The Järsberg Runestone
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2022
- The Järsberg Runestone: Jackson Crawford's first runestone in-person in its original location, and it even has the name "raven" on it.
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawford.com/ (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
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I love that something like this is still intact and just out chilling in a field, awesome video!
Almost all runestones in Sweden are just standing around out in the open! They're all over the place!
Haha, welcome to Sweden. While this stone is very old and thus unique because of that, we have literally thousands upon thousands of runestones from the late viking age chilling out on fields, in forests, along side old roads and paths, next to old churches and so on. Many of them are literally just collecting moss and haven't been cleaned for like two decades.
There’s also the bit about how Sweden has 400-year-old laws to protect ancient traces of human occupation, the first such law in the world.
Some rune stones were repurposed for construction of buildings, but most of them are just chilling out like this one.
@@poeticvogon True, there were so many of them that people a hundred years or so later could go "We need a big stone for our church... Ah, here's one. Some runes on it, but just in memory of some dead guy no one cares about anymore. Let's take it."
And no, it had nothing to do with christians wanting to "own the pagans" or anything like people usually just presume, because the absolute majority of Sweden's rune stones have christian ornaments on them. People just didn't care for the stones anymore and the stones were great building materials just standing there.
Welcome to Sweden! I wish you an interesting rune-stone journey.
My friends recently bought a house where there's a Runestone outside in the "courtyard". Apperently some farmer on the other side of the highway dug it up some decades ago and they had it moved/placed on the top of a nearby mound. Later they build the houses surrounding it. Sweden is almost "littered" with runestones lol :)
Yes there is one a few hundred meters from where I live and another one a few kilometres away.
And bronz age petroglyphs. Tens of thousands
I think it says "I carve runestones at a reasonable price. Call Loki at..."
It's so mysterious! Just a stone planted in a field, announcing to the world until the writing wears away after the ages, "This is my name and I write."
"You love writing? Call me, Harabanaz, your local stone-writer!"
@@karenl6908 that is funny!, but it strikes me as probable. I keep wondering why he would have written that if it was difficult and he had limited space. Advertisement...
Oh my gosh, this stone is like 30 minutes from where I live. My and my dad stopped off once to have a look at it!
Hmmmm 🤔what actually peaked my curiosity is your surname....should it be your mother's surname with -dóttir at the end? 🤨 I'm just curious 😁👀
@@lukaskubinec9608 No, the -son ending is really common in Sweden. We don't have the same naming culture as Iceland does, for example.
@@EudaemonicGirl Very interesting. Thank you. I actually been to iceland so in my mind it must have stuck that it is common thing to take over the -dóttir ending of surname, but maybe it is an cultural remnant that stood the tooth of time in Iceland because it was more sucessful to stand against christianisation of northern heathen beliefs like Ásatrú. It is shame that the turbulent changes in those times destroyed so many historically valuable writtings and items.
I am currently very interested in mythology of old Finland, it is such a shame it does not get as much attention as the ásatrú belief.
@@lukaskubinec9608 This is actually quite a recent change that happened around a hundred years ago.
For example, my great great grandfather was called Anders, and everyone under him has the surname Andersson.
However, it's also quite common with so called "soldier names" that are compounds of two nature-related words (berg + kvist, sjö + strand, sten + mark, etc.). These were originally nicknames given in the military, but ended up getting adopted as surnames. (I guess they're more unique than just being called someone's son)
One of my favorite stones! All on its own with no other inscriptions within miles and with that mysterious message. I drove a hundred miles just to snap the wikipedia photo, about twenty years ago. From what I recall, there is good documentation that it was once accompanied by at least a stone circle, possibly two, but just as official docs say it's really hard to even imagine where those might have stood.
Sven B.F. Jansson does mention a stone monument in Sveriges Runinskrifter's Värmland section, and in regards to the 1975 excavation writes, (...) Dessutom iakttogs i det sterila bottensandlagret ett avtryck av en stor sten, som tydligen hade flyttats bort från den plats där den hade legat. De gamla uppgifterna, att Järsbergsmonumentet ursprungligen skulle ha bestått icke endast av runstenen utan också av skriftlösa bautastenar, får genom dessa iakttagelser ett stöd." (the aforementioned older sources are also quoted)
A LIDAR survey of the area in which the runestone stands would show Exactly what used to be above ground and what is now below the surface. That would be interesting and exciting.
Many times runestones that seem to be standing “in the middle of nowhere“ were actually by a lake side path during Viking times and the lakes have receded during the middle ages and other post glacial geological effects. Otherwise known as “ landstigning”
The rise of the land don't affect the lake so much as the sea. It's more the case that the lakes have been ditched and removed to make more farmland.
Jackson on location with the actual runestone is just a new level of awesome! Deciphering the inscription bit by bit, explaining the nuances, so fascinating!
Välkommen till Sverige! 🌞 🍃
Interesting how the inscriptions were written in this way, specifically how the scribe didn't have much space to write the whole thing down. Kinda funny how we as people try to cram as much information as possible into our writing and the ancestors have been doing it since days before. Really informative, Dr. Crawford! Keep up the good work!
Crawford seemed to be pretty jazzed to be so close to the runestone. He was a little more lively than usual.
And on the runestone these words appear: "I, author, write 'Raven'"
Nothing beside remains
The original Edgar Allan Poe!
Welcome to Sweden!
Stoked to finally see a collab with xXMonsterEnergy69420Xx
I am currently reading "Children of Ash and Elm" by Neil Price and it's so exciting to get to see a runestone and hear you talking about it. Thank you.
The complete inscription is on the information board at the side of the field. The missing piece is about 20cm long. I visit this area often, have done for years, and a local tradition is to look for thr missing part in dry stone walls, building foundations and in the rocks in fields.
I have been to this location a lot of times. The placement is so cool and it always feel so mysterious with all the fields around it. The water level was a lot higher back when this stone was carved and some believe that you might even could travel there by boat. A fantastic place. Highly recommend to anyone visiting the area.
Followed you for a few years now, Jackson. I like your “straight to the point” way of explaining these things, so that us viewers can interpret more ambiguous meanings ourselves. No one knows exactly what happened or what these people were like. As you often point out, we have a limited source material, leaving many questions unanswered.
I appreciate your dedication to getting this kind of material so available to the public. Regards from Norway
Hope my country treats you well while you are here!
Really nice to see you visiting my home region Värmland in Sweden.
We only have four runestones in Värmland and two are written in the old futhark.
The second one is called Skramlestenen (Skramlestone) from the place where it was found.
You can visit that stone close to the church in Gunnarskog near Arvika in western part of Värmland.
Many thanks for this video, interesting as allways !
I don't know where in Sweden you are, but if you're in Svealand I can recommend visiting Sigurdsristninen. The surrounding area is pretty sweet and there are hiking paths (Sörmlandsleden) that lead to/from it. I imagine Uppsala university would be thrilled to have you as a guest lecturer too, and from what I've heard a 2 hour car ride for Americans is nothing, so by those standards it's nearby. Welcome to Sweden!
Kristinehamn, Värmland 🙂
my favourite runestone, I even inscribed it on my knife sheath.
Wow, welcome to beautiful Sweden Jackson! Hats off ❤💪🤠🔥. Very interesting Runestone and the age!
Cool. Just started watching your channel a couple of weeks ago and now I find out you've visited the runestone outside of my little town not long ago.
This makes me think of all the other potential runestones that existed that were destroyed by time or people. Thankfully, ones like this, still remain. Here's hoping there are still discoveries waiting to be unearthed.
Sweden has tons and tons of runestones all over the place, and new finds are still being made (as well as re-discoveries). The most recent completely new runestone found was discovered in 2020, and in the same year another one was re-discovered after having been missing for nearly three centuries! There'll no doubt be more in the future!
A lot of them were incorporated in churches as building material. In later renovations they have often been dislodged and replaced by regular stones, and then the rune stones have been raised nearby the church instead. Normally no conflict, it seems the majority of rune stones were raised by Christians, but often they are hedging their bets and mixing Christian and Old Norse symbolism on the stone.
There are probably a wide variety of runestones in the walls of the churches around the country. Maybe some mentioning the semi-legendary kings of Sweden. If only there was a non-destructive way of finding them...
@@christian6340 Maybe some kind of x-ray scan or something.
Welcome to Sweden, Jackson. Great video. :)
so cool!! just an amazing peice of history. i would love to see it in person
It never occurred to me that those stones might have been painted to attract attention. That's a cool tidbit.
Also, hi Travis!
The verb often used for making runes, "få" in modern Norwegian, is likely related to Latin "pingere" (hence English "picture"), meaning "to paint". So runes were indeed "painted", but whether literal or not is less clear.
I have been watching some of your videos and just found this, I actually live just a couple of km north of Järsberg, and the Järsberg stone. Had I known you where in the vicinity I would have invited you guys for "fika" 😊 maybe next time, and thanks for another great and informative video.
Awesome video. Being able to actually touch the runestone as you read it is pretty incredible.
Totally awesome. Loved it thanks Jackson
Love this video - Hope you can manage to do more of these.
How cool. This is just awesome. It makes you wonder what the rest of the stone said. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful runsten with us! :)
Fascinating, thank you for sharing!
that is fascinating with bells on it. To see the real thing in situ is enough but the description again just brilliant!
Love this videos
Oh man, you should host a guest lecture at Lund University while you're here, I'd camp outside the lecture hall!
Another reason to go there, to see the stone in person is exciting. Be safe and healthy Jackson.
Awesome, love the content and history. I have personally been deep dive study within paleo-Hebrew text and various forms and it's so interesting how far these scripts reach other areas in the world. happy exploring!
Välkommen till Sverige!
I went on a roadtrip to look at a few of the more notable monuments, among them the Järsberg stone. A drive a few hours south to visit Sparlösa is really highly recommended. Maybe that is on your itinerary already, but the mystique of that stone is almost without parallel. Well, maybe with the exception of Rök 🙂
Enjoy your visit in Sweden!
You're welcome to Västerås to check out the Anundshög complex!🤗
Really looking forward to more Monster Energy content from this channel!
It would be interesting to use ground penetrating radar in the area and se if the rest of the stone could be found.
It has been done! And an extensive search was conducted in 1975 where they thoroughly searched the area where this runestone was first found and excavated it, looking not only for the missing top piece but also for any indications of a burial nearby. Every stone that could be found was examined, and older barns and the like in the nearby area were also examined in case the missing stone had been removed and repurposed for a building foundation and the sort.
The Swedish National Heritage Board basically concluded that it's unlikely that the missing piece will be found except by dumb luck. So, it's missing for now, but not for lack of trying! Attempts to find the top portion have been made since the late 1800s!
Would be great to see some more from your trip to Sweden! 😀
Thanks! Great video.
I always thought that word "erilaz" was probably a formalized word meaning something close to "writer" or "inscriber" but more formalized, associating itself with jarl as a non-literal kenning, a writer of laws, as opposed to a speaker of laws which is something we do have actual records for later on.
It's a shame they weren't literally a writer of laws as that would be a fascinating read that would answer a lot of questions.
This ston is referred to in my favourite Saga ss a monorail over the king of Värmlans, Leobaz, who was defeated od king Ottar at Järsberg.
I've seen that one! Stopped there when i was driving by a few years ago, when i suddenly saw a sign that said "runsten" and had to stop 😃
I visited some amazing runestones in Sweden this year, but I want to highly recommend ODENDISA stenen in Hassmyra, close to Fläckebo church. It's rare in the sense that the guy who raised it brags about how great and beautiful his wife is xD
But it's also very beautifully carved and well preserved.
Thanks for the Video Mr. Crawford!
Fascinating
Just playing with a thought... and im probably way off... "Er-i-laz..." - "her-i-läs"... här ni läser... "here you read" or even "makes you read". By the way; Välkommen till Sverige!
This stone is perhaps in the middle of nowhere today, but when it was made, it was meant to be seen by many. The ancient road between Sweden and Norway passed just nearby.
I reckon some of the bindrunes being added to correct any mistakes after carving 😂
This video makes me wonder if the bird-related words "raven" and "robin" are cognate with one another -- and further wonder why the thought never occurred to me 'til now?
hmm, maybe it was an advertisement for a guy who carved runestones. The rest might have been 'order five memorials and get the sixth one half off!'
I didnt know that there was so old runestones and Värmland is not known to be a runestone county.
Many runestones are built into church walls and house grounds
so.. a billboard advertising the services of 'Raven the Rune Writer'
Welcome to Värmland! 😊🖖 Are you coming to Östergötland too?
So, like a kid writing on a piece of paper and runs out of room he squeezes letters together and turns the paper to fit it in.😂
Wow! I had no idea you're here in Sweden! How long are you here for? Will you do a lecture or something?
I know this is pretty hard to know but, could we make a rought estimate of what percentage of people were literate during the viking age? What about the relation between writing and socioeconomic status, gender, etc?
Awesome! I hope you find my nation to be as wholsome as I do! Now go discover a new runestone while your at it! XD
It seems to be an advertising sign for the local rune carver.
Could stones like this mark domain? Erilaz meaning something similar to judge or warden. The name given reference to a group/society? A lord or land owner would change too frequently to carve in stone, but a society to govern/regulate a region could continue indefinitely. Using the stone as a marker to the claim territory from the stone to the farthest place you can see it. Just an idea😊
So wait, this is like the Norse equivalent of carving a heart into a tree and inside writing "Luebnaz loves Raven." WIth the added text, "I, a runecrafter, wrote this."
I mean... if you were trained to in runes, and you were in love with Raven, and Raven told you, "yeah, right, prove it," what's better proof than raising an obelisk and literally carving it into stone?
Jackson, do you speak any of the modern day North Germanic languages? Your videos are fascinating btw 👏
He speaks Icelandic and Norwegian (Nynorsk spelling)
@@troelspeterroland6998
I could probably speak to him in Danish then. Although I don't understand Nynorsk very well
Maybe, this was early advertising. Maybe, the idea was, that if people saw it, went to look closely and then thought 'hey this guy could carve a runestone for me too'! And, I have to say, this is a little bit rougher than some of the stones I have seen so possibly 'Harabanaz' is just starting out, and needs the advertising.
Probably nonsense, but is fun theorising.
Would ground imaging show the top if it was buried in the ground nr the rune ?
Hey, are you going to Stockholm?
Welcome to så Scandinavia
maybe if the rune is upside-down it means something.
Interesting video, altho I find this stone an odd choice. Sweden have plenty of runestones, especially if you go to Uppland, many undamaged and with much clearer writing. Then again, maybe you chose it for its age or due to the challenge?
You are in Sweden?! Let me know if you are in Uppsala!
🙂
🖤
There is a similarly-colored rock just behind the runestone that I glimpsed-has anyone turned that over to see if it has some runes on it? (Possibly a dumb question, but I ask anyway)
Every stone in the area has been carefully examined, there's been extensive searches for the top half of the stone and the consensus seems to be that wherever the stone is, it was likely taken from the area. Possibly to be repurposed for a building foundation or something of that nature
@@MandatoryHandle Thank you!
Maybe a silly theory but maybe he was advertising his runestone business lol
So this could be translated as "I wrote this, my name is Hrafn" or just "Hrafn was here" then?
Nobody tell the English that this stone is here!
I didn't really get it... Why would a rune carver not want to write more than one consonants in a row and include false vowels?
This place is these days the outskirt of the city of Kristinehamn, while Värmland is only the region. Interesting that you didnt interpret the writing as the official translation, you two are close. There is a theory that this runestone was one of many stones in a circle, also a theory is that the name Järsberg comes from Jarlsberg, but the last name theory is a weak one. This runestone is standing beside the famous Letstigen which was a pilgrime and road between from probably Birka/Uppsala in east through Närke and Värmland to Oslo through Kristinehamn which in this time was called Bro and the road / trail still still passing this runestone.
Was the area more trafficked in the past? Maybe it was some sort of advertisement? Of course I have no idea if "Rune Carver" was an old Norse career path or if it was customary to advertise one's services...
Most likely there was professional rune carvers. Everyone probably couldn't read runes (or write) back then and it was a job that took quite some time. Atleast later on when they where much more elaborate carvings. So yes. Rune write was most likely a profession, just like blacksmith, tailor, shipwright or any other profession.
However most runes was most likely not carved in stone but in wood (or even clay) Easier to carry if you want to relay a message.
Rune stones are almost allways a kind of memorial of someone. And then it makes sense to hire a professional to make it.
This stone however is most likely as mentioned more of a advertisement. It's roughly made, probably by someone who just "quickly" carved a stone to tell people passing by that there was a Rune carver nearby.
And thus the messy appearance.
The message was more important then making it look good.
Sort of like someone today who just writes a text on a piece of cardboard and put it by the road to tell people they can buy vegetables or that they have a garden sale :p
It’s situated along a road which connected southern Norway with the Uppsala area of Sweden (and others) during the time the stone was erected. So it would have seen a decent amount of people pass through, including some important people on occasion. There’s many guesses as to what its purpose is, one is that it was intended to establish a land claim for the benefit of descendants by someone of importance (ie chieftain or equivalent) at a fairly important transit area. If the ”erilaz” refers to the title järl/jerl/jarl/earl as some think, this would fit with that explanation. There were professional rune carvers a few hundred years later, though given the much smaller amount of known carvings from this early era it is less likely that someone would have been able to support themselves in this way at the time. More likely that the person who wanted it carved either did so himself, or at least chalked in the letters and had someone in his employ do the chiseling bit
I have recently received a message and now know what the valknut is and what it's used for. You may just think I'm crazy but the message and what it's used for is actually logical and has been used throughout the world in many ancient civilizations. If you'd please give me a minute of your time I can show you and tell you. It's a lot simpler than you think it is and once I tell you, you might be very surprised.
Any reason why my yesterdays comment was removed? I live nearby this stone and added some more info on it. Doesn’t feel right being a patreon I must admit.
TH-cam algorithm removes comments with "trigger words" -- it's overdone
@@kimfleury i never use wrong language in my comments, strange
Yes interesting indeed, nice that Jackson Crawford could come and visit after the pandemic! Scholars believe some runestones could be kind of proof of the heritage order established. Who was in position of which piece of land and so forth. This one shows "Raven" was here, and so his decendants had the right to this land, while other kin were not present, like if they died eastwards or so. As such early legal proof of ownership and borders of land. Long, living tradition. It still a serious crime to remove or vandalize marking stones and other markers of ownership of land. Why not look up "gränsmärke" and see variations?
Random, but could someone tell me why there has been a need to rebrand Odin as a transgender god lately?
Many of our gods and heroes were hetero-normalised by Victorian translators and Bowdlerisers, so their reversion in our times may at first glance appear to be gratuitous queer-making.
Your friend need to lose his hat. Pretty tastless.
Could ᛖᚱᛁᛚᚨᛦ be like Æres (is honored - passive)?
I'm afraid not. The Old Norse passive suffix is -sk, derived from the reflexive pronoun sik, so it doesn't originate from a -z suffix.