England Runestones - Uppland - U 344

U 344

The runestone U 344, in the style Pr3, was found in 1868, at Yttergärde, by Richard Dybeck, but it is today raised at the church of Orkesta, see Orkesta Runestones. Together with U 194, it is considered to be the earliest example of the Urnes style in Uppland.

The runes are written from right to left with the orientation of the runes going in the same direction, but the last words outside the runic band have the usual left-right orientation. It can be dated to the first half of the 11th century because of its use of the ansuz rune for the a and æ phomenes, and because of its lack of dotted runes.

This stone is notable because it commemorates that the Viking Ulf of Borresta had taken three danegelds in England. The first one was with Skagul Toste in 991, the second one with Thorkel the High in 1012 and the last one with Canute the Great in 1018. Since there were many years between the danegelds, it is likely that Ulfr returned to Sweden after each danegeld to live as a wealthy magnate.

Latin transliteration:

in ulfr hafi o| |onklati ' þru kialt| |takat þit uas fursta þis tusti ka-t ' þ(a) ---- (þ)urktil ' þa kalt knutr

Old Norse transcription:

En Ulf hafi a Ænglandi þry giald takit. Þet vas fyrsta þet's Tosti gat. Þa Þorkætill. Þa galt Knutr.

English translation:

"And Ulfr has taken three payments in England. That was the first that Tosti paid. Then Þorketill paid. Then Knútr paid."