Velanda Runestone

{{Infobox artifact

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| created = probably the early eleventh century

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| discovered_place = Velanda, Västergötland, Sweden

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| discovered_date = 1910

| discovered_by = Jacobsson

| rune_id = Vg 150

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| rune_master = unknown

| rune_text_native = Old Norse : See article.

| rune_text_english = See article

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The Velanda Runestone ({{langx|sv|Velandastenen}}), designated as Vg 150 in the Rundata catalog, is a runestone dated to the late tenth century or the early eleventh century that is located in the village of Velanda, Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden, which is in the historic province of Västergötland. It was discovered around 1910 by a farmer named Jacobsson.{{Cite book |last=Flom |first=George T. |author-link=George T. Flom |title=Publications of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study |contribution=Scandinavian Publications, Recent and Forthcoming |publisher=Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (U.S.) |year=1916 |page=226 |volume=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8i48AAAAIAAJ }}

Description

The Velanda Runestone is inscribed in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark. Above the arch of the runic text band is the outline of an eagle's head facing to the left.{{Cite book |last1=McKinnell |first1=John |last2=Simak |first2=Rudolf |last3=Düwel |first3=Klaus |title=Runes, Magic and Religion: A Sourcebook |publisher=Fassbaender |year=2004 |location=Vienna |pages=120–121 |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/1053/1/1053.pdf |isbn=3-900538-81-6}} The stone was raised by a woman named Þyrvé in memory of her husband Ögmundr. The runic inscription states that he was miok goðan þegn or "a very good thegn". About fifty other runestones refer to the deceased being a thegn. Of these, four use exactly the same phrase, miok goðan þegn: Vg 73 in Synnerby, Vg 108 in Tängs gamla, Vg 137 in Sörby, and DR 99 in Bjerregrav. The exact role of thegns in southern Sweden is a matter of debate, but the most common view is that they constituted an elite somehow connected to Danish power. It is thought that thegn-stones point to power centers from which they came, and from where they could be sent out to rule border areas in so-called tegnebyar.Löfving, Carl (2001). Gothia som Dansk/Engelskt Skattland: Ett Exempel på Heterarki Omkring år 1000 (doctoral dissertation). Göteborg.

The inscription asks the Norse pagan god Thor to hallow the runestone. One or two other runestones in Sweden have similar invocations to Thor: Ög 136 in Rök and possibly Sö 140 at Korpbron.{{Cite book |last=Sawyer |first=Birgit |author-link=Birgit Sawyer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4M4-r-VL_WkC |title=The Viking-Age Rune-Stones: Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-19-820643-7 |page=128}} Other runestones in Denmark that include invocations of or dedications to Thor in their inscriptions include DR 110 from Virring, DR 209 from Glavendrup, and DR 220 from Sønder Kirkeby.{{Cite book |last=McKinnell |first=John |title=Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend |publisher=D. S. Brewer |year=2005 |location=Cambridge |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2x2x3neFywC |isbn=1-84384-042-1}} It has been noted that Thor is the only Norse god who is invoked on any Viking Age runestones.{{Cite book |last=Page |first=Raymond Ian |title=Norse Myths |publisher=University of Texas |date=2001 |orig-year=1990 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODbBmS8Ks-AC |isbn=0-292-75546-5}}

Inscription

File:Vg-150-runsvenska.opus

File:Vg150 Väne-Åsaka 8 Velandastenen Thor vigi.jpg

style="text-align:center"

| style="text-align:left; padding-right: 2em" | Younger Futhark

| style="color: #D80000" | ×

| style="color: #D80000" | ᚦᚢᚱᚢᛁ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᚱᛁᛋᚦᛁ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛋᛏᛁᚾ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛁᚠᛏᛁᛦ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᚢᚴᛘᚢᛏ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛒᚢᛏᛅ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛋᛁᚾ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛘᛁᚢᚴ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᚴᚢᚦᛅᚾ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᚦᛁᚴᚾ

| style="color: #D80000" | ×

| style="color: #D80000" | ᚦᚢᚱ

| style="color: #D80000" | ᛬

| style="color: #D80000" | ᚢᛁᚴᛁ

| style="color: #D80000" | ×

style="text-align:left; padding-right: 2em;" | Transliteration

þurui

risþi

stin

iftiʀ

ukmut

buta

sin

miuk

kuþan

þikn

þur

uiki

style="text-align:left; padding-right: 2em;" | Runic Swedish

Þyrvi

ræisti

stæin

æftiʀ

Ogmund,

bonda

sinn

miok

goðan

þegn.

Þorr

vigi.

{{cite web |author1=Lena Peterson |title=Svenskt runordsregister {{!}} Utarbetat av Lena Peterson |url=https://www.rattsatt.com/rundata/Runordsregister.pdf |website=rattsatt.com |publisher=Uppsala University |access-date=2024-06-11 |language=sv |format=pdf |date=2006}}{{cite Scandinavian Runic-text Database | edition=2020 | name=Vg 150 | srdb=82904281-014a-4698-8d96-be3d1bddddd0 | runor=3cecb77a-3b81-42f1-a9cc-ee820d434445 | access-date=11 May 2025}}

style="text-align:left; padding-right: 2em;" | Literal translation

Torvi

raised

stone

after

Ögmund,

husband

hers,

a very

able

thegn.

Thor