On a field at Högsta in Haninge you will find this runestone. It is believed that the stone has stood here since it was made a thousand years ago. There's an old farm nearby with an abandoned house and a few stable buildings that are still in use, they belong to Hammarby farm.The inscription on the runestone was made by Åsbjörn. Translated it reads: Kasi reste stenen åt Assur sin son och åt Ulf. In English, Kasi had the stone raised to Assur his son and to Ulf. To get a feeling how it might have looked when the Vikings lived here have a look at Kenny's photoshopped version.
5 comments:
I think I have seen you post a few of these before. I never thought they may have been painted or colored. Do these sit out unprotected?
Back when they were made, the rune maker often used red ochre mixed with fat on the inscription. Over the years many stones have been destroyed by the weather. Cracks, combined with water and fast growing lichen can do some serious damage. You can fix that with moist clay, and there's many stones around the country that would need some fixing. Every year a few "new" rune stones or other carving are found. Some people "adopt" a runestone and try to look after it which is a very good idea.
Beautiful photo and history!:)
Fascinating. Thanks for the pictures and the story behind it. It's also great to the see impression of what they might have looked like years ago.
So was the point just to mark an occasion or territory and so on? Far nicer than graffiti!
It was a way of paying respect for a relative that had passed away. The inscription often says something like " X had the stone raised in memory of Y, his father" but no one is buried close to a rune stone. You can read more at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rune_stone
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