Description
The Eggja stone was found with the written side downwards over a man's grave (cf. the Kylver stone) which is dated to the period 650-700 C.E. The flat slab of stone is nowadays in Bergen Museum. Having as many as 200 runes, it is the longest known inscription in the Elder Futhark, but certain runes are transitional towards the Younger Futhark.
Many scholarly works have been written about the inscription, but only minor parts of the partially preserved inscription have received an accepted translation. It is generally agreed that it is written in stylized poetry and in a partly metrical form containing a protection for the grave and the description of a funerary rite. However, there are widely diverging interpretations about certain details.
There is also the image of a horse carved into the stone, but it does not appear to have any connection with the inscription.
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