page_title: Kyrkogården Runestones
section_title: U 379
hierarchical_section_title: Kyrkogården Runestones / U 379
caption_attribution_description: English: Runic stone U379, Sigtuna, Uppland Sweden This is a picture of an archaeological site or a monument in Sweden, number Sigtuna 30:6 in the RAÄ Fornsök database. Svenska: Runsten U379, Sigtuna
context_page_description: The Kyrkogården Runestones are three Viking Age memorial runestones located at the cemetery of St. Mary's Church in Sigtuna, Stockholm County, Sweden, in the historic province of Uppland. One of the runic inscriptions documents the existence of a Viking Age mercantile guild in Sweden.
context_section_description: The inscription on the runestone listed as U 379 in the Rundata catalog consists of runic text in the younger futhark on a serpent that encircles a cross. The inscription on the granite stone is classified as being carved in runestone style KB, which is a designation used for designs that feature serpents bordered or framed by a runic text band.
  The runic text indicates that the stone was a memorial raised by members of a mercantile guild in memory of one of their members named Þorkell. U 379 is one of four runestones that mention guilds in Viking Age Sweden, the others being U 391 in Prästgatan, Ög 64 in Bjälbo, and Ög MÖLM1960;230 in Törnevalla. These stones and others which discuss félags are evidence of the trading activities during this period of Scandinavian history, and U 379 evidence of Sigtuna being a center of trade. Both U 379 and U 391 refer to a Frisian guild. Although merchants from Frisia dominated trade in northwest Europe from about 725 to 830, it is not believed that these two runestones indicate that the guild consisted of ethnic Frisians since the runic text is in Old Norse and the names (except for possibly one on U 391) are Scandinavian. It has been suggested that the word frisa in the late Viking Age had come to denote any person who was a merchant, and that Frisian guild on these runestones simply meant a mercantile guild.
  U 379 is signed by a runemaster named Þorbjôrn, who may either be the runemaster with the normalized name Torbjörn or Torbjörn skald. The name Torbjörn skald is on U 29 in Hillersjö and U 532 in Roslags-Bro, and there are several stones signed only with Þorbjôrn. Of these, it is believed that the same runemaster named Þorbjôrn that carved U 379 also signed U 391 in Prästgatan, which also mentions a guild, and U 467 in Tibble.
  Of the names in the inscription, Þorkell is a diminutive form of Þorketil, which includes as a theophoric name element the Norse pagan god Thor and means a "Vessel of Thor" or "Kettle of Thor", possibly referring to a type of sacrificial cauldron. The Poetic Edda poem Hymiskviða includes a story of Thor fetching a large cauldron to brew ale. The name Þorbjôrn also refers to the Norse god and translates as "Thor Bear". Although the names may refer to Norse pagan gods, this does not indicate any belief as the inscription clearly indicates a Christian faith with its cross.
caption: U 379 with its guild inscription
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