Varangian Runestones in Östergötland

Ög 8 - Kälvesten

Aug 8, 2022

Västra Stenby kyrka, Östergötland, Sweden

Inscription

Drawing of the inscription of the runestone Ög 8
cTikuZ ' kardi kubl dau afT auiNT cuNu ciN ' ca fial aucTr ZiZ aiuicli ' uikikZ fadi aukriZulfZ

Transliteration

stikuʀ ['] karþi kubl þ¡[a][u] aft auint sunu sin ' sa fial austr miʀ aiuisli ' uikikʀ faþi auk| |krimulfʀ

Old norse transcription

§A Stigr/Styggr gerði kuml þau ept Eyvind, son sinn. Sá fell austr §B með Eivísli. Víkingr fáði ok Grímulfr.

Translation

“§A Stigr/Styggr made these monuments in memory of Eyvindr, his son. He fell in the east §B with Eivísl. Víkingr coloured and Grímulfr.”

Description and style period

The Kälve runestone is a viking age runestone written with short-twig runes on two of its sides. It is made of granite, and stands 160 cm tall, 55 cm wide and 50 cm thick. The runes on the stone are about 14 cm high. The rune bands are in straight lines without ornamentation, with a straight line at the start and end of each band. According to the categorization by Anne-Sophie Gräslund this places the runestone in the RAK style period. This means the stone probably is from the period of 980-1015 AD. In one word at the top of the first band, there is a bind rune, combining the runes ᛆ and ᚢ. In the words aukrimulfR the rune ᚴ should be read twice, both at the end of the word auk, and at the beginning of the name krimulfR. There are only three word interpunctuations, and they are all a short 3 cm vertical line in the middle of the rune band. Some damage can be seen on the top of the stone, but no runes seem to be missing.

Location and discovery

Ög 8 map

The runestone stands right at the entrance of the graveyard of Västra Stenby church. It had been used as part of the church wall, near the ground on the east side of the church. In 1938 it was removed from the wall and raised in the churchyard. It was only at this time it was discovered that there were inscriptions on another side of the runestone.

Interpretation

The inscription starts with a memorial formula, mentioning that Stygg raised the stone after his son Öyvind who died when traveling to the east together with a chieftain called Eivisl. The inscription ends with a signature by Viking and Grimulf. Both the names Grimulf and Öyvind were common during the viking age, and the name Viking is found on about 10 other runestones in Sweden. On the other hand, the name Eivisl is only known on one other runestone, the Sparlösa stone Vg 119.

This is the oldest inscription mentioning an expedition to the east. Unfortunately there is no mention of where in the east it was. It could either be Gardar, modern day Russia, or even as far as Miklagård.

After king Igor of Kiev failed his attack on Greece in 941, he returned home. He started to recruit varangians from Scandinavia to build a new army, and attacked Greece once more in 944. It is possible Öyvind and Eivisl were part of a similar raid, but we will never know for certain.

Photos

References