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The majority of these stones date after the introduction of Christianity; they often include the Christian cross and use the younger futhark. But older stones are pagan Norse and use the older futhark. Their inscriptions are the oldest written source texts created in the Nordic countries and some give a few clues about mythology and the society in Scandinavia at this time. Numbers are written out in text, i.e. "123" is "onehundredtwentythree", since the Indo-Arabic numerals were not yet employed. Years are counted through father generations, or the number of elapsed winters.

Most stones are put up as memorials for a dead person: in many cases death caused by sudden and unexpected events. These typically have an inscription of the type: "X had this stone carved for Y, a great man, God help his soul. Z carved it". Other stones are put up as landmarks. Several stones have obviously been erected by women.

Several inscriptions include works of art, for example, the runes may be inscribed inside a serpent-like creature, and some stones ("image stones") found on Gotland contain artistic imagery without any runes.

When the stones were carved, the runic letters were also painted with some color, mostly red (based on archaeological analysis), so they would be easily visible. Newly discovered stones often lack this color because of erosion, but caretakers nowadays make sure they are repainted and readable.

1 Famous rune stones and image stones from Gotland

• The Rök StoneThe Rok Stone (In Swedish Rokstenen is the most famous of rune stones, featuring the longest known runic inscription in stone. Many also consider it to be the most beautiful of all rune stones. It is placed by the church in Rok, Ostrogothia, Sweden. About
• The Ardre image stoneThe Ardre image stones are a collection of ten 8th century rune and image stones. They were used as paving under the wooden floors of the local church in the Ardre parish of Gotland, and were re-discovered when the church was restored around 1900. They ars
• The Austers Hangvar Stone
• The Halla Bora stone
• The Husaby Stone
• The Hogrän Stone
• The Klinte Stone
• The Kylver Rune Stone
• The Martebo Stones
• The Pilgards Rune Stone, Boge
• The Sanda Stones
• The Sjonhem Stone
• The Stenkjyrka Stone, Lillebjärs
• The Stora Hammars Stone and the Tägarda Rune Stone, Lärbro parish
• The Timans Rune Stone
• The Tängvida Stone

Compare Megalithic Standing stoneStanding stones orthostats liths or more commonly, megaliths because of their large and cumbersome size, are solitary stones set vertically in the ground. Where they appear in groups together they are known as megalithic monuments and come in many differes, Gaelic High crossA High Cross is a standing cross with a circle, made of stone and often richly ornamented. High Crosses exist in Celtic parts of Britain and Ireland; the Irish High Cross has become more famous because of its distinctive shape (the ringed Celtic Cross) anes.

The highly controversial Kensington runestoneThe Kensington runestone is a roughly rectangular slab of greywacke, 30 by 16 by 6 in and weighing about 200 lb (90 kg) covered in runes found in Kensington, Minnesota in 1898. Supposedly, it proves that Viking explorers were able to penetrate nearly half is located at Kensington, MinnesotaKensington is a city located in Douglas County, Minnesota. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 286. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0. 3 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covere.