Uppland Runic Inscription 824 is 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 number for 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 ...

located at Holms, which is about eight kilometers east of Örsundsbro, Uppsala County,

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 ...

, and 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 ...

. The inscription features a facial mask and a bind rune in the text.

Description

This inscription consists of runic text carved on a serpent that is intertwined with and encircles other serpents. The inscription is classified as being carved in either runestone style Pr3 or Pr4, both of which are considered to be

Urnes style Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Vikings, Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th ...

. This runestone style is characterized by slim and stylized animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animal heads are typically seen in profile with slender almond-shaped eyes and upwardly curled appendages on the noses and the necks. At the top of the inscription but within the outer serpent is a mask of a man's face. This is a common motif and is found on several other runestones including DR 62 in Sjelle, DR 66 in Århus, DR 81 in Skern, DR 258 in Bösarp, the now-lost DR 286 in Hunnestad, DR 314 in Lund, DR 335 in Västra Strö, Vg 106 in Lassegården, Sö 86 in Åby ägor, Sö 112 in Kolunda, Sö 167 in Landshammar, Sö 367 in Släbro, Nä 34 in Nasta, U 508 in Gillberga, U 670 in Rölunda, U 678 in Skokloster, U 1034 in Tensta, and U 1150 in Björklinge, and on the Sjellebro Stone. The runic text on this stone, which is 2.2 meters in height, is in the younger futhark. Although damaged, it states that it was raised by two brothers named Jógeirr and Áfríðr as a memorial to Hróðelfr. The text is signed by the runemaster

Åsmund Kåresson Åsmund Kåresson was a Viking Age runemaster who flourished during the first half of the 11th century in Uppland and Gästrikland, Sweden. The early Urnes style is represented in his art. pp. 197, 208–09. Work Most early medieval Scandinavians ...

on a separate band at the bottom of the inscription. Åsmund was active in the first half of the 11th century. He is associated with the Urnes style and signed about twenty of the surviving runestones. Other surviving runestones that are signed by Åsmund include U 301 in Skånela, the now-lost U 346 in Frösunda, U 356 in Ängby, the now-lost U 368 in Helgåby, U 847 in Västeråker, U 859 in Måsta, U 871 in Ölsta, U 884 in Ingla, U 932 at

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...

, U 956 in Vedyxa, U 969 in Bolsta, the now-lost U 986 in Kungsgården, U 998 in Skällerö, U 1142 in Åbyggeby, U 1144 in Tierp, U 1149 in Fleräng, U Fv1986;84 in Bo gård, U Fv1988;241 in Rosersberg, Gs 11 in Järvsta, Gs 12 in Lund, and

Gs 13 Gästrikland Runic Inscription 13 or Gs 13 is a runestone carved on red sandstone located in a church in Gävle, Gästrikland. It was carved in the 11th century by the runemaster Åsmund Kåresson. The place name ''Tafeistaland'' (modern Swedish ...

in Söderby. The text contains a bind rune that combines the final u-rune of the word litu with the initial r-rune of the word rita, but it has been suggested that this was done possibly as a result of an error in carving the runes. The text in two locations follows the rule that two consecutive identical letters are represented by a single rune, even when the two identical letters are at the end of one word and the start of a second word. When the text shown as Latin characters, the

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

runes are doubled and separate words are shown. This inscription uses one a-rune in the runes þinabtiʀ, which is transliterated as the words þina, , abtiʀ, and in the runemaster's signature, osmuntritsi, an additional r-rune is added in the transliteration to form the words osmuntr, , ritsi ("Ásmundr carved"). Åsmund signed his name in this same manner on two other inscriptions, U 1142 and U 1144.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:iukiʀ auk * ifriþr * litu= =rita stian þina, , abtiʀ bruþur * rhuþilfaʀ * i u-(r)bhrki osmuntr, , ritsi runaʀProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
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entry for U 824.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''Iogæiʀʀ ok Afriðr(?) letu retta stæin þenna æftiʀ broður Hroðælfaʀ i < u-r>bergi. Asmundr risti runaʀ.''

Translation in English

:Jógeirr and Áfríðr(?) had this stone erected in memory of Hróðelfr of ... -bergi's brother. Ásmundr carved the runes.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Maskesten - Billedsten fra Vikingtiden
- Arild Hauge webpage on mask stones Uppland Runic Inscription 0824