Uppland Runic Inscription 896 or U 896 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 listing 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 ...

originally located at Håga 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 ...

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 ...

, but is now at the ''Universitetsparken'' ("University Park") of

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

Description

The inscription on U 896 consists of runic text in the younger futhark within a text band along the edge of a tall and narrow runestone, which is made of granite and is 1.7 meters in height, with a second text band within the first on the left side. Two crosses are enclosed by the text bands. The bottom portion of the stone is missing. The inscription is tentatively classified due to its damage as being 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 ...

Pr1, which is also known as

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

. Inscriptions with this classification have runic text bands with attached serpent or beast heads depicted in profile. In 1867 this runestone, along with U 489 from Morby and U 1011 from Örby, was exhibited in the Exposition Universelle in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. When it was returned to Sweden, the stone was raised at Uppsala University. The runic text, which is missing in one section of the damaged runestone, states that the stone was raised in memory of a man probably named Eyndar, and was probably sponsored by the man's parents. The text states that the deceased died ''i hvitavadhum'', an

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

phrase which is usually translated as meaning "in christening robes." Other runestones using this phrase include the now-lost U 243 in Molnby, U 364 in Gådersta, U 613 in Torsätra, U 699 in Amnö, U 1036 in Tensta, and U Fv1973;194 at the

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 ...

. The text also indicates that the deceased probably died in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Other inscriptions mentioning Denmark include Öl 1 in Karlevi, Sö Fv1948;289 in Aspa bro, U 699 in Amnö, DR 41 and DR 42 in Jelling, DR 133 in Skivum, and N 239 in Stangeland. The text also states in the inner text band that ''Reð runaʀ Øpiʀ'' or that "Öpir arranged the runes." 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 ...

Öpir Öpir or ''Öper'' (Old Norse: ''Øpiʀ''/''Œpir'', meaning "shouter") was a runemaster who flourished during the late 11th century and early 12th century in Uppland, Sweden.The article ''Öpir'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1996). He was the m ...

, which is the

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

name, was active in the Uppland region from the late 11th to the early 12th centuries. The same phrase is also used on U 940 in Torget by Öpir, and other inscriptions stating that they were arranged include U 913 in Brunnby and U 961 in Vaksala. U 896 and U 940 are stylistically unlike any of the other inscriptions signed by Öpir, and it has been suggested that these two inscriptions along with U 1022 represent works from the beginning of Öpir's career.

Inscription

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

:... tu raisa stain + fir ' ont * iy--m + sun + sain + tauþr + fita+faþum ' i tai'ma... ... riþ runaʀ ubiʀProject Samnordisk Runtextdatabas Svensk
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entry for U 896.

Transcription into Old Norse

:''... letu ræisa stæin fyr and Øy da�(?), sun sinn, dauðr hvitavaðum i Danma ku?) ... Reð runaʀ Øpiʀ.''

Translation in English

:... had the stone raised for the spirit of Eyndar(?), their son, (who) died in christening robes in Denmark(?) ... Öpir arranged the runes.

References