Runestone of Rök / Ostergötland (Southern Sweden)

Runestone of Rök / Ostergötland (Southern Sweden)

The Rök runestone is the most famous of 2,000 Swedish runestones. It is 3.82 meters high and bears the longest runic inscription in the world, with around 800 runes.

The stone was probably erected around the middle of the 9th century. Two hundred years later, during the Christianization of the area, it was walled into the tithe barn. When the old church was demolished in 1840, it was discovered that the stone was inscribed with runes, but it was nevertheless walled into the vestibule of the new church. It was removed again in 1862 and initially placed in the churchyard until it was protected by a roof in 1933.

The wordplay complicates the text of the Rök Stone so much that only parts could be reliably deciphered. Varin, the runemaster of the Rök Stone, had encrypted the text beyond decipherability. He used two different runic alphabets: the Old Norse alphabet with 24 characters and a special Rök alphabet with 16 characters.

The first line on the front of the stone reads "Aft Vuamod standa runar thar" ("These runes stand in memory of Vamund") and then continues: "But Varin wrote them after the dead son."
The following text appears to revolve around myths. The runic inscription only becomes understandable again where it transitions into verse, and the runemaster is clearly concerned with conveying the poem in an understandable way:

• "These runes are from Vämod. But Varin wrote them, the father after his deceased son."
• I tell the young men the legend of the two spoils of war that were taken twelve times, both spoils of war at once, by different men.
• Secondly, I say who lived nine generations ago and lost his life among the Hreidgoten.
• And he died among them because of his misdeeds.
• He, Theoderich the Bold, Prince of the Sea Warriors, ruled over the shores of the Hreidmeer. Now he sits, armed, on his Gothic steed, shield on his shoulder, the hero of the Märinge.
• I say this as the twelfth, where the Valkyrie's horse will see food on the battlefield, twenty kings lying there.
• This I say as the thirteenth thing, which twenty kings sat on Zealand, four winters, with four names, sons of four brothers. Five Valke, Radulf's sons, five Hreidulfe, Ragulf's sons, five Haisle, Harud's sons, five Gunnmunde, Bern's sons.
• Now everyone is telling the young men... everyone investigated.
• I tell the young men which of Ingevald's descendants was made right thanks to the sacrifice of a housewife.
• I tell the young men which hero has a descendant. It is Vilen. He could fell a giant. It is Vilen.
• I say to the young men: Thor. Sibbe, the keeper of the sanctuaries, fathered a son at the age of ninety.

Transcription of the runes into Old West Norse:
Eptir Vémóð/Vámóð standa rúnar þær. En Varinn fáði, faðir, eptir feigjan son. Sögum múgminni/ungmenni þat, hverjar valraufar væri tvær þær, svát tolf sinnum væri numnar at valraufu, báðar saman á ýmissum mönnum. Þat sögum annat, hverr fyrir níu öldum án yrði fjör með Hreiðgotum, also dó meðr hann umb sakar. Réð Þjóðríkr hinn þormóði, stillir flotna, ströndu Hreiðmarar. Sitr nú görr á gota sínum, skildi umb fatlaðr, skati Mæringa. That's right, there's something Gunnar can do and you'll have something to look forward to. Þat sögum þrettánda, hverir tveir tigir konungar sæti at Sjólundi fjóra vetr at fjórum nöfnum, bornir fjórum brœðrum. Valkar fimm, Ráðulfs synir, Hreiðulfar fimm, Rugulfs synir, Háislar fimm, Hörðs synir, Gunnmundar/Kynmundar fimm, Bjarnar synir. Nú'km[inni] m[eð] öllu [se]gi. Einhverr… [svá]t… eptir frá. Sögum múgminni/ungmenni þat, hvar Ingoldinga væri goldinn at kvánar húsli. Sögum múgminni/ungmenni, hveim sé borinn niðr drengi. Vilinn er þat. Knúa/knýja knátti jötun. Vilinn er þat… Sögum múgminni/ungmenni: Þórr. Sibbi véaveri ól nírœðr.

The reverse side is also only partially decipherable. It speaks of 20 kings on Zealand or 20 sea kings and a battlefield where they lie, and it tells of a woman who sacrificed herself for Ingvald's lineage.

• Made from artificial stone.
• Weight approx. 460 g.
• Height 15 cm
• Width 8 cm
• Depth 3 cm,

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