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Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 15 Ardre kyrka I









PARTS

mer grejer





Measured length
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Parish Find Location ⓘ
Ardre

Find Location ⓘ
Ardre church, in the floor.

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Church

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6365669

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
722219

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Historiska Museet

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6581391

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
675775

Material
Sandstone

Height ⓘ
72

Width ⓘ
37

Thickness ⓘ
5

Lindqvist Type 

Lindqvist Shape 

Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
Yes

Runic Inscription ⓘ
The inscription G 114 includes four stones, the reading order of which has been established as Ardre kyrka V, I, VI, II (GP 17, 15, 18, 16).

Inscription on this stone:
§B …(s) : auk : kaiʀuataʀ : auk : liknuiaʀ :

The complete inscription G 114:
§A : syniʀ : likna(t)(a)- … …(a)rua : merki : kut : ebtir : ailikni : kunu : koþa : moþur :
§B …(s) : auk : kaiʀuataʀ : auk : liknuiaʀ :
§C : kuþ a-… … …(n) : heni : auk : kieruantum : merki : m-… …ua : aʀ : men : sin :
§D …(ʀ) : i : karþum : aʀ : uaʀ : ui(u)(e) meʀ :: (h)…

Old West Norse
§A Synir Líknhvata[r] … [g]erva merki gott eptir Eilíkni, konu góða, móður §B … ok Geirhvatar ok Líknvéar. §C Guð o[k](?) … [náði](?) henni ok gervǫndum merki … … er menn sé §D … í Gǫrðum/Garde, er var Vivi(?) með …

Runic Swedish
§A Syniʀ Liknhvata[ʀ] … [g]ærva mærki gott æftiʀ Æilikni, konu goða, moður §B … ok Gæiʀhvataʀ ok Liknviaʀ. §C Guð o[k](?) … [naði]n(?) hænni ok gærvandum mærki … … eʀ mænn sen §D … i Garðum/Garde, eʀ vaʀ Vivi(?) meðr …

English
§A The sons of Líknhvatr … the good landmark made in memory of Eilíkn, a good wife, mother … §B and Geirhvatr and Líknvé. §C God … be gracious to her and those making the landmark … who men §D … in Garðir/Garde, he was with Vivi(?) …

Swedish
Liknats söner [lät göra] ett gott minnesmärke efter Ailikn, en god kvinna, moder [till Aivat och Ottar] och Gairvat och Liknvi. Gud [och Guds moder vare nådig] mot henne och mot dem som göra minnesvården, (den största) som man kan se … i Garda, som var hos Viv(?) …

Quote from Runor
GP 17 Ardre kyrka V
GP 18 Ardre kyrka VI
GP 16 Ardre kyrka II

Context and Discovery ⓘ
This stone is one of four slabs in an open cist with a coherent runic inscription, the Ardre cist, consisting of Ardre kyrka I, II, V, and VI (GP 15–18). See more about the find circumstances and interpretations of the cist monument in GP 17 Ardre V. In Gotlands runinskrifter I, the four stones in the cist are treated together as G 114. The stones are parts of an assemblage of a total of eight picture stones found in the summer 1900, beneath the floor in Ardre church during restoration work: Ardre kyrka I–VIII (GP 15–18, 20–21, 23).
LKÅ
GP 16 Ardre kyrka II
GP 17 Ardre kyrka V
GP 18 Ardre kyrka VI
GP 20 Ardre kyrka VII
GP0021
GP 23 Ardre kyrka IV

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
Sandstone slab, about 4–5 cm thick. Two fragments. The largest preserved height is 0.72 m (at the left edge of the upper fragment), the edge to the right is 0.6 m high, the largest preserved width (of the lower fragment) is 0.37 m. The two fragments had been placed in different positions under the church floor: the large fragment (Ib) at the middle of the crossing eastern wall, directly above (east) of the large picture stone GP 21 Ardre kyrka VIII, and the small fragment (Ia) on the south side, to the west of GP 17 Ardre kyrka V. The other parts of the slab were probably lost when the new church was built. The two fragments fit well together (GR I, p. 211). The height between the lower edge of the decoration and the top of the small ledge close to the upper right corner is 0.39 m. The original width after the reconstruction is about 0.48 m between the corner protrusions, 0.55 m at the lower edge of the decoration (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 19f.).

The obverse is abraded by footsteps and appears to be formed by a natural, slightly curved split surface, polished but not planed. In contrast, the narrow sides have been hewn flat at right angles towards the broad sides, the upper edge also levelled, while the vertical edge still retains clear traces of chiselling work. The background around the figures in the field and the bases of the runes connected with it generally are carved 3–5 mm deep and polished smooth; they are defined by almost vertical edges. A portion of the dots in the inscription and in the figures have been executed with a drill or chisel with a size of about 5 mm. Fine lines, such as those defining the fingers of a hand, are very shallow furrows (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 19f.). Elias Wessén judges that about 28–30 runes in the first half of the inscription are missing on this gable slab (GR I, p. 212).
LKÅ
GP0021
GP 17 Ardre kyrka V

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
Lindqvist describes the pictures as follows: “At the very bottom, a man with a sword attached to his hip in a horizontal position without a suspension device visible; he is astride on a horse that has four forelegs and four hind legs. The horseman appears to hold one arm diagonally downwards and forwards, presumably holding the reins; the other arm describes a curious arch from the shoulder backwards and downwards and under the rump, from which it re-emerges in front of the chest, where it intersects with the straight arm. Behind this man’s torso is another man with a sword that is carried in a horizontal position in the same manner; with one hand he holds a spear behind his back, and with the other hand, he raises the rim of a horn to his mouth. Above and near the horn is the lower part of the body of a man, drawn in a horizontal, outstretched position and thus naively regarded as being in a reclining posture. One of his arms describes the same curious curve as one of the horseman’s arms. Above this is another reclining man, whose lumbar region has been hit by a spear, which is, however, completely visible up to its point. The spear is held by the two hands of a fifth man, who clearly is standing upright and whose body is not preserved on the fragment” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 20).
LKÅ

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
The eight-legged horse is by all probability Sleipnir with a warrior, who carries a sword by his side. There are riders on eight-legged horses on at least two other picture stones, GP 21 Ardre kyrka 8 and GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide 1. That Sleipnir had eight legs is mentioned in Gylfaginning and in the Hervarar saga (Böttger-Niedenzu 1982, p. 35). Erik Brate emphasized that the stones are Christian and therefore suggested that the eight-legged horse is not Sleipnir but perhaps a naïve rendering of a running horse, or possibly just an ornamental whim (Brate 1902; cf. GR I, p. 220). Jörn Staecker thought that the stones GP 15 Ardre kyrka 1 and GP 16 Ardre kyrka 2 showed motifs from the Volsunga saga (Staecker 2004, p. 68f.). Thorgunn Snædal sees the rider as warrior riding into Valhalla, still carrying his sword and with a small bag on his back. Above him there is a fully equipped warrior with spear and sword, taking a refreshing sip from his mead horn. Around them, the usual Valhalla fighting goes on, and as Snædal says with a certain ironic touch to it, there is ‘a certain calmness over this scene of a usual morning in Valhalla’ (Snædal 2004, p. 57f., translation by the author; 2010). Sigmund Oehrl suggests as an interpretation of the cist monument as a whole that the 11th-century carver was inspired by his heathen predecessors and transmitted the eschatological motif of GP 21 Ardre kyrka 8 to a Christian context (Oehrl 2019, pp. 59f.). At the very top of the battle scene is a reclining male figure with outstretched arms. He seems to be lying on his stomach but turns his head and looks up. Oehrl suggests that this unnatural contortion is a cipher that conveys important pictorial content. His opponent, of whom only his hands can be seen, rams a spear into his body. Among the fallen is the lower part of another reclining, apparently slain warrior. He too seems to be lying on his stomach. Next to this figure is an upright warrior with a chin beard, sword, spear and horn. At the bottom of the screen, a rider is depicted dislocating one of his arms in a similar manner as the fallen fighter above him. The left arm is guided behind the back and past the right side. In front of the rider's body, the arm reappears, is slightly directed upwards and crosses the downward-facing right arm of the figure. The rider's horse has two pairs of legs, both at the front and at the back, which are braided cross-shaped into each other (Oehrl 2011, pp. 212f.). The dead fighter, lying on his stomach above the rider, is characterized by a special, unnatural arm position. This contortion, which gives the impression of obstruction, immobility or inability to act, is interpreted by Oehrl as a pictorial figure that illustrates defeat and death. Comparable defeat ciphers, which consist in the representation of unnatural postures and contortions, appear on the baptismal font of Carlisle and the gold bracteate of Söderby (IK 583, Fig. 263). The crossed wrists of the rider can also indicate banishment and defeat (Oehrl 2011, p. 216).

The drilled separation marks and drilled holes on some of the branches of the runes are a characteristic Gotland feature (see eg. GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I and GP 361 Stenkumla kyrka I). The stones in the Ardre cist were 3D-scanned in 2007 as part of a research project at Stockholm University (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2013). The cist is included in a study comparing the carving techniques of rune carvers on Gotland and the Swedish mainland, respectively (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2019, see GP 17 Ardre kyrka V).
LKÅ
GP0021
GP0005
GP 15 Ardre kyrka I
GP 16 Ardre kyrka II
GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I
GP 361 Stenkumla kyrka I
GP 17 Ardre kyrka V

Type and Dating ⓘ
Type E, cist stone. The slab is a part of the Ardre cist, of which other parts have runic ornament in style group Pr4, c. 1070–1100 (Gräslund 2006, p. 126). Brate, Pipping and Noreen agree with a dating around the middle of the 11th century, while von Friesen indicated that it cannot be older than 1040–50, but possibly some decades younger (GR I, p. 220). Snædal includes the stone in her Ardre group, sepulchral monuments in the form of picture stones with edge-following runic inscriptions and pictorial elements in the middle (Snædal 2002, p. 67). Snædal means that, based on runological criteria, the runic picture stones from Ardre can be dated to 1100–1130 (Snædal 2002, p. 99f.).
LKÅ

References ⓘ
Pipping 1900; 1901; Brate 1902; Noreen 1904, p. 482; Lindqvist 1941/42, Fig. 160, 166, 224–225, II, pp. 21f.; Snædal 2002, pp. 73f., 2004, 2010; Oehrl 2011, pp. 212–216.

Title
GP 15 Ardre kyrka I

Jan Peder Lamm ID
12a

Statens Historiska Museer ID ⓘ
11118:I

Lindqvist Title ⓘ
Ardre, Kirche I

Runverket ID ⓘ
G 114


Last modifed Jun 25, 2024

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Identifier: GP0015-3D
ID: 4549
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Part 1 depth:https://gotlandicpicturestones.se/files/original/425330d32e825ef2be2d4a3f37c0f44310715cf7.nxz
Part 1 RGB:https://gotlandicpicturestones.se/files/original/27ecd097fd86012127205609267281ab4d43e42e.nxz