page_title: Ingvar runestones
section_title: Sö 179
hierarchical_section_title: Ingvar runestones / Södermanland / Sö 179
caption_attribution_description: English: Runestone Sö 179 at Gripsholm, Södermanland, Sweden. This is a picture of an archaeological site or a monument in Sweden, number Kärnbo 33:1 in the RAÄ Fornsök database.
context_page_description: The Ingvar Runestones is the name of around 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration of those who died in the Swedish Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea of Ingvar the Far-Travelled.
  The Ingvar expedition was the single Swedish event that is mentioned on most runestones, and in number, they are only surpassed by the approximately 30 Greece Runestones and the approximately 30 England Runestones. It was a fateful expedition taking place between 1036 and 1041 with many ships. The Vikings came to the south-eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, and they appear to have taken part in the Battle of Sasireti, in Georgia. Few returned, as many died in battle, but most of them, including Ingvar, died of disease.
  The expedition was also immortalized as a saga in Iceland in the 11th century, the Yngvars saga víðförla, and in the Georgian chronicle Kartlis tskhovreba, where king Julfr of the saga corresponds to king Baghrat IV.
  Beside the Tillinge Runestone in Uppland and a rune stone on Gotland, the Ingvar Runestones are the only remaining runic inscriptions that mention Serkland.
context_section_description: The Gripsholm Runestone is one of the Serkland Runestones and it is in style Fp. It is located beside the drive of Gripsholm Castle together with another runestone from the 11th century, Sö 178, but their original location is unknown.
  The runestone was discovered in the early 1820s by Wallin, the caretaker of the castle, and it was then forming the threshold of the cellar of the eastern tower of the castle, the so-called "theatre tower". It was under both side walls of the door and also covered with tar, which suggests that it had been part of another construction before being used as construction material for the castle. It would take an additional 100 years before the stone was retrieved from the castle and could be read in its entirety.
  The inscription says that it is raised in memory of Haraldr, the brother of Ingvar, and he is believed to have died in the region of the Caspian Sea. A subject that has been vividly discussed is why the runestone is raised only after Haraldr and not after Ingvar, and the most widely accepted explanation is that Tóla was only Harald's mother and that the two men were only half-brothers. It is also possible that there were originally two stones of which one was in memory of Ingvar, but that Ingvar's stone has disappeared. A third possibility is that "brother" refers to brother-in-arms, blood brother, or something similar, and this is a use of the word that appears on one of the runestones in Hällestad in Scania.
  One theory proposed by Braun connects this stone to the runestones U 513, U 540, and Sö 279, and it holds Ingvar the Far-Travelled to be the son of the Swedish king Emund the Old.
  The second half of the inscription is in alliterative verse of the form fornyrðislag. The phrase to feed the eagle is a kenning which means "to kill enemies".
  Latin transliteration:
  × tula : lit : raisa : stain : þinsa| |at : sun : sin : haralt : bruþur : inkuars : þaiʀ furu : trikila : fiari : at : kuli : auk : a:ustarla| |ar:ni : kafu : tuu : sunar:la : a sirk:lan:ti
  Old Norse transcription:
  Tola let ræisa stæin þennsa at sun sinn Harald, broður Ingvars. Þæiʀ foru drængila fiarri at gulli ok austarla ærni gafu, dou sunnarla a Særklandi.
  English translation:
  "Tóla had this stone raised in memory of her son Haraldr, Ingvarr's brother. They travelled valiantly far for gold, and in the east gave (food) to the eagle. (They) died in the south in Serkland."
caption: Runestone Sö 179
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