Neil Hopcroft

We took another visit to Vaxholm via Bogesunds Slott.

Walpurgis Night is a big celebration in Sweden – with the celebrations being broadcast live from Skansen.

Upplands 855“inki-… [a]uk : iuker [:] þau : litu : raisa * stain : þina : a[t] * ais[t *] sun * sin : ernfastr * auk * þaiR * (b)ryþr * raist[u] * at * bru… …”“Inge-… och Jogard de läto resa denna sten efter Est, sin son. Ärnfast och bröderna reste (den) efter […]

[audiobook] Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit is a collection of essays and articles about the interactions between the sexes. The headline essay collected the thoughts into a coherent whole that turned into an understanding of what we now know as mansplaining, although the author did not use that portmanteau and does not […]

On the road to the Vik estate are a few rune stones.

Vik Slott is a country estate on the lakeside near Uppsala.

Outside the church at Västeråker are a couple of rune stones. Then a few more across the countryside nearby. Upplands 847:“Åsger och Gislög lät resa denna sten efter sina två söner, Ådjärv och Slode. Åsmund högg rätta runor för den som skall tyda. Åsmund … ristade.” Upplands 846:“Jovurfast, …-fast, Vigunn, de lät [rista] dessa [runor] efter sin […]

Hidden in the walls of Dalby Church is a fragment of a rune stone.

We took another trip to Gamla Uppsala. This time just before Walpurgis Night so there was a big bonfire being built – Uppsala is one of the main centres for the Walpurgis celebrations in Sweden.

Just down the road from Mörby borgruin is an ancient gravefield.“This cemetery consists of 125 graves and dates from the late Iron Age (500-1100AD). The people who buried their dead here lived at a settlement situated somewhere close to the cemetery”