Runic inscription

Ingemod had the stones erected and the bridge [built] after Karl, her husband.
Öpir carved

Inkimoþ ' lit ' raisa ' staina ' uk ' bro ' eftiR ' Karl boanta sin
YbiR risti

Ornamentation

Öpir is the rune carver who is attributed with the most runestones, but many of his works are probably sold as designs where the buyer himself had to do the carving.

I feel certain that this runestone and also U 23 in the Hilleshög church wall were carved by Öpir himself. Small details reveal confident carving and experience.

On both of Öpir's carvings, U 23 and this U 36, Öpir avoids carving pointed details such as the ends of claws, etc., as much as possible.

Look at the colored image above with arrows.
Öpir ignored the eye of the blue dragon and he lets the jaws go out to the edge of the red dragon to avoid carving the small and difficult details.

History

The runestone has been known since the 17th century.
It was moved here from its original location about 60 meters WSW of its current location where it stood tilted and sunken in the field opposite runestone U 34 on the other side of the deep ditch.

When the runestones stood opposite each other, they marked a property boundary between Svartsjö and Sundby. In the 17th century, remains of the bridge mentioned in the runic inscription still remained in the form of a stonework.

.

In 2021, the island of trees in the field was cleared of sly.

Both runestones, U 34 and this U 36, are difficult to visit because you have to walk across farmland to reach them.
 

1000 years ago, with a Viking Age shoreline that was about 5 meters higher on land than today, the two runestones must have stood right on the shoreline, almost out in the water.

In the sunset early spring 2021

Another Öpir

The rune carver Öpir's visit to this area in the late 11th or early 12th century resulted in at least two runestones. This U 36, carved in granite, and U 23, carved in red sandstone, now in two parts and embedded in the wall of Hilleshög Church.

Öpir's many carvings are not only widely scattered around the Mälardalen region, but this particular U 36 has also been available as a full-scale painting in Minnesota, USA since 2006 with my friend Brad Nelson.

During a craft weekend in 2018 with, among other things, rune carving in front of Brad's beautiful loft house, Öpir's carving U 36 will be included.

Öpir probably wanted to spread the word about his artwork, but he could not have dreamed that this particular motif would appear far southwest of Vinland almost 1000 years later :-)

Links

Upplands runinskrifter > page 49
(Good older information, only in Swedish)

Runor >  Riksantikvarieämbetet
(National Antiquities Board, mostly Swedish)

Google map > Find the runestone
 

ALL RUNESTONES

Ekerö municipality

ADELSÖ >
has 5 known runestones

BIRKA >
has fragments from 9 known runestones

MUNSÖ >
has 3 or 4 known runestones

EKERÖ >
has 11 known runestones

FÄRINGSÖ >
has 27 known runestones

LOVÖ >
has 8 known runestones