Helnaes Stone

▪ monument, Denmark

 runic monument found at Fyn, Den., in 1860; it is among the oldest inscriptions with so-called Danish runes and is the first Danish example of a stone with the memorial formula: “[Person's name] raised this stone in memory of.” The monument measures about 6 feet 10 inches (2 m) in height.

      Probably carved in about 800, the runic inscriptions say, “Rolf raised this stone, priest and chieftain of the Helnaes dwellers, in memory of his brother's son, Gudmund. The men were drowned at sea. Aveir wrote [the runes].”

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