Södermanland Runic Inscription 179 near Gripsholm Castle, Sweden
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member PISA-caching
N 59° 15.418 E 017° 13.086
33V E 626469 N 6570769
En runsten som står vid infarten till Gripsholms slott / A runestone standing at the entrance of Gripsholm Castle
Waymark Code: WMNQD5
Location: Södermanland, Sweden
Date Posted: 04/19/2015
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Bernd das Brot Team
Views: 25

 
< SV >

Remark: If any waymarker has further information or can provide a translation, I will be happy to add that to the description.

 
< EN >

The Gripsholm Runestone is one of the Serkland Runestones and it is in style Fp. It is located beside the drive of Gripsholm Castle together with another runestone from the 11th century, Sö 178, but their original location is unknown.

The runestone was discovered in the early 1820s by Wallin, the caretaker of the castle, and it was then forming the threshold of the cellar of the eastern tower of the castle, the so-called "theatre tower". It was under both side walls of the door and also covered with tar, which suggests that it had been part of another construction before being used as construction material for the castle. It would take an additional 100 years before the stone was retrieved from the castle and could be read in its entirety.

The inscription says that it is raised in memory of Haraldr, the brother of Ingvar, and he is believed to have died in the region of the Caspian Sea. A subject that has been vividly discussed is why the runestone is raised only after Haraldr and not after Ingvar, and the most widely accepted explanation is that Tóla was only Harald's mother and that the two men were only half-brothers. It is also possible that there were originally two stones of which one was in memory of Ingvar, but that Ingvar's stone has disappeared. A third possibility is that "brother" refers to brother-in-arms, blood brother, or something similar, and this is a use of the word that appears on one of the runestones in Hällestad in Scania.

One theory proposed by Braun connects this stone to the runestones U 513, U 540, and Sö 279, and it holds Ingvar the Far-Travelled to be the son of the Swedish king Emund the Old.

The second half of the inscription is in alliterative verse of the form fornyrðislag. The phrase to feed the eagle is a kenning which means "to kill enemies".

Latin transliteration:

× tula : lit : raisa : stain : þinsa| |at : sun : sin : haralt : bruþur : inkuars : þaiR furu : trikila : fiari : at : kuli : auk : a:ustarla| |ar:ni : kafu : tuu : sunar:la : a sirk:lan:ti

Old Norse transcription:

Tola let ræisa stæin þennsa at sun sinn Harald, broður Ingvars. ÞæiR foru drængila fiarri at gulli ok austarla ærni gafu, dou sunnarla a Særklandi.

English translation:

"Tóla had this stone raised in memory of her son Haraldr, Ingvarr's brother. They travelled valiantly far for gold, and in the east gave (food) to the eagle. (They) died in the south in Serkland."

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingvar_runestones#S.C3.B6_179

Runestone Type: Swedish

Parking or Additional Point: N 59° 15.480 W 017° 12.966

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