Krogsta Runestone

The Krogsta Runestone is a runestone designated as U 1125 in the Rundata catalog. The stone is located in Krogsta near Tuna [sv], in Uppsala Municipality, Sweden, in the historic province of Uppland. It was first described by Johannes Bureus in 1594.

Krogsta Runestone
Writing	Elder Futhark
Created	6th–8th century
Discovered	1594 AD Krogsta, Uppland, Sweden
Discovered by	Johannes Bureus
Present location	Krogsta near Tuna, Uppsala County, Sweden
Rundata ID	U 1125
Runemaster	Unknown
Text – Native
mwsïeij / sïainaz
Translation
[...] / stone

Stone

The runestone is granite, 170 centimetres (5 ft 7 in) tall,^[1] and dated to 549–725.^[2] Four fragments presumed to be associated with the stone surround it.^[3] It is located in a former cemetery and was described by Johannes Bureus in 1594 and by Johannes Haquini Rhezelius [sv] in his Monumenta Uplandica in the mid-17th century.^[4]

Inscription and decoration

Alongside a drawing of a man with outstretched hands, it bears an Elder Futhark inscription, reading ᛗᚹᛊᛇᛖᛁᛃ mwsïeij (uninterpretable). On the right face is an additional ᛊᛇᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ sïainaz, probably for Proto-Norse stainaz "stone". The inscription has been interpreted as a "spelling lesson", distinguishing vocalic and consonantal forms for the semi-vowels j and w, and as magical.^[1]

The drawing has been described as "naively formed";^[1] the man's gesture of upraised arms with fingers outspread has been interpreted as indicating prayer^[1][3] and as warding off danger, and related to figures on bronze horse mounts from the cemetery at Marchélepot and runestone U Fv1946;258 at Fällbro [sv] in Täby Municipality, which is dated to c. 1000.^[4]

See also

• List of runestones

References

1. MacLeod, Mindy and Bernard Mees (2006). Runic Amulets and Magic Objects. Woodbridge: Boydell, ISBN 9781843832058, p. 110 Archived 9 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine.
2. U 1125, Scandinavian Runic-text Database, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University. Retrieved 15 April 2022. (in Swedish).
3. L1939:5710 Archived 28 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Fornsök database, Swedish National Heritage Board. Retrieved 15 April 2022. (in Swedish).
4. Wessén, Elias and Sven B.F. Jansson (1953–58). Upplands runinskrifter del 4 (Sveriges runinskrifter volume 9). Stockholm: Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, pp. 477–510. (in Swedish). The interpretation of the gesture as warding is cited to Nordén, Arthur (1934–36). "Från Kivik till Eggjum", Fornvannen (in Swedish); and Rosenfeld, Hans-Friedrich (1955). "Der Runenstein von Krogsta und das nord- und westgermanische Demonstrativpronomen 'dieser'". Forschungen und Fortschritte 29:172–78 (in German).

Further reading

• Düwel, Klaus (2001). Runenkunde. 3rd ed. Stuttgart, Weimar: J.B. Metzler (in German)
• Ohlmarks, Åke (1978). 100 Svenska Runinskrifter. Borås: Bokförlaget Plus (in Swedish)

External links

• Media related to Krogsta runestone at Wikimedia Commons

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