The Rök runestone: Sweden's first known piece of written literature

The Rök runestone (Rökstenen) can now be seen beside the church in Rök, Ödeshög Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. It is considered the first known piece of written Swedish literature and thus marks the beginning of the history of Swedish literature. The 5 long tons, 8 feet tall stone was discovered built into the wall of a church in the 19th century and removed from the wall a few decades later.

Probably carved in the early 9th century, the stone features the longest extant pre-Christian runic inscription, consisting of around 760 characters. It is a virtuoso display of the carver's mastery, using both "short-twig" runes and older 24-type Elder Futhark runes. The inscription is partially encrypted in two ways: by displacement (Caesar cipher) and by using special cipher runes. It is intentionally challenging to read, using kennings in the manner of Old Norse skaldic poetry.

The stone is unique for containing a fragment of what is believed to be a lost piece of Norse mythology and a historical reference to the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. Scholars suggest the text might be a form of poetic riddle game, similar to a "greppaminni" from the Prose Edda. The structure consists of three parts of roughly equal length, each containing two questions and one more or less poetic answer.

While the carver Varinn likely intended to honour his lost son, the stone remains a subject of debate. Some theories suggest it was a way to preserve tribal myths that would have been lost with his son, while others suggest it was a dramatic tribute to a lost son's death in battle. Despite the complexity of the encrypted text, the stone remains a vital artifact of Swedish history and mythology.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons