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Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 17 Ardre kyrka V









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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 ⓘ
62

Width ⓘ
82

Thickness ⓘ
6

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). The inscription starts on this stone, Ardre kyrka V (GP 17; text row §A in G 114).  
 
Inscription on this stone: 
§A : syniʀ : likna(t)(a)- … …(a)rua : merki : kut : ebtir : ailikni : kunu : koþa : moþur : 
 
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 15 Ardre kyrka I
GP 18 Ardre kyrka VI
GP 16 Ardre kyrka II

Context and Discovery ⓘ
This stone is one of four slabs in the same monument, the so-called Ardre cist, an open cist including the slabs Ardre kyrka I, II, V and VI (here GP 15-18). In Gotlands runinskrifter I, they have been treated together as G 114 (GR I, pp. 210–221).

In the summer of 1900, eight picture stones were found beneath the floor in Ardre church during restoration work (Ardre kyrka I–VIII, GP 15–18, 20, 21, 23). All these eight picture stones, only two of which are severely fragmented, were found during repairs in the centre part of the church’s nave after its former flooring had been removed. They lay between the foundations of the north and south walls in a part of the church that had been erected during the 11th or 12th century, but later had been torn down and extended in the 14th century. The picture stones all lay horizontally, more or less covered with soil, and in this position they probably formerly served, as indicated by heavy traces of abrasion, as part of the flooring of the older church. Hugo Pipping made a field drawing of how the stones had been situated: the large picture stone GP 21 Ardre kyrka VIII in the middle, and the other stones were placed around it (drawing in ATA).

Pipping visited the church on June 25, 1900, and returned later the same summer and again from October 17th to 19th to complete his drawings (Pipping 1900; 1901, pp. 3f.; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 18). During his second visit, together with Oskar Wennersten in the summer of 1900, the stones were placed in a shed to protect them from falling plaster and stones (Pipping 1900). The scaffolding inside the church was removed on October 18th and Pipping together with Wennersten, some farmers and the teacher Engström searched the floor. On October 19th, Wennersten found a piece of GP 15 Ardre kyrka I (the fragment 5b on Pipping’s field drawing) and the patron Olsson from Petsarve found stone GP 23 Ardre kyrka IV (nr 7 on Pipping’s drawing).

In his final remarks in the report, Pipping pays attention to the fact that all stones with inscriptions on one face only had been placed with the inscription exposed upwards, while the stone with inscriptions on both sides, i.e., GP 22 Ardre kyrka III, had been turned with the name of the deceased upwards. Most of the stones later recognized as parts of the Ardre cist had been smeared with plaster filling the runes, the drilled holes and part of the sunken surfaces of the image fields. However, the runestones shaped like picture stones did not seem to have been smeared with plaster, although Ardre kyrka IV had been set in plaster. Pipping adds in a handwritten note that close to Ardre kyrka IV, there was a thin layer of stamped clay. Pipping thought that all stones had been placed directly on the black soil and that the large picture stone Ardre kyrka VIII, due to its thickness, had been trod upon, while as the other stones were thinner, they had been lying at a lower level and thus protected from being trod upon (Pipping 1900). The remarkable finds were reported by the newspapers Gotlands Allehanda 3/10 1900, Gotlandsposten 15/12 1900, and Dagens Nyheter, the latter quoted by Gotland(?) 10/4 1901 (Gotlands Allehanda?).

In a letter from the priest Karl Kristiansson to Professor Oscar Montelius, Kristiansson asked for financial support for the church restoration and he suggested that the stones be taken to the Historical museum, as the church had no room for them. He, as well as Pipping, also mentioned that some coins had been found in the church floor (Kristiansson 1900). After this follows a series of letters from Engström in Ljugarn to Dr Emil Eckhoff in Stockholm regarding the delivery of the stones to Stockholm. On October 26, 1900, Engström wrote to Eckhoff that he had not been able to send the stones because he was awaiting the permission of the congregation. In a letter dated November 10, 1900, Engström reports that he has seen to it that the stones were transported to the harbour in Ljugarn, but due to a storm they might have to stay there until the week after, when the steamer could berth. A month later, in a letter dated December 8, 1900, he reported that the stones left Ljugarn on November 17 with the steamer Wisby. In the same letter, it is mentioned that an unnamed person several years ago had observed the missing parts of the broken picture stones in the churchyard, and Engström now asked whether some money could be spent on an investigation of the churchyard. However, the excavation could not start until they had received permission from the chapter, and in addition it had to be postponed due to cold and snow. In May 26, 1901, excavations in the churchyard were undertaken but with negative results (Engström 1900-1901).

The numbering by Pipping – Ardre kyrka I–VII – was retained in Gotlands Bildsteine, and still is used, even though the typological-chronological classification it is based on has been rejected by Brate. Based on the inscriptions, the seven stones from the 11th century can be arranged into two groups of two monuments each. The first group consists of the Sibba stones, which have been erected by the same man, namely by Sibba: Ardre kyrka IV for his wife Hróðþjóð, who died young and left behind underage children, and shortly afterwards Ardre kyrka VII for one of their children, who had died in the meantime. The other group is composed of the monuments of the sons of Líknhvatr, of which Ardre kyrka III, dedicated to the father, obviously was erected earlier than the monument for the mother, which was put together from the stones I, II, V, and VI, i.e., the Ardre cist (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 18f.).

Pipping numbered the stones according to his own theories of dating; he thought that I and II were the oldest, followed by III and IV, and finally V and VI. However, this has been modified and Erik Brate early on established that I, II, V and VI belong to the same monument – a conclusion he arrived at together with Bernhard Salin – and together constitute a coherent inscription, where the reading order is V, I, VI, and II (Brate 1902; GR I, p. 210). Three of the slabs in the cist (I, V and VI) had clear traces of red pigment, by analysis identified as minium (Sw. mönja), known as red lead. In addition, the four stones seemed to have been carved with the same technique. All in all, it seems like they were carved at the same time and by the same stonemason. (GR I, p. 210). The two large slabs (V and VI) are similar in shape, as are the two smaller slabs (I and II). Brate, supported by a study undertaken on the stones by Bernhard Salin, arrived at the conclusion that I and II are gable slabs, whose roots anchored the cist to the ground. V and VI each had rebates on their back that rested against the edges of I and II; the hole in the right upper corner of V probably was made to accommodate a pole running across through the cist between the gable stones in order to support V and VI in their upright positions, as their short roots had no foothold in the ground. A similar hole was found in the left corner as well as, of course, in the corresponding places of VI. Brate insisted that it is impossible that such a cist contained the remains of an unburnt body that was not cremated. Another argument in favour of the idea that the stones belong together is that on three of them – viz. V, I, and VI – red paint, namely minium, has been observed, including some in the grooves that make up the runic characters, which is clear evidence of the fact that runic inscriptions were accentuated by colour (Brate 1902, p. 133; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 19; GR I, p. 210). To this, Sune Lindqvist added that the dimensions of the notches of V and VI fit the thickness of I and II respectively, further supporting the suggested reading order V, I, VI, and II. As a consequence of this, slab V can be regarded as the front side. Because the cist must have been placed indoors – due to the preserved pigments, but the gable slabs still would have had roots – it has been concluded that the oldest church had an earthen floor (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 19; GR I, p. 211, 219).

Most parts of the cist had been placed together to the south and south-east of the large picture stone Ardre kyrka VIII (GR I, p. 210). Unlike the other runic picture stones in Ardre church (Ardre kyrka III, IV, VII; GP 22-23, 20; G 111-113), the cist stones are carved only on one side, and they had been deposited with the carved surfaces turned upwards. They showed no signs of weathering; according to Pipping the carved surfaces seemed as fresh as if they had been carved yesterday (Pipping 1901, p. 5). Lindqvist indicated that Brate’s reconstruction of the monument is in the main correct and that it was confirmed by the consistent treatment of all four stones, but he objected that Brate was wrong in placing all four slabs in a completely vertical position. (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 18f.).

As for the site, it is probable that there has been a c. 3 m wide wooden church built by the end of the 11th century or in the beginning of the 12th century (Roosval/Lagerlöf 1963, p. 805). The first known stone church was built by the end of the 12th century, with such small dimensions that it has been assumed that it was a private church belonging to a farm (BeBR). Besides the picture stones found in Ardre church (GP 15-18, 20-21, 23), two picture stones have been found in Petsarve in the same parish (GP 19 and GP 24).
LKÅ
GP 15 Ardre kyrka I
GP 16 Ardre kyrka II
GP 18 Ardre kyrka VI
GP 20 Ardre kyrka VII
GP0021
GP 23 Ardre kyrka IV
GP 22 Ardre kyrka III
GP 19 Ardre Petsarve I
GP 24 Ardre Petsarve II

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
Limestone slab, 5–6.5 cm thick. The height at the middle is 0.62 m, at the edges 0.49 m and the width is 0.81–0.82 m (GR I, p. 211). The height between the lower edge of the decoration and the stone’s upper edge is 0.48 m in the middle, and 0.36 m at the right vertical edge (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, pp. 21). The border is 4–5 cm wide, the runes are 2.5–4.5 cm high. The stone has been broken into three pieces, but in general, the carving is well preserved. Due to the damage in the upper left corner, there are 6 to 8 runes missing. The upper left corner is broken off, but there is no doubt that the stone had been symmetrical.

The obverse, abraded by footsteps, appears to have been polished only in those places where it is slightly curved. The narrow sides are dressed at right angles towards the obverse and carefully polished along the upper edge and to some degree along the vertical edges as well. On the whole, the reverse is rough like the natural split surface, but along the left and right vertical edges (as seen from this side), it is chiselled down to areas of 4 and 4.5 cm width, respectively, obviously in order to match the vertical edges of the slabs Ardre kyrka I and II (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 21).

In the upper right corner there is a round, transversal, drilled hole with a 12 mm diameter, in which iron rust can be observed; the edge of a similar hole can be seen in the corresponding place of the upper left edge in the broken surface (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 21).

Judging by photos in ATA, the stone was mended at some time between 1933 and 1962, before the publication of Gotlands runinskrifter I in 1962 (GR I, p. 211). A photo of Ardre kyrka VII with a signature H. A-son (possibly Hulda Andersson, photo assistant at the Swedish National Heritage Board and the Historical Museum in the 1920s to 1930s), which seems to show how the two parts of the broken stone are glued together, may indicate that the stones from Ardre church were repaired in 1934 (Run- och bildstenssamlingen ATA). In 1991, a program for the conservation of the stones was planned (Gustafsson Belzacq 1991), and in 1992, all stones in the cist were treated; traces of pigments were noticed again, and some more were found; the stones were cleaned carefully due to the pigments and old mends were partly replaced (Marchner 1992).
LKÅ
GP 15 Ardre kyrka I
GP 16 Ardre kyrka II

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
The runic inscription was carved into a raised border following the edge. The main staffs reach down to the edge of the border towards the picture field in the middle, but they do not reach out to the outer edge of the slab. There are no frame lines. The other three slabs in the monument are similar in this regard. The inscription starts down to the left and is read from left to right (GR I p. 211).

The decoration was designed and executed at the same time as the inscriptions; the same method was used as that for the decoration on Ardre kyrka I and II (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 21). Apart from the elegant, not quite symmetrically arranged loops in runestone style, the image panel in its centre contains two human figures. The lower one probably is a woman, with her arms around the necks of two animals and the arms connected in such a manner that she fulfils the same function as a union knot, common for the runestone style and used to tie the vegetative tendrils above. Above the woman (?), there is a (running?) man with a sword that is attached at his hip horizontally – cf. Ardre kyrka I; one of his arms, now severely damaged, was extended backwards and appears to have been sharply bent, with the elbow facing outwards, the hand downwards; with the other hand, he is raising a small, indistinct object (horn?) under his chin (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 22).
LKÅ

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
The stone has two antithetical serpents tied together, but the union knot usual on runestones has here been replaced by a figure, possibly a female, holding the serpents with her arms (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 22; Karlsson 1983, pp. 71, 110). Above, there is a palmette with slender tendrils meandering around the serpents’ bodies. The palmette is usually interpreted as the tree of life (Karlsson 1983, pp. 66, 110; see GP 22 Ardre kyrka III). Thorgunn Snædal describes the figure trapped between the dragons with his sword and the mead horn as an einherji, one of Odin’s heroes in Valhalla, on his way to the daily war games (Snædal 2010, p. 444). According to Sigmund Oehrl, the image of an anthropomorphic figure wrestling with two large snakes can be included as a part of a "hell vision" together with Ardre VI. The narrow sides of the Ardre cist (Ardre kyrka I and II), on the other hand, depict battle scenes, including a fighter with a drinking horn in his hand and the rider on the eight-legged horse. Oehrl points out that Óðinn's wonder horse, which transports the fallen warrior to Valhǫll in the second era of large picture stones, thus returns on a Christian tombstone around 1100. He suggests that perhaps the late Viking Age masters of Ardre transferred from their pagan predecessors eschatological pictorial motifs of Ardre VIII, which could still have been standing in the field at that time, into a Christian context (Oehrl 2019, pp. 59f.). The established reading order of the slabs in the Ardre cist may also have some bearing on the interpretation of the motifs, as the slabs are not independent of each other. V can be regarded as the front side of the monument, and II as the last stone in the sequence.

As for the shape of the stone and its use as a cist stone, cist stones have been suggested to have a certain relationship to women. There may be a connection between the shape of the wagon basket and the shape of the cist stones. (Snædal 2004, p. 60; 2010, p. 446; Böttger-Niedenzu 1982, pp. 46ff; see GP 360 Sproge). At first, Lindqvist too regarded the cist stones as memorials for women (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 59), but later he turned to regard them as cists for votive offerings and suggested that the cist stones might show events in the neighbourhood (Lindqvist 1964, p. 82; Böttger-Niedenzu 1982, p. 18, p. 79). On this stone, the relationship with women is confirmed by the inscription, as it states that the monument was made in memory of Eilíkn, a good wife and a mother (G 114). Regarding the shape, we might mention the parallels GP 201 Hemse Annexhemman I (G 57), GP 341 Sanda kyrka I (G 181) and GP 167 Halla Unsarve (G 141).

The inscription is treated at length by Elias Wessén in Gotlands runinkrifter (GR I, see G 114). The slabs V and I together make a complete sentence, the memorial formula, while VI and II can be expected to give additional information. Unfortunately, the latter are fragmentary; on II, more than half of the inscription is missing. (GR I, p. 214f.). The four slabs in the cist appear to have been carved by the same rune-carver but not by Líknreifr who carved the near contemporary III (GP 22, G 113). There are observable distinctions in separation marks, rune forms, the dotted contour lines on III, and spelling (GR I, p. 217).

As mentioned above, the stones in the floor at Ardre can be divided into two families or kinship groups, the Sibba stones IV and VII, and the stones of sons of Líknhvatr, i.e., III and the Ardre cist (I, II, V, VI). (GR I, p. 201). III is in memory of the father, and the cist is in memory of their mother. While the cist was probably placed indoors, the runic picture stones Ardre kyrka IV, VII, and III (GP 23, 20, and 22; G 111- G 113) may have been situated in the churchyard. In these circumstances, Wessén finds it remarkable that Christian symbols are lacking and that shape as well as ornament, in his view, are traditional and without influence from the new faith (GR I, p. 219). This reasoning by Wessén has consequences for his view of dating that no longer can be upheld, as he thought that they were older than the runestones from Hogrän (GP 208) and Sjonhem (GP 355–357). He also speculates that the heathen pictures made the gable stones particularly exposed to destruction. (GR I, p. 219). Within the two family groups, for the Sibba-group Wessén presumed that IV (G 111) is a little older than VII (G 112), and in the Líknhvatr-group, he thought that III (G 113) is a little older than the cist (G 114) (GR I, p. 219). The oldest stones from each group are close in shape and ornament; the ornament on IV seems to be copied from those on III, thus connecting the two families to each other (GR I, p. 219; Pipping 1901; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 58).

Wessén believes that the Ardre stones are the oldest runestones with long-branch runes on Gotland, and at the same time the oldest group of Christian memorial stones. He characterizes them by saying that the heathen pictures have been replaced by decorative ornament, where a few pictures can be found sporadically, as a remembrance of what was before. Instead, the stones have formulaic memorial runic inscriptions, placed within a prepared border in order to enhance the decorative effect of the runes. The inscription, with its memorial words, has become more important than the pictures, and Wessén means that by then, the border between picture stone and runestone has been crossed. He finds the local connection between the picture stones with short-branch inscriptions, represented by GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide (G 110) and GP 21 Ardre VIII, and the runestones with long-branch runes and a new style particularly intriguing (GR I, p. 220).

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. The results indicated that the inscription on the Ardre cist in this aspect is more similar to the stone Sö Fv1954;19 than to other stones from Gotland, Uppland and Södermanland (Kitzler Åhfeldt 2019, pp. 106-107. Figure 10), which is interesting because this is also considered as an early Christian grave-monument (Ljung 2016 II, p. 44, no. 54; Källström 2016, p. 175).
LKÅ
GP 22 Ardre kyrka III
GP 18 Ardre kyrka VI
GP 15 Ardre kyrka I
GP 16 Ardre kyrka II
GP0021
GP 201 Hemse Annexhemman I
GP 341 Sanda kyrka I
GP 167 Halla Unsarve
GP 23 Ardre kyrka IV
GP 20 Ardre kyrka VII
GP0208
GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I
GP 356 Sjonhem kyrka II
GP 357 Sjonhem kyrka III
GP0005

Type and Dating ⓘ
Type E, cist stone. Style group Pr4, 1070–1100 (Gräslund 2006, p. 126). Brate, Pipping and Noreen agrees of 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 runic inscriptions following the edge and pictorial elements in the middle (Snædal 2002, p. 67). Snædal indicated 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, p. 158; Brate 1902, pp. 132ff.; Noreen 1904, p. 482; von Friesen 1913, p. 19; 1934; Plutzar 1924, pp. 83f.; Lindqvist 1913, pp. 100f.; 1941/42 I, pp. 58f., 74f., 77, 82, 89, 99, 122f., II, pp. 18f., 21-22f.; Figs. 159, 163, 164; 1964, pp. 10f.; Ruprecht 1958, p. 68 note 107; Holmqvist 1973, p. 398; Snædal 2002, pp. 73f.; Oehrl 2019, pp. 59f.

Title
GP 17 Ardre kyrka V

Jan Peder Lamm ID
12c

Statens Historiska Museer ID ⓘ
11118:V

Lindqvist Title ⓘ
Ardre, Kirche V

Runverket ID ⓘ
G 114


Last modifed Jun 25, 2024

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Part 1 depth:https://gotlandicpicturestones.se/files/original/a56bb6a9a861123db30e4e90127b7530512eb33c.nxz
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