The Hærulf Runestone is a Viking Age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

 runestone located north of Hovslund's station in Southern Jutland

Southern Jutland

Southern Jutland is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark. The region north of the Kongeå is called Nørrejylland . Both territories had their own ting assemblies in the Middle Ages . South Jutland is mentioned for the first time in the Knýtlinga saga.In the 13th century...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

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Description

The Hærulf Runestone dates from the 10th century and is classified as being carved in runestone style

Runestone styles

The runestone styles varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increasingly complex and made by travelling runemasters such as Öpir and Visäte....

 RAK. This is the classification for inscriptions with runic bands that have straight ends without any attached serpent or beast heads. The stone was originally located at Øster Løgum near the north-south Jutland highway

European route E45

The European route E 45 goes between Sweden and Italy, through Denmark, Germany and Austria. With a length of about , it is the longest north-south European route...

. It is notable not only for its short inscription, which is the name Hærulf, but for having been taken to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 as war booty in 1864. It was not until 1952 that the stone was returned to Denmark near to its original location. Although the inscription only has a single word, a single dot, which is normally a punctuation mark used as a word divider, has been placed before and after the runes hairulfR for the name Hærulf. This name is a shortened form of the Proto-Norse name Hariwulfa or HariwulfR, which means either "Warrior-Wolf" or "War Host-Wolf," that is attested to on the Istaby

Istaby Runestone

The Istaby Runestone, listed in the Rundata catalog as DR 359, is a runestone with an inscription in Proto-Norse which was raised in Istaby, Blekinge, Sweden, during the Vendel era....

 and Stentoften Runestone

Stentoften Runestone

The Stentoften Runestone, listed in the Rundata catalog as DR 357, is a runestone which contains a curse in Proto-Norse that was discovered in Stentoften, Blekinge, Sweden....

s.

The stone is known locally as the Hærulfstenen.