GP 212 Klinte Hunninge (IV) (Klintebys)

Context and Discovery
According to Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 80), the picture stone GP 209 Klinte Hunninge I was “[…] found in the 1860s during the tillage of a field in Hunninge (Lättstain), a farm belonging to Loggarve, where it is supposed to have been lying together with [Klinte Hunninge] II. From there, the stone [no. I] was transferred to the park in Klintebys, where it still stood in July 1941”, while [stone no. II] “[…] was transported to the outer edge of Klinteberget, just northeast of the church, where it remains to this day” (ibid. 81). GP 211 Klinte Hunninge III “[…] was found at the edge of a small gravel pit just southwest of the estate of Arvid Lerberg to the north of the highway Klinte–Visby […] and was donated to [Gotlands Fornsal]” (ibid.). The find year is not given by Lindqvist. Regarding Klinte Hunninge IV (Klintebys), he notes that “[i]n 1934, this picture stone has been for an unknown number of years in the garden of Klintebys, where it leans against the wall of the local park. It appears natural to suppose that this stone came from Hunninge, also, but no details about its origins could be established” (ibid.). Therefore, Lindqvist calls the stone ʻKlinte sockenʼ (parish, Klinte Kirchspiel), while Jan Peder Lamm listed it as ʻKlinte Hunninge IVʼ. Later, the stone was re-erected, several meters in front of the wall, anchored in the ground with small stones and concrete.

According to a report by Ture Carlsson and a regarding letter by David Rosvall to the National Antiquarian from 1930 (ATA dnr 4546-30, 4794-30), picture stone no. III was registered by Carlsson in the same year and taken from Lerbergʼs garden. Carlsson also notes that no. IV was said to have been discovered one year ago at the very same spot. He also mentions that in previous times two more stones (i.e., nos. I and II) had been found at approximately the same place. From there, as Rosvall assumes, they were transported to a field, afterwards re-used as bridge stones, and a lifetime later placed in Klintebys park. In the 1965 inventory about the monuments in Klinte parish (ATA), it is noted that the stones nos. I, II, and IV probably originated from land owned by Klintebys farm, which, however, was situated in the area of Hunninge gård (farm), where they were re-used as bridge stones over a ditch, before they were transferred to the park in Klintebys (“Sägas flyttats från Klintebys ägor å Hunninge, där de uppgivas ha legat som brostenar över diken”). In the 1927 inventory of monuments in Klinte parish (Förteckning över Klinte sockens fasta fornlämningar) kept in ATA, I and II are mentioned as still being situated in Klintebys park.

Consequently, the object biography of the four stones is confusing and their original find spots are impossible to determine. Stone no. I was transferred to Gotlands Museum after the publication of Lindqvistʼa book, no. II is still standing on Klinteberget, no. III is kept in the museumʼs storage in Visborg, and no. IV is still standing in Klintebys park.
GP0209
GP 210 Klinte Hunninge II (Klinteberget)
GP 211 Klinte Hunninge III

Measurements, Material and Condition
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 81) notes: “Limestone slab, about 20 cm thick. The obverse is even, but especially on its right half with considerable bumps. The narrow sides are hewn at about right angles towards the obverse and rounded towards the back. The reverse is rough and unworked. The stone’s height is 186 cm, the distance between its top and the lower edge of the decoration is 151 cm. The width of the head is 78 cm, that of the neck 73, and that of the base 99 cm.” The monument is completely preserved, including its root; only the right-hand edge is partly damaged. Already in Lindqvistʼs time, parts of the surface were much weathered and indiscernible, in particular in the right third and in the middle of the stone. Due to its re-erection and anchoring in the ground, parts of the decorated base are not visible anymore. Furthermore, the stone meanwhile has been exposed to the weather without protection for about a century, and thus the imagery is much abraded and partly destroyed. The entire surface is heavily overgrown by lichens. Today, it is almost impossible to verify Lindqvistʼs documentation of the carvings with certainty.

Description of Ornament and Images
Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 81–82) describes the carvings as follows: “Decoration with faintly carved lines and primarily with chiselled background fields. In the horse in the top panel, thin lines can be made out defining the horse’s right leg. The border is filled with a simplified ‘twisted-cord’ pattern. The top panel shows a horseman supporting himself with one hand on the horse’s croup and carrying a hunting bird on the elbow of the same arm; in the other hand, he holds the reins. Above the horseman, a dog and a bird(?) can be seen, in front of him a woman facing him and holding a horn in her hand. The next panel shows a ship with rounded stem featuring a small spiral disc at its terminal, as well as a sail with a pattern of rhombi, the middle fields of which are carved into the stone. In the ship, there probably is a row of crewmen facing right; below the ship, two horses (which probably carried riders, but their figures are very hard to recognise). Behind the right horse possibly a walking person is depicted. At the very bottom, one perceives a row of chiselled triangles pointing downwards.”

The horseman is hardly “carrying a hunting bird on the elbow”, as Lindqvist suggests, but rather on his fist, as it is usual in falconry. In one of his hands the depicted horseman is holding the reins; on the other hand, stretched out to the left, the raptor is sitting. A vertical stripe connects the man’s outstretched arm, which is holding the bird, with the horse’s back. The meaning of this detail is uncertain, but it could represent the straps of leather on the raptor’s legs, used by falconers to tether the bird (ʻjessesʼ, German Geschüh). Otherwise, it could be interpreted as an ʻeagle crutchʼ, a device used by, for instance, Kyrgyz falconers for supporting their arm while holding their heavy hunting eagle.

However, as noted above, the carvings are in very bad condition and it is difficult to verify the images and details described by Lindqvist and depicted in the photo of the painted stone which is published in his book (ibid. II, fig. 134, cf. ATA 1719:17 [taken by H. Faith-Ell 1933]). Other pictures, including those before the stone was painted by Lindqvist, are not available in the archives. Oehrl (2019a, pp. 179–180), who re-analysed the stone in 2013 by means of 3D digitisation and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), concludes that only the rough contours of the main motifs can be brought to light, while most of it remains indiscernible to the naked eye.

Regarding the possible bird (cf. Oehrl 2010a, pp. 24–25, pl. VI:15) that appears to fly ahead of the horse, Oehrl (2019a, pls. 184a–c, 185a–c), based on the results of his RTI documentation, suggests a new interpretation, considering a four-legged prey animal, presumably a fox.

Interpretation of the Imagery
Regarding the interpretation of the ship and equestrian motifs see in particular GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III, concerning the horseman and adventus motiv see also GP 94 Garda Bote, GP 209 Klinte Hunninge I, GP 21 Ardre Kyrka VIII and GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I. Usually, for good reasons, the motif of the equestrian and the woman with the drinking horn is interpreted as the arrival of a fallen warrior in Valhǫll, who is welcomed by a valkyrie.

The horseman with the raptor on Klinte Hunninge IV (Klintebys) is regarded as the earliest known Scandinavian monument that clearly depicts a falconry scene. According to the Barbarian Law Codes, the leges barbarorum, hunting with raptors was well established among the Continental tribes from the 5th or 6th century onwards (Lindner 1973; Grimm/Oehrl 2017; Dusil 2018). Bones of birds of prey in richly furnished graves of the 6th–10th centuries appear to prove that falconry was also already practised in East Middle Sweden from an early age (Vretemark 2018). Written allusions to falconry in Old Norse literature come to the fore in the 10th or 11th century at the earliest (Hofmann 1957/58; Carstens 2018). In addition, pictorial depictions should be considered important source material, indicating a certain knowledge of this form of hunting among the early Scandinavians (Åkerström-Hougen 1981; Oehrl 2012c; 2013a; 2014a; 2018; 2020d; Grimm/Oehrl 2017).

Bird brooches and raptor-shaped fittings from the Vendel Period (Atterman 1934) are occasionally regarded as further evidence for early Scandinavian falconry. Actually, some of these items represent raptors holding and devouring their prey, like the 7th century gilded saddle fittings from a horseman’s grave at Vallstena in Gotland (Nerman 1969/75, no. 1260–1263) and the gold and garnet cloisonné mounts of the purse lid from the Anglo-Saxon princely ship burial at Sutton Hoo (Suffolk, East Anglia), also from the 7th century, depicting a raptor striking a duck (Hicks 1986, 162–165; Adams 2015, 43–48). However, images like this – without clearly assignable human participants, horses and hunting dogs – cannot with certainty be regarded as depictions of falconry. As some of them were used as shield decorations or saddle fittings, it could be reasonable to interpret them as warrior emblems, probably in the context of the ʻbeasts of battleʼ tradition (see GP 253 Lärbro St. Hammars I, and GP 258 Lärbro Tängelgårda I), like the bird brooch from Lisbjerg in Jutland from the 6th/7th century AD depicting a similar raptor that is striking a human figure (Ørsnes 1966, no. 159a; Kjærum/Olsen 1990, p. 162 no. 63; Oehrl 2020d, pp. 455–457), or just as symbols of power or mythological motifs (Dickinson 2005, pp. 152–160; 2011, pp. 644–650; Hauck 1980a, pp. 274–286; 1982c, pp. 321–328; Oehrl in print b). Even the raptors on Migration Period gold bracteates have been interpreted in the context of falconry, which is by no means plausible (Pesch 2018).

Another undoubted depiction of falconry can be seen on the Viking Age rune stone from Alstad in Oppland, Norway, from between AD 1000 and 1030 (N 61–62; Christiansen 1997). A horseman with a bird of prey on his fist, together with two hounds, and a second big raptor on the top of the stone can be seen. A strange, long object in the hand of a second horseman at the bottom, which is club-like and broadens towards its top, could be regarded as a perch for the raptor. A T-shaped perch is depicted on a bronze Viking ship from Grimsta near Stockholm, Sweden, from the 11th century (Biörnstad 1958). The depicted horseman holds his bird on his left fist and the perch in his right hand. There is also a group of 11th century Swedish rune stones. The stone from Vidbo kyrka (Uppland, U 375), for instance, depicts a horseman above whom a stylized bird seems to be flying. On the rune stone from Hanunda (Uppland, U 599), a horseman lifts up his hand and above him a big raptor is situated on the runic border. Possibly, this rider is a falconer who is calling his bird back to his fist.

A matter of particular interest is the 11th century rune stone from Böksta/Balingsta (Uppland, U 855). It depicts a mounted hunter with a spear, pursuing a red deer stag with his hounds. A stylized raptor is standing on the stag’s antlers attacking its head with its beak. This depiction appears to represent a special kind of falconry, i.e., hunting big game animals with raptors, which was widespread in the Arab world, but almost unknown in medieval Europe. On the basis of this rune stone, it has been considered that Viking falconers were influenced by Eastern hunting traditions (Oehrl 2013a; 2014a). Apart from this, early images of falconry can also be observed on carved stones on the British Isles – on the prominent 8th century Anglo-Saxon stone cross from Bewcastle in Cumberland, on 8th/9th century Pictish carved stones from Scotland, as well as on the Viking or ʻAnglo-Scandinavianʼ stone cross from Sockburn in Durham, dating to the first half of the 10th century (Cramp 1984, 136; Bailey/Cramp 1988, pp. 69–70; Carrington 1996; Oehrl 2018, pp. 841–843, figs. 1–5, 10).

As a result, the horseman from Klintebys is not the only Viking Age depiction of a falconer but must be regarded the earliest pictorial representation of a falconer in Scandinavian art. Remarkably, the fallen hero arriving at the gates of the warrior’s paradise is glorified as a falconer – on horseback, with a hunting hound and a raptor on his fist.

Whether there were actually human riders on the backs of the two facing horses in the lower part of the stone remains unclear. If this was not the case, the depiction can be associated with similar images of facing horses on Type A and Type B picture stones. The topic of horse fights (called hestavíg in Old Norse literature) and horse sacrifice in the iconography of the (early) Gotland picture stones has often been discussed, see in particular GP 198 Hellvi Ire 7 and the following literature: Gjessing 1943, pp. 29–30; Lindqvst 1955, pp. 41–43; Ellmers 1970, pp. 243–245; Lamm/Nylén 2003, p. 26; Althaus 1993, pp. 87–89, 192–193; Lamm 1999; Beck 2003, pp. 96–97; Guber 2011, pp. 55–56; Pesch 2015a, p. 357; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 62–63.
GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III
GP0094
GP0209
GP 21 Ardre kyrka VIII
GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I
GP 253 Lärbro Stora Hammars I
GP0258
GP 198 Hellvi Ire 7

Type and Dating
Tall mushroom-shaped late-type picture stone. Lindqvist regards the stone as an ʻAbschnittʼ C monument, dating to around AD 700. Those late-type picture stones (Type C/D) can only be roughly dated to the period between the 8th century (or rather around AD 800) and circa 1000. Lindqvist (1941/42 I, p. 46) assigns the stone to his Klintegruppe, which consists of only a few monuments from the parish of Klinte and which he regards as the best representative of a kind of picture stones typical for the southern part of Gotland, called Der südgutnische Kreis. The most characteristic feature of those monuments is the placement of the ship motif directly below the head field with the horseman.

According to Martin Rundkvist’s (2012) typology, the stone’s shape represents Type tall3, which occurs in his periods 5 (Early Viking Period), and 7 (Late Viking Period). Imer (2004, p. 104), however, dates monuments of this kind to the 9th or 10th century, while Varenius (1992, appendix 2), based on his analysis of the ship’s rigging (group II skepp med enkel rigg), dates it to the 7th–9th century.

References
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, pp. 46, 89–90; fig. 143; II, pp. 81–82; Hofmann 1957/58; Åkerström-Hougen 1981, pp. 275–276, 285; Vretemark 1983; Althaus 1993, p. 193; Raudvere 2004, p. 90, fig. 10; Oehrl 2010; 2012c; 2013a; 2014a; 2017b, p. 105, fig. 10a–c; 2018; 2020d; Grimm/Oehrl 2017.

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