Sweden JournalPhotography & Travel Notes

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Runestones & Carvings

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

12 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, SwedenThe 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
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, SwedenRunestone 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 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, SwedenRaised by Gísl in memory of his son Ásl, who died in England — its runes still traced in red across the granite.
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, SwedenAttributed 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, SwedenAn 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, SwedenThe 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, SwedenSaga 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, SwedenThe horse Grani and the saga's birds, carved above the running line of runes.From the story: The Sigurd Carving at Ramsund
A weathered gray rune stone carved with an interlaced runic cross motif, standing in a grass field near a stone wall and bare tree in Rytterne, Västerås, Sweden.
Rune Stone at Rytterne — Rytterne, Västerås, SwedenA rune stone stands in an open field in Rytterne parish near Västerås, its interlaced carving catching low spring light against a backdrop of a drystone wall and quiet farmland.
A granite rune stone carved with a curved runic inscription band, standing beside a large tree with a stone wall, iron gate, and open field behind it in Rytterne, Västerås, Sweden.
Viking Memorial Stone at Rytterne — Rytterne, Västerås, SwedenA rune stone at Rytterne carries a memorial inscription raised for a son who died in the east, its weathered arc of runes read now against the same fields and stone walls that have surrounded it for a thousand years.
A triangular granite rune stone fragment with red-painted runes carved along its edge, leaning against a fallen pine trunk in a grassy garden in Dingtuna, Västerås, Sweden.
Rune Stone at Dingtuna — Dingtuna, Västerås, SwedenA worn fragment of a memorial stone stands propped against a fallen pine at Dingtuna, its faded prayer for a lost son still traceable in red-painted runes along the broken granite edge.
A tall gray granite rune stone with a vertical band of red-painted runes carved down its right edge, standing near a tree and low granite benches on a lawn in Dingtuna, Västerås, Sweden.
England Rune Stone at Dingtuna — Dingtuna, Västerås, SwedenCarved by the rune-master Sigge, this stone at Dingtuna once marked the memory of a man who traveled to England and did not return, its faded runic band still legible where the granite meets tree shade and open lawn.