There are about 3,000 runestones in Scandinavia (out of a total of about 6,000 runic inscriptions).[1]
The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia:
The majority are found in Sweden, estimated at between 1,700[2] and 2,500 (depending on definition). Denmark has 250 runestones, and Norway has 50.[2]
There are also runestones in other areas reached by the Viking expansion, especially in the British Isles.[3] Most of these were on the Isle of Man where 31 from the Viking era have been found. Four have also been discovered in England, fewer than eight in Scotland and one or two in Ireland.[4] There are scattered examples elsewhere (the Berezan' Runestone in Eastern Europe,[5] and runic graffiti on the Piraeus Lion from Greece but today in Venice, Italy).[6]
The vast majority of runestones date to the Viking Age and the period immediately following the Christianisation of Scandinavia (9th to 12th centuries). A small number predates the 9th century; one of the last runestones was raised in memory of the archbishop Absalon (d. 1201).[7]
A small number of runestones may date to the late medieval to early modern period, such as the Fámjin stone (Faroe Islands), dated to the Reformation period. Modern runestones (as imitations or forgeries of Viking Age runestones) began to be produced in the 19th century Viking Revival.
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base (Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runestones in the Rundata database.[8]
^Zilmer, Kristel (2005), "He Drowned in Holmr's Sea": Baltic Traffic in Early Nordic Sources(PDF), Tartu University Press, ISBN 978-9949-11-089-6, archived (PDF) from the original on 7 January 2022, retrieved 24 May 2020 p. 38.
^ abOlstad, Lisa (16 December 2002). "Ein minnestein for å hedre seg sjølv". forskning.no. Archived from the original on 29 August 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
^Page, Raymond I. (1995). Runes and Runic Inscriptions: Collected Essays on Anglo-Saxon and Viking Runes. Parsons, D. (ed.) Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 207–244
^Jesch, Judith (2001). Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Boydell Press. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-0-85115-826-6.
^Pritsak, O. (1987). The Origin of Rus'. Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. Sawyer, Birgit. (2000). The Viking-Age Rune-Stones: Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 306.
^"Runsten", Nationalencyklopedin (1995), volume 16, pp. 91–92.
^Jansson 1997:166
^Bianchi, Marco. "Ladda ned Samnordisk runtextdatabas – Institutionen för nordiska språk – Uppsala universitet". www.nordiska.uu.se. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
and 24 Related for: List of runestones information
There are about 3,000 runestones in Scandinavia (out of a total of about 6,000 runic inscriptions). The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia:...
of these are located in Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, there are also scattered runestones in locations that were visited by Norsemen. Runestones were...
The Viking runestones are runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Viking expeditions. This article treats the runestone that refer to...
Oslo Copenhagen Stockholm The England runestones (Swedish: Englandsstenarna) are a group of about 30 runestones in Scandinavia which refer to Viking Age...
Stockholm The Ingvar runestones (Swedish: Ingvarstenarna) is the name of around 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration of those who died...
Copenhagen Gothenburg Stockholm The Greece runestones (Swedish: Greklandsstenarna) are about 30 runestones containing information related to voyages made...
Oslo Copenhagen Stockholm The Varangian Runestones are runestones in Scandinavia that mention voyages to the East (Old Norse: Austr) or the Eastern route...
The Italy runestones are three or four Varangian runestones from 11th-century Sweden that tell of warriors who died in Langbarðaland ("Land of the Lombards")...
The Lingsberg Runestones are two 11th-century runestones, listed as U 240 and U 241 in the Rundata catalog, and one fragment, U 242, that are engraved...
"runestone style" in the singular may refer to the Urnes style. The style or design ofrunestones varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were...
Funbo runestones constitute a group of four runestones originally from Funbo in the province of Uppland, Sweden, which were raised by members of the same...
American runestones, such as the Kensington runestone or the Oklahoma runestones. Especially since the late 20th century, runestones in the style of the Viking...
The Jarlabanke Runestones (Swedish: Jarlabankestenarna) is the name of about 20 runestones written in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark rune script in...
special runic forms, the same message is given on the Stentoften Runestone. These runestones are probably not carved by the same person, and so it appears...
cemetery at Marchélepot and runestone U Fv1946;258 at Fällbro [sv] in Täby Municipality, which is dated to c. 1000. Listofrunestones MacLeod, Mindy and Bernard...
Many anonymous runestones have more or less securely been attributed to these runemasters. During the 11th century, when most runestones were raised, there...
AD 800. While there are remains of Viking runestones from the Viking Age, today they are rare, and vary in use of orthography depending on when they...
The Simris Runestones are two 11th-century runestones located at the vicarage of Simris, near Simrishamn, in southeasternmost Scania, Sweden. They were...
inscriptions. On some runestones, bind runes may have been ornamental and used to highlight the name of the carver. There are two types of bind runes. Normal...
The Risbyle Runestones are two runestones found near the western shore of Lake Vallentunasjön in Uppland, Sweden, dating from the Viking Age. The Risbyle...
symbols instead of runes. The Jelling stones (Danish: Jellingstenene) are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in...
It is one of few surviving runestones with exclusively pagan illustrations from Norse mythology. Most surviving runestones were raised during the 11th...
Gothenburg Stockholm The Hakon Jarl runestones are Swedish runestones from the time of Canute the Great. Two of the runestones, one in Uppland (U 617) and one...
Global Information