Runestone N A222
May 5, 2022
The carvings of the stone pertain to the group of unornamented runestones known as RAK (c. 980?-1015), contemporary with the early Ringerike style.
The inscription is not signed.
The granite stone is c. 47 cm tall, 11,9 cm wide and 4,8 cm thick and weighs 4,85 kg. It was taller originally, but the bottom part, along with parts of the inscription, is broken off and missing.
Runic inscription
The first part of the rune text begins at the bottom of the widest side of the stone and wraps over the top of the stone and downwards on the left side face where it continues into the second part. The third part begins at the top of the opposite face of the stone, and the fourth and last part begins at the bottom of the side opposite that on which the text began.
Runes
[1] -ᛒᚴᚱᛆᛁᚿ ++ ᚴᚢᛚ ᛫ ᚱᛆᛌᛏᛁ ᛫ ᛌᛏᚿ ᛫ ᚦᛁ¶ᚿ¶ [2] ᚠᚤᚱ ᛫ ᛌᚼᚮᛏ ᛫ ᚼᚮᚴ ᛌᛆᛚᚢ ᛬ ᚦᚢᚱᛁᛌ ᚮ- [3] (ᚢ)(ᚴ) ᚦᚱ ᛌᛏᛆᛏᛁ ᚱ (ᚼ)ᛆᛏ ᚦᚮᛌᛁ ᛒᛆᚦ(ᛁ) – [4] -(ᚿ)ᛚ(ᚼ) ᛬ ᛆᚿ ᚦᛆ ᛉᛆᚿ ᛒᛁᚦᚼ ᛬ ᚼᛁᛌᛚᛆᚱ
Transliteration
… -bkrain ÷+ kul * rasti * stn * þina fYr * shot * hok salu : þuris o- … … (u)(k) þr stati r (h)at þosi baþ(i) – … … -(n)l(h) : an þa man biþh : hislar
Old Norse
… Kolr reisti stein þenna fyrir ǫnd ok sálu Þóris … … rún(?) þar(?) standi(?) er(?) ept(?) þessi bæði … … en þá man bíða …
English
… Koll raised the stone for Thórir’s spirit and soul … … rune(?) may stand(?) there(?) in memory of(?) both of them … … and then one prays …
Notes
The stone was found in a garden in Harstad in the early 1980s, in soil moved from a so-called settlement mound at the nearby Ervika farm.
The person commemorated on the stone could be the chieftain Thorir Hund (c. 990-1036) of Bjarkøy near Harstad. He was allegedly among the men who killed the Norwegian king Olaf II (later St. Olaf) in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030.
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Ervik, Harstad, Troms and Finnmark, Norway (Now UiT, Tromsø)
N A222
Ts.8168, The Arctic University Museum, UiT, Tromsø
A special thanks this week to Steve Nilsen for bringing this stone and its story to my attention and for sharing invaluable resources. Check out this neat little 3D model of the stone for example https://skfb.ly/otYBD