page_title: Sigurd stones
section_title: Sö 101, the Ramsund carving
hierarchical_section_title: Sigurd stones / Södermanland / Sö 101, the Ramsund carving
caption_attribution_description: Runestone Sö 101, Ramsund This is a picture of an archaeological site or a monument in Sweden, number Jäder 39:1 in the RAÄ Fornsök database.
context_page_description: The Sigurd stones form a group of seven or eight runestones and one picture stone that depict imagery from the legend of Sigurd the dragon slayer. They were made during the Viking Age and they constitute the earliest Norse representations of the matter of the Nibelungenlied and the Sigurd legends in the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda and the Völsunga saga.
  In parts of Great Britain under Norse culture, the figure of Sigurd sucking the dragon's blood from his thumb appears on several carved stones, at Ripon and Kirby Hill, North Yorkshire, at York and at Halton, Lancashire. Carved slates from the Isle of Man, broadly dated c. 950–1000, include several pieces interpreted as showing episodes from the Sigurd story.
context_section_description: The Ramsund carving is not quite a runestone as it is not carved into a stone, but into a flat rock close to Ramsund, Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland, Sweden. It is believed to have been carved around the year 1030. It is generally considered an important piece of Norse art in runestone style Pr1.
  The Ramsund carving in Sweden depicts
  how Sigurd is sitting naked in front of the fire preparing the dragon heart, from Fafnir, for his foster-father Regin, who is Fafnir's brother. The heart is not finished yet, and when Sigurd touches it, he burns himself and sticks his finger into his mouth. As he has tasted dragon blood, he starts to understand the birds' song.
  The birds say that Regin will not keep his promise of reconciliation and will try to kill Sigurd, which causes Sigurd to cut off Regin's head.
  Regin is dead beside his own head, his smithing tools with which he reforged Sigurd's sword Gram are scattered around him, and
  Sigurd's horse Grani is laden with the dragon's treasure.
  is the previous event when Sigurd killed Fafnir, and
  shows Ótr from the saga's beginning.
  The runic text is ambiguous, but one interpretation of the persons mentioned in the inscription, based on inscriptions on other runestones found nearby, is that Sigriþr (a woman) was the wife of Sigröd who has died. Holmgeirr is her father in law. Alrikr, son of Sigriþr, erected another stone for his father, named Spjut, so while Alrikr is the son of Sigriþr, he was not the son of Sigruþr. Alternatively, Holmgeirr is Sigriþr's second husband and Sigröd (but not Alrikr) is their son.
  The inspiration for using the legend of Sigurd for the pictorial decoration was probably the close similarity of the names Sigurd (Sigurðr in Old Norse) and Sigröd.
  It is raised by the same aristocratic family as the Bro Runestone and the Kjula Runestone. The reference to bridge-building in the runic text is fairly common in rune stones during this time period. Some are Christian references related to passing the bridge into the afterlife. At this time, the Catholic Church sponsored the building of roads and bridges through the use of indulgences in return for intercession for the soul. There are many examples of these bridge stones dated from the eleventh century, including runic inscriptions U 489 and U 617.
  Latin transliteration:
  siriþr : kiarþi : bur : þosi : muþiʀ : alriks : tutiʀ : urms : fur * salu : hulmkirs : faþur : sukruþar buata * sis *
  Old Norse transcription:
  Sigriðr gærði bro þasi, moðiʀ Alriks, dottiʀ Orms, for salu Holmgæiʀs, faður Sigrøðaʀ, boanda sins.
  English translation:
  "Sigríðr, Alríkr's mother, Ormr's daughter, made this bridge for the soul of Holmgeirr, father of Sigrøðr, her husbandman."
caption: Sö 101.
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