The Eggeby stone, designated as U 69 under the

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 ...

catalog, is a

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

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 ...

that is located at Eggeby, which is 2 kilometers northwest of

Central Sundbyberg Central Sundbyberg () is the oldest and longest-established part of Sundbyberg Municipality in Sweden. It is a railway town and one of Stockholm's oldest satellite towns, built around Sundbyberg railway station which opened in 1876. Its proximity ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, which was in the historic province of

Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' 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. The name literally ...

Description

The Eggeby stone inscription consists of runic text contained within bands. The inscription has been attributed to the

runemaster A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones. Description More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th-century eastern Svealand.The article ''Runristare'' in ''Nationalencyklo ...

Gunnar,Project Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
-

entry for U 69. who signed inscription U 225 in Bällsta. The inscription has been classified as having been carved in

runestone style :''The term "runestone style" in the singular may refer to the Urnes style.'' The style or design of runestones varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increas ...

RAK, which is considered to be the oldest style. This is the classification for inscriptions with text bands that have straight ends without any attached serpent or beast heads. The reference to bridge-building in the runic text is fairly common in runestones during this time period. Some are

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

references related to passing the bridge into the afterlife. At this time, the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

sponsored the building of roads and bridges through the use of

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

s in return for the church's intercession for the soul of the departed.* pp. 490-492. There are over one hundred examples of bridge stones dated from the eleventh century, including inscriptions Sö 101 in Ramsund, Sö 328 in Tynäs, U 489 in Morby, U 839 in Ryda, and U993 in Brunnby. Consistent with this interpretation of the bridge referring to the passage to the afterlife, the text includes a prayer for the soul of Ônundr. It has been pointed out that the final portion of the inscription is in verse: Another runestone raised by a woman where the normal memorial formula is followed by

alliterative Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a List of narrative techniques#Style, litera ...

text is the Danish inscription DR 97 in Ålum.

Inscription

References

{{coord, 59, 23, 51, N, 17, 55, 20, E, region:SE_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Runestones in Uppland

Description

Inscription

See also

References