The Aarhus Stone Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Aarhus Stone

At the moment I study for an exam about 'Runes in Danmark', a subject about the ancient alphabet used mainly in Scandinavia. Runes were used between 0-1400, divided in three periods:
- 0-650 - Germanic Iron Age
- 650-1050 - Viking Age
- 1050-1400 - Middle Ages
The Scandinavian Rune Alphabet is known as Futhark (after the first six letters). In the first period the Elder Futhark was used, that had 24 letters, since the Viking Age the Younger Futhark was used, which only contained 16 letters. There were also two versions of the younger Futhark: a Norwegian-Swedish (kortkvist-runer, short-twig runes) and a Danish.
The oldest Futhark in an inscription is found in Kylver on the Swedish island Gotland and dates from 400, the oldest inscription of the younger Futhark was founded on the Gørlev Stone on the Danish island Sjælland from ca. 900.
Apart from the Scandinavian Futharks, there was also used an rune-alphabet on the British Isles, called the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
The use of runes is best known because of the raise of Rune stones, that mainly were used as memorial stones/gravestones.

The stone you can see here is Århus-stenen 3 (Aarhus Stone 3), that I saw in Moesgaard Museum near the city of Århus (Jutland), when I visited the museum for almost one and a half year ago.
The inscription tells us this:
-kunulfR-auk-augutr-auk-aslakR-auk-rulfR-risþu--stin-þansi-eftiR-ful-fela(k)a-sin--iaR-uarþ ...y??-tuþr--þa-kunukaR--barþusk-
Danish translation:
Gunulv og Øgot og Aslak og Rolf rejste denne sten efter deres fælle Ful. Han fandt døden... da konger kæmpede.
English translation:
Gunulv and Øgot and Aslak and Rolf raised this stone in memory of Ful, their partner, who died, when kings fought.

This stone is dated around the year 1000. This formula ("... raised this stone in memory of..., who...") on the stone is typical for the rune stones in the Viking Age. It is not known in which battle Ful died, but it could be the Battle of Svold, ca. 1000, cause in this battle the kings of the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians were all involved.
On the picture you can see a part of the inscription above the mask.
The mask of the Aarhus stone is one of the most beautiful art works from the Viking Age. The meaning of the mask is not known, but possibly it had to avert evil.

Please notice: this picture was taken with my old and not very good camera, but I wanted to upload this photo anyway.

I hope you like the picture and this rune stone.

alvaraalto, weswang, singuanti, bertolucci, PixelTerror, feather, capthaddock, papagolf21, Steft, john_c, rahul__rahul__, aloyho, emjleclercq, abulafia, riclopes, paura has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

alvaraalto (5353) 2006-01-19 16:33

Hi Lars,
Mooie warme foto en een uitmuntende info. Als je temtamen net zo goed wordt dan krijg je vast een 13.
groet Rob

weswang (18223) 2006-01-19 16:42

Hi Lars, Thanks for the educational notes together with this informative shot. I am sure you could make a story, together with the background of Vikings about the stone. Good use of light to this nice and clear close up shot. Well done.

singuanti (15240) 2006-01-19 22:16

Hi Lars. Yes your current camera does seem a lot better than this one, especially with the noise. The use of the flash was appropriate in this setting. Nice shot and good luck with your exam!

bertolucci (12024) 2006-01-20 3:25

Hej Larz, mooie museum foto. Lekker close up met warme kleuren. Zeer interessant en samen met je geweldige note een xcellente educatief geheel. Leuk ook de bewerking van je naam en en titel. Fijn werk!
Goed weekend toegewenst vanuit Rotterdam!
Bert

feather (51026) 2006-01-20 8:23

Very interesting history. The stone seems to be very well preserved. Very clever use of runes for your title and signature.
Kath

Stepan (27181) 2006-01-20 15:39

An unexpected shot in your gallery. Unexpected colors too...
Makes it original with a strange esoteric purpose.
Funny and interesting.
Stéphane

Fixfocus (9377) 2006-01-20 17:48

Hi Lars,
Very nice and warm light on the stones,good compo too with the repeating stone in the background and it comes along with a very interesting note.
Greetings,
Hermann

papagolf21 (57785) 2006-01-21 5:01

Bonjour mon ami Lars,
Très intéressante photographie accompagnée d'une très bonne note !
Peut-on assimiler ces runes comme une sorte de hiéroglyphes ou d'écrire ancienne ?
La qualité de la photo est très bonne et la lumière dispensée valorise bien la pierre et l'inscription.
Un grand merci, Lars, pour cette très intéressante publication.
Amitiés.
Philippe

PixelTerror (88585) 2006-01-21 5:24

Hej Lars,
Yep like the glowing warm effect of the stone and especially the fascinating story that came with it, this photo could have got more attention as I find it of great TE value.
Takk and have a nice week end,
Jean-Yves

Steft (5962) 2006-01-21 5:53

Hee Lars,
Deze foto heb ik ook! (Zowel met als zonder flits). Eigenlijk is de kwaliteit zo slecht nog niet, zeker omdat er niet zo veel licht was hier. Heb je ook dat veenlijk geprobeerd te fotograferen hier? Bij lukte dat niet zo.
Zeer goede note. En de foto is zelf ook leuk. Dit wezen kijkt erg vrolijk.
Groeten,
Stef
BTW eind februari ga ik waarschijnlijk weer naar KBH men vi ses også i næste uge.

capthaddock (28640) 2006-01-21 11:08

Hi Lars - very interesting note, the image is also really nice, your old camera wasn't bad after all.

john_c (24635) 2006-01-21 11:34

Hi Lars,
Good detail and lighting on this remarkable stone. Tour cropping and framing does it justice. The fascinating historical note could, as Wes says, lead to an entire series or story on the background. Well captured, and unique in your gallery.
John

rosaline (0) 2006-01-22 10:50

Hi Lars
This is a very interesting piece of information you've given here. I had absolutely no idea about the Danish alphabet and it's origins. Good work sharing this with us. You're picture of this stone work makes the stone look like it was just made. Such excellent condition. A great work.
Aubrey

aloyho (6111) 2006-01-23 1:46

Hi Lars,
You have spotted and took good advantage of the spot light to really show this stone in its best display. The POV is well calculated where you allowed us to just have a glimpse of the room beyond but demanded that we focus our attention on the rock. The room beyond suggests interesting space and depth. I love this soft ambience and the colour of the light. Excellent shot and notes!! Regards.

rahul__rahul__ (2250) 2006-01-23 16:52

Hi Lars,
nice note again, and I like the shadows in this. Nice job.
TFS
Rahul

Jeppe (18624) 2006-02-01 16:04

Hej Lars

Et fint billede og god beretning om dette budskab fra en fjern fortid. Vi var nogle kollegaer som diskutterede hvor holdbare vores dage lagermedier er og nåede frem til den konklusion at runerne var noget af det mest holdbare :-)

emjleclercq (14910) 2006-06-26 16:17

Nice sharpness and light for this indoor picture. The mask on the stone is strange, mainly viking in my mind for the intertwining parts. The reconstitution of the painting is rather ewxtensive (with good result) since it went further than just outlining the carving on the stone.

And I really like your runnic signature in the right corner !

All the best,

Emmanuel

abulafia (4802) 2006-07-01 1:28

Hi Lars
thank you for yet another history lesson. i love moesgaard museum, a very nice museum in great surroundings. and i like your subject here on this picture, even if i must admit that it looks a little under exposed.
TFS
Harry

riclopes (33487) 2006-08-10 13:24

Hej Lars,
Good use of TE, to make a revision of the matter for the your exam in January. Judging by the excellent informative note you must have got a good result ;) The result of the photo is just fine and the flash made the design stand out well. The figure is quite interesting and inspiring for my paintings...It seems kind of an octupus with horn and hears.
Have a good evening,
Ricardo

dorte_s_t (2287) 2007-10-08 5:35

Hej , Lars .
Jeg kan se , du også er fascineret af denne flotte runesten , og du har skrevet en rigtig god note !!
Hilsen
Dorte.

paura (40841) 2008-07-10 4:34

Lars,
Nice photo from this interesting sone. Detai on it are very nice. Thanks for sharing it to all us!

Abraço

Paulo

NickPavlakis (494) 2008-10-29 3:19

Hi Lars, beautiful photo, full of ISO artifacts, but it is a very informative note that makes this photo. Glad you had the chance to explain to us some of the things about rune stones etc.
Nikos