GP 532 Träkumla kyrka 1

Context and Discovery
The fragment was discovered in the floor of the choir by Beata Böttger-Niedenzu in 1983, together with GP 533 Träkumla kyrka 2 and GP 534 Träkumla kyrka 3. In 1982, Böttger-Niedenzu submitted her master’s thesis on Gotland’s picture stones to the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, and during the years 1981 to 1985, she visited the Gotlandic rural churches, discovering not fewer than 38 previously unknown picture stones, which she published in a brief catalogue in 1988. Träkumla kyrka 1 is incorporated into the floor, just north of the altar step (i.e., to the left of the step, seen from the nave), directly bordering it. Träkumla kyrka 2 is placed directly next to (i.e., north of) Träkumla kyrka 1, while Träkumla kyrka 3 is located in the southeast corner of the choir. The rectangular choir represents the oldest part of the present church, dating to about 1220 (Roosval 1942, pp. 31, 49) or the middle of the 13th century (Lagerlöf/Svahnström 1991, p. 250). The church has been a ruin since 1861 but was restored and re-inaugurated in 1917. A further restoration took place in 1951.
GP 533 Träkumla kyrka 2
GP 534 Träkumla kyrka 3

Measurements, Material and Condition
The fragment has the shape of an irregular rectangle of approximately 0.95 x 0.61 m (measuring the longest distances). The surface of the limestone slab is homogeneously grey, relatively even, and worn by footsteps. Nevertheless, most of the bas-relief is still discernable.

Description of Ornament and Images
According to Böttger-Niedenzu’s sketch and description (1988, p. 16, drawing 6), approx. the half of two image panels is preserved. The upper panel depicts, as far as Böttger-Niedenzu was able to discern by conventional means, the rough silhouettes of three or four human figures turning to the left. In the lower panel, she recognized the forelegs and the back line of a quadruped, which she regarded as a horse, as well as a spear, seemingly flying above the animal.

Using 3D models and RTI technology, Oehrl has been able to create a much more detailed and reliable picture of the carving. According to his new documentation (Oehrl 2019a, pp. 175–178, pls. 177–182), in the upper image panel, five men with ankle-length garments and short hair form a kind of procession marching to the left. Each of these men holds a large drinking horn, raising it to the mouth. A tip of a cape-like cloak hangs down from their raised arms, looking like a hanging sleeve, comparable to depictions on the Type C stones GP 258 Lärbro Tängelgårda I, GP 252 Lärbro Tängelgårda IV, GP 244 Lokrume kyrka, GP 346 Sanda Sandegårda II (concerning the costume and the sex of these figures: Oehrl 2019a, p. 177). In the panel beneath this procession of drinking men, at the very right end of the preserved part of the panel, a faintly raised and rudimentary silhouette can be visualized of a man who holds the spear in his uplifted hand and apparently throws it over or against the quadruped. Oehrl argues that the animal itself would have had a very small head without visible neck and thus cannot have represented a horse. The depiction just in front of the animal, at the left-hand edge of the image panel, is very difficult to understand, but it perhaps represents another human figure in a kind of frame.

Beneath the panel with the quadruped and the spear thrower, in the lower half of the surface, at least one more image panel must have been carved; however, no traces of the decoration are discernable anymore. The horizontal divider between the ʻdrinker panelʼ and the ʻquadruped panelʼ consists of two parallel narrow bands while the dividers on top of the ʻdrinker panelʼ and the one at the lower edge of the ʻquadruped panelʼ are not completely preserved; only parts of a simple line can be seen.
GP0258
GP0252
GP 244 Lokrume kyrka
GP 346 Sanda Sandegårda II

Interpretation of the Imagery
The drinking men in long garments are closely related to the depiction on GP 252 Lärbro Tängelgårda IV [C]. The Lärbro stone depicts a group of five men with ankle-length garments and cape-like cloaks, who raise their drinking horns. Two men dressed the same stand in a kind of enclosure, flanking an object which seems to represent a swine, and raising long knives or short swords. As discussed elaborately and argued in more detail by Oehrl (2019a, pp. 169–175, 178–179), two interpretations based on Old Norse literature are considered.

1) The drinking men wearing ceremonial clothing could be regarded as a group of fallen heroes (einherjar) who are feasting in Odin’s Valhǫll, including two celebrants preparing the roast, which is the marvelous boar Sæhrímnir (cf. Oxenstierna 1959, p. 164–165), which is roasted and eaten by the fallen warriors every day anew, as it is resurrected after the meal and can be butchered again – according to the eddic poem Grímnismál (stanza 18 – Neckel/Kuhn 1983, p. 60.) and Snorri’s Gylfaginning (cap. 38 – Faulkes 2005, p. 32.). Based on this background, the drinking men on Träkumla kyrka 1 could be interpreted as feasting einherjar as well, and the quadruped in the second panel as the boar Sæhrímnir, which is stabbed with a spear in order to be butchered. In this case, the motifs on the Lärbro and Träkumla stones would fit very well a main topic in the iconography of the Gotland picture stones, which is the afterlife journey of the deceased and their arrival at the world of the dead.

2) On the other hand, the drinking men as well as those flanking the swine could be regarded as oath-taking warriors (cf. Hauck 1970, p. 280). In several Old Norse texts, taking an oath at bragarfulli, which means by drinking the ʻnoblest cupʼ or the ʻchieftain’s cupʼ, is described as a common Viking-Age practice, also performed during the Yule feast (Düwel 1985, pp. 84–89; von See et al. 2004, pp. 537–541, 550; Zimmermann 2006a, pp. 235–237). Another kind of oath taking at Yule-eve (also called heitstrenging) described in Old Norse literature is swearing by touching a boar, the so-called sonargǫltr, which was killed and sacrificed after the solemn vows (this sacrifice was called sonarblót – Sievers 1892; Holtsmark 1971; von See et al. 2004, pp. 537–540). This sacrificial boar might be depicted on GP 252 Lärbro Tängelgårda IV and also on GP 258 Lärbro Tängelgårda I, on which two men with raised swords touch the boar’s snout. On Träkumla kyrka 1, not oath-taking by touching the animal itself but rather the killing of the boar would be represented. Both rituals, swearing at bragarfulli and by touching the sacrificial boar, performed at Yule-eve, are mentioned in Hervarar saga (Turville-Petre 1976, pp. 2, 36) and the eddic poem Helgakviða Hiǫrvarðzsonar (prose before stance 31 – Neckel/Kuhn 1983, p. 147). Nevertheless, the actual age and distribution of these rituals are uncertain and disputed (von See et al. 2004, pp. 536, 539; Zimmermann 2006a, p. 236).

Alternatively, as suggested by Oehrl (2019a, pp. 179–181), the figures on the second panel of Träkumla kyrka 1 – a quadruped which seems to be killed by a javelin thrower – could be regarded as hunting scene. There is only one hunting scene known so far in the iconography of the Gotland picture stones, depicted on GP 195 Hellvi Ire 6 [C] – two armed men attacking a red deer stag. Apart from that, the falconer on GP 212 Klinte Klintebys [C] may be mentioned.
GP0252
GP0258
GP0195
GP 212 Klinte Hunninge (IV) (Klintebys)

Type and Dating
The motifs on Träkumla kyrka 1 are closely related to GP 252 Lärbro Tängelgårda IV [C] and Lindqvist’s ʻLärbro groupʼ, which belongs to his ʻAbschnitt Cʼ. Thus, the fragment from Träkumla most probably originates from a Type C picture stone, dating to the 8th century or between around AD 800 and circa 1000. According to Eshleman (1983), the ʻLärbro groupʼ was strongly influenced by the art of the Carolingian Renaissance and therefore should be dated to the period between AD 790 and 840. Archaeological excavations at Type C picture stone sites also point to around AD 800 (Andreeff 2012). Some runic inscriptions on picture stones of Type C, however, have been dated between AD 850 and 900 (Gustavson 2012, p. 112 with references), and the runes on the monument GP 244 Lokrume kyrka, which also belongs to Lindqvist’s ʻLärbro groupʼ, might date to the second half of the tenth century (Källström 2012, p. 127). Probably, Träkumla kyrka 1 originates from the same monument as Träkumla kyrka 2 and Träkumla kyrka 3.
GP0252
GP 244 Lokrume kyrka
GP 533 Träkumla kyrka 2
GP 534 Träkumla kyrka 3

References
Böttger-Niedenzu 1988, pp. 15–16, drawing 6; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 175–181, pls. 177–182.

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