GP 339 Rute St. Valle 2

Context and Discovery
The fragment was found in 1940 during excavations performed at a medieval house foundation called Munkkällaren (monk’s cellar) in St. Valle, Rute parish, near Valleviken in the North of Gotland (RAÄ Rute 23). However, it is not discussed in Lindqvist 1941/42 and it is not clearly registered in Lamm/Nylén 2003. The stone was “funnen i källargången” (found in the cellar passage). Apparently, it was re-used as building material in the medieval house. In addition, a complete type C stone (ca 1.90 m high) without any remains of carved pictures was found then, lying in front of the entrance to the house. This complete stone (GP 337 Rute St. Valle 1) was re-erected at the find spot and still stands there today.
GP 337 Rute St. Valle 1

Measurements, Material and Condition
Small piece of a 0.10 m thick stone slab, about 0.36 m wide and 0.29 m high. Made of relatively homogeneous limestone without bigger inclusions. The fragment represents a slab’s lower right part, approximately 15% of a relatively small monument (so called dwarf stone?). It has a distinct and well-preserved bas-relief, about 1–2 mm deep.

Description of Ornament and Images
The relief features remain of an unusual rhombus-patterned border at its right side and the stern of a small ship at the left side. The ship’s hull has an almost rectangular shape. Only one man of the crew, looking to the left, can be seen. The lower part of the mast and the rudder are preserved. At the bottom right of the ship, between ship and border, approximately in the lower centre of the fragment, a stylized wave is depicted. A horned man appears to hover behind the stern of the ship, just above the wave. The figure can be seen in frontal view, with legs and arms slightly stretched sideways. Presumably, the man with huge horned headgear is touching the stern with his hand. Possibly, there are remains of a spear which the horned man is throwing into the ship. However, this detail remains unclear.

Interpretation of the Imagery
The horned man is a rare feature in the iconography of the Gotland picture stones. Possibly, there are two more stones depicting this motif, on GP 103 Garda Smiss II and GP 110 Gothem kyrka III. On the Rute fragment, he hovers behind the stern of a ship, on the waves of the sea, similar to the horned eidolon-figure (Greek spirit-image) who on the Vendel period helmet plates assists the equestrian in throwing his spear, as a kind of divine helper in battle, inspired by Roman depictions of the numen victoriae (Hauck 1981).

The motif on the Vendel plates can be connected to Old Norse written sources (Beck 1964, pp. 31–45) like the Skaldic poem Gráfeldardrápa (stanza 12) written by Glúmr Geirason (after 974), which conveys that the gods guide or steer (stýra) the heroes on the battle field (Finnur Jónsson 1912–1915 A I, p. 78; B I, p. 68; Whaley 2012, p. 262). In the Eddic poem Hlǫðskviða stanza 28 (probably 9th century) the King of the Goths invokes Óðinn, god of war and father of the fallen, to steer his throwing spear (láti svá Óðinn flein fliúga – Neckel/Kuhn 1983, p. 309). That the Vendel and Viking period depictions of horned warriors (the corpus is gathered by Helmbrecht 2011, pp. 140–146) can actually represent the god Wodan/Óðinn (detailed, with literature and sources: Oehrl 2017; Oehrl 2019, pp. 233–242) seems to be shown by the fact that some of them are one-eyed, like the so-called weapon dancer on one of the Torslunda models (Arrhenius/Freij 1992, p. 76, fig. 6; Helmbrecht 2011, p. 168). Óðinn is described as one-eyed in Skaldic and Eddic poetry since the 10th century. The horned and one-eyed figure from Torslunda is accompanied by a warrior with a wolf-like animal mask, reminiscent of the úlfheðnar – animal warriors mentioned in early Skaldic poetry who, according to Snorri Sturlusson’s Ynglinga saga (cap. 6 – Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson 1941, p. 17) are closely linked to the god Óðinn (Samson 2011; 2020).

With this background, it seems likely that the hovering horned figure behind the ship on the Rute fragment also represents a deity, probably the god Wodan/Óðinn. As on the helmet plates he could be regarded as a divine helper, accompanying and protecting the crew, like a kind of helping spirit. Alternatively, the god of the fallen heroes could in this case be considered as a psychopomp guiding the ship of the dead and escorting the deceased through their afterlife journey. According to Finngálkn í Jómsborg (Finnur Jónsson 1912–1915 A I, pp. 186–187; B I, p. 176) and Grímnismál stanza. 8 (Neckel/Kuhn 1983, 58–59), Óðinn is choosing the fallen.
GP 103 Garda Smiss II
GP0110

Type and Dating
Presumably, the fragment belongs to a small C/D stone; however, it is not possible to determine its type with certainty. The stone’s shape is lost; small ships with only a few crew members and those with an almost rectangular hull occur on B and C/D stones as well, and the rhombus pattern of the border is very unusual; a parallel could be GP 209 Klinte Hunninge I. However, in this case the rhombus pattern is much coarser. The motif of a man with horned headgear is preserved on different objects dating to the 6th through 10th centuries. Concerning the dating of the Rute fragment, it can only be stated that the stone must have been carved during the 8th to 10th centuries.
GP0209

References
Oehrl 2016b; Oehrl 2017a; Oehrl 2017b, 108–110, fig. 12; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 227–245, pls. 275a, 276a–283b, 287a–b; Oehrl 2019b, pp. 143–144, fig. 2.

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