The Ardre image stones are a collection of ten

rune Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...

and image stones, dated to the 8th to 11th centuries, that were discovered at Ardre Church, in Ardre,

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, Sweden. The principal edition is by Sune Lindqvist.

Description

The Ardre image stones were re-used as paving under the wooden floors of the local church in the Ardre parish of

. Before the historical significance of rune and image stones was understood or appreciated, they were often used as materials in the construction of roads, bridges, and buildings. The image stones were re-discovered when the church was being restored around 1900. The stones are now preserved in the

Swedish Museum of National Antiquities The Swedish History Museum () is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates as a government agency and is tasked with preservi ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Ardre bildsten - Historiska museet - 108199 HST - 415725

Ardre VIII

The largest and most noted of the stones is the Ardre VIII stone, dated to the 8th or 9th century. It depicts scenes from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, notably the Lay of Weyland the smith,

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

fishing for

Jörmungandr In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr (, see Etymology), also known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent (, "worm of Midgard"), is an unfathomably large and monstrous sea serpent or worm who dwells in the world sea, encircling the Earth ( Midga ...

, the punishment of

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

for the death of

Baldr Baldr (Old Norse also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, he is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was known in ...

, and

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

riding to

Valhalla In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...

Sleipnir In Norse mythology, Sleipnir (Old Norse: "slippy"Orchard (1997:151). or "the slipper"Kermode (1904:6).) is an eight-legged horse ridden by Odin. Sleipnir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional ...

. Other images on this stone, such as the woman on the right with two swords, are not currently understood as they do not conform to any known Norse myth that has survived to the present time. The image-stone's

longboat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest bo ...

motif with its mariners somewhat resembles a depiction found on the Överhogdal tapestry No. III from

Härjedalen Härjedalen () is a historical province (''landskap'') in the centre of Sweden. It borders the Norwegian county of Trøndelag, as well as the provinces of Dalarna, Hälsingland, Medelpad and Jämtland. The province originally belonged to Norway, ...

. The main study of this stone is by Ludwig Buisson.Ludwig Buisson, ''Der Bildstein Ardre VIII auf Gotland: Göttermythen, Heldensagen und Jenseitsglaube der Germanen im 8. Jahrhundert n. Chr.'', Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, third series, 102 (Göttingen 1976).

Ardre III

The inscription on one of the two sides of the Ardre III

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

, which is listed in

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Database () is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of transliterated runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future resea ...

as Gotland Runic Inscription 113, consists of twin figure eight serpents with runic text in a band on the edge of the stone, while the second side has a single intertwined serpent with runic text on the edge of the stone. The inscription is classified as probably being in runestone style Pr3. The runic text, which is signed by a runemaster with the normalized name of Likraiv, indicates that it was raised as a memorial with different sponsors for the inscriptions on each side of the stone.

Inscription

=Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

= :§A ÷ utar + ak + kaiʀuatr + ak + aiuatr + þaʀ + setu + stain + ebtir + likna(t) + faþur ÷ sen + :§B ÷ raþialbr + ak + kaiʀaiau(t)- + þaiʀ kiarþu + merki + kuþ + ubtir + man + saaran ÷ likraibr + risti + runaʀProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
–

entry for G 113.

=Transcription into Old Norse

= :''§A Ottarr ok Gæiʀhvatr ok Æihvatr þæiʀ sattu stæin æftiʀ Liknhvat, faður sinn.'' :''§B Raðþialfʀ ok Gæiʀniut þæiʀ gærðu mærki goð æftiʀ mann snaran. Liknræifʀ risti runaʀ.''

=Translation in English

= :§A Óttarr and Geirhvatr and Eihvatr, they placed the stone in memory of Líknhvatr, their father. :§B Ráðþjalfr and Geirnjótr, they made the good landmark in memory of ... man. Líknreifr carved the runes.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Photo of Ardre VIII
–

Swedish National Heritage Board The Swedish National Heritage Board (; RAÄ) is a Swedish government agency responsible for World Heritage Sites and other national heritage monuments and historical environments. It is governed by the Ministry of Culture. The goals of the agen ...

Photograph of Ardre III side B
– Swedish National Heritage Board

(Swedish) 8th-century inscriptions 9th-century inscriptions Rune- and picture stones on Gotland Thor in art Collection of the Swedish History Museum