This runic inscription, designated as U 448 in the Rundata

Rundata

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...

 catalog, is on 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,...

 memorial

Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....

 runestone located in Harg, which is about 4 kilometers north of Märsta

Märsta

Märsta is a suburb of Metropolitan Stockholm, a locality and the seat of Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 23,416 inhabitants in 2008. The town is situated close to Stockholms main international airport, Arlanda. Even if its origins go back to around 500 AD Märsta is a wide spread...

, Stockholm County

Stockholm County

Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...

, 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....

, which was in the historic province of Uppland

Uppland

Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...

.

Description

The design of this inscription consists of runic text inscribed within a serpent band which circles the stylized figures of a man on a horse and of a bird. The stone is composed of granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 and is 1.9 meters in height. The inscription is tentatively classified as being carved in runestone style Pr3, which is also known as Urnes style

Urnes style

The Urnes style was the last phase of Scandinavian animal art during the second half of the 11th century and in the early 12th century. The preceding phases of Scandinavia's Viking Age animal ornamentation are usually categorized as Oseberg style, Borre style, Jelling style, Mammen style and...

. This runestone style is characterized by slim and stylized animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animal heads on Pr3 inscriptions are typically seen in profile with slender almond-shaped eyes and upwardly curled appendages on the noses and the necks. Based on stylistic analysis, the inscription has been attributed to the Swedish 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...

 Fot

Fot

Fot was a runemaster who flourished in mid-11th century Sweden.-Career: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...

, who was active in Sweden in the mid-eleventh century. Fot was noted for the consistency of his use of the punctuation mark × between the words in the runic inscription, which is evident in the runic text of this inscription.

The runic text states that the stone was raised by Ígull and Bjôrn as a memorial to their father Þorsteinn. The name Þorsteinn contains as a theophoric name element the Norse pagan

Norse paganism

Norse paganism is the religious traditions of the Norsemen, a Germanic people living in the Nordic countries. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe in the Viking Age...

 god 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...

, and means "Thor's Stone." One word of the runic text, sinn, has been implied based upon similar inscriptions on memorial stones for a portion of the text that was damaged and lost.
The inscription includes a depiction of a bird and a figure on a horse. The bird in the upper center of the inscription has been identified, due to its tail, as possibly being a peacock, which in the early Catholic Church was used as a symbol of rebirth and resurrection

Resurrection

Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...

. Alternatively, the bird may also be a forest bird such as a black grouse

Black Grouse

The Black Grouse or Blackgame is a large bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal...

 or capercaillie. Other Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n runestones that include depictions of horses include DR 96 in Ålum, N 61 in Alstad, Sö 101 in Ramsundsberget, Sö 226

Södermanland Runic Inscription 226

Södermanland Runic Inscription 226 or Sö 226 is the Rundata catalog listing for a Viking Age memorial runestone located in Norra Stutby, which is about eight kilometers north of Sorunda, Stockholm County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Södermanland.-Description:The inscription on Sö...

 in Norra Stutby, Sö 239 in Häringe, Sö 327 in Göksten, U 375 in Vidbo, U 599 in Hanunda, U 691 in Söderby, U 855

Böksta Runestone

The Böksta runestone is a Viking Age memorial runestone that is located near the farm of Böksta in Balingsta, which is about four kilometers southwest of Ramstalund, Uppsala County, Sweden, in the historic province of Upsalla.-Description:...

 in Böksta, U 901 in Håmö, U 935 at the Uppsala Cathedral

Uppsala Cathedral

Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the...

, and U 1003 in Frötuna.

Inscription

Runic text

_ᚴᚢᛚ᛫ᛅᚢᚴ᛫ᛒᛁᚢᚱᚾ᛫ᛚᛁᛏᚢ᛫ᚱᛅᛁᛋᛅ᛫ᛋᛏᛅᛁᚾ᛫ᛂᚠᛏᛁᛦ᛫ᚦᚢᚱᛋᛏᛅᛁᚾ᛫ᚠᛅᚦᚢᚱ____

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

(i)kul × auk × biurn × litu × raisa × stain × eftiR × þurstain × faþur ...

Transcription into Old Norse

Ígull ok Bjôrn létu reisa stein eptir Þorstein, fôður [sinn].

Translation in English

Ígull and Bjôrn had the stone raised in memory of Þorsteinn, their father.