir is known to have left off pronouns in some of his other inscricriptions, such as
U Fv1976;107 at the
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran tra ...
, U 984 in Ekeby, and
U 993 in Brunnby.
[ p. 107.]
Inscription
See also
*
List of runestones
There are about 3,000 runestones in Scandinavia (out of a total of about 6,000 runic inscriptions). p. 38.
The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia:
The majority is found in Sweden, estimated at between 1,700 and 2,500 (depending o ...
*
Runic alphabet
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...
References
{{coord, 59, 52, 42, N, 17, 40, 58, E, region:SE_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title
Runestones in Uppland