Gripsholm stone, 11th century runic inscription at Gripsholm Castle, Sweden.
The Gripsholm stone is a grey granite boulder with a rounded top, carved with a single serpent whose red-outlined body coils in a spiral, its head pointing toward its own tail. Short runic characters fill the band, which covers most of the face. The stone stands near the entrance drive of Gripsholm Castle, beside Sö 178.
The stone was found in 1827 by runologist Johan Gustaf Liljegren, covered in tar and used as a threshold inside Gripsholm Castle. It had likely been brought there in the 16th century from the Carthusian monastery, demolished during the Reformation. In 1930 it was lifted from the floor and set up at its current spot.
The inscription remembers brothers who traveled east together seeking fortune, showing how people honored family members through such stones. It reflects how important these distant journeys were to the society of that time.
The stone sits beside the castle drive and can be viewed by visitors at any time, even when the castle is closed. Daylight is best for photographing the carved runes clearly.
The stone is unsigned, but the Samnordic Runic Text Database names Äskil 2 as its carver. It is counted as the foremost of the Ingvar runestones, a group commemorating those who died on Ingvar the Far-Travelled's expedition, from which only one ship of nearly thirty returned to Sweden in 1042.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,078 contributors worldwide.
