The runestone in Gillberga, Kaga socken, near Linköping in Östergötland, can be dated to 1010-1050 based on the drakhuvud (dragon head) seen from above. The stone is ornamented with a runorm (runeworm) that places its tail in a noose around its own neck. In 1862, Pehr Arvid Säve noted that the stone, which stood on a field boundary at Gillberga, had not been chipped for a long time, even though it was an obstacle for the local laborers.
The inscription on the stone translates to: 'Raud raised this stone after Toke, his brother. He was killed in England, a very good man.' Because certain runes are omitted from words such as trbin (dræpin) and trÍR (drœngR), it is likely that ailati also stands for ai[k]lati (England).
Similar journeys to England are suggested on several other runestones in Östergötland, including the England stone Ög Fv1950;341 and the nearby Ög 103 in Kaga. These findings support the interpretation of ailati as England rather than Öland, which would likely be the reading if no runes were omitted.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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