Rö runestone

Rö runestone (Bo Krause1966;73A U) is one of Sweden's oldest and most notable runestones. It was discovered 1919 at the farm Rö on the island of Otterö north of the fishing village of Grebbestad in Bohuslän. It is presently erected near the location where it was found.

The stone is made of granite and it is 2 metres tall and more than 1.2 metres wide. The inscription has been made on a flat surface which unfortunately is damaged due to flaking. The runes are engraved in four parallel rows running from top to bottom. The runes are in the elder futhark and the language is Proto-Norse with preserved declensions and intermediate vowels that would much later be lost when the language turned into Old Norse. The form of the runes suggest the early 5th century and it is consequently the longest inscription from a period earlier than the 7th century.

Since the location is near a sailing route it is possible that it was made by visitors and not by locals.

Transcription of the runes

ek hra(z)az/hra(þ)az satido -tain ¶ ana----(r) ¶ swabaharjaz ¶ s-irawidaz ¶ ... stainawarijaz fahido

Transliteration

Ek Hrazaz/Hraþaz satido [s] tain [a] ... Swabaharjaz s [a] irawidaz. ... Stainawarijaz fahido.

Translation

I, Hrazaz/Hraþaz raised the stone ... Swabaharjaz with wide wounds. ... Stainawarijaz carved.

ource

*Rundata
*owl [http://runeberg.org/nfcr/0096.html]