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Gotlandic Picture Stones - The Online Edition

GP 561 Väte Gullarve









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mer grejer





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Parish Find Location ⓘ
Väte

Find Location ⓘ
An agricultural field belonging to the property of Gullarve farm in Väte parish.

Find Context Classification ⓘ
Agricultural Field

Coordinate Find Location (lat) ⓘ
6373002

Coordinate Find Location (long) ⓘ
702261

Present Location Classification ⓘ
Gotlands Museum Magasin Visborg

Coordinate Present Location (lat) ⓘ
6390259

Coordinate Present Location (long) ⓘ
695514

Material
Limestone

Limestone Type ⓘ
coarse reef debris limestone

Geological Group ⓘ
Klinteberg Formation (30%)

Height ⓘ
184

Width ⓘ
97

Thickness ⓘ
23

Lindqvist Type 

Lindqvist Shape 

Iconographic Keywords
 ⓘ         

Runic Inscription or not ⓘ
No

Context and Discovery ⓘ
Very little information about the find circumstances is available. Lindqvist notes in his book (1941/42 II, p. 144): “This picture stone was found around 1890 in an agricultural field during the digging of a ditch. It is said to have been approximately 1 m under the surface.” According to further information kept in the archives of Gotlands Museum, the stone was registered by Fornsalen in 1909, when it was still situated at the farmstead of Gullarve (Storgården) and donated to the Museum by the landowner Henrik Johansson in 1911. In 2010, the stone was in the depot of Kulturreservatet Norrbys in Väte parish, but between 2010 and 2013 it was transferred to Gotlands Museum storage in Visborg. There are no registered burial grounds or stone settings on the property of Gullarve gård. However, there is a complex of prehistoric house foundations and stone enclosures (Gullarve Änge) just south of Botarve gård, on the other side of the road (RAÄ Gullarve 15 and 41).

Measurements, Material and Condition ⓘ
“Limestone slab, about 23 cm thick. The obverse is even, on the bodies upper part the narrow sides are hewn at right angles towards the obverse and rounded towards the back; elsewhere, they are chamfered towards the back. The reverse is rough and unworked. Surviving height 183 cm. The head is 96 cm wide, the neck 87 cm, and the base 92 cm.” The picture stoneʼs root is missing, otherwise the monument is entirely preserved. However, the edges are abraded and the surface heavily weathered.

Description of Ornament and Images ⓘ
There are no less than four varying versions of documentation of the stone and its decoration. The earliest one is a drawing from Olof Sörling dating to around 1910, depicting only a few parts of the border decoration and the chequered sail of a ship (ATA 2440:22; Oehrl 2019a, pl. 186d). In ATAʼs run- och bildstenssamling, two photos of the painted stone taken by Harald Faith-Ell in 1933 are kept, which differ in some crucial aspects. The first, which represents the only picture reproduced in Lindqvistʼs book (1941/42 I, fig. 78), depicts a framing interlace border and two image fields on the monumentʼs body (ATA 1719:4). The lower field features a ship with chequered sail and some remains of the rigging and very indistinct contours of the crewmen. The upper panel shows the body and legs of a horse, turning to the right, surrounded by indefinable bas-relief fields. This panel and the completely weathered head field are separated from each other by a horizontal border with a cross-hatched pattern. The second 1933 version of the stone, however, which was not published by Lindqvist, features a much clearer picture of the ship, including three waves at the bottom, a rudder, and a crewman with round shield (ATA 1751:17; Oehrl 2019a, pl. 186c). The horse is more detailed as well, featuring its complete head, and a rider leaning back on his mount. In the head field, remains of a horizontal border can be seen, dividing it into two panels. A photo taken by Raymond Hejdström which is kept in the archives of Gotlands Museum (neg. nr. XXI:579) appears to represent the same painted version of the stone; however, the image is sharper and shows the details a bit better.

Lindqvist describes the carvings as follows (1941/42 II, p. 144): “The decoration was sketched out in thin lines by a sharp instrument and then partly widened into narrow chiselled lines with rounded bases. Every second square of the sail and the background fields are carved into the stone. The framing border is filled with an interlace of s-shaped elements, the pattern of which was first interpreted by [Gabriel Gustafson]. The field above the horizontal border appears to have been divided into two panels of equal height, but their imagery can no longer be identified. In the third panel, only the background field under the horse’s belly is clearly visible, while the horseman and everything else can be discerned only vaguely. The details of the ship with its rounded stems and the chequered sail as well as of the waves beneath it also by no means are always clear.”

In the 1950s, Karl Hauck examined the stone based on a latex cast, trying to identify further details of the decoration. His drawing (which he did never publish) features a whole range of astonishing but implausible new details and figures, such as a manned carriage in the head field, as well as a woman with a drinking horn and a bucket welcoming the horseman, who is blowing a hunting horn and holding a raptor on his outstretched fist (Oehrl 2019a, pl. 40a–b). The figures are marvelously detailed and therefore appear very dubious and untrustworthy. Sigmund Oehrl checked Hauckʼs documentation and came to the conclusion that the great majority of his additions are without verifiable foundation (ibid. pp. 68–84, 286–287). In most cases, however, Hauckʼs overflowing interpretations contain certain elements of the surface structure which indeed, on the basis of digital images applications, can be verified. In the case of Väte Gullarve, there is a shape documentable above the back of the horse, which actually could represent the very faint remains of a bird (ibid. pp. 180, 286, pls. 187a–b; Oehrl in print b).

Interpretation of the Imagery ⓘ
Regarding the interpretation of the ship and equestrian motifs, see in particular GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III, concerning the horseman and adventus motive see also GP 94 Garda Bote, GP 209 Klinte Hunninge I, GP 21 Ardre Kyrka VIII and GP 5 Alskog Tjängvide I. A depiction of a mounted falconer whith a hunting bird on his fist can be seen on GP 212 Klinte Hunninge IV (Klintebys); see the relevant article for more information on the iconography of falconry.
GP 390 Stenkyrka Lillbjärs III
GP0094
GP0209
GP0021
GP0005
GP 212 Klinte Hunninge (IV) (Klintebys)

Type and Dating ⓘ
Tall mushroom-shaped late type picture stone. Lindqvist regards the stone from Gullarve as an ʻAbschnittʼ C monument, dating around AD 700. Such late-type picture stones (Type C/D) can only be roughly dated to the period between the 8th century (or rather around AD 800) and circa 1000. Lindqvist ascribes Väte Gullarve to his small ʻhybrid groupʼ (Hybridengruppe) of ʻstones with horizontally oriented cornersʼ (Steine mit horizontalgerichteten Ecken). Those monuments, such as GP 37 Bro Eriks I, GP 45 Bro Eriks II, GP 185 Hejnum Rings and GP 191 Hejnum Mallgårds 1 (as well as the Type E stone GP 32 Boge kyrka, which represents a palimpsest) feature a slightly convex head and corners protruding at right angles to the body (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, tbl. III). This head shape corresponds to certain Type B dwarf stones. Therefore, Lindqvist (ibid. p. 46) regards these picture stones as a Hybridengruppe, probably representing a phase of transition between ʻAbschnittʼ B and C. If this interpretation is correct, those stones could be regarded as the earliest Type C/D stones, presumably dating to the 8th century or possibly around 700. However, Väte Gullarve differs from those stones as its head is semi-circular and thus the corners do not really protrude horizontally. Lindqvistʼs assignment can certainly be questioned.

According to Martin Rundkvist’s (2012) typology, the stone’s shape represents Type tall3, which occurs in his periods 5 (Early Viking Period), and 7 (Late Viking Period). Imer (2004, p. 104), however, dates the monument to between AD 750 and circa 900, and Varenius (1992, appendix 2), based on his analysis of the ship’s rigging (group III segelskepp med skot hanfot), to the 9th or 10th century. The chessboard pattern of the sail, formed by horizontal and vertical lines – differing from most ship depictions that feature rhombic patterns formed by diagonal lines – represents a special characteristic of the Gullarve stone (Lindqvist 1941/42 I, p. 117).
GP0037
GP0045
GP 185 Hejnum Rings
GP 191 Hejnum Mallgårds 1
GP 32 Boge kyrka

References ⓘ
Lindqvist 1941/42 I, pp. 71, 117, fig. 78; II, p. 144; Oehrl 2019a, pp. 74, 180–181, 227–228, 276, 286, pls. 40a–b, 186a–d, 187a–b.

 ⓘ
Fyndplats
Påträffades omkring 1890 vid dikesgrävning i åker tillhörande gården Gullarve. Donerades till Gotlands museum 1911.

Nuvarande lokalisering
Gotlands museum, magasinet på Visborgsslätt.

Beskrivning
Helt bevarad stor svampformig bildsten (period CD), 183 cm hög och som bredast 96 cm. På stenen nederdel finns ett skepp med segel och svaga spår av besättning. Över skeppet finns spår av en häst och en stående person, sannolikt ett välkomstmotiv.

Datering
Dateringen oklar, men tillhör perioden 700-900-talen.

Tolkning
Välkomstmotivet kan representera en valkyria som mottar en död man i Valhall.

AA

Title
GP 561 Väte Gullarve

Gotlands Museum ID ⓘ
C1668

Jan Peder Lamm ID
340

Lindqvist Title ⓘ
Väte, Gullarve


Last modifed Jun 25, 2024

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Identifier: GP0561-3D
ID: 5092
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