Since being erected in the late 800s, the Rök Runestone has baffled readers with its mysterious meaning.

It was previously thought to reveal tales of heroic feats, wars and warrior kings. 

However, an expert has re-interpreted the world’s most well-known runestone to discover the runes on the mysterious stone in the Swedish province of Östergötland refers to the monument itself.

An expert has re-interpreted the world’s most well-known runestone, claiming it doesn’t tell tales about heroic feats, wars and warrior kings as previously thought. Instead, the runes on the mysterious stone in the Swedish province of Östergötland refers to the monument itself. The Rök Runestone is pictured

The stone is thought to have been inscribed by a Viking named Varin and features the longest known runic inscription in stone. It is also considered the first piece of written Swedish literature.

Runes are a set of characters that were used to write various Germanic languages before the Latin alphabet was adopted. 

The Scandinavian variants, used by the Vikings for example, are also known as futhark.

The pᴀssage was thought to describe battles, having been carved in memory of Varin’s son who died fighting, as a message of strength and even vengeance.

One possible translation of a line, says: ‘Now he sits armed on his Goth(ic horse), his shield strapped, the prince of the Mæring,’ and the runes were also said to have mentioned mythical characters.

However, despite many translations, the long inscription has been largely regarded as impossible to completely understand, despite the fact it is relatively easy to read.

Now, Per Holmberg, ᴀssociate professor of Scandinavian languages at the University of Gothenburg claims that the inscription on the Rök Runestone ‘is not as hard to understand as previously thought’.

‘The riddles on the front of the stone have to do with the daylight that we need to be able to read the runes, and on the back are riddles that probably have to do with the carving of the runes and the runic alphabet, the so-called futhark.’

Previously, experts claimed the Rök Runestone was unique in giving accounts of long forgotten acts of heroism.

This understanding sparked speculations about how Varin – who made the inscriptions on the stone – was related to Gothic kings.

Instead, Professor Holmberg showed the Rök Runestone can be understood as more similar to other runestones from the Viking Age, when in most cases the runestone inscriptions say something about themselves. 

Experts claimed the Rök Runestone was unique in giving accounts of long forgotten acts of heroism by warriors (this image shows Viking warriors as depicted in a popular TV show). This understanding sparked speculations about how Varin – who made the inscriptions on the stone – was related to Gothic kings

‘Already 10 years ago, the linguist Professor Bo Ralph proposed that the idea that the Rök Runestone mentions the Gothic emperor Theodoric is based on a minor reading error and a major portion of nationalistic wishful thinking. 

‘What has been missing is an interpretation of the whole inscription that is unaffected by such fantasies,’ Professor Holmberg said.

His research is based on a theory called social semiotics, which says language has potential to realise meaning in different types of texts and contexts.

‘Without a modern text theory, it would not have been possible to explore which meanings are the most important for runestones,’ he said.

‘Nor would it have been possible to test the hypothesis that the Rök Runestone expresses similar meanings as other runestones, despite the fact that its inscription is unusually long.’

One feature of the Rök Runestone that researchers have struggled with is that its inscription begins by listing in numerical order what it wants the reader to guess, for example, ‘Secondly, say who…’,

But the inscription then seems to skip all the way to ‘twelfth, …’

Previous research has ᴀssumed there was an oral version of the message that included the missing nine riddles, but Professor Holmberg has come to a different conclusion.

‘If you let the inscription lead you step-by-step around the stone, the twelfth actually appears as the twelfth thing the reader is supposed to consider,’ he said.

This diagram of the runestone shows the seven elements of the text, including the first part (1) which claims the stone was inscribed by Varin for his son, Vamod. With the new interpretation, the Rök Runestone does not carry a message of honour. Instead, it concerns how the technology of writing in ancient Sweden

‘It’s not the inscription that skips over something. It’s the researchers that have taken a wrong way through the inscription, in order to make it be about heroic deeds.’

For more than a century, the traditional interpretation has contributed to our understanding of the Viking Age.

With the new interpretation, the Rök Runestone does not carry a message of honour and vengeance.

Instead, the message concerns how the technology of writing gives us an opportunity to commemorate those who have pᴀssed away. Professor Holmberg said.