Parish Find Location 
Kräklingbo

Find Location 
In Smiss, found in a trench during roadbuilding.

Find Context Classification 
Other

Present Location Classification 
Gotlands Museum Fornsalen

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6393355

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
696536

Material 
Limestone

Height 
45

Width 
54

Thickness 
10

Lindqvist Type 
E (ca. 1000-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Dwarf stone

Runic Inscription or not 
Yes

Runic Inscription 
… …ansi : eftir : mutifu : sun sin : asy : sa-…

Old West Norse
… [þ]enna eptir <mutifu>, son sinn … …

Runic Swedish
… [þ]annsi æftiʀ <mutifu>, sun sinn … …

English
… this in memory of <mutifu>, his son …

Swedish
… denna [sten] efter <mutifu>, sin son …

Quote from Runor

Context and Discovery 
Two matching fragments that were found in 1912 by the farmer Karl Gardell when he dug a trench for the construction of a path. They were donated to Gotlands Museum by Lektor M. Klintberg.

So far, five picture stones are known from the parish (GP 214–218). Near Smiss, there is also a large grave field.
LKÅ
GP 215 Kräklingbo Smiss IV
GP 216 Kräklingbo Smiss I
GP 217 Kräklingbo Smiss III
GP 218 Kräklingbo kyrka

Measurements, Material and Condition 
Limestone slab, up to 10 cm thick. The width of the preserved piece is 0.54 m (the width of the complete head was about 0.60 m), its height 0.45 m. It is a part of a head of a picture stone, with the left side broken off. The fragment was broken into two parts, but it was mended.

“The obverse hewn flat and polished. The narrow sides are dressed at approximately right angles towards the obverse, but slightly convex. The reverse is rough and unworked. Decoration with 3-mm-wide, distinct lines with rounded bases. For the pattern and the inscription, a drill of about 4 mm diameter often was used. Fine sketch lines that were scratched with a sharp instrument before they unalterably were chiselled in still are recognizable at some places, particularly next to the 4th and 5th runes at the end of the surviving inscription. In contrast, certain lines that damaged the runic inscription and probably are secondary, were carved more powerfully, but not purposefully levelled or smoothed, e.g., the horizontal line running parallel to the border close to the 7th rune from the back” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 82). In a 1936 photo by Alfred Edle, it can be seen that the carving was filled in with white chalk. In 1954, another photo by Iwar Andersson shows the stone filled in with black paint (Run- och bildstenssamlingen ATA).
LKÅ

Description of Ornament and Images 
Runic inscription along the edge with double incised contour lines. Inside of the border, there is a ringed cross with vegetative ornament between its cross-arms. There are drilled separation marks and some of the branches of the runes have drilled endpoints, which is a typical characteristic of Gotland runestones (see GP 362 Stenkumla kyrka II).
LKÅ
GP 362 Stenkumla kyrka II

Interpretation of the Imagery 
Other runic picture stones with crosses include GP 588 Atlingbo kyrka (G 200), GP 235 Linde kyrka, GP 208 Hogrän kyrka (G 203), GP 355–356 Sjonhem kyrka(G 134–135), GP 362 Stenkumla kyrka (G 208) and GP 130 Hablingbo kyrka (G 370). The last-mentioned stone from Hablingbo is perhaps the best parallel regarding the size of the cross, with its cross-arms filling the available space and the shaft continuing below the neck of the stone. Thorgunn Snædal includes the stone in her group of picture stone-shaped runestones with Middle Scandinavian runestone ornament (Snædal 2002, p. 67).

Cecilia Ljung discussed the small runic picture stones of type E in relation to early Christian grave monuments on Öland (see also GP 279 När Mickelgårds). They have in common their small size, dressed shape, and that the ornament often is carved in relief. It is reasonable to believe that the Gotland stones had the same function as grave monuments as the Öland stones, but as Ljung observes, not all on Gotland have been found in churchyards (Ljung 2016 I, p. 165f.). Just as for example GP 279 När Mickelgårds and GP 217 Kräklingbo Smiss III (G 117), our stone GP 214 (G 116) has been found more than a kilometre from the church.
LKÅ
GP 588 Atlingbo kyrka
GP 235 Linde kyrka
GP0208
GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I
GP 356 Sjonhem kyrka II
GP 362 Stenkumla kyrka II
GP 130 Hablingbo kyrka 2
GP 279 När Mickelgårds
GP 217 Kräklingbo Smiss III

Runic Context and Comments 
The inscription includes an unusual name, which for long escaped interpretation in relation to the Old Norse name “treasure”. The name of the commemorated son in the inscription is represented by the runic sequence mutifu. Snædal suggests that the son might have been named after someone the father met in his travels to foreign countries (Snædal 2004, p. 36). Another suggestion is that mutifu can be interpreted as accusative of Mutt-Ifa (Jacobsson 2004, p. 122f.), but this interpretation has been met with some skepticism, partly because the supposed main name is unusual or unknown (Källström 2012, p. 69).
LKÅ

Type and Dating 
Type E, dwarf stone. 11th century.
LKÅ

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 82, Fig. 430, GR I, G 116; Snædal 2002, pp. 67, 74; 2004, p. 36.

Title
GP 214 Kräklingbo Smiss II

Gotlands Museum ID 
GFC1875

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
158

Lindqvist Title 
Kräklingbi, Smiss II

Runverket ID 
G 116