GP 231 Levide kyrka (I)

Context and Discovery
Found in Levide churchyard in 1857 (Lindqvist 1942, p. 96; Lagerlöf/Stolt 1996, p. 86). According to Gotlands runinskrifter, the stone was found in the churchyard wall in 1857 by Pehr Arvid Säve. Säve had the stone in his possession from July 1866 until 1867, when he gave it to Visby Läroverk, which in turn handed it over to Gotlands Museum in 1913 (GR I, see G 77).

The apse of the church was built in the late 12th or in the first half of the 13th century. The longhouse of the present church was built in the beginning of the 13th century, and the tower was added by the middle of the 13th century. Probably, there was a wooden predecessor, but it is uncertain whether this older church stood on the same place (Lagerlöf/Stolt 1996, p. 47). According to Strelow’s chronicles, the church was built in 1058. There is a 12th-century baptismal font (BeBR; Lagerlöf/Stolt 1996, pp. 19–21).

Another highly interesting picture stone with a sleigh-motif has been found in Levide church, GP 234 Levide Kyrka 3 (Lagerlöf/Stolt 1996, pp. 86–87 fig. 132). The altar is covered with a reused slab with remains of an older, probably medieval, runic inscription (G 375; Lagerlöf/Stolt 1996, p. 62 fig. 80).
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GP 234 Levide kyrka 3

Measurements, Material and Condition
Present measurements 0.46 x 0.35 m, thickness 0.08–0.10 m. Limestone. Only the head of the stone is preserved, less than 25 % of the stone. The relief carving is c. 2 mm deep. Some runes and ornament lines have pitted terminals, c. 3–4 mm. The surfaces of both sides were cut even.

The lower left corner of the head is missing, and the edge of the stone is damaged at the top as well. A handwritten note beside a photo in ATA says that the stone was damaged in connection with an exhibition at the Technical Museum in 1971, but it does not tell what kind of damage occurred on that occasion.
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Description of Ornament and Images
Lindqvist type E-stone, with the runic inscription along the edge of the stone and across the neck. In the head, we see a carriage with horse and wagon with a driver holding the reins, turning to the left. The driver has long hair in a ponytail and is holding a drinking horn. There is an object protruding from the back of the driver, possibly a sword carried by the side. Above the drinking horn and in front of the forehead of the driver, there is an undefined ornament or object. To the left, in front of the horse, is a dog-like quadruped. Above the horse is another human figure with ponytail hair turning to the right facing the driver, in a sitting position with the legs stretched forward, holding a round object and with a sword by his or her side. The wagon seems to have an undercarriage and the wheels have visible spokes.
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Interpretation of the Imagery
The wagon scene in a picture stone context has often been interpreted as related to women and as a female counterpart to the mounted warrior and the journey to Valhalla (O. Almgren 1934, p. 116; B. Almgren 1940; Lindqvist 1962, p. 81; Böttger-Niedenzu 1982, p. 46; Snædal 2010; Oehrl 2017, p. 16). This connection is confirmed by wagon graves with women (Müller-Wille 1985; Staecker 2002). Nonetheless, the driver in the wagon has also been interpreted as a man, as in Gotlands runinskrifter (G 77). As for the object above the drinking horn, Lindqvist suggested that there were two people in the sleigh, who were both greeted in the other world by a person who has already handed over a mead horn and now is stretching a loaf of bread (Lindqvist 1964, p. 75; GR I, p. 111). This welcoming person has also been interpreted as equipped with sword and shield (B. Almgren 1946, pp. 88–89, Fig. 2; Lindqvist 1964, p.75). Lindqvist’s interpretation of the undefined object as a second individual in the wagon may be supported by its size being similar to the driver’s head. At an examination in November 2022, Magnus Källström suggested that it might be a flying bird whose head has been destroyed.

Sleighs and wagons are often discussed together, as vehicles in contrast to the more usual riding horse. For sleighs, see GP 360 Sproge Kyrka. According to present knowledge, there are six stones with either a wagon or a sleigh, two with sleighs (GP 234 Levide Kyrka 3; GP 360 Sproge kyrka) and four with wagons (GP 3 Alskog kyrka, GP 120 Grötlingbo Barshalderhed, GP 71 Ekeby kyrka, GP 231 Levide kyrka. Judging by dress and hair style, women drive four of those vehicles; in the remaining two cases, the gender is undefined. On two stones, the wagons or sleighs occur in connection to women with drinking horns; on two other stones, the woman in the wagon carries the horn herself (Böttger-Niedenzu 1982, pp. 44–47, Tab. II). Two of these interesting stones have been found in the nearby Levide, both a stone with a sleigh (GP 234 Levide kyrka 3) and the present stone with a wagon (Jansson 1966, p.106). As we here see the motif continuing to appear on picture stones into the 11th century, as on GP 71 Ekeby kyrka and GP 360 Sproge kyrka, it may be a conservative element that has a long survival.

The wagons and sleighs are found relatively often on cist stones (Snædal 2004, p. 60; 2010), and 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). However, in this case it is in regard to a small mushroom-shaped stone.

The picture stones have both wagons and sleighs in common with the Oseberg and Överhogdal tapestries, from the 9th and 11th century, respectively. The wagons on the Oseberg tapestry do not seem to have been associated with women to such a high degree as the picture-stone wagons. In contrast to the female travellers in the wagons of the picture stones, on the Oseberg tapestry there is also a scene with a man in a wagon, seemingly involved in a battle (Horneij 1991, p. 107; Christensen and Nockert 2006, p. 377). What is interesting to note, though, is that picture stones with wagons have no ships (Böttger-Niedenzu 1982, p. 44), which is in line with the marked lack of ships on the Oseberg tapestry. Wagons and ships seem to exclude each other.

In the literary sources, two examples of wagons on the funeral pyre have been cited, i.e., the Edda poem Helreið Brynhildar and in Sǫgubrot af fornkunungum (Böttger-Niedenzu 1982, pp. 46–47). Freya had a wagon, too (Näsström 1998, p. 272). Wagons have also been interpreted in the context of Flatøyboken, where the god Frey drives in a covered wagon with a priestess. Another suggestion is that images (sculptures) of the gods Frey and Freya are carried around in a wagon as a part of a fertility rite. Alternatively, it may represent the mourning Brynhild going to Hel (Christensen and Nockert 2006, p. 377; Vedeler 2019, p. 50).

In the same region as the Överhogdal tapestry, at least two graves with wagons have been found. A chamber grave dated to c. 1000 AD, containing two men and two women buried with a wagon or sleigh, horse, dog, weapons and household equipment, was found in Gällö. Another weapon grave with a sleigh, interpreted as the grave of a merchant due to the find of scales among the grave goods, was found in Röstahammaren (Welinder 2009, pp. 63–64). In this region, sleighs and wagons seem to be parts of the local burial customs and are not particularly associated with women. Archaeological evidence for burials in wagons has been found in Scania in southern Sweden as well (Svanberg 1999, pp. 57–58).
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Runic Context and Comments
The stone is raised in memory of a married couple.
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Type and Dating
Gotlands runinskrifter only gives a general date to the Viking age (G 373). However, in her dissertation Snædal sorts the stone into the Ardre-group, stones that often have a picture stone shape with a runic inscription along the border and pictures and runestone ornament in relief in the middle part of the surface (Snædal 2002, p. 67). Snædal dates this group to 1000–1150 (Snædal 2002, pp. 66–67).
LKÅ
GP 360 Sproge kyrka
GP 234 Levide kyrka 3
GP 3 Alskog kyrka
GP0120
GP 71 Ekeby kyrka

References
C. Säve 1859, p.136; P. A. Säve 1863, Gotländska samlingar 3 (1856–1867), p. 419, 5 (1878), p. 627, p. 653; B. Almgren 1946, p. 88–89, Fig. 2; Lindqvist 1941/1942 I, p. 58, p. 81, p. 83, pp. 88–89, p. 98, p. 137; 1941/1942 II, p. 96, Fig. 178; 1942, pp. 23–24; Olsson 1957; Lagerlöf/Stolt 1996, p. 86.

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