Clickable map of the geographic distribution of the Viking runestones in southern Scandinavia (modern administrative borders and cities are shown)
The Viking runestones are runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Viking expeditions. This article treats the runestone that refer to people who took part in voyages abroad, in western Europe, and stones that mention men who were Viking warriors and/or died while travelling in the West. However, it is likely that all of them do not mention men who took part in pillaging. The inscriptions were all engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark. The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: Denmark has 250 runestones, Norway has 50 while Iceland has none. Sweden has as many as between 1,700 and 2,500 depending on definition. The Swedish district of Uppland has the highest concentration with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone, whereas Södermanland is second with 391. [1][2]
The largest group consists of 30 stones that mention England, and they are treated separately in the article England runestones. The runestones that talk of voyages to eastern Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East are treated separately in the article Varangian runestones and its subarticles.
The most notable of the Viking runestones is the Kjula Runestone in Södermanland, Sweden, and it contains a poem in Old Norse in the metre fornyrðislag that refers to the extensive warfare of a man called "Spear":[3]
saʀ vestarla
um vaʀit hafði,
borg um brutna
i ok um barða;
færð han karsaʀ
kunni allaʀ.
who had been
in the west,
broken down and fought
in townships.
He knew all
the journey's fortresses.
Below follows a presentation of the runestones based on the Rundata project. The transcriptions into Old Norse are in the Swedish and Danish dialect to facilitate comparison with the inscriptions, while the English translation provided by Rundata gives the names in the de facto standard dialect (the Icelandic and Norwegian dialect):
^"Runestones: Words from the Viking Age". 4 April 2013.
^"The Stunning Viking Runestones of Scandinavia". Forbes.
^The poem for Sö 106 at Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages Archived September 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
Stockholm The Vikingrunestones are runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Viking expeditions. This article treats the runestone that refer...
definition). Denmark has 250 runestones, and Norway has 50. There are also runestones in other areas reached by the Viking expansion, especially in the...
erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but the majority of the extant runestones date from...
Stockholm The England runestones (Swedish: Englandsstenarna) are a group of about 30 runestones in Scandinavia which refer to Viking Age voyages to England...
Copenhagen Gothenburg Stockholm The Greece runestones (Swedish: Greklandsstenarna) are about 30 runestones containing information related to voyages made...
Copenhagen Gothenburg Stockholm The Ingvar runestones (Swedish: Ingvarstenarna) is the name of around 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration...
It is one of few surviving runestones with exclusively pagan illustrations from Norse mythology. Most surviving runestones were raised during the 11th...
expeditions runestones. In addition, there were also voyages to Western Europe mentioned on runestones that are treated in the articles VikingRunestones, England...
"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...
members are commemorated on runestones, such as the VikingRunestones and the England Runestones. One example is the Komstad Runestone which was raised in memory...
include the England runestones (Swedish: Englandsstenarna) which is a group of about 30 runestones in Sweden which refer to Viking Age voyages to England...
Stockholm The England runestones (Swedish: Englandsstenarna) is a group of about 30 runestones in Sweden which refer to Viking Age voyages to England...
A number of runestones have been found in Oklahoma. All of them are of modern origin dating to the 19th century "Viking revival" or were produced by 19th-century...
memorials called runestones throughout Scandinavia. The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: Denmark has 250 runestones, Norway has 50 while...
Europe mentioned on runestones that are treated in the articles Vikingrunestones, England runestones and Hakon Jarl runestones. Below follows a presentation...
The Manx runestones were made by the Norse population on the Isle of Man during the Viking Age, mostly in the 10th century. Despite its small size, the...
Norse proper appears by c. AD 800. While there are remains of Vikingrunestones from the Viking Age, today they are rare, and vary in use of orthography depending...
reflected by the largest group of runestones that talk of foreign voyages, such as those known as the Greece Runestones. These were raised by former members...
Urnes-Romanesque Style does not appear on runestones which suggests that the tradition of making runestones had died out when the mixed style made its...
Thor's hammer, or Mjöllnir. Other surviving runestones or inscriptions depicting Thor's hammer include runestones U 1161 in Altuna, Sö 86 in Åby, Sö 111 in...
Arabia and Central Asia can be found in runestones erected in Scandinavia by the relatives of fallen Viking adventurers. Several of these refer to men...
The Tullstorp Runestone is a Viking Age memorial runestone, listed as DR 271 in the Rundata catalog, that is located in Tullstorp, which is about twenty...
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...
lasted into the 12th century, most runestones in Scandinavia date from the late Viking Age. The Stenkvista runestone, which currently lies in a churchyard...
/ 59.600°N 18.117°E / 59.600; 18.117 The Orkesta Runestones are a set of 11th-century runestones engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark alphabet...
Oklahoma Narragansett Runestone, marked stone visible during low tide in Rhode Island Spirit Pond runestones, several small runestones found in Maine Maine...
Oslo Copenhagen Gothenburg Stockholm The Italy runestones are three or four Varangian runestones from 11th-century Sweden that tell of warriors who died...
The Skern Runestone, designated as Danish Runic Inscription 81 or DR 81 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone located in the small...
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