At right is a photograph of Farthegn's rune stone in Helsingland, Sweden.  A depiction of the one thousand year old inscription is shown above. This rune stone is typical of most rune stones in that:  1) the letters are colored red, 2) the letters are placed within a serpentine-shaped script that reads up and down rather than from side to side, 3) the tool used to carve the runes looked more like a modern ice pick rather than a chisel, and, 4) the stone was raised by a man (Farthegn) to memorialize a male family member (his father).  What is unusual is that the runes were carved by Sweden's only known female rune master.  She called herself "Gunnborga the good".  Farthegn's father was from Vattrang, a village located one mile to the southwest of this rune stone.

The photograph was downloaded from Nordenstigs Historia web site at http://www.bdab.se/foretagarboken/Kultur/nordenstigs_historia.htm The inscription was downloaded from UR Akadamin web site at http://www.ur.se/ura/runstenar_49.htm Previous Page......Next Page