GP 481 Stånga kyrka II

Context and Discovery
The stone was first noticed in 1919 by Fredrik Nordin, but its original find spot is unknown. At that time, it was lying loose in the church’s choir. Otto von Friesen examined the stone in 1922 (von Friesen 1922, p. 77). At the time for the publication of Gotlands Bildsteine II (1942) and Gotlands runinskrifter I (1962), the stone was stored in the sacristy together with GP 480 (G 86). (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 113; GR I, G 86). However, when the stone was sought in 2013 by Per Widerström and Magnus Källström, it could not be located.

The only other picture stone known from the parish is GP 480 Stånga kyrka I (G 86), a large fragment of a picture stone with a runic inscription. In the churchyard, Christian graves with Viking age objects of the 11th and early 12th century have been found (see GP 480 Stånga kyrka I).
LKÅ
GP 480 Stånga kyrka I

Measurements, Material and Condition
Length 20 cm, width 14 cm and thickness 7 cm. Limestone. The backside is cut even. Both broad sides are flat, the decorated side is finely carved, the narrow sides are hewn flat at right angles towards the broad sides.
LKÅ

Description of Ornament and Images
The framing border with the runic inscription and its patterns are separated by a chamfer from the background field, which is chiseled down 4–5 mm deep. Drilled holes both serve as division marks between words of the runic inscription and form the inner ends of the lines defining the birds’ bodies. Drilled holes in the runes are a typical Gotlandic feature (see GP 361 Stenkumla I).

Lindqvist was of the opinion that both the defining lines of the inscribed ribbon and the chamfer that delimits the border towards the inside indicate by their sudden turn close to the edge of the break – which cuts the rune ‘u’ – that the fragment once belonged to the lower left corner of the head of a picture stone with an abruptly constricted body (or possibly to the top of a cist stone) (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. Fig. 169, 177).

In the image field, a bird can be seen, the neck of which is cut off by the edge of the upper break, while the curved beak just below this fracture survived; the foot with two talons, the thrice-forked tail, and the wing are preserved in their entirety. Beak and foot touch another figure, which presumably is the forehead (with a piece of the eye?) and the upper jaw (with its appendix hanging down from the tip of the nose) of a large animal’s head. (Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 113). The latter can possibly be the head of a runic serpent.
LKÅ
GP 361 Stenkumla kyrka I

Interpretation of the Imagery
Birds on picture stones can have several functions and interpretations, depending on the context in which they appear. The significance of birds in art in the Late Iron Age and the Viking period in Scandinavia, c. 400–1100 AD, has been extensively discussed by Sigmund Oehrl. For example, birds can be symbols for new life, they can be ‘beasts of battle’, psychopomps or representations for Oðinn, a part of Viking age heraldry, or in more realistic motifs used in falconry (Oehrl 2020). As beasts of battle, birds forebode or participate in battle, and there are other picture stones where birds are seen to bite at people (Oehrl 2020, p. 456). There are also examples of birds of prey fighting four-footed dragon-like animals or predators, e.g., the runestone in Altuna (U 1161), and a bird that fights against a snake, as on a runestone in Estuna (U 574). Oehrl indicates that these motifs symbolize Christ conquering the devil, a motif originating in Classic tradition and Roman imperial iconography (Oehrl 2020, p. 460). In this case, the claws and the curved beak indicate that it is a bird of prey. It is difficult to see on this small fragment, but the bird seems to be depicted in close connection to the head of a runic animal. The bird on our picture stone fragment from Stånga looks similar to the one on the Altuna-stone, which may lead to an interpretation that the bird attacks the other beast. However, in contrast to the bird in the Altuna stone, it is not grabbing the other animal with claws and beak as it clearly does at Altuna.
LKÅ

Runic Context and Comments
The runic inscription contains only the two runes ‘u’ and ‘k’ followed by a division mark.
LKÅ

Type and Dating
Type E. 11th century.

References
von Friesen 1922, p. 77; Lindqvist 1941/42 II, p. 113, Fig. 488; GR I, G 87.

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