GP 6 Alskog Tjängvide II

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 Tjängvide 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.
GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I
GP 7 Alskog Tjängvide III

Measurements, Material and Condition
Per Arvid Säve’s drawing depicts an almost semi-circular head of a mushroom-shaped picture stone, including its right corner, while the lower left part of the head including the left corner is broken off. Approximately the right third of the stone’s neck is preserved as well, including its outer edge. According to Per Arvid Säve’s notes, the limestone slab had a maximum length of about 141 cm (4′ 9″) and a maximum width of about 96 cm (3′ 3″). Carl Säve notes that the material of the stone was more solid and more fine-grained than GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I (1845, p. 89; 1993, p. 50).

Description of Ornament and Images
According to Per Arvid and Carl Säve (1852, 194; 1845, pp. 89, 91; 1993, pp. 49–50, 56) there were no carved figures and other decorations on the stone except for the remains of a framing border on the upper, arched part, which can be seen on Per Arvid’s drawing. Furthermore, there is a simple horizontal border, a double line, separating the head from the neck. It is also noted by Säve that the decoration had not been executed in bas-relief, as in the case of GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I, but carved with deep lines (Säve 1845, p. 89; 1993, p. 50).

Interpretation of the Imagery
No interpretation

Type and Dating
Lindqvist regards the fragment as a middle type picture stone, which means a Type B dwarf stone, dated to AD 500 to 700 (1941/42 II, p. 38). The dimensions of the fragment given by Säve, however, contradict this interpretation: If the stone’s maximum length actually was about 141 cm (see V, cf. Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 17), its total height must have been at least 200 cm, which is much too large for a dwarf stone. Obviously, the fragment represents 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).

References
Säve 1845, pp. 89, 91; 1852; p. 194–195; 1993, pp. 49–59; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 15, 17, fig. 308.

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