GP 7 Alskog Tjängvide III

Context and Discovery ⓘ
The three stones from Tjängvide gård were first presented and their find circumstances described by Carl Säve in the journal Runa in 1845 (in part identical in Annaler for nordisk oldkyndighed 1852, reproduced in 1993). Per Arvid Säve, who made the drawings of the stones, described them in his Berättelser 1863, p. 210 (cf. Gotlands Allehanda 1942-01-29, and Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 15). GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I was found in 1844 or shortly before by farmer Johan Tjängvide and his brother Jakob close to the farmstead, while building a potato cellar. During the excavation work they came upon the foundation walls of a medieval house, and when they broke through this foundation, they discovered that GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I was incorporated into the masonry. After the stone was removed, the brothers discovered images and runic characters on it. In 1844, shortly after its discovery, GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I was inspected by Carl Säve. On this occasion, the farmers told him that there was a further carved stone incorporated into the underground masonry (GP 6 Alskog Tjängvide II). In 1845, Carl’s brother Per Arvid Säve went to the farm in order to excavate the second slab and to make drawings of both stones. The third picture stone fragment (GP 7 Alskog Tjängvide III) was then found by Per Arvid in another stone foundation nearby and a drawing was made. GP 5 Alskog TjängvideE I, which had been excavated and removed from the masonry in 1844, was kept at the farmstead, protected by a wooden roof, and in 1869 transferred to Statens Historiska Museum in Stockholm. The two other stones, however, remained on site. GP 7 Alskog Tjängvide III was not removed but left in the masonry due to its large size. The whereabouts of both stones (II and III) are unknown – Per Arvid’s sketch-like drawings (reproduced in Lindqvist 1941/42 II, fig. 306–308), measurements, and short remarks are the only documentation available.
GP0005
GP 6 Alskog Tjängvide II

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
Based on Säve’s drawing, the fragment can be described as essentially square, with sides about 111 cm (3′ 9″) long, but at the left side, two long, narrow, almost horn-like corners are jutting out vertically, opposite from each other, with a distance between the points of about 208 cm (7′). Cf. the description in Säve 1852, p. 195 (quoted by Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 17). These corners appear to have been created intentionally by trimming.

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
According to the drawing by Per Arvid, there were traces of the depiction of a ship preserved on the fragment – the keel and the towering stem to the right, part of a large checkered sail, and, at the very bottom of the fragment, just below the vessel, a zigzag line representing a row of pointed waves (cf. Säve 1852, p. 195; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 17).

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
No interpretation

Type and Dating ⓘ
Obviously, the stone was a fragment from the lower part of a tall, late type picture stone, ʻAbschnittʼ C/D (less probably E) according to Lindqvist’s chronology, dated to the 8th to 10th centuries (or to the 11th century if it is an E-stone, for which there are no indications whatsoever). Lindqvist assigns it to ʻAbschnittʼ C (1941/42 II, p. 44), which he dates to ca. 700 AD.

References ⓘ
Säve 1845, p. 91; 1852, p. 195; 1993, pp. 58–59; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 15, 17, fig. 307.

mer grejer

Find Context

The Stone

Carvings

Detailed Information

Svensk sammanfattning

Identification

Links

Export

More media

Plane	Position	Flip