Åsmund Kåresson was 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,...

 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...

 who flourished during the first half of the 11th century in 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...

 and Gästrikland

Gästrikland

' is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Uppland, Västmanland, Dalarna, Hälsingland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Gästrikland is the southernmost of the Norrland provinces....

, 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....

. The early 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...

 is represented in his art.

Work

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 stonemason. During the 11th century, when most runestones were raised, there were a few professional runemasters. Åsmund was active mainly in Uppland, and about twenty runestones are signed by him and an additional thirty stones have been attributed to him. The ornamentation is characterized by variation with firmness and security in the composition. Åsmund is the inventor of the classic Uppland runestone style with one or two animals (rundjur) showing their heads in profile.

One inscription that was found at Bo gård on the island of Lidingö

Lidingö

Lidingö is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, located north east of central Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. It is also the seat of Lidingö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 44,000 inhabitants in 2011....

, listed in 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...

 as U Fv1986;84

Uppland Runic Inscription Fv1986 84

Runic inscription U Fv1986;84 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial that is located at Bo gård on the island of Lidingö in Uppland, Sweden.-Description:...

, is signed by Åsmund and dedicated to his grandfather named Steinn. The stone's runic text also states that Steinn's sons were named Sibbi, Geirbjôrn, and Ulfr, but it is not known if one of these was the father of Åsmund. In addition, in two inscriptions, U 956 in Vedyxa and Gs 11 in Järvsta, Åsmund listed his patronym with the text osmuntr kara sun or "Ásmundr Kári's son."

It has been suggested that Åsmund was identical with the English clergyman Osmundus

Osmundus

Osmundus was a clergyman favoured by Emund the Old, the king of Sweden in the mid-11th century.King Emund appointed Osmundus as archbishop of the Swedish church in Skara, probably to make Sweden independent from Adalbert of Hamburg, the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen...

 who became bishop at the court of king Emund the Old, but the reasons for this identification are not deemed sufficient.

Inscriptions

Over twenty inscriptions are listed 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 as being signed by Åsmund including U 301 in Skånela, the now-lost U 346 in Frösunda, U 356 in Ängby, the now-lost U 368 in Helgåby, U 824 in Holm, U 847 in Västeråker, U 859 in Måsta, U 871 in Ölsta, U 884 in Ingla, U 932 at 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...

, U 956 in Vedyxa, U 969 in Bolsta, the now-lost U 986 in Kungsgården, U 998 in Skällerö, U 1142 in Åbyggeby, U 1144

Uppland Runic Inscription 1144

This runic inscription, designated as U 1144 in the Rundata catalog, is on a Viking Age memorial runestone that is located in Tierp, Uppsala County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Uppland.-Description:...

 in Tierp, U 1149 in Fleräng, U Fv1986;84 in Bo gård, U Fv1988;241 in Rosersberg, Gs 11 in Järvsta, Gs 12 in Lund, and Gs 13 in Söderby.