Vallentuna Area Runestones
Runestones
usually commemorate fallen warriors and other distinguished persons.
Runes were used to write messages, but they were also thought to
have magical powers (some folks still use them like a Tarot deck).
In the Scandinavian mind, runes were connected with the god Odin (aka
Woden). Their use in divination is described in Tacitus' Germania and probably referred to in Beowulf as well. I'll deal as succinctly as I can with each of these threads.
But first let's look at some runes. The key below is taken from one of the informative steel plates to be found near all the Uppland runestones I saw. 
It's called a futhork,
not an alphabet, because of the first six characters. (The third rune, thorn, represents the th sound.) If you use it to
begin deciphering the inscriptions on this page (how's your Old
Norse?), be aware that there are a few wild-card runes. For example in
U236, at the bottom of the page, some runes are in an abbreviated
"short-twig" format. In short-twig style the right wing of the T-rune
is missing, and the S-rune is cut down to leave only the upper vertical
stroke.
Another complication is that since this shortened viking-period futhork
has only 14 characters, several have to cover a number of sounds. For
example, the U-rune can also denote the o,v, w and y sounds.
It's
intriguing to experiment with rune interpretation, but many runic
inscriptions are considered indecipherable, even by experts. The ones
on this page don't seem all that obscure, though. If you get drawn into
it, you'll find stacks of helpful sites on the Web; a few are listed at
the bottom of this page.
Monuments to Fallen WarriorsThis inscription starts at the serpent's tail and works round to the head. The last words (after kuth,
God) are outside the band of the serpent's body. Some of these runes
are 'short-twig', like the O-rune right in front of the serpent's nose.
Many hobbyists have become proficient at reading runes. I got
this transliteration into Old Norse, and the following translation into
English, with a little help from my friends at Wikipedia. The
transliteration goes:
thiagn.uk.kutirfR.uk.sunatr.uk.thurulf.thir.litu.risa.stin.thina.iftiR.tuka.fathur.sin
.on.furs.ut i.krikum.kuth.ialbi ot ans.ot.uk.salu
In English, this means,
"Thegn
and Gautdjarf and Sunnhvat and Thorulf, they had this stone raised
after (in memory of) Toke, their father. He perished out in
Greece. God help his spirit and soul."
As with the stone in Copenhagen's Nationalmuseet, this one has words which are recognizable to an English-speaker even if you (like me) have little linguistic ability: Thorulf, raise, stone, after, father.
This stone dates to around 1010 - 1050 CE.
It was not unusual for stones to end up in walls of later
buildings, and this one was laid into the wall of Angarns Kyrka (13th
century), near Vallentuna, north of Stockholm.
The
commemoration of fallen warriors is the most frequent ostensible use
for the runestones I've seen and read about in Uppland. (Another is the
establishment of property and inheritance rights by the deceased's
survivors - which I won't be discussing.)
Commemoration's an important
concern in Beowulf, too. As the young Beowulf says to Hrothgar,
" ... Each of us must expect an end
of worldly life; let him who can, earn
fame before death; that's the finest thing
for the warrior, after he's dead. ..." (lines 1386-89)
Fifty
years later, with his own death imminent, Beowulf asks that a towering
barrow be built as his monument, on a cliff by the sea, so that sailors
from far away over the sea's darkness
will call it thereafter Beowulf's barrow." (lines 2806-08)
Odin Brings Runes to Humankind The story of Odin's acquisition of runes comes from the poem Havamal, of which only one copy is known (it's the second item in the 13th-century Icelandic Codex Regius,
also called the Elder Edda). In the excerpts quoted below from the most readable
translation I could find (by W.H. Auden and P.B. Taylor), Odin (here spelled Odhinn) himself
is the speaker. It's clear from Odin's subsequent words (and from
Tacitus, next item) that runes are supposed to have power not just to communicate
meaning, but to perform magic as well. The "wind-swept gallows" is a mythical tree, the world-ash, Yggdrasil.
139
Wounded I hung on a wind-swept gallows
For nine long nights,
Pierced by a spear, pledged to Odhinn,
Offered, myself to myself
The wisest know not from whence spring
The roots of that ancient rood
140
I looked down;
with a loud cry
I took up runes;
from that tree I fell. ...
142
Runes you will find, and readable staves,
Very strong staves,
Very stout staves, ...
144
Know how to cut them, know how to read them,
Know how to stain them, know how to prove them,
Know how to evoke them, know how to score them,
Know how to send them; ...
- You can get the whole translation at this site
In
a more naturalistic account Else Roesdahl says that Viking-Age
runes "developed from the runic script created in the centuries
following the birth of Christ and used by many Germanic tribes. The
earliest known runic inscriptions are from Scandinavia and date from
around A.D. 200." --(The Vikings, page 47)
Other
sources say that these characters were adapted from Greek letters by
tribes who were in contact with that civilization in classical times.
This would agree with the dating suggested by Tacitus, below. The
original application was to incise them into wood, which was more
easily done if the strokes were vertical or at an angle to the vertical
- that is, across the grain. Rounded shapes like those in the R-rune and the
Th- rune (thorn) returned with the practice of carving them in stone.
Tacitus Reports on Runes as Tools for DivinationDescribing the customs of the Germanic tribes he mostly admires, the Roman historian Tacitus, in 98 CE reports that:
For
auspices and casting of lots they have the highest possible regard.
[They mark pieces of fruitwood with runes and then] throw them ... onto
a white cloth. Then the priest of the State ... after a prayer to the
gods and an intent gaze heavenward, picks up three, one at a time, and
reads their meaning from the runes carved on them.
- Germania 10, Mattingley translation, Penguin, (pages 108-09)
Rune-reading in BeowulfIf you're familiar with Beowulf,
you'll know that when Grendel attacks the Geats in Heorot, Beowulf
wounds him mortally by tearing his arm off. The next night Grendel's
mother raids the hall and makes off with Hrothgar's closest retainer, a
man named Aeschere. The morning after, Beowulf asks if Hrothgar's had a
good night...
Hrothgar spoke, the Scyldings' protector:
"Don't you ask about joy! Sorrow is renewedfor the Danish people. Dead is Aeschere,Yrmenlaf's elder brother,my rune-reader and my advisor, ...a supreme prince; such Aeschere was! ..." (lines 1320-29)
In the opening paragraph I said "probably" in Beowulf because some would question whether runwita
really means "rune-reader", as I translated it. I think it does. I
admit I like it better than "confidant" or "trusted counsellor" because
it sounds so much more like the original word. The other word Hrothgar
applies to Aeschere's role is raedbora,
which definitely means "advisor", "counsellor", "helper". Thus it makes
more sense to assume the poet, a fine craftsperson, would be giving
different information in the first word, not merely repeating him (or
her-)self.
Runes enter the poem dramatically when Beowulf
returns from his near-fatal fight with Grendel's mother, and brings Hrothgar a sword hilt with runstafas
(rune-staves) on it. The runes tell the story of how God drowned the
giants who had turned against him with a flood. Hrothgar gazes on the
hilt. It seems he understands something from them, though he lacks his
friend Aeschere to interpret them. Perhaps he has learned to read runes
himself.
Then he launches into praise for Beowulf and a sermon against arrogance.
Runestones at Angarns Kyrka,
near Vallentuna, Uppland This is Angarns Kyrka with its vapnhus,
an antechamber where weapons were checked before entering the church.
Especially in the early days after conversion
to Christianity,
there must have been cases of violence breaking out between
churchgoers. It certainly happened between Icelandic settlers in
Greenland, as reported in Einar Sokkason's Saga, when a man named Ozur in around 1125 CE complained about the Bishop during mass:
Einar
seized an axe from the hand of another worshipper and struck Ozur a
death-blow. The Bishop asked Einar, "Einar, did you cause Ozur's
death?" "Very true," said Einar, "I have." The Bishop's response was,
"Such acts of murder are not right. But this particular one is not
without justification."
- Quoted in Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Penguin, 2005, 2006, page 237.
When Hrothgar tells his retainer to admit Beowulf into Heorot, the man goes to the door and tells Beowulf,
"...let the war-shields and wooden battle-shafts
here await the council of words." (lines 397-98)
In other words, "check your weapons here at the door." Perhaps the vapenhus
or the principle underlying it was in force long before churches were
built in Scandinavia. Ante-rooms on old Norwegian churches are also
called vapenhus(es), I was told.
 (Right)
Roughly a hundred yards (meters) away from Angarns Kyrka itself,
perched on a rock outcrop, is the church's bell tower. Goran told me
this was a common practice with Swedish churches.
 (Left)
one of several runestones in the Angarns churchyard. This 11th-
century stone was raised by Orokia and Iato (Egil?) for their father
Thorbjorn.
 The Granby Runestone:
These
cows are keeping watch over Uppland's largest runic inscription, cut
into a huge boulder or rock outcrop at a farm near Vallentuna. It was
too big to photograph the whole thing in one shot, but
for an image of the whole Granby stone, transliteration and English translation of the runes, go to this Wikipedia page.
The
runes are arranged within a band formed by a serpent body forming an
outer ring in the design. Within that is an intricate interlace pattern
so dear to the hearts of viking craftsmen (and Anglo-Saxons and Celts
as well).
The carving is signed by Visati, who carved several other stones known in this area, such as the last one shown below.
(Left)
On a hillside overlooking fields that stretch to the horizon is this
stone, raised by "Jofrid, in honour of her man (husband), Spjalle."
(Below and right), these runes were obviously cut after Vallentuna
Kyrka
was built; it was inaugurated in 1198. Some of the runes are of a
more medieval (later than viking) style, with several short-twig
examples such as the A- and N- runes.
 I tried to crack this one unaided: I have no documentation on this inscription. It seems to say that Antur did something or other; my Old Norse is a bit rusty. Can you decipher it?
 This
double-sided runestone (left and below) was moved to Vallentuna Kyrka; its
original location isn't known. Side A says,
"Jarlabanki
had this stone
raised in memory of himself while alive. He alone owned all of
Tabyr.
May God help his spirit." Side B says, "Jarlabanki had this stone
raised to himself while alive, and made this assembly- place, and alone
owned all of this hundred." You can get transliterations and Old Norse
versions of these inscriptions here.
 These
stones are examples of monuments which commemorate contributions to the
public benefit by two wealthy farmers. Jarlabanki had road markers set
up in his own honour as well, like the last stone (below and left), in
honour of a man named Ulf (Wolf). For some reason this stone was my
favourite: its broad base suits it for its ancient function as a
roadside marker, and the runes are easy even for me to read.
The runes run from the snake's head to its tail and read (transliterated):
ulfsar . far . ilintiu . lata . raisa . thiia . staina . iftiR . fathur . sin . uk . brothur . uk . bru . karthu +
visati hiuk which means,
"Ulf's
heirs at Lindey had these stones raised and made the bridge after (in
honour of) their father and brother. Visati hewed (cut these
runes)."
Note that the A-, S- and T-runes in Visati's name are of the short-twig type.
There's a shot of this stone and the field behind it in winter, with the runic message translated into English. It's here.
Leave beowulf-country.org and visit other sites on
Runes and Runestones
Uppland Runestones:
Wow! Wikipedia has a directory of many of these stones, listed by their
official numbers, with transliterations, Old Norse and English versions
of their cryptic messages. Go to Wikipedia Uppland Runestones Directory.
Other runestones raised for men who died in Greece are described at this Wikipedia page.
Runes'n'ruins:
Someone named Peo has been doing a lot of work visiting,
photographing and documenting runestones, and building a website called
Runes'n'ruins
If you read Swedish, there's a database called Samnordisk Runtextdatabas on runestones available at rundata
The Municipality of Vallentuna has a web site here.
Book References
Else Roesdahl, The Vikings. Second Edition. Penguin Books, 1991, 1998. First published as Vikingernes verden by Gyldendal Copenhagen, 1987
You
need this book if you're very interested in vikings. She discusses
runes in "Language, Writing and Personal Names," pages 46-51.
Frans G. Bengtsson, The Long Ships, A Saga of the Viking Age. Translated from Swedish by Michael Meyer. London: Collins, 1954, reprinted HarperCollins, 1994. Paperback.
This
book's justly been called "a masterpiece of historical fiction." A
great read if you're interested in the lives of the
people commemorated on Swedish runestones. Bengtsson, a respected writer
and historian, must have done a lot of research for this fine novel
about a Swedish farm boy whose education begins when he is shanghaied by a
crew of vikings.
Osborn, Marijane. Beowulf: A Verse Translation. University of California Press, 1983.
It was Osborn who pointed out the parallel between the weapons-check-in at Heorot and the vapenhus on a typical Swedish church.
Other rune references on the beowulf-country.org site:
There's an older Anglo-Saxon futhark illustrated on the Waldere-Beowulf Connection page.
And there's a Danish runestone at Copenhagen Nationalmuseet
Other pages in Sweden:
If
you'd rather search in England, Denmark or Norway, click on one of these
links:
London,
Maldon and Sutton Hoo:
Copenhagen, Roskilde and Lejre:
Oslo, Bygdoy and Bergen:Norway-Beowulf-resources
Copyright: The quotations
from Beowulf are from Mike Walton's The
Book of Beowulf (Cayuga, Ontario: Copyright 2007), pages 38, 67, 69 and 117. You may
use the materials on this site for an essay or for private Beowulf
study, but not commercially. Do credit
your source!
Thanks Again! to Goran and Ingrid Eklund, for enabling me to see far more than I could have without their help.
Take
me to 6 Anglo-Saxon Poems Take me to Versions-of-Beowulffor recommended editions, translations movies, other media children's versions Home! 
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