Istabystenen - Historiska museet - DIG 61029

The Istaby Runestone, listed in 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 as DR 359, is a

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 ...

with an inscription in

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

which was raised in Istaby,

Blekinge Blekinge () is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second-smallest provin ...

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 ...

, during the

Vendel era In Scandinavian prehistory, sometimes specifically Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period, or Vendel Age (; ) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish c ...

(–790).

Inscription

Interpretation

The Istaby,

Stentoften Runestone The Stentoften Runestone, listed in the Rundata catalog as DR 357, is a runestone which contains a curse in Proto-Norse that was discovered in Stentoften, Blekinge, Sweden. Inscription English translation provided by Rundata: Inte ...

and

Gummarp Runestone The Gummarp Runestone, designated as DR 358, was a runestone from the Vendel era and which was located in the former village of Gummarp in the province of Blekinge, Sweden. Description The Gummarp Runestone was removed and taken to Copenhagen, ...

inscriptions can be identified with the same clan through the names that are mentioned on them.Looijenga (2003:188). The names have

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 ...

first name element combined with a lycophoric second element that represent an aristocratic naming tradition common among chieftains.Sundqvist & Hultgård (2004:584-85). The

Björketorp Runestone The Björketorp Runestone (Rundata, DR 360 U) in Blekinge, Sweden. It is one of the world's tallest runestones measuring 4.2 metres in height. Inscription The runes were made in the 6th or the 7th century and in Proto-Norse language, Proto-Norse ...

lacks names and is raised some tens of kilometers from the others. However, it is beyond doubt that the Björketorp runestone is connected to them, because in addition to the special runic forms, the same message is given on the Stentoften Runestone. Of these, on stylistics grounds, the Istaby runestone may be the oldest. The name ''Hariwulfa'' is a combination of ''hari'' meaning "warrior" and ''wulfaz'' "wolf," while the ''haþu'' of ''Haþuwulfz'' means "battle" and the ''heru'' of Heruwulfar, when combined in personal names, means "sword." The latter name also has a suffix indicating paternal descent, so the name Heruwulfar in full means "of the family of Sword-Wolf." A shortened form of the name Hariwulfa survived into the

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 ...

and is attested in the inscription on the Hærulf Runestone. It has been suggested that the assignment of such lycophoric names is related to ritualistic practices and religious wolf-symbolism used in the initiation of young warriors.Gräslund (2006:125). The Istaby runestone is currently located at 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 ...

. The stone has a Danish Rundata catalog number as Blekinge was part of the historic Denmark.

References

Sources

* *Jacobsen, Lis & Moltke, Erik: ''Danmarks Runeindskrifter''. 3rd tome. 1941. * *{{Cite book , last1=Sundqvist , first1=Olof , last2=Hultgård , first2=Anders , editor-last=van Nahl , editor-first=Astrid , editor2-last=Elmevik , editor2-first=Lennart et seq. , contribution=The Lycophoric Names of the 6th to 7th Century Blekinge Runestones and the Problem of Their Ideological Background , title=Namenwelten: Orts- und Personennamen in Historischer Sicht , publisher=Walter de Gruyter , year=2004 , location=Berlin , pages=583–602 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6VShM6kAU_4C , isbn=3-11-018108-8

External links

Photograph of stone in 1999
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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 ...

6th-century inscriptions 7th-century inscriptions 8th-century inscriptions Haþuwulf's runestones Proto-Norse language Runestones in Blekinge Elder Futhark inscriptions Vendel Period Collection of the Swedish History Museum

Inscription

Interpretation

See also

References

Sources

External links