A few weeks ago I passed Uppgränna, a small community just north of Gränna on the east shore of lake Vättern. Uppgränna is a beautiful small community beneath the shadow of the ruin Brahehus. Brahehus was built in 1650 and destroyed in a fire 1708, more info and pictures can be seen here.
Besides the view one can also see this rune stone (Sm 122) in Uppgränna.
Inscription; suin : risþi : stina : þesi : eftiR : oslak : auk : eftiR : kuta : sun : hons : en : oslaks : uas : bruþiR : suins :
Translation; Sven raised these stones after Áslakr and after Goti, his son. And Áslakr was Sven’s brother.
The inscription indicates that Sven raised more stones than one.
Only a few meters from the rune stones is a spring, St. Gertruds spring, by which a small chapel, Helga korsets kapell (the chapel of the holy cross) was built during the Middle Ages and served in the 1700s, it is also said that there was a grave field with mounds here. Of the chapel there is nothing left and as far as I know there are no visible traces of the cemetery either, though the source is still filled fresh water, but it is on private land.
Magnus Reuterdahl
August 22nd, 2009 at 12:51 am
Hi Magnus,
could you possibly write or link to some info for non-scandies on rune-stone inscriptions and how they’re refreshed/painted to be so clear?
I was at the roman baths in Bath last week, and some of their altars and tomb markers have traces of red paint in the lettering, where the Victorians who excavated them painted over the inscriptions to make them more legible/dramatic. The paint was (mostly) removed recently when it was decided that the painting had been vandalism and they should have been left alone. Of course, most of the Bath remains are sandstone and easily damaged, so that may be a factor. I’d be interested to know if there’s any archaeological politics surrounding the issue in Sweden.
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hi
I’ll see what I can find!
Magnus
August 26th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
@ Charlotte
I haven’t found any really good links in English but these a few in Swedish regarding the care of rune stones (you should be able to translate them with babelfish etc), I’m sure thare are some though. One that seems OK is this one.
The painting on rune stones as well as cleaning is normally made by or on behalf of the National Heritage Board (RAA) or the County Boards. Normal cleaning is done with a brush and lukewarm water, if a tougher cleaning is needed a stone conservator will be used. Though due to financial shortage only a few gets the attention needed each year.
I know there’s been a debate regarding how often rune stones are to be cleaned from moss and algae as it seems cleaning in some cases makes it easier for new moss and algae to grow on the stones. The rune stones has in many if not most cases originally been painted, see here for examples on how they might have looked originally, not just the runes but also the other parts of the inscription.
What paint has used on the rune stones has differed over time due to how long it holds, if it damages the stone material and environmental issues, I can’t say what paint is being used today and it might differ depending on what rock the inscription is on. If you want more facts I recommend that you contact Thorgunn Snaedal at RAA.
RAA on rune care (in Swedish)
RAA on how to handle a rune stone (in Swedish)
The Museum of National Antiquities on how to save runic inscriptions and rune stones (in Swedish)
Bw
Magnus Reuterdahl
August 26th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Fantastic, thanks for those!
September 15th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
grow up stop wasting your time
September 15th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
You have a nice day too!