Parish Find Location 
När

Find Location 
In a stone setting in Presthåjgarden (the parsonage).

Find Context Classification 
Grave

Coordinate Find Location (lat) 
6351246

Coordinate Find Location (long) 
718422

Present Location Classification 
Gotlands Museum Fornsalen

Coordinate Present Location (lat) 
6393355

Coordinate Present Location (long) 
696536

Material 
Limestone

Height 
28

Width 
39

Thickness 
7

Lindqvist Type 
E (ca. 1000-1150)

Lindqvist Shape 
Dwarf stone

Runic Inscription or not 
Yes

Runic Inscription 
§A …- stan ' yftir ' sun · sa ' saimaþi ' siour … §B …ra ' ub ' uisi ' kial ' þ--- uf · (t)au… …

Old West Norse
§A … stein eptir son, sá(?) … … … §B … … … … … … … dau[ðr](?)

Runic Swedish
§A … stæin æftiʀ sun, sa(?) … … … §B … … … … … … … dau[ðr](?)

English
§A … the stone in memory of (his) son, he(?) … §B … died(?)

Swedish
§A … stenen efter (sin) son … §B … död(?) …

Quote from Runor

Context and Discovery 
The stone was found in 1903 in a stone setting during the tilling of a field in the so-called ‘Prästhåigarden’, which in a land consolidation process had fallen to Bosarve. In 1904, there was correspondence between Hans Hansson and Otto Nordström about whether it should be sent to Gotlands Fornsal (ATA). In 1912, it was donated to Gotland Museum by Lektor M. Klintberg (Lindqvist 1941/42, p. 102; GR I, p. 142).

Eight picture stones have been found in the parish (GP 276–283), ranging from the oldest phase to the youngest.
LKÅ
GP 276 När Rikvide (I)
GP 277 När Rikvide 2
GP 279 När Mickelgårds
GP 280 När Smiss I
GP 281 När Smiss 3
GP 282 När Hallute
GP 283 När Smiss II

Measurements, Material and Condition 
Limestone slab, about 7 cm thick. Fragment representing the head of a picture stone. The width of the fragment’s head is 0.39 m, the height 0.28 m.

Both broad sides are dressed and slightly convex. The narrow sides also are dressed, at right angles towards the broad sides. There are carvings on both sides. The decorative lines and runes are about 2 mm wide, quite deep, and have a wedge-shaped cross section; the background field is smooth and sunk 1 mm deep. A drill does not appear to have been used (Lindqvist 1941/42, p. 102). The runic inscription is fragmentary; it lacks beginning and end. The runes are carved with thin lines, but deep and clear. The carving is relatively well preserved (GR I, p. 143).
LKÅ

Description of Ornament and Images 
On face A, there are ornaments in runestone style inside of the framing border: two ribbon loops held together by a decorative union knot with a bulb downwards; close to the break remains of more ribbons, a part of which, particularly under the union knot, probably is supposed to represent an animal’s head facing left (Lindqvist 1941/42, p. 102).

On face B, the framing border indicates the beginning of the narrowing of the picture stone’s neck in the right corner. In the picture field, there is a clumsily drawn horseman, who holds the rein of his horse in one hand, and in front of the horse’s legs, there is a figure holding a drinking horn (Lindqvist 1941/42, p. 102).
LKÅ

Interpretation of the Imagery 
Sune Lindqvist interpreted the reclining figure on face B as a woman and further suggested that this woman is depicted as if standing on the border and consequently was given her longitudinal, ‘upright’ position in the horizontal direction (Lindqvist 1941/42, p. 102).

The scene can be understood as a Welcome scene, where a fallen warrior is greeted in Valhalla (Ney 2012, p. 81 Table 1; for more about the Welcome scene, see, e.g., GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I and GP 21 Ardre kyrka VIII). An armed rider greeted by a woman with a drinking horn can be seen on, e.g., GP 94 Garda Bote, GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III, GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I, GP 209 Klinte Hunninge I. The motif with a rider seems to hark back to classical models, but we may assume that the motif acquired a new meaning in Scandinavia (Oehrl 2020, p. 128). In Old Norse literature, the scene shows the reception of a fallen warrior into Valhalla, where a valkyrie gives the arriving person a welcome drink at the gate to the warrior paradise. This interpretation is largely based on Eiríksmál, describing the festive reception of the fallen king into Odon’s Valhalla. Another important literary source for the interpretation of the welcoming scene on picture stones is the Atlakviða, where it is indirectly indicated that it is a valkyrie who greets the dead ones (Oehrl 2020, pp. 132–134).
LKÅ
GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I
GP 21 Ardre kyrka VIII
GP0094
GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III
GP0209

Runic Context and Comments 
Elias Wessén suggests that the runic inscription was carved by a man who only poorly could master the art of writing. The carver succeeded with the three common words ‘stone after son’, but he was unable to write the remainder correctly. Wessén indicates that only by making allowance for several errors might it be possible to arrive at an interpretation ‘X had the stone erected after his son. He died in the east’ (GR I, p. 143).
LKÅ

Type and Dating 
Type E, dwarf stone. Snædal includes the stone in her Ardre group. The Ardre stones are dated by her to the beginning of the 11th century, but she indicates that the stones that relate to the motifs on the traditional picture stones to a higher degree might belong to the first half of the 11th century (Snædal 2002, p. 94). David Wilson indicated that this stone is the first representative of the Ringerike style (on Gotland?) (Wilson 1995, p. 80). The ornament and the slender shape of animal head on face A indicate a dating to the second half of the 11th century.
LKÅ

References 
Lindqvist 1941/42, Fig. 174, 175, 463, 464; GR I, G 92; Snædal 2002, pp. 67, 71; Källström 2022, p. 19.

Title
GP 278 När Bosarve

Fornsök ID 
L1975:1805

RAÄ ID 
När 49:1

Gotlands Museum ID 
GFC1874

Jan Peder Lamm ID 
199

Lindqvist Title 
När, Bosarve

Runverket ID 
G 92