The Hunnestad Monument (Swedish : Hunnestadsmonumentet), listed as DR 282 through 286 in the Rundata catalog, was once located at Hunnestad at Marsvinsholm north-west of Ystad, Sweden. It was the largest and most famous of the Viking Age monuments in Scania, and in Denmark, only comparable to the Jelling stones. The monument was destroyed during the end of the 18th century by Eric Ruuth of Marsvinsholm, probably between 1782 and 1786 when the estate was undergoing sweeping modernization, though the monument survived long enough to be documented and depicted.
When the antiquary Ole Worm (1588–1654) explored the monument, it consisted of eight stones. [1] Five of them were image stones, and two of those image stones also had runic inscriptions. In the eighteenth century, all the stones were relocated or destroyed. Only three of the stones of the monument were recovered during the 19th century, and are today on display at the Kulturen museum in Lund. For a long time they were considered the only stones remaining, but on December 16, 2020 a fourth stone, DR 285 (number 6, in the picture), was discovered during excavations for a sewage line in Ystad municipality. Lying with its image facing up, it had been used in a bridge construction over the Hunnestad stream. [2]
The first runestone (DR 282) was raised by Ásbjörn and Tumi in memory of Tumi's two brothers, whereas the last one (DR 283) was raised by Ásbjörn in memory of Tumi.
The oldest of the two runestones depicts a large man dressed in a long coat and a pointed helmet. The man, who carries an axe on his right shoulder, is possibly a member of the Varangian Guard.
×
osburn
Æsbiorn
×
(a)u(k)
ok
×
tumi
Tomi
×
þaiʀ
þeʀ
×
sautu
sattu
×
stain
sten
×
þansi
þænsi
×
a(f)[t]iʀ
æftiʀ
×
rui
Roi
×
auk
ok
×
¶
laikfruþ
Lekfrøþ,
×
sunu
sunu
×
kuna
Gunna
×
han[t]aʀ
Handaʀ.
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Ásbjôrn and Tumi they placed this stone in memory of Hróir and Leikfrøðr, Gunni Hand's sons. [3]
The second runestone is decorated with a cross and was raised by Ásbjörn after Tumi.
×
osburn
Æsbiorn
×
snti
satti
×
stain
sten
×
þansi
þænsi
×
aftiʀ
æftiʀ
×
tuma
Toma,
×
sun
sun
×
kuna
Gunna
×
¶
hantaʀ
Handaʀ.
×
Ásbjôrn placed this stone in memory of Tumi, Gunni Hand's son. [4]
The three image stones, without any rune inscription, show three illustrations of a huge animal. One of them, DR 284 (Hunnestad 3), shows an animal ridden by a woman who has two snakes in her hands. She appears to be the wolf-riding giantess Hyrrokkin who helped the Æsir push Balder's ship into the sea during his funeral, and thus she would be an appropriate image for a funerary monument. [5] The wolf has a mane and pointed ears similar to the depiction of the wolf on the Tullstorp Runestone (DR 271) and the two wolves on the Lund 1 Runestone (DR 314). [6] The second image stone (the now lost DR 286), as depicted on Ole Worm's illustration, shows the animal beside a man's mask and the third image stone (the now found DR 285) shows the animal alone.
The Ardre image stones are a collection of ten rune and image stones, dated to the 8th to 11th centuries, that were discovered at Ardre Church, in Ardre, Gotland, Sweden. The principal edition is by Sune Lindqvist.
The Skarpåker Stone, designated by Rundata as Sö 154, is a Viking Age memorial runestone that originally was located in Skarpåker, Nyköping, Sörmland, Sweden. It dates to the early eleventh century.
Danish Runic Inscription 66 or DR 66, also known as the Mask stone, is a granite Viking Age memorial runestone that was discovered in Aarhus, Denmark. The inscription features a facial mask and memorializes a man who died in a battle.
The Glavendrup stone, designated as DR 209 by Rundata, is a runestone on the island of Funen in Denmark and dates from the early 10th century. It contains Denmark's longest runic inscription and ends in a curse.
Tryggevælde Runestone, designated as DR 230 under Rundata, is a runestone housed in the National Museum of Denmark, in Copenhagen. It is classified as being carved in runestone style RAK, and is dated to about 900 CE.
The Ingvar runestones is the name of around 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration of those who died in the Swedish Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea of Ingvar the Far-Travelled.
The Hällestad Runestones are three runestones located in the walls of Hällestad Church in Torna-Hällestad, about 20 kilometers east of Lund in Skåne, southern Sweden. Their Rundata identifiers are DR 295, 296, and 297. DR 295 is notable because it is held to be raised in memory of a warrior who fell in the legendary Battle of the Fýrisvellir, near Uppsala, Sweden between the Jomsvikings led by Styrbjörn the Strong and Styrbjörn's uncle Eric the Victorious, the king of Sweden, c. 985. The other stones were raised by the same people, and they probably formed a monument together in memory of comrades lost in the battle. The Karlevi Runestone, the Egtved Runestone and the Sjörup Runestone may be connected to them.
The Orkesta Runestones are a set of 11th-century runestones engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark alphabet that are located at the church of Orkesta, northeast of Stockholm in Sweden.
The England runestones are a group of about 30 runestones in Scandinavia which refer to Viking Age voyages to England. They constitute one of the largest groups of runestones that mention voyages to other countries, and they are comparable in number only to the approximately 30 Greece Runestones and the 26 Ingvar Runestones, of which the latter refer to a Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea region. They were engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark.
The Viking runestones are runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Viking expeditions. This article treats the runestone that refer to people who took part in voyages abroad, in western Europe, and stones that mention men who were Viking warriors and/or died while travelling in the West. However, it is likely that all of them do not mention men who took part in pillaging. The inscriptions were all engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark. The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: Denmark has 250 runestones, Norway has 50 while Iceland has none. Sweden has as many as between 1,700 and 2,500 depending on definition. The Swedish district of Uppland has the highest concentration with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone, whereas Södermanland is second with 391.
The Baltic area runestones are Viking runestones in memory of men who took part in peaceful or warlike expeditions across the Baltic Sea, where Finland and the Baltic states are presently located.
There were probably two Gunnar's bridge runestones at Kullerstad, which is about one kilometre northeast of Skärblacka, Östergötland County, Sweden, which is in the historic province of Östergötland, where a man named Håkon dedicated a bridge to the memory of his son Gunnar. The second stone was discovered in a church only 500 metres away and is raised in the cemetery. The second stone informs that Håkon raised more than one stone in memory of his son and that the son died vestr or "in the West."
The Simris Runestones are two 11th-century runestones located at the vicarage of Simris, near Simrishamn, in southeasternmost Scania, Sweden. They were rediscovered in a church wall in 1716 during a restoration of the church. Although the territory was Danish at the time, they were made in the Swedish style of Uppland. One of the stones is notable in being one of the earliest native Scandinavian documents that mention Sweden.
The Lovö Runestones are five Viking Age memorial runestones outside the Lovö church on the island of Lovön in Lake Mälaren, which is in Stockholm County, Sweden, and in the historic province of Uppland.
The Skårby Runestones are two Viking Age memorial runestones originally located in Skårby, which is about ten kilometers northwest of Ystad, Scania, Sweden.
The Dagstorp Runestone, designated as DR 325 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone that was discovered at Dagstorp, which is about two kilometers northwest of Kävlinge, Scania, Sweden.
The Bjäresjö Runestones are three Viking Age memorial runestones originally located adjacent to Bjäresjö Church in Bjäresjö, which is about 3 kilometers northwest of Ystad, Skåne County, Sweden. Two of the stones were discovered near the church, and two of the stones have been moved to other nearby locations. Although these three stones are located in Sweden, they have been given Danish designations because Scania was part of the historic Denmark.
The Sövestad Runestones consist of a Viking Age image stone and memorial runestone found near Krageholm Castle, which is about two kilometers west of Sövestad, Skåne County, Sweden.
The Västra Nöbbelöv Runestone, listed as DR 278 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone located in Västra Nöbbelöv, which is about 3 kilometers east of Skivarp, Skåne County, Sweden, and was in the historic province of Scania.
The Södermanland Runic Inscription 49 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet. The style of the runestone is a categorized as Fp. It is located in Ene in Nyköping Municipality.