The Gripsholm Rune Stone

The inscription is dated to the middle of the 11^th century. The runes are inscribed inside a snake or dragon, a characteristic of the more elaborately-crafted rune stones. The idea is that you begin reading at the head and finish at the tail.

The inscription reads as follows:

tula lit raisa stain thinsat sun sin haralt bruthur inkuars thair furu trikila fiari at kuli auk a ustarlar ni kafu tuu sunar la a sirk lan ti

The 11^th century was the zenith of rune stones, especially around Lake Maelaren in Sweden. Of the 3,000 known rune stones, more than 2,500 are found in Sweden, some 1,800 of which are in the Lake Maelaren district. Most were raised to the memory of relatives, but some include more than just an epitaph.

1. kenning for killing (plenty of) enemies in battle
2. Where the muslims ruled. My unqualified guess is that "saerk" means "robes", presumably those of the arabs.

frazze@ludd.luth.se