Photo: Rune Stone of Anundshög (light painting)

Rune Stone of Anundshög (2016-06-11 14:50)
While stranded in Stockholm, I had an opportunity to meet a friend, Mats. He and his wife Marie took me to see a thousand year old ruins of the Vikings. Although late, the sun still hung barely below the horizon. Nonetheless, I was still able to light paint, illuminating this rune stone with a ProtoMachines LED2 flashlight during the 30 second f/8 ISO 200 exposure with a Nikon D7000/Tokina 11-16mm.

I’ve included information from both the Anundshög website as well as what Mats wrote about the inscription:

At Anundshög people gathered gathered for the Thing (district court), even as late as the Middle Ages.  At this location, people sacrificed to their gods and later prayed to the new Christian god.  It was here the dead were buried, in large and impressive burial mounds or simple and insignificant graves along the side of the ridge down towards the water, according to power and position.

The rune stone inscription reads:
“Folkvid raised all these stones after Heden, Anund’s brother. Vred carved the runes.”

Folkvid was a powerful man in Badelunda at the beginning of the 11th century. He paid for the road past Anundshög and marked it with a row of standing stones. Folkvid also paid for the impressive rune stone to tell the world for all time about his son, his road and himself.

It is certain that it is not Anund who was buried in the large mound. The name Anund was very common during the 9th and 10th centuries and the mound is probably from the 6th to 8th century. Vred both knew the runes and was skilful at carving them and he produced this remarkable rune stone. He has carved the runes around a picture which is unique among Swedish rune stones.

We do not know how the picture should be interpreted, but it could perhaps be the forms of a woman and a man which are intertwined with each other. The people of the Viking era would have understood what Vred intended with his pictures.

Special thanks to Mats and Marie for taking me to these special places!!!!

#stockholm #vasteras #viking #kenleephotography #kenlee #awesomeearth #awesomeglobe #beautifuldestinations #WeOwnTheNight_CA #shutterbugpix #nikon #longexposure #lightpainting #pinturadeluz #fotografianoche #nightphotography #feisol #MyRRS

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