The Sønder Kirkeby Runestone, listed as

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 El ...

DR 220 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

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 The ...

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 ...

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 in Sønder Kirkeby, which is located about 5 kilometers east of

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Gul ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

Description

The Sønder Kirkeby Runestone has been known to Danish antiquarians since 1802 when it was discovered in the northwest wall of the church in Sønder Kirkeby. Before the historical significance of runestones was understood, they were often reused as building materials in the construction of roads, bridges, and buildings. The stone was removed by the Danish Antiquarian Commission in 1811, and it is currently on display at the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøge ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. The runestone, which is 0.79 meters in height, is known locally as the ''Sønder Kirkeby-stenen''. The inscription consists of four lines of runic text in 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 ...

that are below the image of a ship. Portions of the inscription and the ship image are damaged, which probably occurred when the stone was sized for use in the church wall. The Sønder Kirkeby Runestone is classified as being carved in runestone style RAK. This is considered to be the classification for the oldest style and is used for inscriptions where the ends of the runic text bands are straight and do not have any attached dragon or serpent heads. The inscription is dated as being carved after the

Jelling stones The Jelling stones ( da, Jellingstenene) are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger o ...

. The runic text states that the stone was raised by Sassur as a memorial for his brother Ásgautr, with the damaged text reconstructed as stating that the brother died in

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to th ...

, Sweden. Other runestones which mention Gotland include Sö 174 in Aspö, the now-lost U 414 in Norrsunda, U 527 in Frötuna, U 614 in Torsätra, DR 259 in Fuglie, possibly Sö 47 in Vålsta, where the text has been damaged, and with U 375 in Vidbo referring to a location on Gotland. Sønder Kirkby bindrune

The inscription also has an

invocation An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of: *Supplication, prayer or spell. *A form of possession. * Command or conjuration. * Self-identification with certain spirits. These forms a ...

to the Norse pagan god

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

to " hallow these runes" that is hidden using three

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

s located in the waves below the image of the ship. A bind rune is a ligature that combines one or more runes into a single rune. In this case, one bind rune combines the runes þ=u=r for the name Thor, another the runes u=i=k=i for the word ''wigi'' or "hallow," and a third the runes (r)=u=n=a=ʀ for the word ''runaʀ'' or "runes." Because the runes are vertically separated along a common stave, runologists further classify these bind runes as being same-stave runes. Another example of an inscription using same-stave runes is the Swedish runestone Sö 158 at Ärsta. The reason for hiding the invocation to Thor is unknown, but it is clearly intended to be hidden. There are two other runestones that have similar invocations to Thor located in Denmark, DR 110 from Virring and DR 209 from Glavendrup, and three other stones in Sweden, Ög 136 in Rök, Vg 150 from Velanda, and possibly Sö 140 at Korpbron. The wording of the invocation on the Sønder Kirkeby Runestone is most similar to that used on the

Glavendrup stone The Glavendrup stone, designated as DR 209 by Rundata, is a runestone on the island of Funen in Denmark and dates from the early 10th century. It contains Denmark's longest runic inscription and ends in a curse. Description The runestone fo ...

. It has been noted that Thor is the only Norse god who is invoked on any Viking Age runestones.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:(-)-sur : sati : stin : ¶ þinsi : haft : osk(u)... ¶ bruþur : sin : ian : ... ¶ uarþ : tuþr : o : ku... ¶ þ=u=r : u=i=k=(i) : (r)=u=n=a=ʀ (:) ...Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for DR 220.

Transcription into Old Norse

:'' aur satti sten þænsi æft Asgo broþur sin, æn annwarþ døþr a Go landi Þor wigi runaʀ �æssaʀ''

Translation into English

:Sassur placed this stone in memory of Ásgautr his brother, and edied on Gotland. May Þórr hallow heserunes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonder Kirkeby Runestone 1802 archaeological discoveries Runestones in Denmark