Vang stone (''Vangsteinen'') listed as N 84 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 ...

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 ...

from the early eleventh century located at Vang in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Description

The Vang stone was erected around 1000, during the transitional period from

Paganism Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Christianity in Norway Christianity is the largest religion in Norway and it has historically been called a Christian country. A majority of the population are members of the Church of Norway with 64.9% of the population officially belonging to the Evangelical Luther ...

. It was originally located in the traditional district of

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre S ...

. It was situated outside a

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ...

at Vang. Vang Stave Church was dismantled and moved to

Krummhübel Karpacz (, German: ''Krummhübel'') is a spa town and ski resort in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland, and one of the most important centres for mountain hiking and skiing, including ski jumping. Its population ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1844. At that time, the runestone was moved to its current location, outside the Vang Church (''Vang kirke''). The stone is made of an irregular slab of slate. It is 2.15m tall, up to 1.25m wide and 8–13 cm thick. The artwork on the front of the stone is in

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 ...

, and depicts ribbons, leaves and a stylized animal, allegedly a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

. Although thought to be a part of a stone portal, this idea is generally not supported. In contrast to other

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 ...

runestones. The runic text is not integrated with the artwork to make a unified composition, but is carved along the edge of the stone.

Inscription

References

Other sources

* Sawyer, Birgit (2003) ''The Viking-Age Rune-Stones: Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia'' (Oxford University Press) * Stocklund, Marie; et al., eds. (2006) ''Runes and Their Secrets: Studies in Runology'' (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press) {{coord, 61, 07, 32, N, 8, 34, 29, E, region:NO_type:landmark_source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title Runestones in Norway 11th-century inscriptions