The Danish runestones
when and where?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1080/21662282.2015.1104905Keywords:
runestones, chronology, distribution, Viking AgeAbstract
This article concerns the dating and distribution of Danish runestones from the eighth to the eleventh centuries. On the basis of both old and more recent investigations, the runestones are divided into five chronological periods each with their own characteristics and according to typological features regarding runes, language, style, and ornament. The majority of Danish runestones were erected within two generations after the conversion around AD 970–1020/25 and probably as a result of the stress and societal changes in connection with the advent of Christianity. The geographical distribution changed dramatically during the 400 year long runestone period and was probably due to the changing political situation. In the eighth and ninth centuries, runestones were mainly erected on Fyn, Sjælland, and Skåne. Runestones were almost exclusively erected in Jutland in the tenth century before the conversion and in the decades around the year 1000, runestones were erected in the north-eastern parts of Jutland and along the coast in Skåne. The runestone fashion died out in most parts of Denmark during the eleventh century, although on Bornholm the tradition began in the early eleventh century and came to an end within a
few generations in the late eleventh century or around AD 1100.
References
Barnes, M., 2012. Runes - A handbook. Woodbridge: Boydell.
Christensen, A.E., 1969. Vikingetidens Danmark. København: Gyldendal.
Christensen, K. and Krog, K.J., 1987. Jelling-højene dateret. Kristendommens Indførelse Og Gorm Den Gamles Død. Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark, (1987), 223-231.
Christiansson, H., 1953. Jellingestenens bildvärld. Kuml, (1953), 72-101. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01832160
Fridell, S., 2011. Graphic variation and change in the younger Futhark. NOWELE, 60, 69-88. https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.60-61
Fuglesang, S.H., 1991. The axehead from Mammen and the Mammen style. In: M. Iversen, ed. Mammen. Grav, kunst og samfund i vikingetid. Århus: Århus Universitetsforlag, 83-107.
Glob, P.V., 1969. Kong Haralds kumler. Skalk, 1969 (4), 18-27. https://doi.org/10.1097/00017285-196900430-00005
Gräslund, A.-S., 1998. Ornamentiken som dateringsgrund för Upplands runstenar. In: A. Dybdahl and J.R. Hagland, eds. Innskrifter og datering. Dating inscriptions. Trondheim: Tapir, 73-91).
Imer, L.M. (2010). Faaborg-stenen og de ældste danske runesten. Otteogtyvende tværfaglige vikingesymposium, Syddansk Universitet 2009 (pp. 35-43). Højbjerg: Hikuin.
Imer, L.M., 2011a. The oldest runic monuments in the North - dating and distribution In: M. Schulte and R. Nedome, eds., Language and Literacy in Early Scandinavia and Beyond. NOWELE, 62/63, 169-212. https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.62-63.04ime
Imer, L.M., 2011b. Fortidens kalejdoskop - Om definitionen af kontekster i runologien. Arkæologisk Forum, 24 (2011), 37-42.
Jacobsen, L., 1932. Vikingetidens 'historiske' danske Runeindskrifter. Bidrag Til Spørgsmaalet Om Runestenenes Tidsfæstelse. Scandia, 5, 103-147.
Jacobsen, L., 1935. Runeindskrifternes vidnesbyrd om kampene omkring Hedeby. Fra Harald Gormssøn til Sven Estridsøn. Scandia, 8, 64-79.
Jacobsen, L. and Moltke, E., 1942. Danmarks Runeindskrifter. Text. København: Ejnar Munksgaards Forlag.
Källström, M. (2007). Mästare och minnesmärken. Studier kring vikingatida runristare och skriftmiljöer i Norden. Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Stockholm Studies in Scandinavian Philology. New Series 43. Stockholm.
La Cour, V., 1951. Danevirkestudier: En arkæologisk-historisk Undersøgelse. København. P. Haase og Søns Forlag.
Lerche Nielse, M., 1993. Svensk og norsk indflydelse i vikingetidens danske runeindskrifter. Upubliceret speciale fra Københavns Universitet.
Lindqvist, S., 1931. Kunst. Nordisk Kultur, XXIII, 144-147.
Lund, N., 2014. Gorm den Gamle og Thyra Danebod. In: K. Kryger, ed. Danske Kongegrave I. København: Museum Tusculanums forlag, 55-79.
Moltke, E., 1952. Danevirke og de danske kongesten. Grænsevagten, 34, 257-262.
Moltke, E., 1972. Harald Blåtands runesten i Jelling. Epigrafi, kronologi og historie. Kuml, 1971, 7-33.
Moltke, E., 1976. Runerne i Danmark og deres oprindelse. København: Forum.
Moltke, E., 1985. Runes and their Origin - Denmark and Elsewhere. København: The National Museum.
Nielsen, K.M., 1970. Om dateringen af de senurnordiske runeindskrifter, synkopen og 16 tegns futharken. Aarbøger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1969, 5-51.
Øeby Nielsen, G., 2007. Runesten og deres fundforhold. Århus: Afdeling for Middelalder- og Renæssancearkæologi, Aarhus Universitet.
Randsborg, K., 1980. The Viking Age in Denmark. The formation of a state. London: Duckworth.
Rasmussen, A., Pentz, P., and Imer, L., 2014. Dette er en hammer. Skalk, 2014 (4), 16-17.
Roesdahl, E. and Wilson, D., 2006. The Århus rune-stones. In: P. Gammeltoft and B. Jørgensen, eds.. Names through the Looking-Glass. Festschrift in Honour of Gillian Fellows- Jensen. København, C. A. Reitzel 208-229.
Sawyer, B., 2000. The Viking-Age Rune-Stones. Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia. Oxford University Press, New York.
Snædal, T., 1985. 'Han flydde inte vid Uppsala . . .' Slaget på Fyrisvallarna och några skånska runstenar. Ale, (1985) (2), 13-23).
Søvsø, M., 2014. Om dateringen af Ribe runehjerneskallen. Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies, 4, 173-176.
Stoklund, M., 1991. Runesten, kronologi og samfundsrekonstruktion. Nogle kritiske overvejelser med udgangspunkt i runestenene i Mammenområdet. In: M. Iversen, ed. Mammen. Grav, kunst og samfund i vikingetid. Århus: Århus Universitetsforlag, 285-297.
Stoklund, M. (1996). The Ribe cranium inscription and the Scandinavian transition to the younger reduced futhark. In: T. Looijenga and A. Quak (eds.) Frisian Runes and neighbouring Traditions. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Frisian Runes at the Fries Museum, Leeuwarden 26.29 January 1994. Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 45 (pp. 199-210). Amsterdam: Edition Rodopi B.V. https://doi.org/10.1163/18756719-045-01-90000018
Stoklund, M., 2000. Jelling. §Runologisches. Reallexikon Der Germanischen Altertumskunde, 16, 56-58.
Stoklund, M., 2004. The Runic Inscription on the Ribe Skull Fragment. In: M. Bencard, A. Kann Rasmussen, and H. Brinch Madsen, eds. Ribe Excavations 1970-76. Vol. 5. Esbjerg: Sydjysk Universitetsforlag, 27-42.
Stoklund, M., 2005. Tolkningen af Bække-, Læborg- og Jellingindskrifterne og meningen med at rejse runesten. Hikuin, 32, 37-48.
Stoklund, M., 2006. Chronology and Typology of the Danish Runic Inscriptions. In: M. Stoklund, et al., eds. Runes and their Secrets. Studies in runology. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 355-383.
Stoklund, M., 2010. The Danish Inscriptions of the Early Viking Age and the Transition to the Younger Futhark. In: J.O. Askedal, et al., eds. Zentrale Probleme bei der Erforschung der älteren Runen. Akten einer internationalen Tagung an der Norwegischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Osloer Beiträge zur Germanistik. 41, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 237-252.
Wamers, E. and Brandt, M. (eds.) (2005). Die Macht des Silbers. Karolingische Schätze im Norden. Katalog zur Ausstellung im Archäologischen Museum Frankfurt und im Dom- Museum Hildeshem in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Dänischen Nationalmuseum Kopenhagen. Halle: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt.
Wimmer, L.F.A., 1893-1908. Danmarks Runemindesmærker I-IV. København: Gyldendalske Boghandel. Nordisk Forlag.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Counting from volume 11 (2022), articles published in DJA are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The editorial board may accept other Creative Commons licenses for individual articles, if required by funding bodies e.g. the European Research Council. With the publication of volume 11, authors retain copyright to their articles and give DJA the right to the first publication. The authors retain copyright to earlier versions of the articles, such as the submitted and the accepted manuscript.
Articles in volume 1-8 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to DJA. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository as a part of a green open access policy.
Articles in volume 9-10 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to the authors of the articles respectively. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository.
