Today we saw a small portion of Swedish history when we walked to Lundby and the rune stone in Sund. We have been spending the weekend with my parents in Vagnhärad and for once we have been quite lucky with the weather. The sun has been shining more than usual, at least compared to the rest of this summer. There was a thunderstorm on Friday and as a result, the air feels very fresh. Today we were choosing between a few different things we wanted to do. The options included everything from going to Malmköping to see their annual market to visiting Nyköping for their summer events.
In the end, we ended up staying in Vagnhärad. As the weather is so great today, we decided to go for a long walk instead of spending time in a car. Susann, Little A, my mother, Trixie the dog and I all headed out along the road.
Lundby and a Rune Stone in Sund
There are several rune stones and other remnants from a time long passed in the area around Vaghnärad. These remnants include stone age burial mounds and other archeological sites.
One of the better-preserved rune stones is in Sund a few kilometers from my parents’ house. We thought it’d be a good destination for a long Sunday walk and headed out in the sunshine. We walked towards a small place named Lundby, this is a road that I have been running along so many times when I lived with my parents. Usually, the track ended up being around 7 kilometers. Today we only followed parts of this road before heading in another direction towards Sund.
It is a nice walk along the fields and forests in the area, but eventually, you will have to cross the bridge over the highway (E4). Well, luckily we were soon back in calmer surroundings and soon we were standing in front of the rune stone – our mark for turning around and heading back home. The stone is actually quite impressive and its name is Skåängsstenen. In fact, it is two rune stones on one stone. In the center, there is an inscription dating back to the 6th century. The newer and larger inscription is from the Viking age in the 11th century.
The translation of the text on the stone would be:
§A Harja, Leugaz
Source: nordiska.uu.se
§B Skammhals and Ólôf, they had these landmarks made in memory of Sveinn, their father. May God help his soul.
Little A was happy with most of our walk to Lundby and the rune stone. That is until she woke up again from her sleep with 2 kilometers left. From there on she became more and more unhappy and in need of some food. Luckily our 10-kilometer walk was soon over and we could all have some rest and food.
