Tjängvide image stone

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The Tjängvide^[1] image stone (G 110) is an image stone which was discovered in 1844 on the farm of Tjängvide on Gotland, but it is presently located in the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.^[2] It is a flat slab of limestone which measures 1.7 metres in height, is 1.2 metres wide and 0.3 metres thick. The stone is probably pagan in origin as no trace of Christian elements has been found.^[2] One of the images on the stone has been taken as the logo of the Swedish museum of National Antiquities.^[3]

Contents 1 Imagery 2 Inscription 2.1 Transliteration 2.2 Transcription into Old Norse 2.3 Translation in English 3 References

[edit] Imagery

The stone is decorated with several figures in an upper and a lower field, which are separated by a braided pattern that resembles valknuts. In the upper field, there is a large eight-footed horse and a small rider who is offered a drinking horn by a lady, and there are also some other figures, such as a quadruped animal and some less discernible images.^[2]

The rider on his horse is usually identified with Odin on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir, or a dead man who is arriving at Valhalla on Odin's horse.^[2][3][4] The lady is identified as a valkyrie.^[2]

There are also alternative interpretations of the imagery, and it has been suggested that the rider is Sigurd who is riding on Grani (an offspring of Sleipnir) and that the welcoming lady is Grimhild who is welcoming Sigurd to the court of the Gjukungs. It is also possible that the eight legs symbolize the high speed of the horse and that the rider is a living man who is welcomed by his wife. The man behind the lady appears to carry a bow and he may be a dead man who is hunting and the quadruped may be his dog.^[2]

The lower field of the stone is almost completely filled with the image of a longship with tall aft and stern. The sail is almost as wide as the ship is long.^[2]

[edit] Inscription

The runic inscription to the left of the field is the runic row, but several of the runes are lost. In the runic inscription to the right of the lower field, half of the runes may be lost. The runic inscription does not separate the words from each other and the runes are short-twig runes.^[2] Below follows the inscription as it is presented by the Rundata project:^[5]

[edit] Transliteration

• A fuorkhn... ...fuþr-...
• B ... (r)aisti stainin aft iurulf bruþur sin ÷ sikuif(i)r(t)(u)(a)(n)k(i)sifil

[edit] Transcription into Old Norse

• A <fuþork> ...
• B ... ræisti stæininn æftiR Hiorulf/Iorulf, broður sinn ...

[edit] Translation in English

• A <fuþork> ...
• B ... raised the stone in memory of Hjôrulfr/Jórulfr, his brother ...

[edit] References