Möjbro Runestone
Encyclopedia
The Möjbro Runestone is a runestone that is designated as U 877 in the Rundata
catalog and is inscribed in Proto-Norse using the elder futhark
. It was found in Möjbro, which is about 8 kilometers north of Örsundsbro
in Uppsala County
, Sweden
, which is in the historic province of Uppland
. The runestone is presently on display at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities
in Stockholm
.
era art.
Several interpretations have been put forth for the inscription, which, when read from right to left, is transliterated into Latin letters as frawaradaz anahaha is| |slaginaz. However, the only thing that can be said with certainty on the interpretation of the inscription is that Frawaradaz is the name of a man, but even the interpretation of the name is debated. The most common view is that the runestone is a memorial and that it says that Frawaradaz was slain.
The dating of the inscription varies between 400 AD and 550
A.D. Although the stone has been known since the initial surveys of runestones in Sweden during the 1600s, it exact original location is not known. While the runestone is 2.46 meters in height and made of granite, it is considered to be fragile. To protect the stone and its shallow inscription, it was moved in 1948 from Möjbro to the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.
Rundata
The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future research...
catalog and is inscribed in Proto-Norse using the elder futhark
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
. It was found in Möjbro, which is about 8 kilometers north of Örsundsbro
Örsundsbro
Örsundsbro is a locality situated in Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 1,773 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...
in Uppsala County
Uppsala County
Uppsala County is a county or län on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Stockholm, Södermanland, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and the Baltic Sea.- Province :For History, Geography and Culture see: Uppland...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, which is in the historic province of Uppland
Uppland
Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...
. The runestone is presently on display at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden that covers Swedish cultural history and art from the Stone Age to the 16th century...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
Description
The Möjbro Runestone is notable not only for being one of few runestones in Proto-Norse, but also for showing what is considered to be an artistically crafted image of a rider on a horse with two dogs. It is believed to have been inspired by continental Germanic images of victorious warriors on horses and that it ultimately derives from late Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
era art.
Several interpretations have been put forth for the inscription, which, when read from right to left, is transliterated into Latin letters as frawaradaz anahaha is| |slaginaz. However, the only thing that can be said with certainty on the interpretation of the inscription is that Frawaradaz is the name of a man, but even the interpretation of the name is debated. The most common view is that the runestone is a memorial and that it says that Frawaradaz was slain.
The dating of the inscription varies between 400 AD and 550
550
Year 550 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* January 16 – Gothic War :...
A.D. Although the stone has been known since the initial surveys of runestones in Sweden during the 1600s, it exact original location is not known. While the runestone is 2.46 meters in height and made of granite, it is considered to be fragile. To protect the stone and its shallow inscription, it was moved in 1948 from Möjbro to the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.