Varangian Biker

Gårdby kyrka, Öland, Sweden

Inscription

hardrudr + raisti + stain + dinsa + aiftiz + sun + sin + smid + trak + kudan + halfburin + brudiz ans + sitr + kar dum brantr + rit- x iak du rada + khn

Transliteration

harþruþr + raisti + stain + þinsa + aiftiʀ + sun + sin + s[m]iþ + trak + kuþan + halfburin + bruþiʀ ans + sitr + kar þum brantr + rit - x iak þu raþa + khn

Old norse transcription

Hærþruðr ræisti stæin þennsa æftiʀ sun sinn Smið, dræng goðan. Halfborinn, broðiʀ hans, sitr Garðum. Brandr rett [i] hiogg, þy raða kann.

Translation

“Herþrúðr raised this stone in memory of her son Smiðr, a good valiant man. Halfborinn, his brother, sits in Garðar (Russia). Brandr cut rightly, therefore (one) can interpret (the runes).”

Description and style period

The Gårdby runestone is made of gray limestone that stands 1.5 meters high, 1.3 meters wide, and only about 11 centimeters thick. Most of the runes are placed in a band going around the edges of the stone. Each end of the snake is ending in a curved tail, thus it is without a head. In the middle of the top part of the stone is a large ornamented cross. The bottom arm of the cross is connected to the end of the tails of the rune band, and two small double-tailed snakes are placed crosswise in the middle. There are runes on the lower arm of the cross, and a single word over the right tail end of the snake. Since the snake has no head, the style period is uncertain, but it could be placed in the Ringerike style, in the period called “Pr 2” by Anne-Sofie Gräslund. About 30-35 runestones mention travels to the east, among them, this is the only one found on Öland.

Location and discovery

Today the runestone stands in the cemetery of the church in Gårdby on the island Öland in the Baltic sea. It stands south-east of the church, with the inscription to the north. It is not known where the stone was originally placed, but when Carl von Linné visited in 1741 it was standing at its current position (Ölands runinskrifter, p. 89). The dating of the stone is uncertain, but if the style “Pr 2” is correct, it could be from about 1020-1050 AD. Brand, who has signed the stone, is not known to have made any other surviving stones.

Interpretation

The runestone mentions a brother called Halfborinn who sits in Garðar, modern day Russia. Mentioning that the brother sits in Russia could be a way to show that they should not have a part of the inheritance (Swedish National Heritage Board 2020), similar to the later medieval law “Västgötalagen” (Jansson 1984, p. 65). There have been multiple different interpretations of the inscription, mainly based on an incorrect reading of the name Halfborinn. In 1947 Jansson discusses these interpretations and concludes that an earlier reading by Linné is closer to the truth.

It is worth noting that the rune ᚼ in the last word is incorrect, the carver probably first made an ᚾ and later changed it to ᛅ after realizing their mistake (Jansson 1947, p. 194). Most probably it would have been painted only as the ᛅ rune. The ᛅ rune in the name Halfborinn is squeezed in, and might have been added later (Jansson 1947, p. 193). This has probably added to the confusion regarding the interpretation of this part of the inscription as it makes it harder to read.

An earlier interpretation of the word Garðum is that it is the village Gårdby, where the runestone is standing, but according to Jansson (1947, p. 195) the village was called Gorby after the old norse word gorr meaning “guts” or “mud”. It is also unclear why it was important to mention that the brother sits in the village nearby.

Photos

References

• Scandinavian Runic-text Database latest, “Runic inscription Öl 28 ”, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University.
• Swedish National Heritage Board, 2020, “Gårdby kyrka (Mörbylånga kommun)”,
• Ölands runinskrifter, (1900-1906), Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, pp. 88-93
• Jansson, Sven B. F., (1947), Arkiv för nordisk filologi 1947, “Till tolkningen av Gårdbystenen på Öland”, pp. 186-195
• Jansson, Sven B. F., (1984), Runinskrifter i Sverige, Almqvist & Wiksell Förlag, 1984