Runestones

A runestone is a stone, often raised upright, that bears a runic inscription, though the term also covers carvings on boulders and natural bedrock. People began raising these stones as memorials for the dead in the 4th century, and the practice continued into the 12th century, but most surviving runestones come from the late Viking Age. The majority are found in Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, with others scattered in regions the Norsemen visited. When first erected, runestones were usually painted in bright colors, but that paint has long since worn away.

The custom of raising inscribed stones first appeared in Norway and Sweden during the 4th and 5th centuries. These early stones were typically placed near graves, though scholars have questioned whether they were purely commemorative. Denmark’s earliest runestones date to the 8th and 9th centuries, and about 50 survive from the Migration Period across Scandinavia. Most runestones were raised between 950 and 1100 CE, mainly in Sweden, and to a lesser extent in Denmark and Norway. The tradition is mentioned in the *Ynglinga saga* and *Hávamál*, which state that mounds should be raised for important men and standing stones for other distinguished warriors, a custom that lasted long after Odin’s time.

A key event that may have spread the practice occurred in Denmark in the 960s. King Harald Bluetooth, recently baptized, ordered a runestone to mark a new era. Its inscription says he made this monument for his parents, Gormr and Þyrvé, and that he won all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian. The stone has three sides; two are decorated with images, including an animal that became a prototype for later runic beasts, and Denmark’s oldest depiction of Jesus. Soon after, many chieftains and powerful Norse clans imitated King Harald, and a wave of runestone carving spread north from Denmark through Sweden. In most areas the fad faded after a generation, but in the central Swedish provinces of Uppland and Södermanland it lasted into the 12th century.

Scandinavia holds about 3,000 runestones among roughly 6,000 runic inscriptions. Runestones also appear wherever Norsemen traveled, from the Isle of Man in the west to the Black Sea in the east, and from Jämtland in the north to Schleswig in the south. Their distribution is uneven: Denmark has 250, Norway 50, and Iceland none. Sweden has between 1,700 and 2,500, depending on definition. Uppland has the highest concentration, with 1,196 stone inscriptions, followed by Södermanland with 391. Outside Scandinavia, the Isle of Man has 30 runestones from the 9th and early 11th centuries. Scattered examples exist in England, Ireland, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands. Except for the Berezan’ Runestone, there are no runestones in Eastern Europe, likely due to a lack of suitable stone and the local population’s disregard for the foreigners’ monuments.

Runestones were placed at specific landscape spots, such as assembly sites, roads, bridges, and fords. Many have been found built into medieval churches, and it is debated whether they originally stood there or were moved. In southern Scania, runestones are linked to large estates that also had churches built on their land. In the Mälaren Valley, they seem to mark key parts of an estate, like courtyards, grave fields, and borders. Most runestones stand alone, though pairs occur, and some, like the Hunnestad Monument, were part of larger monuments with other raised stones. Scholars know where 95% of all runestones were discovered, but only about 40% were found in their original location. The rest have turned up in churches, roads, bridges, graves, farms, and waterways, though experts agree they were not moved far from their original sites.

In many districts, half of the stone inscriptions show Christian influence. In Uppland, which has the world’s highest concentration of runic inscriptions, about 70% of the 1,196 stone inscriptions are explicitly Christian, marked by engraved crosses or Christian prayers, and only a few are not Christian. Scholars suggest this is because Uppland was a focal point in the conflict between Norse paganism and the newly Christianized Swedish king. Chieftains may have added crosses and prayers to show loyalty to the king and display their faith. Against this theory, Norway, Denmark, and Götaland saw no similar development in runestone tradition, and no runestone mentions a relationship to the king. The stones also suggest that the conversion was a gradual process.