The Varangian Runestones are runestones in Scandinavia, primarily in Sweden, that mention voyages to the East () or the Eastern route (), or to more specific eastern locations such as Garðaríki in Eastern Europe.
There are also many additional runestones in Scandinavia that talk of eastward voyages such as the Greece Runestones, Italy Runestones, and inscriptions left by the Varangian Guard. Other runestones that deal with Varangian expeditions include the Serkland Runestones (dealing with expeditions to the Middle East) and the Ingvar Runestones (erected in honor or memory of those who travelled to the Caspian Sea with Ingvar the Far-Travelled). There is also a separate article for the Baltic expeditions runestones. In addition, there were also voyages to Western Europe mentioned on runestones that are treated in the articles Viking Runestones, England Runestones and Hakon Jarl Runestones.
Most of the runestones were raised during the Christianization of the 11th century when the making of runestones was fashionable, but notably, the Kälvesten Runestone Ög 8 was made in the 9th century when the Varangians played a central role in what would become Russia and Ukraine. This vast area was a rich source of pelts, hides and people, and it was an important component in the contemporary Swedish economy. Its Old Norse name meant 'land of fortresses' and was derived from the chains of fortresses that had been constructed along the trade routes.
All of the stones were engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark and the message of many of the inscriptions can be summarized with a poem in the fornyrðislag style found on the Turinge Runestone Sö 338:
Below follows a presentation of the runestones based on the Rundata project. The transcriptions into Old Norse are mostly in the Swedish and Danish dialect to facilitate comparison with the inscriptions, while the English translation provided by Rundata gives the names in the de facto standard dialect (the Icelandic and Norwegian dialect):
Sweden
Uppland
U 153
This runestone in style Pr3 is one of the runestones in Hagby. It was discovered in 1930 in the basement under the main building of the old estate Lissby which had been demolished in the late 19th century. It had been inserted in the basement wall with the engraved side visible together with the runestones U 152 and U 154. When the basement collapsed, the runestone was splintered into a great number of minor and major pieces of which the top part was the largest one. A fragment of the stone was discovered in the field on the property of Lissby. All in all, no less than 70 pieces were reassembled, and in 1931, the repaired stone was raised in the garden of Hagby. The stone is in granite and it is 2.60 m tall and 1.5 m wide. The inscription is damaged and especially in its beginning and end. It refers to several stones and one of them was probably the runestone U 155.
The last runes may be reconstructed as either ('in ', i.e. 'in the lands of Rus'') or ('among Greeks', i.e. 'in the Byzantine Empire').
The inscription reads:
U 154
This runestone in style Pr3 and it is one of the runestones in Hagby. It was discovered together with U 151 and U 153 in a collapsed basement under the eastern part of the foundation of the main building of the farm Lissby. When it was discovered, it was still standing but it had been crushed and it crumbled into 50 pieces when it was removed from the wall. It was reassembled but the upper part had been lost and could not be retrieved. In 1931, it was raised in the garden of Hagby. The stone is dark and it is 1.23 m tall and 0.3 m wide. The inscription is damaged in several places.
The inscription reads:
U 209
This is not properly a runestone but a runic inscription in style Pr4 that has been carved into flat bedrock at Veda. It is dated to the mid-11th century. It was ordered by Þorsteinn who enriched himself in the lands of Rus' in memory of his son. Omeljan Pritsak identifies this Þorsteinn with Þorsteinn, the former commander of a retinue, who is commemorated on the Turinge Runestone. He suggests that Þorsteinn was the commander of the retinue of Yaroslav the Wise and that his son Erinmundr may have died in Garðaríki while serving under his father.
The estate that was bought was probably the farm Veda, where the inscription is located. The inscription is of note as it indicates that the riches that were acquired in Eastern Europe had led to the new procedure of legally buying odal land.
The inscription reads:
U 283
This runestone was located at the estate of Torsåker but it has disappeared. It was presumably in style Pr3 and made by the runemaster Fot. It was raised by three men in memory of a fourth who had died in the east.
The inscription reads:
U 366
This runestone was found as fragments at Gådersta and has disappeared but it was probably in style Pr4. It was raised in memory of a man who died on the eastern route.
The inscription reads:
U 504
This runestone is an early inscription in style RAK without ornamentations. It is located in Ubby and it was raised in memory of a father who had travelled both in the west and in the east.
The inscription reads:
U 636
This stone is found at Låddersta and it is in the style Fp. It is raised in memory of a son named Arnfast who travelled to Garðaríki. Arnfast is also mentioned on the stone U 635.
There are two readings of . One interpretation is that it means "to " or "to ", i.e. "to the lands of Rus'". In runic inscriptions, however, that toponym always appears in the plural dative form, suggesting that the singular form may have referred to a particular town , i.e. either to Constantinople or to Kiev.
The inscription reads:
U 687
This stone, signed by the runemaster Öpir, is found at Sjusta near Skokloster. It is in style Pr4 and it is raised by a woman named Rúna in memory of her four sons who had died. She had it made together with her daughter-in-law Sigríðr who was the widow of Spjallboði. They added that the place where Spjallboði had died was , and several scholars have discussed the meaning of these runes.
In 1875, Richard Dybeck suggested that represented Old Norse meaning 'Greece', but in 1891 Sophus Bugge read , which means 'retinue'. Later, in 1904, Adolf Noreen interpreted them as , meaning 'hook', but in 1907, Otto von Friesen proposed that the runes read , i.e. 'in Saint Olaf's Church in Novgorod'. Otto von Friesen's interpretation has since then been the accepted interpretation.
Omeljan Pritsak suggests that Spjallboði died in a fire that destroyed the church in c. 1070–1080. Jansson, on the other hand, attributes the death of Spjallboði in a church to the fact that many of the medieval churches were defensive structures.
The runic text is signed by the runemaster Öpir, who was active during the late 11th and early 12th centuries in Uppland.
The inscription reads:
U 898
This is not properly a runestone but a runic inscription on flat bedrock at Norby. It is in style Pr4 and it is raised in memory of three men, one of whom died in the East. The runic text is signed by the runemaster Öpir.
The inscription reads:
Södermanland
Sö 33
This runestone is located in Skåäng and it is the style Fp. It was raised in memory of a man who died in an assembly in the east. It is also possible that it says that the man died in a retinue in the east.
The inscription reads:
Sö 34
This runestone is located at a path called Tjuvstigen ('thief trail') and is carved in runestone style KB. This is the classification for inscriptions with a cross that is bordered by the runic text. The runic text states that it was raised in memory of two brothers who were or 'good thegns', which was a class of retainer, and who died somewhere in the East. This same phrase is used in its singular form on runestones Vg 8 from Hjälstad and DR 143 from Gunderup. About fifty memorial runestones describe the deceased as being a thegn.
The inscription reads:
Sö 92
This runestone is found at the cemetery of Husby. Its front side is completely covered in illustrations and it is attributed to style Pr3-Pr4. It was carved by the runemaster Balle in memory of someone's brother who died in the East.
The inscription reads:
Sö 121
This runestone has disappeared but was located in Bönestad. It was made in the style RAK in memory of a man who died in the East.
The inscription reads:
Sö 126
This runestone is a runic inscription on flat bedrock in Fagerlöt. It is in the style Pr2-Pr3 and it was made in memory of a man named Áskell who fell in battle in the East. The second sentence of the inscription is in the meter fornyrðislag, and it contains a virtually unique use of the Old Norse word ('cruel') in the sense "commander". Áskell's title may be the title that the commander had in the druzhina of Yaroslav I the Wise in Novgorod.
The inscription reads:
Sö 130
This runestone is found near a homestead named Hagstugan. It is either style Fp or possibly style Pr1 and it is raised in memory of a man who fell in what is today Russia. It is composed in fornyrðislag and the last line, which contains cipher runes, was decoded by Elias Wessén. It is from the first half of the 11th century.
The inscription reads:
Sö 148
This runestone is found in Innberga and it was raised in memory of a man who died in what is today Russia. It is dated to the first half of the 11th century.
The inscription reads:
Sö 171
This runestone is a boulder that was found in Esta, and it was made in memory of the captain of a ship who died in Novgorod. The boulder is badly damaged due to weathering, but thanks to a 17th-century drawing scholars know what it said. Three parts of the stone are located in the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.
According to Jansson, the runestone testifies to the unrest that could appear in the important marketplace of Novgorod, and it was not only the captain who died, but also the entire crew. Omeljan Pritsak, on the other hand, thinks that the deceased had probably died in the service of the Novgorodian prince in the first half of the 11th century. The second half of the inscription is in the fornyrðislag meter.
The inscription reads:
Sö 216
This runestone was found as a fragment in Aska, but it has disappeared. What remained said that it was made in memory of a man who died in the East.
The inscription reads:
Sö 308
This runestone is a runic inscription by the runemaster Öpir in the style Pr5 on a large boulder. It is located outside the railroad station in Södertälje. It was made in memory of two men who were in the east. The runic text is signed by the runemaster Öpir, and uses a bind rune to combine the a-rune and s-rune in the word , which is tentatively translated as ('east'). Öpir used the same bind rune in inscription U 485 in Marma.
The inscription reads:
Sö 338
This is a runestone raised in the church of Turinge. It is in sandstone, in the style Pr4 and it was made in memory of the chieftain of a warband. It is the most verbose of all the Varangian stones, and it was probably made in the mid-11th century.
Omeljan Pritsak identifies this Þorsteinn with Þorsteinn of the Veda inscription, who bought an estate for his son with money earned in the lands of Rus'. He suggests that Þorsteinn was the commander of the retinue of Yaroslav I the Wise and that his son Erinmundr may have died in Garðaríki while serving under his father.
The inscription reads:
Västmanland
Vs 1
This runestone was discovered in 1938 in the ruins of the church of Stora Rytterne. It forms a monument together with image stone Vs 2, and it was raised in memory of a son who died either in what is today Russia or in Khwarezm in Persia.