Gripsholmsstenen, Sö 179, is a runestone that stands at Gripsholms slott in Mariefred, Kärnbo socken in Södermanland. It is considered the foremost of the so-called Ingvar stones, a group of stones related to the saga of Ingvar. The inscription was set up by Tola in memory of her son Harald, who was the brother of Ingvar. The text describes how they traveled as men far in the east for gold, giving food to the eagle, and died in the south in Särkland.
The stone is made of granite and features a run-loop consisting of a single animal with a snake's head. According to the Samnordisk runtextdatabas, the stone is unsigned, but the carver Äskil 2 is mentioned. The inscription is written in fornyrdislag and describes the deaths of the men during a journey for booty.
The stone was found in 1827 by run researcher Johan Gustaf Liljegren and was covered in tar, used as a threshold stone inside Gripsholms slott. It likely arrived at the castle in the 1500s from a nearby Carthusian monastery. In 1930, it was removed from the floor and placed in its current position.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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