I found something called a ‘borgruin‘ on the map, so had to go and find out what that was. Turns out that its a ruined manor house, which, in its day, must have been an impressive property looking out over the lake.
Mörby borgruin
Neil Hopcroft
A digital misfit
Angarns runestones
Some rune stones outside Angarns Kyrka.
Orkesta ruined manor
Near the small town of Orkesta is a ruined manor house – really it is just foundations now but the artists impression on an information board nearby suggest it was at one time an impressive building.
Granby runestone
U337
“+ hemik + uk + sialfi + uk + iohan + þeiR + lata hakua + eftR + faþur sin + finuiþ + uk + uarkas × uk × rahnfriþ + uk moþur sina + uk + at + ikikerþi + uk + at + kalf + uk + kiarþar + u- …-at + (h)an ati ‘ ein × alt fyrst × þat × uaru × freantr þeia + koþ : hialbi + ant þaira + uiseti + risti × runa þisa”
“HæmingR ok Sialfi ok Iohan þæiR lata haggva æftiR faður sinn Finnvið, ok Vargas(?)/Varghôss(?) ok Ragnfriðr, ok moður sina, ok at Ingigærði ok at Kalf ok Gærðar o[k] <…-at>. Hann atti æinn allt fyrst. Þat vaRu frændr þæiRa. Guð hialpi and þæiRa. Viseti risti runaR þessaR.”
“Hemingr and Sjalfi and Jóhan, they have cut (the stone) in memory of their father Finnviðr and Vargas(?)/Varghôss(?) and Ragnfríðr and their mother, and in memory of Ingigerðr and in memory of Kalfr and Gerðarr and … He alone owned all at first. These were their kinsmen. May God help their spirits. Véseti carved these runes.”
Markim runestone
Near the Markim gravefields there is a rune stone, U338.
“þurstin × uk × ragnfriR × þu ristu × stin × þina × iftiR × biur[n] × i krnbu
× bruþur × kalfs × anum × ua[at × uikmu – – R × ku]þ ihlbi × [o]ns × ot × uk × salu × bitr × þan × on karþ[i] – il”
“Þorstæinn ok Ragnfriðr þau ræistu stæin þenna æftiR Biorn i Gr[a]nby, broður Kalfs. Hanum va at Vigm[un]dr. Guð hialpi hans and ok salu bætr þan hann gærði [t]il.”
“Torsten och Ragnfrid de reste denna sten efter Björn i Granby, Kalvs broder. Honom dräpte Vigmund. Gud hjälpe hans ande och själ bättre än han förtjänade.”
“Torsten and Ragnfrid they raised this stone after Björn in Granby, Kalv’s brother. Him killed Vigmund. God help his spirit and soul better than he deserved.”
Markim gravefields
Just outside the small village of Markim there are some gravefields.
Svinnegarn runestone
U779
“Järand reste dessa stenar efter Jarl, sin son. Guo hjälpe hans ande”
“Järand raised this stone after Jarl, his son. Who helped ???”
Enköping
The town of Enköping is just over half an hours drive west from here, it is a small old town with a lot of history both in and around.
Book review: John Dies at the End by David Wong
[Read aloud to Adelle]
John Dies at the End by David WongJason Pargin.
I got this book because I heard about the narrative style and it intrigued me. Indeed it lived up to my hopes with its breathless insanity – David is quite squarely an unreliable narrator, prone to exaggeration and digression, but also unrelenting in his commitment to telling a story with little regard for truth or consistency.
David and his best friend John dropped out of college and accidentally became the local experts on unnatural occurrences in their town, with many bizarre things happening around them, drawn to them like a magnet.
The stories David tells revolve around a substance, which he calls soy sauce, I hesitate to describe it as a drug although that is its closest correlate in our world, which expands the mind and abilities of the ingester, allowing them to perceive details unavailable to those without access to the substance. This allows the protagonist to see things others cannot. A blessing and a curse, the world is at once more horrific and makes more sense when his eyes are opened in this way.
Some of the discontinuities are explained along the way, however I still find myself piecing bits of the story together, even after finishing the book. And there are still so many things that don’t make any sense. Like the title – by my calculation the only way John actually dies at the end is if that is when you figure out what happened to him. For me that was somewhat after the end, I’m not very quick at this sort of thing. I’m not going to tell you, you have to read the book yourself and see if you can figure it out quicker than I did.
There are insects. Oh, so many insects. And they do so many things, in such detail you might want to skip over some of those bits, I wish I had had that foresight.
This book is the most insane book I have read, more so than Fear and Loathing or The Illuminati Trilogy. I am glad there are more books in this series, I’m not ready to let go of this mad universe yet.
I haven’t mentioned this before: if you would like to borrow any of the dead tree books I talk about, let me know and I will get them to you.
Rock carvings around Hemsta
Not far from the Brandskogship are a number of other rock carvings showing various important things from their time – a lot of ships and herds of animals, along with a number of people.
