Skarpåker Stone
Encyclopedia
The Skarpåker Stone, designated by Rundata
as Sö 154, is a Viking Age
memorial
runestone that was originally located in Skarpåker, Nyköping
, Sörmland, Sweden
, and which dates to the early 11th century.
and then moved to its current location in that city in 1928. The Skarpåker Stone is 1.8 meters in height and notable for a skald
ic younger futhark
inscription in two nearly identical lines. The eschatology
of the verse, "the Earth shall be rent, and the heavens above", apparently expressing a father's devastation at the loss of his son, can be compared to the father's lament in the Sonatorrek
. It also evokes the catastrophic end of the world in Germanic mythology
, described in the Poetic Edda
as Ragnarök
and also alluded to in the Muspilli
. The phrase "heavens above" or "high heaven" is used in three existing skaldic poems and in Old Saxon and Old English religious poetry and on the charm on the Ribe runic healing stick DR EM85;493, with "earth and high heaven" apparently a common Germanic poetic phrase. The line on the Skarpåker Stone also invokes the following lines from the third stanza of the Völuspá
:
The text is carved on a serpent that arches over a depiction of a ship with a cross
as its mast. Other runic inscriptions from the Viking Age which depict ships include DR 77 in Hjermind, DR 119 in Spentrup, DR 220
in Sønder Kirkeby, DR 258 in Bösarp, DR 271
in Tullstorp, DR 328
in Holmby, DR EM85;523 in Farsø, Ög 181
in Ledberg, Ög 224
in Stratomta, Ög MÖLM1960;230
in Törnevalla, Sö 122 in Skresta, Sö 158
in Österberga, Sö 164 in Spånga, Sö 351
in Överjärna, Sö 352
in Linga, Vg 51 in Husaby, U 370 in Herresta, U 979
in Gamla Uppsala, U 1052 in Axlunda, U 1161
in Altuna, and Vs 17
in Råby. Three stones, the Hørdum
and Långtora kyrka stones and U 1001 in Rasbo, depict ships but currently do not have any runes on them and may never have had any. While including older pagan
references in the runic text, the overall theme of the inscription on the Skarpåker Stone, with the ship and cross, is Christian.
The inscription on the Skarpåker Stone has been attributed to a runemaster
named Traen and is classified as being carved in runestone style
Pr1, which is also known as the Ringerike style
. This is the classification for inscriptions with runic text bands that end in serpent or animal heads depicted as seen from above.
Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future research...
as Sö 154, is a Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
runestone that was originally located in Skarpåker, Nyköping
Nyköping
Nyköping is a locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,427 inhabitants in 2005. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County.- History :...
, Sörmland, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and which dates to the early 11th century.
Description
The runestone was discovered in 1883 in a field at Skarpåker, but in 1883 was moved to LindöLindö
Lindö is a locality situated in Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 4,842 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated just a few kilometers from the centre of the city of Norrköping and is often considered part of it....
and then moved to its current location in that city in 1928. The Skarpåker Stone is 1.8 meters in height and notable for a skald
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
ic younger futhark
Younger Futhark
The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet, a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, consisting of only 16 characters, in use from ca. 800 CE...
inscription in two nearly identical lines. The eschatology
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
of the verse, "the Earth shall be rent, and the heavens above", apparently expressing a father's devastation at the loss of his son, can be compared to the father's lament in the Sonatorrek
Sonatorrek
Sonatorrek is a skaldic poem in 25 stanzas by Egill Skallagrímsson . The work laments the death of two of the poet's sons, Gunnar, who died of a fever, and Böðvarr, who drowned during a storm. It is preserved in Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, ch. 78, which is included in the 14th-century...
. It also evokes the catastrophic end of the world in Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology is a comprehensive term for myths associated with historical Germanic paganism, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, Continental Germanic mythology, and other versions of the mythologies of the Germanic peoples...
, described in the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
as Ragnarök
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
and also alluded to in the Muspilli
Muspilli
Muspilli is one of but two surviving pieces of Old High German epic poetry , dating to around 870. One large fragment of the text has survived in the margins and empty pages of a codex marked as the possession of Louis the German and now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek . The beginning and end of...
. The phrase "heavens above" or "high heaven" is used in three existing skaldic poems and in Old Saxon and Old English religious poetry and on the charm on the Ribe runic healing stick DR EM85;493, with "earth and high heaven" apparently a common Germanic poetic phrase. The line on the Skarpåker Stone also invokes the following lines from the third stanza of the Völuspá
Völuspá
Völuspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin...
:
-
-
- Of old was the age | when YmirYmirIn Norse mythology, Ymir, also called Aurgelmir among the giants themselves, was the founder of the race of frost giants and was later killed by the Borrs.-Etymology:...
lived; - Sea nor cool waves | nor sand there were;
- Earth had not been, | nor heaven above,
- But a yawning gap, | and grass nowhere.
- Of old was the age | when Ymir
-
The text is carved on a serpent that arches over a depiction of a ship with a cross
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
as its mast. Other runic inscriptions from the Viking Age which depict ships include DR 77 in Hjermind, DR 119 in Spentrup, DR 220
Sønder Kirkeby Runestone
The Sønder Kirkeby Runestone, listed as runic inscription DR 220 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone that was discovered in Sønder Kirkeby, which is located about 5 kilometers east of Nykøbing Falster, Denmark.-Description:...
in Sønder Kirkeby, DR 258 in Bösarp, DR 271
Tullstorp Runestone
The Tullstorp Runestone is a Viking Age memorial runestone, listed as DR 271 in the Rundata catalog, that is located in Tullstorp, Scania, Sweden.-Description:...
in Tullstorp, DR 328
Holmby Runestone
The Holmby Runestone, listed as DR 328 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone with an image of a ship that is located in Holmby, which is about 2 kilometers southeast of Flyinge, Scania, Sweden.-Description:...
in Holmby, DR EM85;523 in Farsø, Ög 181
Ledberg stone
The Ledberg stone, designated as Ög 181 under Rundata, is an image- and runestone located in Östergötland, Sweden.-Description:The Ledberg stone, similar to Thorwald's Cross, a partially surviving runestone erected at Kirk Andreas on the Isle of Man, features a figure with his foot at the mouth of...
in Ledberg, Ög 224
Östergötland Runic Inscription 224
Östergötland Runic Inscription 224 or Ög 224 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial runestone that is located in Stratomta, which is 9 kilometers east of Linköping, Östergötland, Sweden...
in Stratomta, Ög MÖLM1960;230
Östergötland Runic Inscription MÖLM1960;230
Östergötland Runic Inscription MÖLM1960;230 or Ög MÖLM1960;230 is the Rundata catalog number for a memorial runestone that is located near a church in Törnevalla, which is 2 kilometers east of Linghem, Östergötland County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Östergötland...
in Törnevalla, Sö 122 in Skresta, Sö 158
Södermanland Runic Inscription 158
Södermanland Runic Inscription 158 or Sö 158 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial runestone located in Österberga, which is one kilometer southwest of Ärsta and three kilometers southwest of Runtuna, Södermanland, Sweden...
in Österberga, Sö 164 in Spånga, Sö 351
Södermanland Runic Inscription 351
Södermanland Runic Inscription 351 or Sö 351 is the Rundata catalog number of a Viking Age memorial runestone located in Överjärna, which is part of Järna, Stockholm County, Sweden, which was part of the historic province of Södermanland...
in Överjärna, Sö 352
Södermanland Runic Inscription 352
Södermanland Runic Inscription 352 or Sö 352 is a Viking Age memorial runestone located at Linga, which is about two kilometers south of Järna, Stockholm County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Södermanland...
in Linga, Vg 51 in Husaby, U 370 in Herresta, U 979
Uppland Runic Inscription 979
Uppland Runic Inscription 979 or U 979 is the Rundata designation for a Viking Age runestone located at Gamla Uppsala, Sweden, which depicts a ship.-Description:U 979 is a damaged runestone located near the north entrance to the church at Gamla Uppsala...
in Gamla Uppsala, U 1052 in Axlunda, U 1161
Altuna Runestone
The Altuna Runestone , listed as U 1161 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone with images from Norse mythology that is located in Altuna, Uppland, Sweden.- Description :...
in Altuna, and Vs 17
Västmanland Runic Inscription 17
Västmanland Runic Inscription 17 or Vs 17 is the Rundata designation for a Viking Age memorial runestone with an image of a ship that is located in Råby, which is about two kilometers east of Tortuna, Västmanland County, Sweden, which was in the historic province of Västmanland.-Description:The...
in Råby. Three stones, the Hørdum
Hørdum stone
The Hørdum stone is a Viking Age picture stone discovered in Hørdum, Thisted Municipality, North Denmark Region, Denmark, that depicts a legend from Norse mythology involving the god Thor and Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent.-Description:...
and Långtora kyrka stones and U 1001 in Rasbo, depict ships but currently do not have any runes on them and may never have had any. While including older pagan
Norse paganism
Norse paganism is the religious traditions of the Norsemen, a Germanic people living in the Nordic countries. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe in the Viking Age...
references in the runic text, the overall theme of the inscription on the Skarpåker Stone, with the ship and cross, is Christian.
The inscription on the Skarpåker Stone has been attributed to a runemaster
Runemaster
A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones.Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probably carved messages on pieces of bone and wood. However, it was difficult to make runestones, and in order to master it one also needed to be a...
named Traen and is classified as being carved in runestone style
Runestone styles
The runestone styles varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increasingly complex and made by travelling runemasters such as Öpir and Visäte....
Pr1, which is also known as the Ringerike style
Ringerike style
The Ringerike style is a Scandinavian animal style from the late 10th century and the 11th century, which evolved out of the earlier Mammen style. It has received its name from a group of runestones with animal and plant motifs in the Ringerike district north of Oslo. The most common motifs are...
. This is the classification for inscriptions with runic text bands that end in serpent or animal heads depicted as seen from above.
Transliteration of inscription into Latin letters
- §P kunar : raisþi : stain : þansi : at lyþbiurn : sun : sin : iarþsalr ifna uk ubhimin
- §Q kunar : raisþi : stain : þansi : at lyþbiurn : sun : sin : iarþ sal rifna uk ubhimin
