History: rune stones...

Rökstenen

One of the most interesting rune stones is the Rökstenen, which means something like "smoke stone." It’s one of the larger stones known today, and is completely covered with text. Unfortunately, this stone was used for constructing part of the wall of a church. When it was discovered and removed from the wall, some of the inscriptions were damaged.

It was carved in the 9^th century and is located in the county of Östergötland, a county sometimes called the "cradle of Sweden". The inscription was carved by a man named Varin, well-known in his time. Varin’s knowledge of the classic tales, the myths, and the events of his time was extensive, and his text is full of cipher , using the magic numbers associated with the letters. He has a lot of references to stories, and he write in the ambiguous style that opens his text to varied interpretations by the reader.

The text was probably obscure in its own time, in addition, although the learned people of the day had a more in-depth knowledge of the mythology to which Varin made reference. Some look upon The Röksten as a monument to the literature of its time.

One of Sweden's best rune intepreters has read the following in the Röksten:

Då rådde Tjodrik den djärve,
sjökrigarnas hövding,
över reidhavets strand.
Nu sitter han rustad
på sin gotiska häst,
med sköld över axeln,
den främsta av märingar...

I will not try to translate the text as I couldn't do it justice.

Tjodrik is named in the rune; some historians believe he was the Ostrogoth king, Theodoric, who lived in Verona but ruled a large kingdom that ranged form Germany to France.

frazze@ludd.luth.se