Runestones at Aspa

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The Runestones at Aspa are four runestones located at Aspa, which is about six kilometers north of Runtuna, Södermanland, Sweden, where a road has passed a creek since prehistoric times. One of the stones Sö Fv1948;289, below is the oldest surviving native Scandinavian source that mentions the kingdom of Sweden beside the runestones DR 344 and DR 216. Another stone Sö 137 is raised in memory of a Viking who had spent time in the west.Tingshögen and EriksgataAspa was the location of the local assembly called the Tingshögen for the Rönö Hundred administrative area until 1600, and the newly elected king passed the stones during his Eriksgata. The Eriksgata was the traditional journey of the newly elected medieval Swedish kings through the important provinces to have their election confirmed by the local assemblies. The actual election took place at the Stone of Mora in Uppland. Runestones at other locations that tradition holds were associated with the Eriksgata include U 793 at Ulunda and Vg 4 at Stora Ek. Originally there were several runestones and standing stones erected at the Tingshögen, but today only a few remain, and some of these were recovered from having been reused as construction materials at a bridge.Sö Fv1948;289The inscription on this stone consists of tightly bound columns of text within bands that end in snake heads, and may be indicative of the influence of earlier Danish inscriptions on decorated runestones in Sweden. This granite runestone, which is 2.07 meters in height, is classified as being carved in runestone style Fp, which is the classifiecation for inscriptions with bands that end in animal heads. It was raised in memory of a two men who died in Denmark. The runic text says that they were the ablest men in Sweden. The runestone was found in 1937 during trench work near a bridge and was moved adjacent to Sö 141. Originally, the stone was probably located at the Tingshögen, and later reused at the bridge.