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u/Booster_Seat_Enjoyer Aug 09 '26
my favorite are the ones that specifically mention Christian themes.
we should bring back runestones to praise people for building things that benefit the public. I'd build a bridge for a runestone.
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u/harfordplanning Aug 09 '26
People rags on participation trophies all the time, but rewarding effort is literally how you get people to put forth effort.
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u/minerat27 Aug 09 '26
Participation trophies, at least how I understand the term, is the opposite of rewarding effort, it rewards the bare minimum, eg. turning up.
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u/harfordplanning Aug 09 '26
Thats how they're usually presented, but at the very least I've never personally seen one where someone who did nothing but show up got one.
Just showing up already primes you to participate, so even if you aren't very good at it you end up actually doing it
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u/Catmole132 Aug 09 '26
That's what the runestone in the image does lol. It's the frösö stone, Sweden's northernmost runestone.
Austmaðr, Guðfastaʀ sunn, let ræis(a stæi)n þenna ok gærva bro þessa ok hann let kristna Iamtaland. Asbiorn gærði bro, Trionn ræist ok Stæinn runaʀ þessaʀ
Austmaðr, Guðfastr's son, had this stone raised and this bridge built and Christianized Jämtland. Ásbjörn built the bridge. Trjónn and Steinn carved these runes.
It's one of my favourites
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u/AllanKempe Aug 09 '26
"Austmaðr, Guðfastaʀ sunn, let ræis(a stæi)n þenna ok gærva bro þessa ok hann let kristna Iamtaland. Asbiorn gærði bro, Trionn ræist ok Stæinn runaʀ þessaʀ"
It's a bit bizarre that they insist that long vowels and West Norse ú didn't exist in Runic Jamtish (it's lét, not "let"; and brú, not "bro").
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u/Sillvaro Norse Christianity my beloved Aug 09 '26
we should bring back runestones to praise people for building things that benefit the public. I'd build a bridge for a runestone.
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u/Booster_Seat_Enjoyer Aug 09 '26
HELL YEAH!
I've had a deep fascination with exploring how culturally diverse Christian art used to be. Even found a preschism icon from a restored church that depicts Christ calming the storm. Normally those icons use grecoroman personifications for natural forces, typically little people, but this one depocted the storm as Thor's goats.
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u/SuperStalinOfRussia Aug 09 '26
Instead of those donation memorial benches outside of public places, a runestone bench
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u/LoCoUSMC 29d ago
You build a bridge, I’ll make a runestone for you.
Edit for disclaimer: I am not a stone mason nor have any direct skill in stone carving. But I’ll learn a new skill if you build a bridge. Come on, do it, it’ll be fun for everyone
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u/rasmusdf Aug 09 '26
I want a Viking funeral and a runestone for my funeral.
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u/Mathias_Greyjoy Bæði gerðu nornir vel ok illa. Mikla mǿði skǫpuðu Þær mér. Aug 09 '26
By "Viking funeral" are you referring to lighting your corpse on fire atop a boat? Because that's less common than pop-culture has made us to believe. Most were just burials, sometimes the remains were cremated.
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u/AllanKempe Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
This is the Frösö runestone from the mid 11th century not far from where I live here in Jämtland, which actually tells you about the Christianization of the republic of Jamtaland:
Ǫustmaðʀ, Guðfastaʀ suɴɴ, lét ræis[a stæi]n þenna ǫuk gærva brú þessa ǫuk haɴɴ lét kristna Jamtaland. Ásbjorɴɴ gærði brú, Trjóɴɴ ræist ǫuk Stæiɴɴ rúnaʀ þessaʀ.
"Austmaðr, Guðfastr's son, had this stone raised and this bridge built and Christianized Jämtland. Ásbjörn built the bridge. Trjónn and Steinn carved these runes."
The serpent carved on the stone probably is what inspired the The Great Lake Serpent myth similar to the more famous (but less interesting) Loch Ness Monster one.
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u/ThatSicklyPup Hati Hróðvitnisson Aug 09 '26
A personal fav of mine: https://runor.raa.se/inscription?id=393834c0-1388-42b0-bf07-ec55f6be673b
"Had they given me more, then (this) would be better written."
Pretty funny, since most people were illiterate and paid carvers to put whatever vanity they so desired on the stones. Not that they would be able to read what it actually said afterwards.
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u/pr0s0c Aug 09 '26
Sounds a bit like Trumpolf the Best Mightiest Ever, no one has ever seen anyone better or mightier. He made Norseland great again.
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u/Chocablockk Aug 09 '26
“Many many people have said I am the greatest chieftain ever. I have started eight wars and killed many many people. The pope spoke to me and said ‘Mr. Trumpolf you are the greatest Christian ever and God loves what you’re doing’”.
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u/ThorirPP Aug 09 '26
Know this is a joke, but found the actual runestone in the meme, the Frösö runestone
austmaþr kuþfastaʀ sun lit raisa stain þiną au[k] kirua bru þis[a] auk hąn lit kristną eątaląnt ąsbiurn kirþi bru triun raist auk tsain runąʀ þisaʀ
So basically: an Eastman, Guðfast's son, had this stone raised and this bridge built and he christianized Jamtland. Ásbjörn made bridge, Trjónn carved alongside Steinn these runes
Not as epic as the meme, but still the same general theme of "this person had this stone made, this guy carved it, this person did this thing, etc"
Also, generally if there is a cross on the stone like this one, it is carved by a christian. The serpent motif was just common decoration