Sønder Vissing I or DR 55 is a runestone located in the church of Sønder Vissing in eastern Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. Sønder Vissing is a small settlement located in Horsens municipality

Horsens municipality

Horsens municipality is a municipality in Region Midtjylland on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Endelave, and covers an area of 542 km². It has a total population of 81,957 . Its mayor is Jan Trøjborg, a member of the Social...

 approximately 20 km south of Silkeborg

Silkeborg

Silkeborg is a city in central Denmark. Located in Silkeborg municipality in Jutland, the city has a population of 42,724 . The development of Silkeborg as a modern city may be traced to the foundation of the paper mill by Michael Drewsen on the Gudenaa in 1844...

, 20 km west of Skanderborg

Skanderborg

Skanderborg, with a population of 18,253 , is a town in Denmark just southwest of Aarhus. It is more or less a suburb today, located in Skanderborg municipality, Jutland.Skanderborg municipality has a population of 57,303 ....

 and 40 km northeast of the Viking monuments of Jelling

Jelling

Jelling is a village in Denmark with a population of 3,248 , located in Jelling Parish approx. 10 km northwest of Vejle. The city lies 105 metres above sea level.-Location:...

.

Description

Sønder Vissing I was discovered in 1836 as part of the stone fence around the church cemetery. and became the object of a study by P. G. Thorsen published as Den Søndervissingske Runesten in 1839. It dates from the second half of the 10th century and was raised by Harald Bluetooth

Harald I of Denmark

Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. He died in 985 or 986 having ruled as King of Denmark from around 958 and King of Norway for a few years probably around 970...

's first wife Tofa

Tove of the Obotrites

Princess Tove of the Obotrites, also called Tova, Tofa or Thora, was a Slavic princess and a Danish Viking Age queen consort, the spouse of King Harald I of Denmark....

 after her mother. Tofa was the daughter of Mstivoj

Mstivoj

Mstivoj was an Obodrite prince from 965 or 967 until his death. He inherited his position along with his brother Mstidrag from their father Nako in an unknown year.-Name:...

, a king of the Obodrites, and the stone is one of few runestones raised after a woman.

Danmarks Runeindskrifter considers the idenfication of the inscription's "Harald the Good" with Viking king "Harald Bluetooth" likely although this form of the name is not known from other sources. The actual inscription is possibly influenced by Swedish practice since the second word uses the rune R to represent either "e" or "æ", a practice also seen on the Hobro II runestone. The connection with the Jelling stones is supported by the inscription's inclusion of a frame.

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

tufa ' lRt ' kaurua ' kubl ¶ mistiuis ' tutiR ' uft ' muþur ¶ sina ' ¶ kuna ¶ harats ' hins ' kuþa ' kurms ¶ sunaR

Sønder Vissing II

A second runestone, Sønder Vissing II or DR 56, was discovered as part of the pavement of the entrance to the church cemetery, also in 1836. This exposed location — near the site of the first stone — is the reason why Sønder Vissing II's inscription is more damaged than the inscription of Sønder Vissing I.

Both stones were moved following their discovery. Sønder Vissing I was moved into the church by 1838 and has since 1897 been located next to the church organ. Sønder Vissing II was moved to the church cemetery in 1838 and has since 1897 been in the church porch

Church porch

A church porch is a room at a church's main entrance.In Scandinavia the porch of a church is often called by names meaning weaponhouse. Visitors stored weapons there because of a prohibition against carrying weapons into the sanctuary, or into houses in general....

.

Transliteration of the runes into Latin characters

tuki ' karþi ' kumbl ' þisi ' iaft ¶ aba ' faþur ' sin ¶ uhimskąn ' hal

Transcription into Old Norse

Toki gærþi kumbl þæssi æft Apa/Æbba, faþur sin, uhemskan hal.

Translation in English

Tóki made this monument in memory of Api/Ebbi, his father, a wise hero.

Sources

• Rundata
  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...
  
  
• A Norwegian site on runestones.