Vängsjöberg church
Neil Hopcroft
A digital misfit
MPH performance car show
After the Street Cars Fest at Kista Mässan we had high hopes for MPH. Sadly it seemed a little sparse, though A. rather liked the Atom. I discovered when I checked the photos that I’d mostly taken pictures of the classics corner.
Gullbron runestone
Upplands 239: “Inga had the stones cut … … husbandman … …”
Somehow I had missed this runestone over road from Upplands 236
Gällsta runestones
Part of the Runriket
“In Gällsta, there are three rune stones that mention four generations of the same clan. There is a fourth stone as well, but it has no inscription, only a cross. One of the stones has been signed by Öpir, one of the most common rune carvers of the later 11th century. On another stone, you can clearly see the repair marks that were made after it had been cut in two in the 19th century to by used as gateposts at a nearby farm.”
Upplands 232:
“tosti ÷ uk ‘ sihus ‘ uk ‘ sihmar ‘ litu ‘ raisa ‘ sta– * iftiR ÷ tuba ÷ faþur * sin”
“Tosti ok Sigfuss ok Sigmarr letu ræisa stæ[in] æftiR Tobba/Tubba, faður sinn.”
“Tosti and Sigfúss and Sigmarr had the stone raised in memory of Tobbi/Tubbi, their father.”
Upplands 231:
“iþinui ‘ uk ‘ austain ‘ uk ‘ ulfr ‘ uk * ol(a)[fr * litu * raisa * s]tain * iftiR hal(f)tan faþur sin”
“Heðinvi ok Øystæinn ok UlfR ok OlafR letu ræisa stæin æftiR Halfdan, faður sinn.”
“Heðinvé and Eysteinn and Ulfr and Ólafr had the stone raised in memory of Halfdan, their father.”
Upplands 229:
“halfntan ÷ auk ‘ tubi ÷ litu ‘ risa ‘ stin ‘ at ‘ huta ‘ faþur ‘ sin ‘ sun * þorbiarn ÷ ybir ÷ risti * ruan”
“Halfdan ok Tobbi/Tubbi letu ræisa stæin at Udda, faður sinn, sun ÞorbiarnaR. ØpiR risti runaR.”
“Halfdan and Tobbi/Tubbi had the stone raised in memory of Oddi, their father, Þorbjôrn’s son. Œpir carved the runes.”
Risbyle runestones
Part of the Runriket…there are two runestones at Risbyle.
“The two runic stones here at Risbyle were raised att the beginning of the 11th centure and they are among Upplands oldest. Here we meet the Skålhamra family, one of the powerful dynastics which lived in the district around lake Vallentuna during the Viking Age. The test on the stone nearest the Skålhamra road mentions Ulvkättil, Gye and Une who ‘had this stone raise after Ulv their good father. He lived in Skålhamra’.”
Upplands 160
“ulfkitil * uk * kui uk + uni + þiR × litu * rhisa × stin þina * iftiR * ulf * faþur * sin * kuþan on * buki * i skul(o)bri * kuþ * ilbi * ons * at * uk * salu * uk * kusþ muþiR * li anum lus * uk baratis”
“Ulfkætill ok Gyi ok Uni/Unni þæiR letu ræisa stæin þenna æftiR Ulf, faður sinn goðan. Hann byggi i Skulhambri. Guð hialpi hans and ok salu ok Guðs moðiR, le hanum lius ok paradis.”
“Ulfketill and Gýi and Uni/Unni, they had this stone raised in memory of Ulfr, their good father. He lived in Skolhamarr. May God and God’s mother help his spirit and soul; grant him light and paradise.”
Upplands 161
“ulfR * iuk i barstam * iftiR * ulf * i skulobri * mak * sin * kuþan * ulfkil lit akua”
“UlfR hiogg i Baristam æftiR Ulf i Skulhambri, mag sinn goðan. Ulfkell let haggva.”
“Ulfr of Báristaðir cut (the stone) in memory of Ulfr in Skolhamarr, his good kinsman-by-marriage. Ulfkell had (it) cut.”
Book review: The Book by Keith Houston
[Audiobook]
The Book, a Cover to Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of our Time, by Keith Houston
I was looking for an audiobook about marginalia but failed miserably (recommendations, anyone?). Instead, I found this.
The history of the book is long and storied, this book goes into a lot of detail about the different part that make up the book.
It starts by exploring the history of substrates, papyrus, parchment and paper, explaining the making and significant developments along the way.
Then it talks about the development of inks, and the processes by which the two are joined, with various writing and printing mechanisms. This is followed by a history of how collections of written work were put together, starting with scrolls and working through codices to the modern day idea of a book. Ultimately it talks about the binding of pages together into the portable units of knowledge we know today.
The history here talks about the feeding of ideas from one culture to another, how each learned from others, the innovations flowing in all directions between the Chinese, the Christians, the Muslims, the Egyptians and many others, with the silk road being a vital highway for the transmission of these ideas.
There is also a lot of context and further information added about some of the landmark inventions along the way. The moveable type of Guttenbergs press was certainly innovative, but it was not an advance made in a vacuum, there were other developments around the same time which he brought together. And the switch to the automation afforded by adding rollers to these presses was nearly as important to the widespread dissemination of information.
Something which is alluded to but largely missing from this book is a discussion of the rise of literacy over the period covered – books had to have understanding eyes to read them.
A potted history of the book, this tome covers a lot of ground without great depth – it keeps itself interesting by including a lot of stories of significant people along the way. A worthy read, a jumping off point for many potential interests, codicology, the German book fairs, papyrus making, tanning, lithography and plenty of others.
Fällbro runestones
Part of the Runriket.
“The two runic rock carvings south of the creek show that todays road coincides largely with the ancient route, which during the Iron Age ran to the west of the Vallentuna lake. At that time, the road went between these two runic carvings.
100 metres northwards on the eastern side of the road, there is a runic stone which, like the two runic rocks, tells about the bridge-builders of the Viking Age. The watercourse which then crossed the route was considerably larger than the brook which we see today.”
Upplands 142: “Ingefast lät resa stenen och göra bron efter Jarlabanke sin fader och Joruns son, och Kettilö lät resa stenen efter sin man. Öpir ristade.”
Upplands 146: “Ingeborg lät hugga hällen och göra bron efter Holmsten, sin man, och efter Torsten, sin son”
Upplands 145: “Torkel och Fulluge läto hugga denna häll och göra bron efter Sten, sin fader. Olev högg.”
Harley Davidson Locomotive
Outside the Harley Davidson office near Stockholm is a locomotive.
Hanami at Kungstadgården
There was a Japanese festival at Kungstadgården.
Gripsholms runestone
In the grounds of Gripsholms Slott are a pair of rune stones.
Sö 179: “× tula : lit : raisa : stain : þinsa| |at : sun : sin : haralt : bruþur : inkuars : þaiR furu : trikila : fiari : at : kuli : auk : a:ustarla| |ar:ni : kafu : tuu : sunar:la : a sirk:lan:ti”
“Tola let ræisa stæin þennsa at sun sinn Harald, broður Ingvars. ÞæiR foru drængila fiarri at gulli ok austarla ærni gafu, dou sunnarla a Særklandi”
“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.”
Sö 178: “HælgulfR(?) ok ØyulfR þæiR letu ræisa stæina baða at broður sinn Kætilmund ok bro æftiR Somu, moður sina. En Bruni(?) hiogg, broðiR hennaR.”
“Hälgulv och Öulv de lät resa båda stenarna efter sin broder Kätillmund och (gjorde) bro efter Soma sin moder. Och Brune (?), hennes broder, högg.”
“Hälgulv and Öulv they had this stone raised in memory of their brother Kätillmund and built a bridge in memory of Soma their mother. But Brune carved the runes”
