Sö 194 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 ...

designation for 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 E ...

on 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 ...

located in Brössike, which is about 12 kilometers northeast of

Strängnäs Strängnäs is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 15,363 inhabitants in 2020. It is located by Lake Mälaren and is the episcopal see of the Diocese of Strängnäs, one of t ...

Södermanland County Södermanland County (, ) is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is the ...

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

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

. There are many such memorial runestones in

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 ...

. While the tradition of carving inscriptions into boulders began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, most runestones date from the late

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 ...

Description

Carved into a granite boulder that is 1.4 meters in height, this unsigned inscription has been attributed to 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 ...

Balle, who was active during the last half of the eleventh century. The text of the inscription lies within a serpent band, a motif common on many memorial runestones. At the bottom of the inscription, there is a binding around the head and tail of the serpent as if to keep the serpent bound to the surface of the stone. The 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 ...

Fp. This is the classification for inscriptions with runic bands that end with the serpent or animal heads depicted as seen from above. The runic text states that the stone was raised by two sons named Ingimundr and Þjalfi in memory of their father Þorketill. The Old Norse name Ingimundr means "Tutelage of Youth." Þjalfi means "Digger" or "Delver," and Þjálfi was the name of a servant or follower of the Norse god

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, 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 g ...

that is listed in the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten ...

''. The name Þorketil signifies a "Vessel or Kettle of Thor," possibly a type of sacrificial cauldron. The ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

'' poem ''

Hymiskviða ''Hymiskviða'' (Old Norse: 'The lay of Hymir'; anglicized as ''Hymiskvitha'', ''Hymiskvidha'' or ''Hymiskvida'') is a poem collected in the ''Poetic Edda''. The poem was first written down in the late 13th century.''Norse Mythology A-Z'' Summar ...

'' has a story in which Thor fetches a large cauldron to brew ale.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:ekimunr * auk * þalfi * þir * ristu * stin * þina * at * þurktil * faþur sinProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
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entry for Sö 194.

Transcription into Old Norse

:Ingimundr ok Þjalfi þeir reistu stein þenna at Þorketil, fôður sinn.

Translation in English

:Ingimundr and Þjalfi, they raised this stone in memory of Þorketill, their father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodermanland Runic Inscription 194 Runestones in Södermanland 11th-century inscriptions