Parish Find Location 
Linde

Find Location 
Linde churchyard.

Find Context Classification 
Churchyard

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6353575

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
703711

Present Location 
To the west of the church, by a magazine building belonging to the school. 

Present Location Classification 
Churchyard

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6353577

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
703712

Material 
Limestone

Height 
112

Width 
77

Lindqvist Type 
E (ca. 1000-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Tall stone

Runic Inscription or not 
Yes

Runic Inscription 
s(t)ain lit × bot[ul](f) × stafa × [merki × i]… … [hi-iʀ] × a(t) × unua(l)(t) × unit …(l)(i) k(u)m[l · þi]… … sialu hans

Bótulfr … had the stone … has produced(?) this(?) monument to Unnvaldr(?) … his soul.

Context and Discovery 
According to Hilfeling, the stone was found lying on the churchyard to the south of the church (Hilfeling 1799). Hilfeling writes in his journal that he made a drawing of a damaged runestone which top had been broken off and lost (Hilfeling 1799). After Hilfeling’s first visit, several locations have been reported. Carl Säve reports that he could not find the stone in 1844, but he probably did — only he could not identify it, because by then it was so badly weathered. As a consequence of this, the stone has two entries in C. Säve’s Gutniska urkunder: S 128 not found and S 129 found 1844 (C. Säve 1859, p. 47). P. A. Säve writes in his Reseberättelser that the stone was found inside the western entrance to the churchyard (P. A. Säve 1864, p. 201). Wennersten writes that in 1901, the stone was lying outside the door to the tower, and as he noticed that it was in danger to be totally worn out, he asked the vicar Havrén to have it erected. According to a note in the inventory of Gotlands Fornsal, it was standing leaning against the northern church wall, before it was brought to the museum in 1911 (GR I, p. 120; Lagerlöf 1981, pp. 87f.). Later, the stone has been situated in various places, and diverging information exists. According to Gotlands runinskrifter I, the stone is in Gotlands Museum. For a period, it seems to have been stored in a shed by the church. Until recently, the stone stood in the ruin of S:ta Karin in Visby. On April 25, 2022, it was moved back to Linde and is now standing by a storage building belonging to the school, to the west of the church.

It is uncertain whether the stone originally was raised in the churchyard or if it was brought there later. The top was broken already when Hilfeling made his drawing, and it was weathered and difficult to read when it was first described (Hilfeling 1799; Ekdahl 1826).

The oldest part of the present church, the chancel with the apse, is dated to the late 12th century (BeBR) or c. 1200 AD (Lagerlöf 1981, p. 19). There probably was an earlier wooden stave church; planks in the gates may be reused remains of this church (BeBR).

No other picture stone has been found in this parish, except three kerbstones (GP 236 Linde Duckarve).
LKÅ
GP 236 Linde Duckarve

Measurements, Material and Condition 
The height is 167 cm, of which 103 cm are above the lower edge of the decoration. The width at the foot is 110 cm. In the cross arm, the width is 77 cm. Thickness 8–18 cm. The decoration is executed with clearly carved, 5–7-mm-wide lines with rounded bases. Limestone.

The obverse is naturally smooth, with occasional indentations, but above the root probably smoothed by hewing, albeit not to perfect regularity. Later abraded by footsteps. The narrow sides are hewn flat at right angles towards the obverse, in parts for their full width. The reverse is rough and unworked, but relatively smooth. The surface is severely worn by trampling. Since the stone is broken at the top, it is uncertain whether the stone was shaped in the traditional mushroom-shape, or if the top was rounded. In the upper left corner, a piece of the stone is loose (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 96–97; GR I, p. 121).
LKÅ

Description of Ornament and Images 
The stone is ornamented with a runic serpent in Middle Scandinavian runestone style. The head and tails meet in the middle with a palmette leaf and a so-called Irish knot. In the upper part, there is a large ornamented cross. Part of the runic inscription appears in the horizontal cross arm. In the upper left corner of the stone, there is a spiral ornament or a loop. This ornament appears in a small loose part of the stone, which can be seen in a photo from 1934 but is lacking in the photo in Gotlands runinskrifter.

The runes as well as the ornament have been adorned by drilled holes, of which there remain traces where the carving otherwise has disappeared. The four endpoints of the x-shaped distinctive marks have drilled holes as well. Drilled endpoints are a typical Gotlandic feature (see GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I).

In a photo by J. W. Hamner from 1923, the carving was filled in with chalk. In 1934, the stone had not yet been painted, but in an undated photo in Run- och bildstenssamling it was filled in with black paint, probably in preparation of the publication of Gotlands runinskrifter I in 1962.
LKÅ
GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I

Interpretation of the Imagery 
No interpretation

Runic Context and Comments 
The runic serpent carries a memorial inscription. The sponsor Botulf has a common Gotlandic name. The inscription ends with a prayer, but the available space in the serpent and the cross arm was not enough, so the last word was carved inside the serpent.
LKÅ

Type and Dating 
Type E. The stone is included in Snædal’s group of picture-stone-shaped runestones ornamented with Middle Scandinavian runestone style (Snædal 2002, p. 67). The runic ornament belongs to style group Pr3, c. 1045–1075 (Gräslund 2006, p. 126).

The top is missing, but the stone most probably belongs to the category of runestones shaped like picture stones, like, e.g., the stones from Sjonhem (GP 355–356), Stenkumla (GP 362) and other similar ones.
LKÅ
GP 355 Sjonhem kyrka I
GP 356 Sjonhem kyrka II
GP 362 Stenkumla kyrka II

References 
Hilfeling 1799, tab. 38. Liljegren 1833, L1573. C. Säve 1859, p. 47, S128, S129; P. A. Säve 1864, p. 201, Berättelser; Lindqvist 1941/42:96f., Fig. 460; GR I, G80; Lagerlöf 1981, pp. 87f.; Snædal 2002, pp. 70f.; Källström 2007, p. 99, pp. 120–121, p. 346.

Title
GP 235 Linde kyrka

Fornsök ID 
L1976:2399

RAÄ ID 
Linde 87:1

Gotlands Museum ID 
C195

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
169

Lindqvist Title 
Linde, Kirchhof

Runverket ID 
G 80