GP 274 Norrlanda Bringes

Context and Discovery
The picture stone was delivered to Statens Historiska Museum in 1910 (Fornvännen 1910, p. 245). No information about the find circumstances are given, only the name of the farmstead on whose property it was found.

Measurements, Material and Condition
“Limestone slab that above the root (which is up to 11 cm thick) is approximately 8 cm thick. Above the root, both broad sides have been hewn and polished to form quite smooth, but significantly convex surfaces, which subsequently were severely damaged by weathering. The narrow sides are hewn at right angles towards the broad sides; whether there were chamfers between the broad and narrow sides cannot be determined, due to the weathering. The stone’s overall height is 91 cm, of which 60 cm are accounted for by the part above the root. Between the upper corners, the width is 46 cm, at the base 30 cm. The decoration is executed in carved lines now of 4 mm width and up to 1 mm depth with rounded bases. An exception is the figure above the bird, which features very fine lines that probably were cut with a knife” (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 105–106). The stone is completely preserved and undamaged.

Description of Ornament and Images
The carvings are described by Lindqvist (1941/42 II, p. 106) in great detail: “One of the broad sides [face B] appears to have been worked carefully – or just less weathered – than the other and is divided into four panels by a simple framing border with a cross inside it. Of these panels, only the top one seems to feature imagery, namely a water bird, which is drawn in the same clumsy posture as that of corresponding animals of other stones but positioned with a slant to make the feet rest on the cross arm. Also, just above the bird, a more weakly carved, possibly secondary, rectangular figure can be made out that is subdivided by diagonal and other lines. The area of this latter motif is severely weathered and abraded, just as the field above it. The other face, A, seems to have had a richer framing border, and its field was partitioned by a horizontal border about half-way up the body. At the top, it is possible to identify a ship of the same shape and positioning as that on the corresponding face of GP 24 Ardre Petsarve II, but the first ship is placed more skillfully, as here, the horizontal border is higher than on the latter stone.” The aquatic bird depicted on the stone features a massive body, a pointed tail, a long neck with a tiny head, and short legs. Most probably, it represents a goose or a swan.

Lindqvist (1941/42 II, figs. 467–468) published photos of both faces without paint (taken by H. Faith-Ell in 1933; cf. ATA 1719:1–2) as well as Olof Sörlingʼs drawing of face B (kept in ATAʼs run- och bildstensamling), dating to 1910. The small rectangular figure with diagonal lines, i.e., a framed St. Andrewʼs cross, cannot be discerned in the photo but is drawn by Sörling.
GP 24 Ardre Petsarve II

Interpretation of the Imagery
It has been argued that Continental models and Christian imagery influenced the iconography of the Type B dwarf stones. The currently known Type B monuments featuring single or pairs of aquatic birds are the following: GP 10 Alva St. Ringome (two birds and ship), GP 96 Garda Smiss I (bird and ship), GP 142 Halla Broa VII (bird and ship), GP 129 Hablingbo Stenstu (two birds and ship), GP 165 Halla Broa XVII (two birds), GP 200 Hemse Lindvide (two birds), GP 274 Norrlanda Bringes (bird, cross symbols, ship), GP 276 När Rikvide I (two birds and ship), GP 277 När Rikvide 2 (two birds and rhombic pattern), and the Type B dwarf stone found in Grobin, Latvia (two birds) (Petrenko 1991; Lamm 1991; Lamm/Nylén 2003, pp. 210–211).

The bird motif probably derives from depictions on late Roman and early medieval gravestones (Lindqvist 1941/1942 I, p. 40; Böhner 1968, pp. 187–190, figs. 92–93; 1989, pp. 458–460, fig. 19; Oehrl 2010a, pp. 31–32; 2019a, pp. 25, 54, 168; 2020d, p. 150; in print b) – Images of facing pairs of pigeons frequently occur on early Christian tombstones of Rome, mostly with a Christian cross, the Christogram or a small tree (the tree of paradise arbor vitae) between the birds. Those monuments were adapted by early medieval Gallo-Frankish stone carvers, especially in the Rhineland (Böhner 1958, pls. 69–75; Engemann/Rüger 1991, pp. 76–77 no. 15, figs. 43, pp. 79–80 no. 17, figs. 45, pp. 81–82 no. 18, figs. 46, pp. 86–87 no. 21, figs. 49, pp. 87–89 no. 23, figs. 52, pp. 118–120 no. 39, figs. 71; Ristow 2007, cat. no. 93, pls. 40, 57, 75). Good examples of those stones depicting pigeons and the monogram of Christ or other cross signs, dating to between the 5th and 7th centuries, are the gravestones of Arcadius from St. Paulin in Trier, a gable-shaped stone from St. Maximin in Trier, of Mauricius from Kobern-Gondorf, of Besontio in St. Severus in Boppard and of Rignedrudis from Brühl in Nordrhein-Westfalen (Engemann/Rüger 1991, pp. 118–120 no. 39, fig. 71; Ristow 2007, p. 270, cat. no. 93, pls. 75a, 40). In early Christian sepulchral iconography in the Catacombs of Rome, the pigeon symbolizes the human soul (Poeschke 1972, col. 242). The pairs of birds on the ancient and early medieval gravestones can be regarded as representations of the deceased, signifying the cross or the arbor vitae, which refers to salvation and entering paradise (Sühling 1930).

However, not only the birds but also the sign of the cross and the christogram seem to have been imitated by Gotlandic stone masons (Böhner 1968, p. 188) – the cross decoration and the small-framed St. Andrew’s cross in combination with an aquatic bird on Norrlanda Bringes appear to be traced back to the common design of Early Medieval Christian grave stones. Diagonal cross decoration, which is reminiscent of Christian symbolism as well, is depicted on the stones GP 24 Ardre Petsarve II and GP 112 Gothem Bentebingels 2.

There are more parallels between early medieval Christian memorial stones and the Gotlandic Type B picture stones. The typical border decoration consisting of a primitive step pattern, which occurs on most Type B monuments, can also be observed frequently on early medieval stone sculpture of the Rhineland (Böhner 1968, p. 188), e.g., on the prominent Frankish grave stone from Niederdollendorf, dating to the 7th century (Böhner 1944–1950, pp. 63–75; 2002). Furthermore, during the period of ʻAbschnittʼ B, a new kind of picture stone appears, called a cist stone by Lindqvist, which represents small gable-like slabs with a wave-shaped upper edge. According to Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 40, 47–48, 58–61; 1964, pp. 42–84), they were used either pairwise representing grave markers or in a group of four that form cist-shaped (grave or sacrificial) monuments. Obviously, the characteristic shape of these stones can be traced back to Late Roman and early Christian sepulchral stones (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, fig. 216–217). The aquatic birds are not the only animal motifs on Type B picture stones that are connected with Christian iconography. The Type B stone from GP 74 Endre skog depicts a red deer and a serpent. On the Type B stone GP 551 Väskinde Butter a red deer stag can be seen that is sucking in and eating a snake, which represents a widespread motif in ancient and medieval Christian literary tradition and iconography.

As a result, the Continental connections of the Type B stones and the Christian origin of their imagery appear obvious. On this basis, it could even be argued that there were early Christian communities on Gotland as early as during the 6th and 7th centuries. More probably, however, the Gotlandic stone masons were influenced and inspired by Continental traditions but rather re-interpreted their models and adapted them to their own world of ideas. They certainly re-interpreted the pigeons, which represented the deceased in paradise, in a pre-Christian Scandinavian context, in reference to their own eschatological beliefs and ideas of the afterlife, transforming them into Baltic waterfowl (Hauck 1982, 259–260; Böhner 1989, 46; Oehrl 2010, pp. 31–32; 2012a, p. 96; 2015b, p. 223; 2019a, 54–55; 2020d, pp. 149–150; in print). What those aquatic birds in their Scandinavian Pre-Christian context actually represent becomes more understandable when considering a small group of water birds depicted on Viking Age picture stones – The afterlife journey and the arrival in the world of the dead seem to be the main topics in the imagery of the Type C/D picture stones (see in detail GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III), and in the context of this eschatological iconography, aquatic birds occur, probably representing valkyries in the shape of swans, accompanying and guiding the dead, see in detail GP 341 Sanda kyrka I, GP 91 Fröjel Bottarve, and GP 120 Grötlingbo Barshaldershed 6. Against this background, it appears plausible that the frequent depictions of aquatic birds on the Type B dwarf stones represent valkyries as well, along with the ship of the dead.
GP 10 Alva St. Ringome
GP 96 Garda Smiss I
GP 142 Halla Broa VII
GP 129 Hablingbo Stenstu
GP 165 Halla Broa XVII
GP 200 Hemse Lindvide
GP 276 När Rikvide (I)
GP 277 När Rikvide 2
GP 24 Ardre Petsarve II
GP 112 Gothem Bentebingels 2
GP 74 Endre skog
GP 551 Väskinde Butter
GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III
GP 341 Sanda kyrka I
GP0091
GP0120

Type and Dating
Middle type picture stone, i.e., Type B according to Lindqvist, dating between AD 500 and 700. The stone belongs to those Type B stones described by Lindqvist (1941/42 I, pp. 37) as dwarf stones with convex, almost flat arched head and pronounced corners, which protrude horizontally. He assigns Norrlanda Bringes to his so-called Stenstugruppe (ibid.), which, in particular, is characterized by depictions of aquatic birds and a ship. Those monuments are frequently decorated on both sides. Lindqvist considers them to have been placed pairwise on graves. The simple ship depictions are assigned by him to his Rikvidetypus (ibid. p. 66).

References
Fornvännen 1910, p. 245; Lindqvist 1941/42 I, pp. 38, 66; II, p. 105–106, figs. 467–468, 479; Böhner 1968, pp. 188–189; Guber 2011, p. 138 cat. no. 57; Oehrl 2010a, p. 31–32, pl. IX:21; 2019a, pp. 25, 54, 168, pl. 12d; 2020c, pp. 150–151, fig. 34; in print b.

mer grejer

Find Context

The Stone

Carvings

Detailed Information

Svensk sammanfattning

Identification

Links

Export

More media

Plane	Position	Flip