In the summer of 2017, a stone in the garden of Øverby Farm in Rakkestad in Viken was found to be carved with runes. The runes proved to be from the fifth century. Øverby Farm is about 20 km from the Oslofjord. What does this stone have to do with the fjord? Here you can hear Professor Frode Iversen explain all about the rune stone. The recording lasts about three minutes.
What do the runes say?
The inscription is in the oldest known runic alphabet, the Elder Futhark. It reads as follows: «lū irilaʀ raskaʀ rūnōʀ in(n) Īsni». This has been translated “Cut runes in, skilled iril, for Isni.” Who were Iril and Isni? Why were the runes carved?
Graveyard
There is an Iron Age graveyard west of the farm, and it is believed that the rune stone may have originally stood there. A cross-shaped buckle dating from the same period as the rune stone has also been found in the graveyard area. Might it have belonged to Isni? In 1907, the stone was taken from the graveyard and used as a step up to the main house. When the house was demolished in 1990, the stone was reused in the garden as a bench. It stayed there until 2017, when the archaeologists investigated.
Chosen by Trygve, History student