Runestone

[Vasa]

Today i visited 4 runestones in the local area.

Åsgut raised this stone to Håsten. Actually there is three stones here beside each other but only two is written on, but only one is readable and the third one is just a raised stone. This is the best preserved stone.
http://i.imgur.com/Luk5S.jpg

Vasa in front of it.
http://i.imgur.com/ghTN7.jpg

Tryrik raised this stone to his three sons, good men, Olev made gold in Greece.
http://i.imgur.com/SCnSy.jpg

In front of the stone.
http://i.imgur.com/9UHj8.jpg

To be continued... :)

[Onur]

Today i visited 4 runestones in the local area.

Åsgut raised this stone to Håsten. Actually there is three stones here beside each other but only two is written on, but only one is readable and the third one is just a raised stone.
Are these replicas?

If those are authentic early medieval stones, then i cannot believe how come you let these stones remain unprotected in the open field!!! This is your true history and civilization unlike christianity from Palestine.

We have our own giant stones with Turkic runic script from 7th century but they are in today`s Mongolia. We built a museum on top of where the stones are, without moving them around, just to protect it, otherwise the carvings would be unreadable sooner or later from exposure to harsh weather and wind.

[Vasa]

Are these replicas?


No, its not replicas, every stone in Sweden is the one and only original. Some may have been repaired and others have been moved. But they all are always the real deal. The philosophy of preservation is that the stones should be preserved in their true environment and be experienced as such.

In just my town there is over 880 petroglyphs and runestones, makes it difficult to build museums over them all. ;)

As far as i am concerned no one even thinks about vandalising the stones or do any other harm. But, most of the stones that still exists are christian, because Christians smashed the heathen runestones and often used it as material to build the churches / walls around the churches.

[Dacul]

Are these replicas?

If those are authentic early medieval stones, then i cannot believe how come you let these stones remain unprotected in the open field!!! This is your true history and civilization unlike christianity from Palestine.

We have our own giant stones with Turkic runic script from 7th century but they are in today`s Mongolia. We built a museum on top of where the stones are, without moving them around, just to protect it, otherwise everything would be unreadable sooner or later from exposure to harsh weather and wind.

That is not written by turks but by vikings who raided till there.
Since some people told that you can actually read those stone in some viking language also,no ideea if it was old norse or old swedish or something like that.
David Faux said that Odin was turkish,but that is nonsense,because actually in bulgarian and icelandic and old norse exists very few words that are identical,but not present in other languages.If you go on Bulgaria family tree DNA you can see even there 25% of R1A1 from Bulgaria is identical on 13 markers with R1A1 you can find in Scotland and Norway.

David Faux did not found in altaians identical Y DNA with norse R1A1 on 13 markers,but very closed.

So in bulgarian you have for armor броня-bronya and in icelandic is brynja .
And y from bulgarian is read same with j from icelandic so is almost same word.
And if you look at people near bulgars or in people near icelanders,you can not find closed words for armor to icelandic or bulgarian,is called different.


Or thracian language skálmē - short sword,knife with old norse skolm for short sword ,knife and bulgarian and serbian kama for dagger (for bulgarian you have as primary use for dagger kama кама),see that in other european languages you can not find this word either.

EDIT:Forgot to write,Odin according to some old icelandic sagas was a trojan prince so Troy was near Thrakia - Troy was at Black Sea where Turkey is today and Thrakia where Bulgaria is today,so they were neighbors.
Besides trojans are described in those greek poems as fierce warriors and great seafarers,now I do not recall about turks being seafarers.

[Onur]

In just my town there is over 880 petroglyphs and runestones, makes it difficult to build museums over them all. ;)

As far as i am concerned no one even thinks about vandalising the stones or do any other harm. But, most of the stones that still exists are christian, because Christians smashed the heathen runestones and often used it as material to build the churches / walls around the churches.
There are 100s of Turkic runestones all over central Asia too but we built museum on top the most important and biggest four runestones.

It`s not only people but wind and weather are harmful to the carvings on it.


That is not written by turks but by vikings who raided till there.

Since some people told that you can actually read those stone in some viking language also,no ideea if it was old norse or old swedish or something like that.
Where did i say that the stones in Sweden written by Turks, you idiot?

Not only Turkic peoples was using runic script but Germanics was using it too, ofc in their own languages. Runes are just a script, an alphabet.


David Faux said that Odin was turkish,but that is nonsense,because actually in bulgarian and icelandic and old norse exists very few words that are identical,but not present in other languages.

Or thracian language skálmē - short sword,knife with old norse skolm for short sword ,knife and bulgarian and serbian kama for dagger (for bulgarian you have as primary use for dagger kama кама),see that in other european languages you can not find this word either.
I know that some Scandinavian scholars said that Odin was a Turk, because of common runic script and same naturalist, shamanic beliefs like tree of life but those were never proven.

Btw, we use kama in Turkish too, as well as other Turkic speakers. I think it`s an ancient Turkic word. Bulgars are already Turkic peoples, so ofc they were using runic script too before converting to christianity.

[Talvi]

That is not written by turks but by vikings who raided till there.
Since some people told that you can actually read those stone in some viking language also,no ideea if it was old norse or old swedish or something like that.
David Faux said that Odin was turkish,but that is nonsense,because actually in bulgarian and icelandic and old norse exists very few words that are identical,but not present in other languages.If you go on Bulgaria family tree DNA you can see even there 25% of R1A1 from Bulgaria is identical on 13 markers with R1A1 you can find in Scotland and Norway.

David Faux did not found in altaians identical Y DNA with norse R1A1 on 13 markers,but very closed.

So in bulgarian you have for armor броня-bronya and in icelandic is brynja .
And y from bulgarian is read same with j from icelandic so is almost same word.
And if you look at people near bulgars or in people near icelanders,you can not find closed words for armor to icelandic or bulgarian,is called different.


Or thracian language skálmē - short sword,knife with old norse skolm for short sword ,knife and bulgarian and serbian kama for dagger (for bulgarian you have as primary use for dagger kama кама),see that in other european languages you can not find this word either.

He said that the stones in Mongolia are from the 7th century. Isnt that a bit too early for vikings?

Also Bulgarian and Scandinavian languages are both indo-european. You cant really be surprised that there are similar words...

[Vasa]

He said that the stones in Mongolia are from the 7th century. Isnt that a bit too early for vikings?

Also Bulgarian and Scandinavian languages are both indo-european. You cant really be surprised that there are similar words...

Atleast in my town there is stones raised early as 4th century. Also documented that the vikings raided on frisian coasts already around 5th century. So, no its not to early.

[Sarmatian]

So in bulgarian you have for armor броня-bronya and in icelandic is brynja .
And y from bulgarian is read same with j from icelandic so is almost same word.
And if you look at people near bulgars or in people near icelanders,you can not find closed words for armor to icelandic or bulgarian,is called different.

In fact 'броня' is Russian word too and I believe its common for all Slavic languages. Have to ask Polaks and Serbs.

[Dacul]

If it was not clear I said that runestones from today Turkey were written by vikings.
I do not know what scandinavian scholars believe that Odin was a turk.
Thor Heyerdhal sugested that Odin was from Armenia,but that is not turkish,is caucasian and is very close to where Troy was.

In case you do not know,old azeri language was an indo-european language,from indo-iranian branch,so an aryan language,so Thor Heyerdhal does not suggest Odin was turk,but indo-iranian,aryan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Azari_language

There is a simple thing that shows that Odin was not turkish,the fact that turks do not have any tradition of sailing,while trojans,which were neighbors to thracians,were very good sailors.

Besides,bulgars were not any kind of "turkish people" but slavic people,related to russians.This is told by Y DNA.

[Adrian]

A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century, and it lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones date from the late Viking Age. Most runestones are located in Scandinavia, but there are also scattered runestones in locations that were visited by Norsemen during the Viking Age. Runestones are often memorials to deceased men. Runestones were usually brightly colored when erected, though this is no longer evident as the color has worn off.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/U_240%2C_Lingsberg.JPG
The Lingsberg Runestone, Sweden, known as U 240

[Adrian]

History

The tradition of raising stones that had runic inscriptions first appeared in the 4th and 5th century in Norway and Sweden, and these early runestones were usually placed next to graves. The earliest Danish runestones appeared in the 6th and 7th centuries, and there are about 50 runestones from the Migration Period in Scandinavia. Most runestones were erected during the period 950-1100 CE, and then they were mostly raised in Sweden and Denmark, and to a lesser degree in Norway.

The tradition is mentioned in both Ynglinga saga and Hávamál:

For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood a standing stone, a custom that remained long after Odin's time.
—The Ynglinga saga

A son is better,
though late he be born,
And his father to death have fared;
Memory-stones
seldom stand by the road
Save when kinsman honors his kin.
—Hávamál

What resulted in the production of most runestone was a trend that began in Denmark in the 960s. King Harald Bluetooth had just been baptized and in order to mark the arrival of a new order and a new age, he commanded the construction of a runestone.
The inscription reads
King Haraldr ordered this monument made in memory of Gormr, his father, and in memory of Þyrvé, his mother; that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.

The runestone has three sides of which two are decorated with images. On one side, there is an animal that is the prototype of the runic animals that would be commonly engraved on runestones, and on another side there is Denmark's oldest depiction of Jesus. Shortly after this stone had been made, something happened in Scandinavia's runic tradition. Scores of chieftains and powerful Norse clans consciously tried to imitate King Harald, and from Denmark a runestone wave spread northwards through Sweden. In most districts, the fad died out after a generation, but, in the central Swedish provinces of Uppland and Södermanland, the fashion lasted into the 12th century.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Runestone_from_Snoldelev%2C_East_Zealand%2C_Denmar k.jpg
The Snoldelev stone, one of the oldest runestones in Denmark

[Adrian]

Distribution

There are about 3,000 runestones among the c. 6,000 runic inscriptions in Scandinavia. There are also runestones in other parts of the world as the tradition of raising runestones followed the Norsemen wherever they went, from the Isle of Man (Manx Runestones) in the west to the Black Sea in the east (Berezan' Runestone), and from Jämtland in the north to Schleswig in the south.
The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: Denmark has 250 runestones, Norway has 50 while Iceland has none. Sweden has as many as between 1,700 and 2,500 depending on definition. The Swedish district of Uppland has the highest concentration with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone, whereas Södermanland is second with 391.

Outside of Scandinavia, the Isle of Man stands out with its 30 runestones from the 9th century and early 11th century. Scattered runestones have also been found in England, Ireland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands. With the exception of the runestone on Berezan', there are no runestones in Eastern Europe, which probably is due to a lack of available stones and the fact that the local population probably did not treat the foreigners' stones with much respect.

Runestones were placed on selected spots in the landscape, such as assembly locations, roads, bridge constructions, and fords. In medieval churches, there are often runestones that have been inserted as construction material, and it is debated whether they were originally part of the church location or had been moved there. In southern Scania, runestones can be tied to large estates that also had churches constructed on their land. In the Mälaren Valley, the runestones appear to be placed so that they mark essential parts of the domains of an estate, such as courtyard, grave field, and borders to neighbouring estates. Runestones usually appear as single monuments and more rarely as pairs. In some cases, they are part of larger monuments together with other raised stones.

However, although scholars know where 95% of all runestones were discovered, only c. 40% were discovered in their original location. The remainder have been found in churches, roads, bridges, graves, farms, and water routes. On the other hand scholars agree that the stones were not moved very far from their original sites.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Rune_stone_density-km2-Sweden.svg

[Adrian]

Effect of religion

In many districts,50% of the stone inscriptions have traces of Christianity, but, in Uppland, which has the highest concentration of runic inscriptions in the world, c. 70% of the 1,196 stone inscriptions are explicitly Christian, which is shown by engraved crosses or added Christian prayers, and only a few runestones are not Christian.

Scholars have suggested that the reason why so many Christian runestones were raised in Uppland is that the district was the focal point in the conflict between Norse paganism and the newly Christianized King of Sweden. It is possible that the chieftains tried to demonstrate their allegiance to the king and to display their Christian faith to the world and to God by adding Christian crosses and prayers on their runestones. What speaks against this theory is the fact that Norway, Denmark, and Götaland did not have any corresponding development in the runestone tradition. Moreover, not a single runestone declares that there was any relationship towards the king. Additionally, the runestones appear to show that the conversion was a rather peaceful process.

According to another theory, it was a social fashion that was popular among certain clans, but not among all of them. Once some clans in southern Uppland had begun to raise runestones, neighbouring clans emulated them. However, in parts where these clans were less influential, the runestone raising did not reach the same popularity. Several scholars have pointed out the long Viking expeditions and the considerable amassment of wealth in the district. At this time, Swedish chieftains near Stockholm had created considerable fortunes through trade and pillaging both in the East and in the West. They had seen the Danish Jelling Stones or they had been inspired by English high crosses and other monuments.

The runestones show the different ways in which Christianity changed Norse society, and one of the greatest changes involved no longer burying the deceased on the clan's grave field among his ancestors. Instead, he was buried in the cemetery of the church, while the runestone would serve as a memorial at the homestead, but for certain families, there was less change as they had churches built adjoining the family grave field.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/S%C3%B6_111%2C_Stenkvista.jpg
The Stenkvista runestone in Södermanland, Sweden, shows Thor's hammer instead of a cross. Only two such runestones are known.

[Adrian]

Inscriptions

The main purpose of a runestone was to mark territory, to explain inheritance, to boast about constructions, to bring glory to dead kinsmen and to tell of important events. In some parts of Uppland, the runestones also appear to have functioned as social and economical markers.

Virtually all the runestones from the late Viking Age make use of the same formula. The text tells in memory of whom the runestone is raised, who raised it, and often how the deceased and the one who raised the runestone are related to each other. Also, the inscription can tell the social status of the dead person, possible foreign voyage, place of death, and also a prayer, as in the following example, the Lingsberg Runestone U 241:

And Danr and Húskarl and Sveinn had the stone erected in memory of Ulfríkr, their father's father. He had taken two payments in England. May God and God's mother help the souls of the father and son.

Stone raisers

Most runestones were raised by men and only one runestone in eight is raised by a single woman, while at least 10% are raised by a woman together with several men. It is common that the runestones were raised by sons and widows of the deceased, but they could also be raised by sisters and brothers. It is almost only in Uppland, Södermanland, and Öland that women raised runestones together with male relatives. It is not known why many people such as sisters, brothers, uncles, parents, housecarls, and business partners can be enumerated on runestones, but it is possible that it is because they are part of the inheritors.

Those commemorated

A vast majority, 94%, are raised in memory of men, but, contrary to common perception, the vast majority of the runestones are raised in memory of people who died at home. The most famous runestones and those that people tend to think of are those that tell of foreign voyages, but they comprise only c. 10% of all runestones, and they were raised in usually memory of those not having returned from Viking expeditions and not as tributes to those having returned. These runestones contain roughly the same message as the majority of the runestones, which is that people wanted to commemorate one or several dead kinsmen.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Aarhus_mask_stone.jpg
The Mask Stone (DR 66) found in Aarhus, Denmark commemorates a battle between two kings and features a stylized depiction of a mask.

[Adrian]

Expeditions in the East

The first man who scholars know fell on the eastern route was the East Geat Eyvindr whose fate is mentioned on the 9th century Kälvesten Runestone. The epitath reads:

Styggr/Stigr made this monument in memory of Eyvindr, his son. He fell in the east with Eivísl. Víkingr colored and Grímulfr.

It is unfortunate for historians that the stones rarely reveal where the men died. On the Smula Runestone in Västergötland, we are informed only that they died during a war campaign in the East: "Gulli/Kolli raised this stone in memory of his wife's brothers Ásbjôrn and Juli, very good valiant men. And they died in the east in the retinue". Another runemaster in the same province laconically states on the Dalum Runestone: "Tóki and his brothers raised this stone in memory of their brothers. One died in the west, another in the east".

The single country that is mentioned on most runestone is the Byzantine Empire, which at the time comprised most of Asia Minor and the Balkans, as well as a part of Southern Italy. If a man died in the Byzantine Empire, no matter how he had died or in which province, the event was mentioned laconically as "he died in Greece". Sometimes an exception could be made for Southern Italy, which was known as the land of the Lombards, such as Inga's Óleifr who, it is presumed, was a member of the Varangian Guard, and about whom the Djulafors Runestone in Södermanland says: "Inga raised this stone in memory of Óleifr, her ... He ploughed his stern to the east, and met his end in the land of the Lombards."
Other Norsemen died in Gardariki (Russia and Ukraine) such as Sigviðr on the Esta Runestone who his son Ingifastr reported had died in Novgorod (Holmgarðr): "He fell in Holmgarðr, the ship's leader with the seamen." There were others who died not as far from home and it appears that there were close contacts with Estonia due to many personal names such as Æistfari ("traveller to Estonia"), Æistulfr ("Wolf of Estonians") and Æistr ("Estonian"). One of the runestones that report of deaths in Estonia is the Ängby Runestone which tells that a Björn had died in Vironia (Virland).
There were many ways to die as reported by the runestones. The Åda Runestone reports that Bergviðr drowned during a voyage to Livonia, and the Sjonhem Runestone tells that the Gotlander Hróðfúss was killed in a treacherous way by what was probably a people in the Balkans. The most famous runestones that tell of eastern voyages are the Ingvar Runestones which tell of Ingvar the Far-Travelled's expedition to Serkland, i.e., the Muslim world. It ended in tragedy as none of the more than 25 runestones that were raised in its memory tells of any survivor.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/%C3%96g_8%2C_V%C3%A4stra_Steninge.jpg
The Kälvesten Runestone, Sweden

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/S%C3%B6_65%2C_Djulefors.jpg
The Djulafors Runestone, Sweden


Expeditions in the West

Other Vikings travelled westwards. The Anglo-Saxon rulers paid large sums, Danegelds, to Vikings, who mostly came from Denmark and who arrived to the English shores during the 990s and the first centuries of the 11th century. What may be part of a Danegeld has been found submerged in a creek in Södra Betby in Södermanland, Sweden. At the location, there is also a runestone with the text: "[...] raise the stone in memory of Jôrundr, his son, who was in the west with Ulfr, Hákon's son." It is not unlikely that the voyage westwards is connected with the English silver treasure. Other runestones are more explicit with the Danegelds. Ulf of Borresta who lived in Vallentuna travelled westwards several times, as reported on the Yttergärde Runestone:

And Ulfr has taken three payments in England. That was the first that Tosti paid. Then Þorketill paid. Then Knútr paid.

Tosti may have been the Swedish chieftain Skoglar Tosti who is otherwise only mentioned by Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla and who Snorri reports to have been a "great warrior" who "was out for long periods of time on war expeditions". Þorketill was Thorkell the Tall, one of the most famous Viking chieftains, and who often stayed in England. Knútr is no one else but Canute the Great, who became king of England in 1016.
Canute sent home most of the Vikings who had helped him conquer England, but he kept a strong bodyguard, the Þingalið. It was considered to be a great honour to be part of this force, and, on the Häggeby Runestone in Uppland, it is reported that Geiri "sat in the Assembly's retinue in the west", and the Landeryd Runestone mentions Þjalfi "who was with Knútr". Some Swedish Vikings wanted nothing else but to travel with Danes such as Thorkell and Canute the Great, but they did not make it to their destinations. Sveinn, who came from Husby-Sjuhundra in Uppland, died when he was half-way to England, as explained on the runestone that was raised in his memory: "He died in Jútland. He meant to travel to England". Other Vikings, such as Guðvér did not only attack England, but also Saxony, as reported by the Grinda Runestone in Södermanland:

Grjótgarðr (and) Einriði, the sons
made (the stone) in memory of (their) able father.
Guðvér was in the west;
divided (up) payment in England;
manfully attacked
townships in Saxony.

There are in total c. 30 runestones that tell of people who went to England, see the England Runestones. Some of them are very laconic and only tell that the Viking was buried in London, or in Bath, Somerset.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/U_344%2C_Orkesta.JPG
The Yttergärde Runestone, Sweden

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Vallebergastenen_lund_2006.jpg
The Valleberga Runestone, Sweden, reports that two Vikings had died in London.

[Adrian]

Conversion

Swedish men who travelled to Denmark, England, or Saxony and the Byzantine Empire played an important part in the introduction of Christianity in Sweden, and two runestones tell of men baptized in Denmark, such as the runestone in Amnö, which says "He died in christening robes in Denmark." A similar message is given on another runestone in Vallentuna near Stockholm that tells that two sons waited until they were on their death beds before they converted: "They died in (their) christening robes." Christening robes or baptismal clothes, hvitavaðir, were given to pagan Scandinavians when they were baptized, and in Uppland there are at least seven stones that tell of convertees having died in such robes.

The language used by the missionaries appears on several runestones, and they suggest that the missionaries used a rather uniform language when they preached. The expression "light and paradise" is presented on three runestones, of which two are located in Uppland and a third on the Danish island Bornholm. The runestone U 160 in Risbyle says "May God and God's mother help his spirit and soul; grant him light and paradise." and the Bornholm runestone also appeals to Saint Michael: "May Christ and Saint Michael help the souls of Auðbjôrn and Gunnhildr into light and paradise."

Christian terminology was superimposed on the earlier pagan, and so Paradise substituted Valhalla, invocations to Thor and magic charms were replaced with Saint Michael, Christ, God, and the Mother of God. Saint Michael, who was the leader of the army of Heaven subsumed Odin's role as the psychopomp, and led the dead Christians to "light and paradise". There are invocations to Saint Michael on one runestone in Uppland, one on Gotland, on three on Bornholm and on one on Lolland.
There is also the Bogesund runestone that testifies to the change that people were no longer buried at the family's grave field: "He died in Eikrey(?). He is buried in the churchyard."

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Kalle_Dahlberg_modern_runestone.jpg
Modern runestone on Adelsö near Stockholm, Sweden


Other types of runestones

Another interesting class of runestone is rune-stone-as-self promotion. Bragging was a virtue in Norse society, a habit in which the heroes of sagas often indulged, and is exemplified in runestones of the time. Hundreds of people had stones carved with the purpose of advertising their own achievements or positive traits. A few examples will suffice:

U 1011: "Vigmund had this stone carved in memory of himself, the cleverest of men. May God help the soul of Vigmund, the ship captain. Vigmund and Åfrid carved this memorial while he lived."
Frösö Runestone: “Östman Gudfast’s son made the bridge, and he Christianized Jämtland”
Dr 212: Eskill Skulkason had this stone raised to himself. Ever will stand this memorial that Eskill made;”
U 164: “Jarlabanki had this stone put up in his own lifetime. And he made this causeway for his soul’s sake. And he owned the whole of Täby by himself. May God help his soul.”

Other runestones, as evidenced in two of the previous three inscriptions, memorialize the pious acts of relatively new Christians. In these, we can see the kinds of good works people who could afford to commission runestones undertook. Other inscriptions hint at religious beliefs. For example, one reads:

U 160: “Ulvshattil and Gye and Une ordered this stone erected in memory of Ulv, their good father. He lived in Skolhamra. God and God's Mother save his spirit and soul, endow him with light and paradise.”
Although most runestones were set up to perpetuate the memories of men, many speak of women, often represented as conscientious landowners and pious Christians:
Sö 101: “Sigrid, Alrik’s mother, Orm’s daughter made this bridge for her husband Holmgers, father of Sigoerd, for his soul”
as important members of extended families:
Br Olsen;215: “Mael-Lomchon and the daughter of Dubh-Gael, whom Adils had to wife, raised this cross in memory of Mael-Muire, his fostermother. It is better to leave a good fosterson than a bad son”
and as much-missed loved ones:
N 68: “Gunnor, Thythrik’s daughter, made a bridge in memory of her daughter Astrid. She was the most skilful girl in Hadeland.”

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Runenstein_Blauzahn_2.jpg
The Jelling Stones which triggered the great runestone trend in Scandinavia

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Gron-rune-kingigtorssuaq.jpg
The Kingittorsuaq Runestone from Greenland


As sources

The only existing Scandinavian texts dating to the period before 1050 (besides a few finds of inscriptions on coins) are found amongst the runic inscriptions, some of which were scratched onto pieces of wood or metal spearheads, but for the most part they have been found on actual stones. In addition, the runestones usually remain in their original form and at their original locations, and so their importance as historical sources cannot be overstated.
The inscriptions seldom provide solid historical evidence of events and identifiable people but instead offer insight into the development of language and poetry, kinship, and habits of name-giving, settlement, depictions from Norse paganism, place-names and communications, Viking as well as trading expeditions, and, not least, the spread of Christianity. Though the stones offer Scandinavian historians their main resource of information concerning early Scandinavian society, not much can be learned by studying the stones individually. The wealth of information that the stones provide can be found in the different movements and reasons for erecting the stones, in each region respectively. Approximately ten percent of the known runestones announce the travels and deaths of men abroad. These runic inscriptions coincide with certain Latin sources, such as the Annals of St. Bertin and the writings of Liudprand of Cremona, which contain valuable information on Scandinavians/Rus' who visited Byzantium.

[Adrian]

Imagery

The inscription is usually arranged inside a band, which often has the shape of a serpent, a dragon or a quadruped beast.

Norse legends

It appears from the imagery of the Swedish runestones that the most popular Norse legend in the area was that of Sigurd the dragon slayer. He is depicted on several runestones, but the most famous of them is the Ramsund inscription. The inscription itself is of a common kind that tells of the building of a bridge, but the ornamentation shows Sigurd sitting in a pit thrusting his sword, forged by Regin, through the body of the dragon, which also forms the runic band in which the runes are engraved. In the left part of the inscription lies Regin, who is beheaded with all his smithying tools around him. To the right of Regin, Sigurd is sitting and he has just burnt his thumb on the dragon's heart that he is roasting. He is putting the thumb in his mouth and begins to understand the language of the marsh-tits that are sitting in the tree. They warn him of Regin's schemes. Sigurd's horse Grani is also shown tethered to the tree.
Another important personage from the legend of the Nibelungs is Gunnarr. On the Västerljung Runestone, there are three sides and one of them shows a man whose arms and legs are encircled by snakes. He is holding his arms stretched out gripping an object that may be a harp, but that part is damaged due to flaking. The image appears to be depicting an older version of the Gunnarr legend in which he played the harp with his fingers, which appears in the archaic eddic poem Atlakviða.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Sigurd.svg
A drawing of the Ramsund inscription, in the province of Södermanland, Sweden


Norse myths

The Norse god who was most popular was Thor, and the Altuna Runestone in Uppland shows Thor's fishing expedition when he tried to capture the Midgard Serpent. Two centuries later, the Icelander Snorri Sturluson would write: "The Midgarth Serpent bit at the ox-head and the hook caught in the roof of its mouth. When it felt that, it started so violently that both Thor's fists went smack against the gunwhale. Then Thor got angry, assumed all his godly strength, and dug his heels so sturdily that his feet went right through the bottom of the boat and he braced them on the sea bed." (Jansson's translation). The Altuna Runestone has also included the foot that went through the planks.

It appears that Ragnarök is depicted on the Ledberg stone in Östergötland. On one of its sides it shows a large warrior with a helmet, and who is bitten at his feet by a beast. This beast is, it is presumed, Fenrir, the brother of the Midgard Serpent, and who is attacking Odin. On the bottom of the illustration, there is a prostrate man who is holding out his hands and who has no legs. There is a close parallel from an illustration at Kirk Douglas on the Isle of Man. The Manx illustration shows Odin with a spear and with one of his ravens on his shoulders, and Odin is attacked in the same way as he is on the Ledberg stone. Adding to the stone's spiritual content is a magic formula that was known all across the world of the pagan Norsemen.

On one of the stones from the Hunnestad Monument in Scania, there is an image of a woman riding a wolf using snakes as reins. The stone may be an illustration of the giantess Hyrrokin ("fire-wrinkled"), who was summoned by the gods to help launch Baldr's funeral ship Hringhorni, which was too heavy for them. It was the same kind of wolf that is referred to as the "Valkyrie horse" on the Rök Runestone.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Fenris_Ledbergsstenen_20041231.jpg
Odin attacked by Fenrir on the Ledberg stone, Sweden

[Adrian]

Colour

Today, most runestones are painted with falu red, since the colour red makes it easy to discern the ornamentation, and it is appropriate since red paint was also used on runes during the Viking Age. In fact, one of the Old Norse words for "writing in runes" was fa and it originally meant "to paint" in Proto-Norse (faihian). Moreoever, in Hávamál, Odin says: "So do I write / and color the runes" and in Guðrúnarkviða II, Gudrun says "In the cup were runes of every kind / Written and reddened, I could not read them".

There are several runestones where it is declared that they were originally painted. A runestone in Södermanland says "Here shall these stones stand, reddened with runes", a second runestone in the same province says "Ásbjörn carved and Ulfr painted" and a third runestone in Södermanland says "Ásbjôrn cut the stone, painted as a marker, bound with runes". Sometimes, the original colors have been preserved unusually well, and especially if the runestones were used as construction material in churches not very long after they had been made. One runestone in the church of Köping on Öland was discovered to be painted all over, and the colour of the words was alternating between black and red.

The most common paints were red ochre, red lead, soot, calcium carbonate, and other earth colors, which were bound with fat and water. It also appears that the Vikings imported white lead, green malachite and blue azurite from Continental Europe. By using an electron microscope, chemists have been able to analyse traces of colors on runestones, and in one case, they discovered bright red vermilion, which was an imported luxury color. However, the dominating colors were white and red lead. There are even accounts where runes were reddened with blood as in Grettis saga, where the Völva Þuríðr cut runes on a tree root and colored them with her own blood to kill Grettir, and in Egils saga where Egill Skallagrímsson cut ale runes on a drinking horn and painted them with his own blood to see if the drink was poisoned.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/%C3%96l_Fv1911%3B274B%2C_Resmo.jpg
A runestone from the church of Resmo on Öland has been repainted. It is presently at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.

[Adrian]

Preservation and care

The exposed runestones face several threats to the inscribed rock surface.
In Sweden, lichen grows at approximately 2 mm per year. In more ideal conditions it can grow considerably faster. Many runestones are placed alongside roads and road dust causes lichen to grow faster, making lichen a major problem. The lichen's small root strands break through the rock, and blast off tiny pieces, making the rock porous, and over time degrade the inscriptions. Algae and moss also cause the rock to become porous and crumble.

Water entering the cracks and crevices of the stone can cause whole sections to fall off either by freezing or by a combination of dirt, organic matter, and moisture, which can cause a hollowing effect under the stone surface.

Proper preservation techniques slow down the rate of degradation. One method to combat the lichen, algae and moss problem is to smear in fine grained moist clay over the entire stone. This is then left to sit for a few weeks, which suffocates the organic matter and kills it.

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runestone)

[Talvi]

As I understand Onur was talking about these:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Kyzyl_orkhon_inscription.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Gok_turk_Epigraph_Copy_in_Gazi_University_Ankara.j pg

http://irq.kaznpu.kz/pictures/777.jpg

And to some members confusion they are not made by vikings.

[Siberian Cold Breeze]

Orkhon / Old Turkic Orkhon Yenisey / Old Turkic (Göktürk)
(also called the Khöshöö Tsaidam monuments )

The earliest known examples of writing in any Turkic language were found in the Orkhon river valley in Mongolia in the 19th century. They date from the early 8th century AD and the script in which they are written is known as the Orkhon alphabet, or the Old Turkic script, the Göktürk script, or the Orkhon-Yenisey script. Inscriptions dating from the later 8th century AD in a slight variant of the Orkhon alphabet, known as Yenisei or Siberian runes, have also been found around Yenisei and other parts of Siberia.

Because of a superficial resemblance to the Runic alphabet, the alphabet is also known as Orkhon or Turkic runes. This resemblance is probably a result of the writing materials used - most inscriptions are in hard surfaces, such as stone or wood, and curved lines are difficult to inscribe in such surfaces.

The Orkhon alphabet is thought to have been derived from or inspired by a non-cursive version of the Sogdian script. By the 9th century AD, the Orkhon and Yenisei alphabets were replaced by the Uighur alphabet, which developed from the cursive version of the Sogdian script.
Notable features

Type of writing system: alphabet
Direction of writing: written mainly from right to left in horizontal lines, though some inscriptions are written vertically with the letters rotated by 90°. When written vertically, it read from bottom to top and right to left.
Some consonants have two forms, one of which was used with front vowels, the other with back vowels.
Used to write: Old Turkic (a.k.a. East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic, Old Uyghur), the earliest attested form of Turkic, found in Göktürk and Old Uyghur inscriptions dating from between the 7th and 13th century.

[IMG]http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/4164/1236528917mongoliahisto.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/576/1236528917mongoliahisto.jpg/)

[Graham]

Very cool, didn't realise you had so many of them. Keep the pictures coming please. :)

[Onur]

As I understand Onur was talking about these:
Yes. Most of these stones are from 7-8th century and one of the most famous one is the 2nd picture in your post. It relates the foundation story of the Gok-turk empire and there are advices to the future rulers for the administration of the state.

Only Germanic and Turkic peoples used this runic script before they have been christianized and islamized. Turkic and Germanic versions (futhark) are similar to each other but there are some letter differences despite that both used in pretty much same era. Ofc Turkic peoples wrote in Turkic, Germanics wrote in their own language.


Talvi, which script Estonians and Finns used before switching to Latin? I`ve never heard of runic stones in Estonia or Finland but it doesn't sound logic. Your people should have used it too.

[Onur]

These are the Germanic Runic alphabets;

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3952/clipboard01un.jpg

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/1770/clipboard02qc.jpg

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/2032/clipboard03nj.jpg

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7516/clipboard04rq.jpg

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/runic.htm


And these are the Hungarian and Turkic runes;

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/9214/clipboard05a.jpg

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/8378/clipboard06z.jpg

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hungarian_runes.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Turkic_script

Hungarian runes here is the version from 9-10th. Turkic runes are from 7-8th century. Hungarian ones are ultimately derived from Turkic version but not from Germanic ones. It`s been said that Magyars learned the runes from the Szekely people who lives in today`s Romania. It`s been thought that Szekely people are the descendants of Huns and Avars, speaking Turkic before 11th century but later assimilated among Magyars.

[Talvi]

Talvi, which script Estonians and Finns used before switching to Latin? I`ve never heard of runic stones in Estonia or Finland but it doesn't sound logic. Your people should have used it too.

We used spoken language and telepathy only. :D

[Vasa]

Illyrian, first off thanks for those posts!

Its easy to forget about all the petroglyphs (Hällristningar) that is equal amazing.. Theese are from stone age till the end of viking age and there is thousands of them.

Some pics of my own:

http://i.imgur.com/ORbXJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8W7ge.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BVg3p.jpg

In Södermanland there is a total 2373 petroglyphs and runes combined.
In Uppland there is a total 6591 petroglyphs and runes combined.
In Stockholm area there is a total 4015 petroglyphs and runes combined.

So you see in just a small part of Svea there is almost 13 000 runes and petroglyphs

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Scandinavia-12th_century.png

A some random pics.
http://static.beta.pixgallery.com/images/detail/7/T/Z/PIX-7TZYDF.jpg

http://www.rolfsbild.se/Kulturhistoria/Hallristning/940519-01%20hallristning.jpg

[Onur]

Its easy to forget about all the petroglyphs (Hällristningar) that is equal amazing.. Theese are from stone age till the end of viking age and there is thousands of them.
Vasa, thanks for your post. These stones and drawings are amazing. You guys are lucky to have your 1000-2000+ year old culture still standing still in your homeland.


As for the Turkic runes, the most interesting point about that is, they can be found in vast lands, from today`s northern Russia, Siberia to Anatolia and Balkans. I already posted a msg here about a cave with Turkic runes from 9-10th century in today`s Romania;


This is an unusual 9-10th century cave monastery in Basarabi, Romania. There are pictures and writings carved on the walls of cave and it is multi-lingual with old church slavonic and Turkic words, mostly written by using Turkic runic script and few in Glagolitic.

Inscriptions and pictures in the Monastery dated from the era of first Bulgar kingdom, late 9th century and early 10th century. Some inscriptions mentions about Bulgar king Simeon I of 890 AD. So, it`s few decades after Bulgar people started to be converted to christianity. Some scholars says that the inscriptions belongs to Pecheneg(Patzinak) Turks, some says it belongs to Bulgars but it`s not known for sure.


Basarabi Cave Complex
The complex of cave churches situated near the village of Basarabi, in Dobrudja (Romania), not far from Constanta, was discovered in 1957. Until the last third of the tenth century the entire complex consisted probably of a group of limestone quarries which provided various blocks of chalk used in the construction of the upper part of the Great Stone Wall of Dobrudja, from Constanta up to Cernavoda. According to I. Barnea, the extraction of stone could have ended under John Tzimiskes (969-976) or Basil the 2nd (976-1025).

The abandoned caves could have been then transformed into a monastery. It so happened that the complex changed into a group of churches and burial chambers, located inside the limestone hill, at different levels, and interconnected through galleries.

Most of the chamber-walls are covered with overlapping graffiti, including drawings and inscriptions, thus making possible to discern different periods of the site’s history.

The variety of the graffiti is wide: there are Christian symbols, drawings of animals and men, Turkic runes, and Cyrillic inscriptions. These drawings could have appeared as early as mid-tenth century, as supposed by D. Ovcharov. Among the Basarabi graffiti there is a large number of runic inscriptions and separate signs, undoubtedly of Turkic origin.

http://www.mnuai.ro/docs/apulum/articole/1.fetisov.pdf


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WERnXjdgj9Q/SNypX_jUmuI/AAAAAAAAAWY/J1NsNnD1sMA/s1600-h/Murfatlar+church+b4.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_e-e5V512VaE/SyCeRc02ZWI/AAAAAAAACk0/hJpCXc3IPEA/s400/bisericuta+basarabi.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_e-e5V512VaE/SyCenZsuQBI/AAAAAAAAClE/eG_Z32h0Sqs/s400/DSCF3685.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_e-e5V512VaE/SyCex5PYqpI/AAAAAAAAClM/OxpnD-8AY8o/s400/DSCF3628.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WERnXjdgj9Q/SNypYDhDbPI/AAAAAAAAAWg/2Pi0Efm4ySw/s1600-h/Murfatlar+inscriptions.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_e-e5V512VaE/SyCedfuUa6I/AAAAAAAACk8/WsDDISK7_44/s400/IMGP3672.JPG

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2607779559_4430c3a6e2.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2607779785_c76f73bb22.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/2608610834_fb87de9603.jpg

http://www.patzinakia.com/BASARABI/FOTO/C1-C2/07.jpg

http://www.patzinakia.com/BASARABI/FOTO/B3/18.jpg

http://www.patzinakia.com/BASARABI/FOTO/B3/20.jpg

http://www.patzinakia.com/BASARABI/FOTO/B4/43.jpg



These are some drawings of christian saints with Turkic runic inscriptions on them in old church slavonic or Turkic words;
http://www.kroraina.com/pb_lang/P124C.gif
http://www.kroraina.com/pb_lang/P124B.gif


There is a video of this cave monastry in this Romanian website;
http://www.realitatea.net/video_900637_complexul-rupestru-de-la-basarabi--judetul-constanta--sapat-in-stanca-de-piatra--are-o-vechime-de-1-200-de-ani_580837.html

For more info and pictures;
http://www.patzinakia.com

An Article about this cave by prof. Florin Curta, Cornell University, NY, USA. F. Curta translates and explains the inscriptions here;
http://florida.academia.edu/FlorinCurta/Papers/163815/The_cave_and_the_dyke_a_rock_monastery_on_the_tent h-century_frontier_of_Bulgaria


When i have some time, i will post the ones in Anatolia and central Asia too.

[Dacul]

These are the Germanic Runic alphabets;



And these are the Hungarian and Turkic runes;


Hungarian runes here is the version from 9-10th. Turkic runes are from 7-8th century. Hungarian ones are ultimately derived from Turkic version but not from Germanic ones. It`s been said that Magyars learned the runes from the Szekely people who lives in today`s Romania. It`s been thought that Szekely people are the descendants of Huns and Avars, speaking Turkic before 11th century but later assimilated among Magyars.

The turcik runik script does not resemble germanic scripts.
The reason for being like this is because was easy to write like this on stone using a sharp object and to use only straight lines not curved lines.
Go take a sharp object and try to make a straight line on some stone with it.
Now try to make a curved line.
Both lines should be really deep,so they last over the years.
Which one you found it easyer to make?
I tell you,the straight line.
There are only like 3 signs who are looking same in both scripts,but used for different letters.
The usage of letter T for Tyr/Thor suggest germanic is indo-european since in greek at God you are saying Theos/Theo .



But I do not understand why I am posting here to preserve the reputation of germanics,since I am dark brown haired with brown eyes and 75 cephalic index,long nose on both dimensions (because of old balkanid-romanian population origin) with dinarid root and high cheekbones and some red threads of hair in my beard.So I am mediteranid mixed with native population from Balkans - Romania,which is thraco-dacian (since thracians were meds also since is said the cezar Trajan was a "true born thracian").
So I am mediteranido (med no ideea if from pontid or med,whatever something from there) - balkanid (from some dinarid) which in the views of the people from University of Upsala and other nordicists is "inferior race".
I have the usual med jaws,with 90 degrees angle where you jaw is curving.

So I am of inferior race,besides I am also speaking as mother language a language that have 20% of the words if not more from slavic source and rest of latin origins,so no german origin either to my mother language,but is a latino (romance) language mostly with slavic influences,so an inferior language also.So this lowers me even more on race ladder.
And I am of christian orthodox religion which in their views lower me even
more on "race ladder".

How come germanics here of nordic phenotypes,so of superior race,speaking as mother language some germanic so speaking a superior mother language, of heathen religions who post here can not make even such a simple thing to compare some written signs and get a clue why both alphabets are written in same way?

Nordicism - fail .

You do not know why to gypsies was put rroma as name?
By germanics to make fun of latin speaking language populations and to mock Roman Empire,after Roma.

But if we would be correct,gypsies from Romania are not by far as unhuman as germanic vikings were who went to UK and raped women there and did other very unhuman acts,that poor celts there got so scared that they put in their prayer books and they were praying like this:
"Save us oh Lord from the wrath of the norsemen".
(google it,so you do not say I am inventing things).
So calling gypsies semi-vikings would be much more fair.
Besides,look at gypsies,they like to wear a lot of gold on them and look at Pallantides thread,in Scandinavia is traditional custom that bride should wear killos of gold on them for wedding,because that is linked to fertility.
Strange resemblances between gypsies and vikings,don't you think?

[Siberian Cold Breeze]

The Orkhon Inscriptions
Being a Translation of Professor Vilhelm Thomsen's final Danish rendering
E. Denison Ross

The two famous monuments known as the Orkhon Inscriptions, erected in honour of the two Turkish princes, Kül-Tegin and his brother Bilgä Kagan, though mentioned in Chinese histories, remained forgotten and ignored down to quite recent times. They stand near the Lake Kocho Tsaīdam, to the west of the River Orkhon, about 50 miles north of the monastery of Erdentso (the site of the ancient city of Kara Korum), and about 25 miles to the north-west of the ruins of the capital of the Uighurs, Kara-Balgassun. They are two great square monoliths, which originally reposed in two sockets. Both these sockets are still in their original position, but the monuments have been thrown down, with the result that Monument II is in four pieces. They contain long Turkish inscriptions in Runic characters on three sides, and on one side (the western) the inscription is in Chinese. The Chinese inscriptions are very beautifully cut; the Runic inscriptions, which are also probably the work of the Chinese stonecutters, are less elegant. It may be mentioned that the Chinese inscriptions differ entirely in their contents from the Turkish.

Onur do you have english translations of inscriptions? I am searching though..found only as a short part of pdf -article..

[Onur]

Onur do you have english translations of inscriptions? I am searching though..found only as a short part of pdf -article..
There are lots of information in this Kazakh website with descriptions, pictures and full texts translated from Turkic to English. Not only the ones in Orkhon, there are translations and info for other Turkic runic writings too;

http://irq.kaznpu.kz/?lang=e&mod=1


Here is one of them;
A runestone erected in 732 AD by Khan Kultegin. He relates the events for the creation of GokTurk empire in 520 AD;
http://irq.kaznpu.kz/pictures/173.jpg
http://irq.kaznpu.kz/pictures/139.jpg


http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7704/thekultegininscription1.png
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/8793/thekultegininscription2.png
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7944/thekultegininscriptionc.png
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/1484/thekultegininscriptioni.png

[Siberian Cold Breeze]

For this, I have to post a special thank you..:thumbs up