Portal:Ancient Germanic culture/Runic inscription/4

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Runestone U 112, a large boulder measuring 18 metres in circumference, is located on a wooded path named Kyrkstigen ("church path") in Ed. It has been known to scholars since Johannes Bureus' first runological expedition in 1594, and it dates to the mid-11th century. The inscriptions are in the mid-Urnes style (Pr4), and they were comissioned by a former captain of the Varangian Guard named Ragnvaldr in memory of his mother as well as in his own honour. Very few could boast of returning home with the honour of having been the captain of the Varangian Guard, and the name Ragnvaldr shows that he belonged to the higher echelons of Old Norse society, and that he may have been a relative of the ruling dynasty.