Valelentuna, Sweden (CNN) – Drive about half an hour north of the Swedish capital and you will arrive in the Lake District of Vent Lentuna, a pleasant community with cobbler sea churches, picnic areas and playgrounds.
It’s also a deep tour of Sweden’s ancient Viking past.
There are dozens of mystical rhinestones scattered in the greenery of Valentuna that now form the gateway to a 1000 year old Viking culture that is now considered one of Scandinavia’s most important landmarks.
Known as the Runriket or Rune Kingdom, the more than 100 Viking-era runstones – ancient lichen-crested slabs of Old Norse inscriptions – are beautiful relics that shed light on modern Sweden’s past, revealing surprising truths about its ancestors.
The Vikings are often depicted as ruthless Odin-worshipers who fought, drank, and sacrificed blood. While the stereotype is true, the remnants of the Rune Kingdom portray Christian settlers truly dedicated to the occasion of adapting to the medieval lifestyle.
Between them, a man stands bho – a Viking ruler named Jarlabanke of the 11th century, who appears in more interesting inscriptions here than any other – mostly because he seems to be largely self-important.
Eric Ostergren, a guide at the Viking Museum in Stockholm, who has a taste of Old Norse about his long ubburn and gray-blue eyes, says, “He made many rhinestones that were more famously followed by others.” Them.
“From these ruinstones, we can assume that Jarlabank’s power grew and changed the local political landscape,” adds Sturgren.
Jarlabanke’s big ego – big enough to resonate for ages – has left valuable archaeological evidence of a culture, as the Vikings mostly used wood for construction, otherwise rare.
The rhinestones, created by Jarlabank, reveal the influence of their dynasty over five generations and archaeologists will be able to use them together for the arrival of Christianity – an important chapter for the well-known Viking community outside of Scandinavia.
Sweden’s first Christians
Norse Code: RunRext’s Runstones sheds light on a little-understood chapter of Sweden’s ancient past.
Arash Bahrehmand
To the east of Lake Valentuna stand two formidable granite rhinestones that have similar inscriptions and face each other. Measuring about 1.65 meters (5 feet, 5 inches), his atings claim that they mark the original location of the bridge built by Jarlabanke.
Archaeologists believe that this ancient structure was erected as a road from Marshland to the church.
This bridge – locally known as “Jarlabanke Bro” – is the most common starting point for a visit to Reinrich, which can be done by car or on foot.
As common as the stones attached to the Jarlabank, the old Norse letters are inscribed inside the winding tail of a mythical serpent that frames a huge, artistically drawn cross.
Many of the rhinestones in the rhinestone are carved from this uncontrollable Christian cross, some are elaborate in design, such as the two on the Jarlabank Bridge, and others, with smooth, shallow carved lines.
This is one of the first Christian symbols found in Sweden. In fact, archaeologists have linked the arrival of Christianity in Sweden directly to Jarlabank by stones in Runriket.
“We know that they (Jarlabanke and his family) must have been early Christians in the area, and Jarlabanke’s grandfather-Stan visited Jerusalem in the early part of the 11th century,” says Magnus Klustrum, a researcher at the Swedish National Heritage Board. One of the most sought after runologists.
The stones also tell us about an important transition to funeral practices, signaling the departure of pagan rites in exchange for Christian burial.
“In the ruinstones of Vallentuna, we can record the transformation of culture, from the time when the mound of burials was built to accept more medieval customs.”
‘He alone owns all’
Jarlabanke’s imposed presence can still be felt in Valent Lentuna. If it were today, ટરStargren would like to make fun of visitors to his museum, Viking would “probably upload selfies every day” on Facebook.
While there are missing pieces in the puzzle, all that is known about Jarlabank comes from the inscriptions on the stones.
“Jarlabank should be a very important and wealthy man around the lake of Vallentu,” Kelstrસ્ટm observed. “He built his own impressive bridge and he arranged the place of parliament probably arranged where the church of Valentu is today.”
Colostrum draws attention to the two-sided rhinestone that sits next to the Church of Valentu on a sunny hill above the lake. It provides a basic clue to understanding the power of Jarlabank.
Finding Runes’ finger partially hidden by brown and brown algae, he read the inscription in Old Norse, which sounds to the ear not sounding like the mystical spell of the JRR Tolkien novel.
“Jarlabanki, let Raisa stand in on Siez Kiwickwan,” he calls. “Jarlabanke raised this stone in his memory when he was alive.
“And this has created the assembly venue, and all of this alone is owned by Sony.”
Here, the word “hundred” refers to a large administrative area. According to Calstrum, it is debatable whether Jarlabank was just a powerful landowner, or played another more significant role.
“This is a very large area and it seems impossible that all this land was in the private possession of Jarlabanke. Probably, the verb æiga -” owning “- means something different here: that he was the chief for this hundred, or the speaker of the law. Or Judge. “
The amount Jarlabank writes his name in Valalentuna also indicates that he was absolutely powerful, and wanted to make sure everyone knew it.
Colstrum also suggests a power struggle with his half-brother, explaining why Jarlabank expressed clear grief that “he ruled the region” alone.
Nevertheless, other researchers, such as Sturgren, say that the ruthless nature of Viking politics leads to a ruler attached to a narcissistic personality who would probably be more of a “mafia boss” than a simple judge.
“Jarlabanke is mentioned on these 10 stones, and 6 of them he has put in his memory!” Källström points out enthusiastically.
Messages from the past
Experts say that the Runstones partly represent a Viking ego trip.
Arash Bahrehmand
In addition, Jarlabanke’s love of rhinestones led many others in the area to take favorable steps to gain political influence by paying a craftsman to raise rhinestones.
Any inspiration, the result was the creation of a state of inscriptions from the late Viking era that would last for centuries.
Reading the runic letters of rosette color – some of which are similar to Latin – is one thing. Old Norse message means decoding is another. For this reason, there are still many secrets left to understand in the Viking Runstones.
This year, for example, run run logists finally succeeded in deciphering Sweden’s most famous runstone, Rock Stone.
An inscription referring to Ragnarok, the Viking Apocalypse, is written in the form of a puzzle that tells of a climatic event that affected the Vikings in the ninth century.
Ö Stergren says RunRicket is a portal through which numerous mysteries can still be solved.
“For those who want to go deeper, Runrikat is a way to get more knowledge, but also for those who are scratching the surface of understanding who the Vikings really were.”
.
