Sweden JournalPhotography & Travel Notes

Series

Runestones & Carvings

Sweden’s memory cut into stone — rune inscriptions and the Sigurd carving at Ramsund, gathered from across the journal’s ancient sites.

8 photographs

The Anundshög Runestone, known as Vs 13, standing at Anundshög in Västerås, Sweden, with a runic inscription commemorating Heden, son of Folkvid and brother of Anund.
Anundshög Runestone, Vs 13 — Anundshög, Västerås, Sweden
The Anundshög Runestone, Vs 13, bears the inscription: “Folkvid raised all these stones in memory of his son Heden, Anund’s brother. Vred carved the runes.”From the story: Anundshög
A weathered grey runestone stands upright in a green late-summer meadow, its looping runic band and serpent ornament picked out in red, with birch trees and open Västmanland fields behind it.
Saltängsbron Runestone (Vs 9) — Västerås, Västmanland, Sweden
Raised by Gísl in memory of his son Ásl, who died in England — its runes still traced in red across the granite.
Runestone U 978 built into the wall of the Church of Old Uppsala in Sweden, showing a carved cross, runic inscription, and weathered stone surface.
Runestone U 978 at Old Uppsala Church — Gamla Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
Runestone U 978, set into the wall of the Church of Old Uppsala, carries the inscription: “Sigvid, the England traveller, raised this stone in memory of Vidjärv, his father …”From the story: Church of Old Uppsala
A gabled grey granite runestone stands in a green late-summer meadow, its face covered by an interlaced serpent design painted deep red, with leafy trees behind it.
Runestone Vs 10, Västerås — Västerås, Västmanland, Sweden
Attributed to the carver Livsten, its whole face is filled by a single looping serpent in red.
Faint red-painted lines on a large sloping grey rock form the Sigurd Carving — a curving runic band wrapped around figures, a dragon, and scenes from the Norse saga — at the edge of a sunlit summer woodland.
The Sigurd Carving at Ramsund — Sundbyholm, Eskilstuna, Sweden
An eleventh-century rock carving retelling the saga of Sigurd the dragon-slayer, its runic band recording a bridge raised across the Ramsund channel.From the story: The Sigurd Carving at Ramsund
A close detail of the Sigurd Carving: red-painted runes run along a curving band — the dragon's body — beside looping carved figures and a human hand, incised into weathered grey rock flecked with lichen.
Detail of the Sigurd Carving at Ramsund — Sundbyholm, Eskilstuna, Sweden
The dragon's body carries the runes — the memorial text recording a bridge raised across the Ramsund channel.From the story: The Sigurd Carving at Ramsund
A close detail of the Sigurd Carving showing red-painted figures — interlacing beasts and a bird — above a band of runes, all incised into cracked, lichen-flecked grey rock.
Figures of the Sigurd Carving at Ramsund — Sundbyholm, Eskilstuna, Sweden
Saga figures in red: beasts and a bird from the Sigurd legend, threaded above the runic band.From the story: The Sigurd Carving at Ramsund
A close detail of the Sigurd Carving showing red-painted figures — a laden horse and birds among looping lines — set above a long band of runes incised into the sloping grey rock.
Grani and the Runic Band, Sigurd Carving — Sundbyholm, Eskilstuna, Sweden
The horse Grani and the saga's birds, carved above the running line of runes.From the story: The Sigurd Carving at Ramsund