Skarpåker Stone
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| Name | Skarpåker Stone |
|---|---|
| Rundata ID | Sö 154 |
| Country | Sweden |
| Region | Sörmland |
| City/Village | Skarpåker |
| Produced | 9th Century |
| Runemaster | unknown |
| Text - Native | |
| kunar : raisþi : stain : þansi : at lyþbiurn : sun : sin : iarþsalr ifna uk ub himi n | |
| Text - English | |
| Gunnar raised this stone for Lydhbjorn, his son. the Earth shall be rent, and the heavens above. | |
| Other resources | |
| Runestones - Runic alphabet - Runology - Runestone styles | |
The Skarpåker Stone (Rundata Sö 154) found in Skarpåker, Nyköping, Sörmland, Sweden, dated to ca. AD 800. It bears a skaldic Younger Futhark inscription, transcribed in standardized Old East Norse:
- Gunnarr reisti stein þenna at Lyðbjörn, son sinn. Jarð sal rifna ok upphiminn.
The eschatology of the verse. "the Earth shall be rent, and the heavens above", apparently expressing a father's devastation at the loss of his son (compare Sonatorrek), evokes the catastrophic end of the world Germanic mythology, described in the Edda as Ragnarök and also alluded to in the Muspilli.
