Parish Find Location 
Follingbo

Find Location 
Follingbo church, in the basement of the high altar.

Find Context Classification 
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6387252

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
702269

Parish Present Location 
Follingbo

Present Location 
In Follingbo church, to the left in the choir.

Present Location Classification 
Church
In-Loco

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6387252

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
702269

Material 
Limestone

Height 
36

Width 
25

Thickness 
13

Lindqvist Type 
E (ca. 1000-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Tall stone

Runic Inscription or not 
Yes

Runic Inscription 
…-- × broþur × s… ¶ lati : -um…

Old West Norse
… bróður s[inn](?) <lati> …

Runic Swedish
… broður s[inn](?) <lati> …

English
… his/her brother(?) <lati> …

Swedish
… sin(?) broder …

Quote from Runor

Context and Discovery 
The stone was found in the basement of the high altar in Follingbo church during restauration work in 1955. S. B. F. Jansson investigated and painted the runic inscriptions in 1961, upon which the stone was photographed by Iwar Anderson (Jansson 1961; GR II, p. 242, G 218). Earlier, the stone was kept in a recess behind the altar in Follingbo church, but on the last inspection by Magnus Källström, it had a more visible placement to the left in the choir.

The first choir of the medieval church was built by the end of the 12th century, but it was torn down and replaced by a new choir c. 100 years later (BeBR). The present choir in Follingbo was built c. 1260 (Lundmark 1931, p. 520). The stone might have been built into either in the oldest altar in the 12th century or into the second one in the 13th century. The ship and the tower were built c. 1200 (BeBR).

In the same parish, another runestone fragment was found in Hallfrede (GP 87 Follingbo Hallfrede, G 220). In addition, there is information about another runestone fragment in the church, but the only piece of evidence is a sketchy drawing by J. H. Wallman (G 219). Svärdström suggests that it may be identical to GP 88 or a lost part of the same runestone (GR II, p. G 219). No picture stones of any of the earlier phases A–D are known from the parish.
LKÅ
GP 87 Follingbo Hallfreda

Measurements, Material and Condition 
Runestone fragment. Height 0,36, width 0,25, thickness 0,13 m. Height of runes 5 cm (GR 2, p. 242, G 218). Limestone. The fragment is a piece from the neck of the left part of an originally mushroom-shaped runestone.
LKÅ

Description of Ornament and Images 
The preserved ornament is a section of a runic serpent along the edge, with a cross ribbon at the neck of the stone carrying parts of the inscription. Several other runestones have a similar layout of ornament, e.g., GP 355, G 356 Sjonhem kyrka, GP 208 Hogrän kyrka. There are pitted terminals on the branches of the runes and on the punctuation marks, a characteristic feature of Gotlandic runestones (see GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka).
LKÅ
GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I
GP 356 Sjonhem kyrka II
GP0208

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Runic Context and Comments 
Although only little is preserved of the inscription, Svärdström indicates that the formulation points to a Christian prayer (G 218).
LKÅ

Type and Dating 
Type E. 11th century AD. Other mushroom-shaped runestones with part of the inscription in a cross ribbon at the neck are generally dated to the second half of the 11th century (e.g., Sjonhem, Stenkumla, Hogrän).
LKÅ

References 
Jansson 1961; GR II, p. 242–243, G 218.

 
Fyndplats
Follingbo kyrka, i altargrunden.

Nuvarande förvaringsplats
I kyrkan.

Datering
Sen vikingatid, 1000-talet.

Beskrivning
Fragment av bildstensformad runsten, med ett kantföljande skriftband med runor och ett horisontellt skriftband vid stenens nacke. Runornas bistavar och skiljetecken har haft borrade ändpunkter, ett typiskt gotländskt drag. Stenen kan ha slagits sönder och murats in i kyrkans altare på 1100-talet eller då altaret byggdes om på 1200-talet.

Inskrift: … sin(?) broder …

Tolkning
Runsten i traditionell bildstensform som någon (eller några) har rest till minne av en avliden bror.
LKÅ

Title
GP 88 Follingbo kyrka

Fornsök ID 
L1977:6130

RAÄ ID 
Follingbo 84:1

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
455

Runverket ID 
G 218

ATA
K-Samsök