Ancient rune stones: the genealogy of the Gällsta family

Ancient rune stones: the genealogy of the Gällsta family

The Gällsta family, traced across five generations through runic inscriptions, marks the Viking Age with a mystery that still remains unsolved. Runestone 232 is dedicated to 'Tobbe, son of', but the exact ancestral relationship is not known.

Three runic stones stand on their original sites in Gällsta, Vallentuna parish, Sweden, carved in the Viking Age. Runestone 232 is inscribed with a message, but the exact contents are unknown, as only the name 'Tobbe, son of [unknown ancestor]' is provided in the sources. The Gällsta family can be traced through the runic stones in Gällsta (U 229, U 231, and U 232) and U 210, spanning over five generations. Today, the runic stones stand silent witnesses to the history they mark.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Written by Nik Frost

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