Runestone styles

The runestone styles were part of the general evolution of art in Scandinavia. This is a part of the decoration of the Urnes stave church which is in the same as the later runestone styles.
The term "runestone style" in the singular may refer to the Urnes style.

The style or design of runestones varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increasingly complex and made by travelling runemasters such as Öpir and Visäte.

A categorization of the styles was developed by Anne-Sophie Gräslund in the 1990s.[1] Her systematization is considered to have been a break-through and is today a standard. The styles are RAK, Fp, Pr1, Pr2, Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5, and they cover the period 980-1130, which was the period during which most runestones were made.

The styles Pr1 and Pr2 correspond to the Ringerike style, whereas Pr3, Pr4 and Pr5 belong to what is more widely known as the Urnes style.[2]

Below follows a brief presentation of the various styles by showing sample runestones according to Rundata's annotation.

  1. ^ Gräslund, Anne-Sophie (2006), "Dating the Swedish Viking-Age Rune Stones on Stylistic Grounds", Runes and Their Secrets: Studies in Runology, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, pp. 117–140, ISBN 87-635-0428-6
  2. ^ Sawyer 2000:32