The Velanda Runestone ( sv, Velandastenen), designated as Vg 150 in 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

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 ...

dated to the late tenth century or the early eleventh century that is located in the village of

Velanda Velanda is a locality situated in Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 581 inhabitants in 2010. References See also * Velanda Runestone The Velanda Runestone ( sv, Velandastenen), designated as Vg 150 in the Run ...

Trollhättan Municipality Trollhättan Municipality (''Trollhättans kommun'' or ''Trollhättans stad'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Trollhättan. The municipality was created gradually in 1967, 1971 ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

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

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

. It was discovered around 1910 by a farmer named Jacobsson.

Description

The Velanda Runestone is inscribed in

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

with the

Younger Futhark The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries. The r ...

. Above the arch of the runic text band is the outline of an eagle's head facing to the left. The stone was raised by a woman named Þyrvé in memory of her husband Ögmundr. The runic inscription states that he was ''miok goðan þegn'' or "a very good

thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there w ...

". About fifty other runestones refer to the deceased being a thegn. Of these, four use exactly the same phrase, ''miok goðan þegn'': Vg 73 in Synnerby, Vg 108 in Tängs gamla, Vg 137 in Sörby, and DR 99 in Bjerregrav. The exact role of thegns in southern Sweden is a matter of debate, but the most common view is that they constituted an elite somehow connected to Danish power. It is thought that thegn-stones point to power centers from which they came, and from where they could be sent out to rule border areas in so-called ''tegnebyar''. The inscription asks the

Norse pagan Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic people ...

god

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

hallow To hallow is "to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate". The adjective form ''hallowed'', as used in ''The Lord's Prayer'', means holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered. The noun form ''hallow'', as used in ''Hallowtide'', ...

the runestone. One or two other runestones in Sweden have similar invocations to Thor: Ög 136 in Rök and possibly Sö 140 at Korpbron. Other runestones in Denmark that include invocations of or dedications to Thor in their inscriptions include

DR 110 DR 110, or the Virring stone, is a runestone made of granite that measures in height, in width and in thickness. It is written in Old East Norse in the Younger Futhark, and the runestone style is in a form called RAK. It was discovered in 1865 ...

from Virring, DR 209 from Glavendrup, and DR 220 from Sønder Kirkeby. It has been noted that Thor is the only Norse god who is invoked on any

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 ...

runestones.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:× þurui : risþi : stin : iftiʀ : ukmut : buta : sin : miuk : kuþan : þikn × þur : uiki ×Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for Vg 150.

Transcription into Old Norse

:Þyrvé reisti stein eptir Ǫgmund, bónda sinn, mjǫk góðan þegn. Þórr vígi.

Translation in English

Vg150 Väne-Åsaka 8 Velandastenen Thor vigi

:Þyrvé raised the stone in memory of Ôgmundr, her husbandman, a very good thegn. May Þórr hallow.

References

Other sources

* Larsson, Mats G. (2002). ''Götarnas Riken : Upptäcktsfärder Till Sveriges Enande''. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB

External links

Photograph of runestone
- Swedish National Heritage Board {{runestones Runestones in Västergötland 10th-century inscriptions 11th-century inscriptions