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Jarlabanke Runestones
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Jarlabanke Runestones
The Jarlabanke Runestones (Swedish: Jarlabankestenarna) is the name of about 20 runestones written in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark rune script in the 11th century, in Uppland, Sweden.
They were ordered by what appears to have been a chieftain named Jarlabanke Ingefastsson and his clan (Swedish: Jarlabankeätten), in Täby. Jarlabanke was probably a hersir (chieftain of a hundred) responsible for the local leidang organization and on several runestones, he stated that he was a Christian and not a Pagan.
Omeljan Pritsak has remarked that Jarlabanke's prominent position and property show that he and his clan profited from taking part in the Danegelds and from the services that men of his clan provided as mercenaries in the Varangian Guard and in Kievan Rus'.
Five of the runestones contain very much the same message: "Jarlabanke had these stones made after himself while he was alive. He made this bridge for his soul. He alone owned all of Täby". One stone at the church of Vallentuna also shows the following text on its second side: "Jarlabanke had this stone made after himself while he was alive. He made this assembly location and he alone owned this hundred".
The so-called Jarlabanke's bridge is a causeway in Täby which was originally bordered by four runestones and many raised stones. It is about 116 metres (381 ft) long and 6.4 metres (21 ft) wide, and there were inscriptions (U 164 and U 165) by Jarlabanke both at the southern and the northern end of the causeway. One of the runestones was moved during his lifetime to the location of the local assembly of the Vallentuna Hundred, where it received a new text and it was replaced with a new fifth one at Jarlabanke's bridge and which had a different design.
Three other runestones present Jarlabanke as the builder of roads and bridges, and ten or so mention his family members making it possible to follow his family during four generations. His pride at building roads and bridges shows that this was something that gave prestige in 11th-century Sweden.
The inscriptions have led to a controversy on the meaning of the Old Norse verb eiga ("to own"), and to a debate on the origins on the hundred division. It is debated whether he really owned the hundred or if he was appointed as its chieftain (hersir) by the King of Sweden, and a final conclusion is probably impossible to arrive at.
Besides the runestones treated in this article, there are many others that were raised by Jarlabanke and his clansmen such as U 101, U 135, U 136, U 137, U 143, U 147, U 309 and U 310. However, these runestones are treated separately as they were raised in connection with Estrid, the female progenitor of the Jarlabanke clan.
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Jarlabanke Runestones
The Jarlabanke Runestones (Swedish: Jarlabankestenarna) is the name of about 20 runestones written in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark rune script in the 11th century, in Uppland, Sweden.
They were ordered by what appears to have been a chieftain named Jarlabanke Ingefastsson and his clan (Swedish: Jarlabankeätten), in Täby. Jarlabanke was probably a hersir (chieftain of a hundred) responsible for the local leidang organization and on several runestones, he stated that he was a Christian and not a Pagan.
Omeljan Pritsak has remarked that Jarlabanke's prominent position and property show that he and his clan profited from taking part in the Danegelds and from the services that men of his clan provided as mercenaries in the Varangian Guard and in Kievan Rus'.
Five of the runestones contain very much the same message: "Jarlabanke had these stones made after himself while he was alive. He made this bridge for his soul. He alone owned all of Täby". One stone at the church of Vallentuna also shows the following text on its second side: "Jarlabanke had this stone made after himself while he was alive. He made this assembly location and he alone owned this hundred".
The so-called Jarlabanke's bridge is a causeway in Täby which was originally bordered by four runestones and many raised stones. It is about 116 metres (381 ft) long and 6.4 metres (21 ft) wide, and there were inscriptions (U 164 and U 165) by Jarlabanke both at the southern and the northern end of the causeway. One of the runestones was moved during his lifetime to the location of the local assembly of the Vallentuna Hundred, where it received a new text and it was replaced with a new fifth one at Jarlabanke's bridge and which had a different design.
Three other runestones present Jarlabanke as the builder of roads and bridges, and ten or so mention his family members making it possible to follow his family during four generations. His pride at building roads and bridges shows that this was something that gave prestige in 11th-century Sweden.
The inscriptions have led to a controversy on the meaning of the Old Norse verb eiga ("to own"), and to a debate on the origins on the hundred division. It is debated whether he really owned the hundred or if he was appointed as its chieftain (hersir) by the King of Sweden, and a final conclusion is probably impossible to arrive at.
Besides the runestones treated in this article, there are many others that were raised by Jarlabanke and his clansmen such as U 101, U 135, U 136, U 137, U 143, U 147, U 309 and U 310. However, these runestones are treated separately as they were raised in connection with Estrid, the female progenitor of the Jarlabanke clan.
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