Östergötland Runic Inscription MÖLM1960;230 or Ög MÖLM1960;230 is the

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Database () is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of transliterated runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future resea ...

catalog number for a

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 such as home ...

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

that is located near a church in Törnevalla, which is 2 kilometers east of

Linghem Linghem is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about northwest of Béthune and west of Lille. Population See also *Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department The following is a list of the 8 ...

Östergötland County Östergötland County () is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the northeast. It also has a ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, which was in the historic province of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. The runestone has an inscription which refers to a

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

mercantile

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

and depicts a ship.

Description

Runestone Ög MÖLM1960;230 was rediscovered in the base of a church tower in 1960. Before the historic significance of runestones was understood, they were often reused as building materials for roads, churches, and other buildings. After being repaired, it was raised outside of the church. The runic inscription on this granite stone, which is 2.4 meters in height, consists of text in the younger futhark within an arching text band that is under a depiction of a ship. The inscription 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, which is the classification used for text bands that have straight ends and do not have any attached serpent or beast heads. Tornevalla side view

Ship images appear on several Viking Age runic inscriptions. Other runic inscriptions from the Viking Age which depict ships include DR 77 in Hjermind, DR 119 in Spentrup, DR 220 in Sønder Kirkeby, DR 258 in Bösarp, DR 271 in Tullstorp, DR 328 in Holmby, DR EM85;523 in Farsø, Ög 181 in Ledberg, Ög 224 in Stratomta, Sö 122 in Skresta, Sö 154 in Skarpåker, Sö 158 in Österberga, Sö 164 in Spånga, Sö 351 in Överjärna, Sö 352 in Linga, Vg 51 in Husaby, U 370 in Herresta, U 979 in Gamla Uppsala, U 1052 in Axlunda, U 1161 in Altuna, and Vs 17 in Råby. Three stones, the

Hørdum Hørdum is a small railway town in Thisted Municipality in North Jutland Region, Denmark. As of 1 January 2025 it had a population of 211.

and Långtora kyrka stones and U 1001 in Rasbo, depict ships but currently do not have any runes on them and may never have had any. The runic text, which is damaged at the beginning, indicates that the stone is a memorial to a man named Drengr who was the son of a man possibly named Eygeirr, and that the person or persons who sponsored the stone and Drengr were members of a guild. This is one of four runestones that mention guilds in Viking Age Sweden, the others being U 379 in Kyrkogården, U 391 in Prästgatan, and Ög 64 in

Bjälbo Bjälbo is a small village in Mjölby Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. The medieval House of Bjälbo had a church and a manor house at Bjälbo. Magnus Minnesköld was probably born here, and in around 1210 his son Birger Magnusson. Today ...

. p. 179. These stones and others discussing

félag (Old Norse, meaning "fellowship, partnership") was a joint financial venture between partners in Viking Age society.Fritzner, Johan (1867). Ordbog over det Gamle Norske Sprog'. Feilberg & Landmark. p. 139. Etymology The word ' is constructed by ...

s are evidence of the trading activities during this period of

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n history. One scholar has suggested that the image of the ship may have been a type of

heraldic badge A heraldic badge, emblem, impresa, device, or personal device worn as a badge indicates allegiance to, or the property of, an individual, family or corporate body. Medieval forms are usually called a livery badge, and also a cognizance. They are ...

or symbol of the guild that raised the stone. The name Drengr is a bit unusual as it normally is a title associated with warriors or merchants. However, there are several examples from Scandinavia in which an

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

word that is a designation of status has become a personal name. In the inscription, each word in the runic text is separated with a punctuation mark consisting of two dots except for the name Drengr, which has been emphasized by using a different word divider consisting of a single dot. p. 469. The Rundata catalog number for this stone, Ög MÖLM1960;230, refers to the year and page number of the 1960–61 edition of ''Meddelanden från Östergötlands ocb Linköpings stads Museum'' where the inscription was first described.

Inscription

References

External links

Photograph of runestone in 1985
–

Swedish National Heritage Board The Swedish National Heritage Board (; 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 Culture. The goals of the agen ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostergotland Runic Inscription Molm1960230 1960 archaeological discoveries Runestones in Östergötland Guilds in Sweden