Italy runestones

There is a long-standing practice to write transliterations of the runes into Latin characters with boldface and transcribe the text into a normalized form of the language with italic type. This practice exists because the two forms of rendering a runic text have to be kept distinct.[6] By not only showing the original inscription, but also transliterating, transcribing and translating, scholars present the analysis in a way that allows the reader to follow their interpretation of the runes. Every step presents challenges, but most Younger Futhark inscriptions are considered easy to interpret.[7]

In transliterations, *, :, ×, ' and + represent common word dividers. Parentheses, ( ), represent damaged runes that cannot be identified with certainty, and square brackets, [ ], represent sequences of runes that have been lost, but can be identified thanks to early descriptions by scholars. A short hyphen, -, indicates that there is a rune or other sign that cannot be identified. A series of three full stops ... shows that runes are assumed to have existed in the position, but have disappeared. The two dividing signs | | divide a rune into two Latin letters, because runemasters often carved a single rune instead of two consecutive ones.[8]

Angle brackets, < >, indicate that there is a sequence of runes that cannot be interpreted with certainty. Other special signs are þ and ð, where the first one is the thorn letter which represents a voiceless dental fricative as th in English thing. The second letter is eth which stands for a voiced dental fricative as th in English them. The ʀ sign represents the yr rune.[8]

Every runic inscription is shown with its ID code that is used in scholarly literature to refer to the inscription, and it is only obligatory to give the first two parts of it. The first part is one or two letters that represent the area where the runic inscription appears, e.g. U for the Uppland, Sö for Södermanland and DR for Denmark. The second part represents the order in which the inscription is presented in the official national publications (e.g. Sveriges runinskrifter). Thus U 133 means that the runestone was the 133rd runic inscription in Uppland that was documented in Sveriges runinskrifter. If the inscription was documented later than the official publication, it is listed according to the publication where it was first described, e.g. Sö Fv1954;22, where Sö represents Södermanland, Fv stands for the annual publication Fornvännen, 1954 is the year of the issue of Fornvännen and 22 is the page in the publication.[8]

There are two rune stones in Uppland that mention Italy. They were raised by the same lady in memory of her son.

Runestone U 133, first fragment

Runestone U 133, second fragment

Runestone U 133 (location) is in style Pr3,[9] part of the more general Urnes style. The stone has been split into two parts that are walled into the southern exterior wall of Täby church, near the ground. The larger fragment, which was originally the upper part of the runestone, is in the western wall of the old porch which is constructed at the church's southern side.[10] The smaller fragment is upside-down in the southern wall of the porch. Both fragments are partly in the soil which means that it is necessary to remove some soil in order to read the entire inscriptions. The larger part was known as early as Johannes Bureus (1568–1652) and it was also studied by Johan Peringskiöld during the national search for historic monuments (1667–84) and by Olof Celsius in 1727. However, the smaller part was not noticed by scholars until 1857, when it was documented by Richard Dybeck, who initially believed that the parts did not belong together. He corrected this interpretation in his Sverikes runurkunder (1865) where he made a depiction of how they would have looked before they were split.[11]

The fragments are in reddish granite and larger part measures 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) in height and 0.86 m (2 ft 10 in)–1 m (3 ft 3 in) in width, while the smaller one is 0.45 m (1 ft 6 in) tall and 1.23 m (4 ft 0 in) wide.[11] It probably formed a twin monument together with U 141 on the estate of Fittja, before it was moved to the church to be used as building material in the mid-15th century.[11]

Both this runestone and U 141 are identified by von Friesen and Erik Brate as the production of the runemaster Fot. They were commissioned by Guðlaug in memory of her son Holmi who had died in Langbarðaland.[5] Peterson (2002) identifies Guðlaug with the one who commissioned Sö 206 and Sö 208,[12] while Pritsak (1981) identifies her as Ónæmr's daughter who is mentioned on U 328. He further considers Holmi's father to be Özurr who is mentioned on U 328 and U 330.[13]

Latin transliteration:

+ kuþluk * lit ... ... ... ...a × sun * sin * auk * at * sik * sialfa * han * to * a lank*barþa*l--ti *

Old Norse transcription:

Guðlaug let [ræisa stæina at Holm]a, sun sinn, ok at sik sialfa. Hann do a Langbarðal[an]di.

English translation:

"Guðlaug had the stones raised in memory of Holmi, her son, and in memory of herself. He died in Lombardy."[9]

Runestone U 141 in a 17th-century drawing by Johan Hadorph

Runestone U 141 (former location) formed a monument together with U 133, and it was raised by the same grieving mother in memory of her son.[13][14] It was first documented by Johannes Messenius, in 1611. He appears to have learnt about the runestone from Johannes Bureus as both of them misspelt the name Holmi by letting the m precede the l. Aschaneus (1575–1641) made a note that the runestone was to be seen at the estate of Fittja near Täby. It was also documented by Peringskiöld in his Monumenta, and visited by Celsius in 1727. However, it later disappeared and both Richard Dybeck and later Erik Brate searched for it in vain. However, in 1933, a fragment with the final three runes were discovered during the installation of heating equipment in the cellar of the estate. The granite fragment, which measures 0.45 m (1 ft 6 in) in height and 0.38 m (1 ft 3 in) in width, has been raised in the garden of Fittja.[14]

Latin transliteration:

[kuþluk × lit * raisa * staina * at * hulma * sun * sin * han * to * a * lank*barþa*la(n)ti ×]

Old Norse transcription:

Guðlaug let ræisa stæina at Holma, sun sinn. Hann do a Langbarðalandi.

English translation:

"Guðlaug had the stones raised in memory of Holmi, her son. He died in Lombardy."[15]

There are two rune stones that mention Italy in Södermanland. However, one of them only says La-, having lost the series of runes that followed. However, the rune stone informs that the location was on the Eastern route, and Langbarðaland is the only known Old Norse place name on the Eastern route that begins with these two runes.

Runestone Sö Fv1954;22

Runestone Sö Fv1954;22 (original location) is in reddish grey and fine grained granite, and it was found in 11 pieces on a small hill about 300 m (980 ft) south-west of the village Lagnö, in 1949. At the location, the land slopes towards the former sailing route Eldsundet, where there once was a medieval assembly location. A house had once been in the same spot and it is likely that the runestone had been used as material in its stone foundation, or in a stove. The stone was moved to a conservation institute in Stockholm where it was mended but it was impossible to make a complete runestone out of it. In 1953, Jansson visited the location and he managed to retrieve some more fragments, adding up to a total of fifteen pieces. However, only twelve could be put together. The largest fragment is 1.40 m (4 ft 7 in) high, 0.65 m (2 ft 2 in) wide and 0.33 m (1 ft 1 in) thick, whereas the second largest one is 1.30 m (4 ft 3 in) high, 0.25 m (9.8 in) m wide and 0.33 m (1 ft 1 in) thick. The expression i austrvegi ("on the eastern route") also appears on the runestones Sö 34 and Sö 126 in the same province, where it figures in poems in fornyrðislag. The last word in the inscription, which tells where the commemorated man died, is partly lost, but Jansson (1954) notes that it was probably Langbarðaland as it begins with La-.[16] The fragments are presently stored inside the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm.[17]

Latin transliteration:

...i : risti : ---... ... ...in... ... sin : han : iʀ : entaþr : i : austruiki : ut : o : la-...

Old Norse transcription:

... ræisti ... ... ... ... sinn. Hann eʀ ændaðr i austrvegi ut a La[ngbarðalandi](?).

English translation:

"... raised ... ... ... ... his. He met his end on the eastern route abroad in Lombardy(?)."[17]

Runestone Sö 65

Runestone Sö 65 is in style Pr1 (Ringerike style)[18] and it was documented at the farm Djul(e)fors during the national search for historic monuments (1667–84).[19] It is nowadays in the south-eastern end of the park of Eriksberg palace (location). It measures c. 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) in height. Brate & Wessén commented (1924–1936) that a third of the stone had been lost to its left and that it was 0.71 m (2 ft 4 in) wide at its base and 0.63 m (2 ft 1 in) wide at the top.[20] Rundata 2.5 reports that a missing part was discovered in 1934,[18] and Swedish National Heritage Board includes the rediscovered part in the stone's dimensions reporting its width to be 1.06 m (3 ft 6 in).[21]

Sophus Bugge noted in his Runverser that the expression arði barði ("ploughed his stern") also appears in the Icelandic Third Grammatical Treatise by Óláfr Þórðarson, and as well in a verse by the Okney jarl Rögnvald Brusason. He also commented that the epitaph is in the meter that Snorri Sturluson called hinn skammi háttr. Furthermore, he added that since seafaring played an important role in the lives of all Norse peoples, it would only be natural if they had many poetic expressions like arði barði in common[20] (cf. Sö 198).

Latin transliteration:

[inka : raisti : stain : þansi : at : ulai](f) : sin : [a...k] : han : austarla : arþi : barþi : auk : o : lakbarþilanti : [anlaþis +]

Old Norse transcription:

Inga ræisti stæin þannsi at Olæif sinn ... Hann austarla arði barði ok a Langbarðalandi andaðis.

English translation:

"Inga raised this stone in memory of Óleifr, her ... He ploughed his stern to the east, and met his end in the land of the Lombards."[18]