Ardre image stone
Encyclopedia
Stånga
Stånga is a locality situated in Gotland Municipality, Gotland County, Sweden with 342 inhabitants in 2005....
, Gotland County
Gotland County
Gotland County is a county or län of Sweden. Gotland is located in the Baltic Sea to the east of Öland, and is the largest of Sweden's islands. Counties are usually sub-divided into municipalities, but Gotland County only consists of one municipality: Gotland Municipality. Gotland County at...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
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Description
The Ardre image stones were re-used as paving under the wooden floors of the local church in the Ardre parish of GotlandGotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
. Before the historical significance of rune and image stones was understood, they were often used as materials in the construction of roads, bridges, and buildings. The image stones were re-discovered when the church was being restored around 1900. The stones are now preserved in the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden that covers Swedish cultural history and art from the Stone Age to the 16th century...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
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Ardre VIII
The largest and most famous of the stones is the Ardre VIII stone, dated to the 8th or 9th century, depicts scenes from Norse mythologyNorse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, notably the Lay of Weyland the smith
Völundarkviða
Völundarkviða is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda...
, Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
fishing for Jörmungandr
Jörmungandr
In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr , mostly known as Jormungand, orJörmungand , or Midgard Serpent , or World Serpent, is a sea serpent, and the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and the god Loki...
, the punishment of Loki
Loki
In Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...
for the death of Baldr, and Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
riding to Valhalla
Valhalla
In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...
on Sleipnir
Sleipnir
In Norse mythology, Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse. Sleipnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...
. Other images on this stone, such as the woman on the right with two swords, are not currently understood as they do not conform to any known Norse myth that has survived to the present time. The image-stone's longboat
Longboat
In the days of sailing ships, a vessel would carry several ship's boats for various uses. One would be a longboat, an open boat to be rowed by eight or ten oarsmen, two per thwart...
motif with its mariners somewhat resembles a depiction found on the Överhogdal tapestry
Överhogdal tapestries
The Överhogdal tapestries are a group of extraordinary well preserved textiles dating from the Viking Age that were discovered in Överhogdal, Sweden.-Discovery and dating:...
No. III from Härjedalen
Härjedalen
' is a historical province or landskap in the centre of Sweden. It borders the country of Norway as well as the provinces of Dalarna, Hälsingland, Medelpad, and Jämtland...
.
Ardre III
The inscription on one of the two sides of the Ardre III runestone, which is listed in RundataRundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base 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 for future research...
as Gotland Runic Inscription 113, consists of twin figure eight serpents with runic text in a band on the edge of the stone, while the second side has a single intertwined serpent with runic text on the edge of the stone. The inscription is classified as probably being in runestone style Pr3. The runic text, which is signed by a runemaster
Runemaster
A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones.Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probably carved messages on pieces of bone and wood. However, it was difficult to make runestones, and in order to master it one also needed to be a...
with the normalized
Runic transliteration and transcription
Runic transliteration and transcription are part of analysing a runic inscription which involves transliteration of the runes into Latin letters, transcription into a normalized spelling in the language of the inscription, and translation of the inscription into a modern language...
name of Likraiv, indicates that it was raised as a memorial with different sponsors for the inscriptions on each side of the stone.
Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters
- §A ÷ utar + ak + kaiRuatr + ak + aiuatr + þaR + setu + stain + ebtir + likna(t) + faþur ÷ sen +
- §B ÷ raþialbr + ak + kaiRaiau(t)- + þaiR kiarþu + merki + kuþ + ubtir + man + saaran ÷ likraibr + risti + runaR
Transcription into Old Norse
- §A Ottarr ok GæiRhvatr ok Æihvatr þæiR sattu stæin æftiR Liknhvat, faður sinn.
- §B RaðþialfR ok GæiRniut[r] þæiR gærðu mærki goð æftiR mann snaran. LiknræifR risti runaR.
Translation in English
- §A Óttarr and Geirhvatr and Eihvatr, they placed the stone in memory of Líknhvatr, their father.
- §B Ráðþjalfr and Geirnjótr, they made the good landmark in memory of ... man. Líknreifr carved the runes.
External links
- Photo of Ardre VIII
- Ardre VIII
- Photograph of Ardre III side A - Swedish National Heritage Board
- Photograph of Ardre III side B - Swedish National Heritage Board
- 700 - 900 bildsten Gotland (Swedish)
