The Rök Runestone (with Dr. Henrik Williams)

Professor Henrik Williams (Uppsala University) gives an in-person reading of the Rök runestone, the longest known runic text in stone.
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[@Sviareik]

As a swedish person, listening to Henrik going through this over a thousand year old ancient runic inscription from my ancestors depicting history and the norse spirituality and beliefs sends chills down my spine. Thank you Crawford and Williams for this enlightening content!

[@cerdic6305]

To be fair, if the people who wrote this still have descendants then they are probably the ancestors of most currently living humans

[@ur-inannak9565]

@@cerdic6305 Not enough time depth for the whole world, though very likely all of Europe. Of course the OP probably had more than just the guys carving the runes in mind.

[@asburycollins9182]

​@@cerdic6305 ofc they do. Royal genealogies go this far back aswell. Bot uncommon

[@mabs503]

Tack så mycket! Det var väldigt intressant att få djupare insikt i vad riksklenoden Rökstenen betyder. Tack Henrik och tack Jackson.

[@Herkan]

Ett tips är kanalen Format historia här på youtube

[@trentapalmer]

This is so incredibly valuable to those of us who will likely never be able to visit this stone, much less have a subject matter expert like Prof. Williams join us to explain in detail every cut made into it. Thank you for this.

[@GustavSvard]

I've been to the Rök stone, and live in the runestone-densest area of the world (greater Stockholm), and I heartily agree on this being a very valuable video. Thank you to both Jackson & Henrik!

[@aggemcquack9726]

The preschool I went to is located across the street from the rök stone, even though I was young I remember the feeling the texture of the stone ( it was oddly smooth )

[@nicolajlund2781]

@@GustavSvard

[@listonheinz9103]

I was at the Rök stone as a kid in 1988, my dad took a picture of me and my brother which I still have! I was there again just a couple of years ago and photographed my own kids at the same spot almost 35 years later…

[@4further.information]

Note the clip differs from the established interpretation found on the Riksantikvariet's sign at the Rökstenen: The segment raiþiaurikʀ hin þurmuþi has in previous interpretations been read as rēð Þiōðrīkʀ hinn þurmōði with the meaning 'then Tjodrik the bold ruled'. Tjodrik has been assumed to be the Gothic king Theoderic the Great. In Bo Ralph's evaluation of Rökstenen's text from 2007, the segment is instead interpreted as rēð iau rinkʀ hinn þurmōði with the meaning 'rode on the horse the huge warrior'. Inspired by Bo Ralph's interpretation, including that it is not about Teoderik at all, but a warrior on horseback and that the inscription consists of riddles, the linguist Per Holmberg put together an interdisciplinary group consisting of himself, the rune researcher Henrik Williams, the religious scholar Olof Sundqvist, the archaeologist Bo Grass grove. In January 2020, they presented the result, that the text consists of nine riddles, where four have the answer Odin and five have the answer Sun. The riddles are about Ragnarök, and they suggest that it may be a spell or a call to battle when it comes. They believe that the riddles refer to a strong climate deviation five hundred years earlier (nine generations according to the interpretation) which Gräslund previously connected with the fimbul winter that precedes Ragnarök.

[@katepalmer747]

Dr. Williams' interpretation of the Rök stone is Insightful and convincing. Thank you so much 🌷

[@ChristofferOrrmalmUtsi]

It is factual yes. /Lived under that era too

[@rogerolovsson6439]

Well i agree most with the explanation that format historia give to this stone and other professors that give a more logic explanation on what is written on the stone too. But i must say im not a expert in the futhark so i can only go after what my logic leads me when listen to different people make their explanationon the runes. My english is not perfect so i hope this make any sense what i try to say in words here.

[@alinapopescu872]

Many thanks to our exceptional guide, Dr. Williams. Your kindness is much appreciated.

[@deanedwards5857]

Thank you again and again for creating this video for us laymen to study! You're doing great work Mr. Crawford and Prof. Williams

[@JakeDoubleyoo]

If Dr Williams's interpretation is on-point, it would pretty much confirm that the post-Ragnarok rebirth was part of pagan tradition and not a product of later christianization. Super neat.

[@bjarnitryggvason7866]

Man, what a great lecture. 👍

[@Lorehouse]

A captivating topic. Riddles and secrets seem to be an intrinsic part of the Germanic written tradition, which makes its study all the more interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[@danneeddi1995]

I actually live an hour away from Rök, was there this summer. Really cool piece of history! There are many old norse and older carvings around this area.

[@Braapncamp]

Thanks Craford and Henrik for this episode, i was standing infront of Rökstenen for the second time this summer with a Norwegian friend (Tjommi). Very impressive and remarkable cultural remain from our ancestors and Henriks interpretation is also very impressive and makes sense. Thanks to all of You who works with this to get us a better understanding. /Mattias

[@heges1606]

Tusen takk,dr.Crawford,for at du år etter år prøver å tette mine kunnskapshull😊Er glad for at jeg kan være med på å gi deg en liten påskjønnelse tilbake….

[@ivanradstrom9939]

Cool to see you coming to Sweden and visiting Rökstenen. I live not too far from it and remember clearly when my school class went to see it back in elementary school. Have not been back since then but would love to go back again. Östergötland (the cultural and historical region) where Rökstenen is has many other locations and old scriptures and such, dating back to the iron age.

[@阳明子]

Dr. Henrik Williams is so intelligent and eloquent. Thank you for this video!!

[@rationsofrationality2510]

what an amazing video. you can tell this guy both knows what he's talking about and loves to talk about it. and great job to Jackson for letting him speak uninterrupted. all around interesting and informative!

[@robertahlen4199]

I noticed this as well - a time to every purpose…a time to speak and a time to listen.

[@General_Popo]

Ancient Scandinavian: "Oh, nice rock... Imma write some absolute fire on it!"

[@stefansoder6903]

Driven past it so many times and never bothered to stop and have o look. Next I will! Thank you Henrik and Jackson.

[@OriginalPuro]

How can you even live in Scandinavia without being amazed by our ancient culture? Skam deg. Tilbake til Vikingtiden vi skal! :D

[@stefansoder6903]

@@OriginalPuro I AM AMAZED! Seen it now a month ago!

[@Crecganford]

Fascinating

[@addealmen]

This is amazing. I grew up approx 40 km from Rökstenen and went there many many times with my grandparents in the late 70’s early 80’s. Who could think I would Watch a video about it +40 years later explaining what was a total enigma to us back then :-)

[@authormichellefranklin]

Fantastic 😍 Thank you for the in-depth look!

[@pyrothem]

Incredible. Thank you for all the hard work you went through to let us all find out more about this.

[@watcherofthewest8597]

Great stuf! Thank you. What a magnificent piece of history and culture. And a beautiful valley in the background!

[@Holly-ro3yq]

Very informative and interesting. Thank you very much!

[@ONLINESWEDISHCOURSE]

Thank you for this great video. I have Professor William's book in my collection. I had honor to have it signed by him in one of seminars in Uppsala.

[@lornalong6468]

Thank you so much & also to Prof Williams for this wonderful understanding & broader historical context that this runestone illuminates in Norse history & mythology. It is interesting to see again in ancient religions & belief systems the concepts of self-sacrifice, afterlife, a final struggle and ultimately a hope for a meaningful end to life & eternal purpose after life. Wonderful stuff.

[@ailenepace8262]

Very good. I really enjoyed listening to this man. He is very knowledgeable Bruce Howard, MG.

[@Fujihoffmann]

I grew up in the region, so I have been to the Rök stone sk many times. After this video I wanna go there again :)

[@flickerbasob6696]

Incredible stuff!!

[@gamergirlmars]

This is so cool to actually see this stone! You always hear of them but to see it really is perplexing and intriguing! :D

[@magisterhermonius]

I just visited this stone last week. My favourite runic inscription of all time! An interesting and fresh interpretation by prof. Williams (reading his book at the moment) although the stone is cloaked in mysticism still I feel.

[@VanaheimrUllr]

Great videos lately sir, love the actualt sight-seeing approach. Fun with the slightly confused younger/elder futhark-inscription, treasure! Thank you!

[@pw5803]

Mycket intressant, very interesting. Love these explanations of what these stones actually says. Thank you.

[@fugithegreat]

I was watching this and thinking that I could read a whole book about this stone! Can't wait for the English version to come available.

[@matthewlawrenson2734]

Thank you Dr Henrik, what an exciting animated, ceremonial puzzle...a myth-journey around a 5 sided monolith. A veritable written ritual performance in the text-ure of rock itself.. I thought rubics cubes were tricky. There should be more cyphers and stories on gravestones then your children would conceivable turn up to work out the puzzles....Mmmmmm

[@Pompelipom33]

Very interesting! Thanks Henrik for a very interesting reading of the stone!

[@woofisfloppis1125]

Really interesting! I'm fairly sure I saw you filming this when I drove by! Tack så mycket för denna inblick!

[@jonathanryals9934]

If you are on a horse you can see the top.

[@TzOn79]

The horses we had in Sweden was very small thou.

[@idkkdi8620]

Did we even ride horses that much?

[@varangjar1544]

Or wooden stool..?

[@TzOn79]

@@GratDuForloradeArgumentet just read what the scientist say, im born and raised in Sweden and know my history. The Viking hade small horses.

[@who5729]

Maybe that was around the time where they started to breed them taller? There probably dates and stuff to check that

[@awetaiwan]

wonderful video Henrik and Jackson!

[@championgoatherd]

Wow! This was truly awesome!

[@olivere.235]

They keep on coming! Love your videos. Have you read Harald Bjorvands and Fredrik Otto Lindemans Våre arveord? It deserves a video of its own!

[@eherlitz]

Holy moly, I live nearby Rökstenen, fantastic place, hope you enjoyed your stay.

[@roarprawn]

Awesome video. Thank you Dr Crawford, and Prof Williams :)

[@ManuelPerezUS]

This was amazing; thank you for sharing this moment with us.

[@yaseinbrat94]

Fantastic!! I hope the english version for us American Heathens will be available soon and in hard bound cover with a nice dust jacket.

[@coranova]

This was wonderful, thank you for your time!

[@emom358]

Wonderful! Thank you both.

[@netaen]

Runestones are truly fascinating. My wife and always try to look up stones when traveling in Sweden. I have a friend in Israel who is fond of runes to say the least. The Rök stone stands not to far from my place of birth!

[@goatboy150]

This was fantastic. Thank you.

[@hannayoung9657]

When I was little and visit Rökstenen, it was said to be random runes with no meaning... So much has change in 40 years.

[@nonamenola33]

I live pretty close by and every time we have relatives or friends visiting we go to places like Omberg, Vadstena, Alvastra and, of course, Rökstenen (and so on, there are many places to visit, depending on your interests). Edit: I forgot, this was a really interesting video!

[@charlottahogrelius7055]

Tusen tack. Väldigt intressant.

[@gabrielprado2659]

Thank you Dr Jackson

[@gavinrogers5246]

Another great video. If I could ask for a special request though, could you do something on Alexanders Saga?

[@Migul011]

Love these videos! Thank you!

[@getstarted7168]

Östergötland, Crawford hope you saw Omberg and Hjässan, the views over Vättern. Dr Henrik, proffsig.

[@LEGOWENTV]

Great episode…thank you!

[@lhulugren5309]

There is a better interpretation of the run text at the YT site ”Format historia”. According to this the Rök stone is a legal document for administration of the early Sweden and especially the county Östergötland. I believe this is more correct. Unfortunetly this is only in Swedish.

[@viktorgruvegard1343]

Vet att jag är sent ute med detta. Men varför anser du den tolkningen som "bättre"? Alla Format Historia videor om rökstenen klagar jämt på klimat aspekten av Henriks tolkning. Hela hans kanal ryker av bitterhet (pun intended). Tycker Henriks förklaring av "þór" som "våga/kamp" är mer trolig än av att stenen slumpmässigt nämner Tor.

[@Walle3000]

Interesting clip, close to home for me, lots of runstenar around lake Mälaren and Roslagen.

[@Erkynar]

Thank you Jackson (Professor? Mr? What is the man's title these days? Expert? Dr! Probably doctor Crawford) for sharing this distilled version of the interpretation! Having read the book, getting to listen to it gave a great review of the matter. Having said that, the book is good. If you can get hold of it in english (unless you read swedish, of course), I highly recommend it. Tack Henrik! Kul att äntligen få lite mer grepp om Rökstenen. Den har funnits i min mentala fatabur sedan 80-talet och boken landade mycket lägligt. Min stackars son lär utsättas för en biltur till Rök i sommar...

[@explodingmonad4535]

Good video Jackson!

[@drakekay6577]

18:19 The pillars were lined up in a row. One side is the low half, the other side is the high half. I would say 1 through 10, and 11 through 20.

[@jkoperski9925]

Very enjoyable and interesting presentation and information. Thank you very much! A former Northern Europe student. Keep up the good work!

[@baskoning9896]

Some questions I have by just looking at the stone: Why are the lines not spaced out evenly? Since carving runes would be a daunting task, would it not be relatively easy to have straighter and more evenly spaced out lines? Why is one line broken? The second line from the left has a gap in it? What does that mean? My major question is this: if the left bottom corner has a piece broken off, that took some letters, how come the bottom line has letters starting inside the broken piece: while the line above it is gone? Was it restored at an earlier age, perhaps very early?

[@korgen-rock]

Veldig interessant , takker

[@gianninodibiase309]

Beautiful products, congratulations

[@tommygigg3500]

21:07 They're all named after the oldest brother. So like the Mario Brothers. Got it.

[@sarahmcgregor6006]

Or George Foreman the boxer! Named all his sons George too!!

[@zmudilago]

I live 2 km from th Rök-stone. It is truly an amazing piece of history and mythology.

[@thedamnyankee1]

You had an interesting trip to Northern Europe. some work, some play, some kettlebells.

[@marlenemikkelborg1278]

Den bedste forklaring på en Runesten til dags dato - tusind tak

[@robertl6196]

Yeah, I'm getting that book.

[@iwantlee9510]

It’s weird that these stones are such a rarity. We translated these in primary school, visited them on school trips, and I could even see one looking out of my window while growing up. To me these rune stones aren’t rare, but to non-Scandinavians I guess they are.

[@carlinberg]

Amazing video! Thanks to you both for this! At 41:02, has Henrik become influenced by Jackson's pronunciation of "why"?

[@bjorn_moren]

I've been there several times to see the stone, and it is really majestic. Since it has such a mix of styles and alphabets, maybe there wasn't just one author of the stone. Maybe a few different people over several generations.

[@germanicgems]

(svarar på engelska så fler kan läsa) We can tell that it was made by one carver from its uniformity. While it employs several ciphers, including a form of elder futhark, they are all carved by the same steady hand and follow a clearly designed layout.

[@bjorn_moren]

@@germanicgems Thanks Mårten.

[@sosteve9113]

I had the luck to visit it myself,very impressive

[@Grimhead]

Thanks for video!

[@ElixExo]

8:20 Interesting, the Japanese have a similar story about the sun going into hiding, could it be the same event?

[@Movetheproduct]

What and when is that Japanese story? really interested :)

[@ElixExo]

@@Movetheproduct It's the story of Amatarasu the sun goddess (8th century in the "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki"), the story goes that Susano the god of storms was playing around in heaven and accidentally destroyed some of Amatarasu's things. Saddened she hid in her room and withheld her light from the world. For this Susano was cast down to the earth for a time.

[@Ehzkaton]

The discussion at ~40:05 could also be interpreted in terms of the climate crisis of 536. Because of the excess aerosol in the atmosphere, a lunar eclipse will not be as red, even becoming grey or disappearing all together. So the "wolf doesn't redden" could be referring to the lack of red color in a lunar eclipse, as Dr.Henrik Williams points out the next line about "lady in waters of the holy" is likely in reference to the Sun or Moon. So one possible interpretation is that the wolf doesn't make the moon red when the Sun is reborn, which might make sense because of how lunar eclipses would have appeared when the Sun disappeared / came back.

[@jpilegaaard1278]

Another fantastic video….

[@gerardvila4685]

This is deeply fascinating, but I got confused - when is he talking about the SON and when is he talking about the SUN? If I understand correctly: It's the SUN gets eaten by Fenris Wolf (eclipsed) but whose daughter lights up Gimli the new paradise. It's the SON who dies in battle and is taken to Valhalla.

[@troelspeterroland6998]

I'm confused as well. I will have to rewatch the video. So annoying that they are homophones in English.

[@Xirpzy]

I think you would like Anundshög in Västerås, not far from Uppsala.

[@Vendelzor]

Very intersting video

[@midianpoet]

Thanks for sharing !

[@FlickFreaks]

The part I am having difficult understanding (most likely my own limited capacity) is this. I get how a story could be told on several stones. What I don’t get is the lack of linearity. Why skip parts 3-11 & immediately pick back up on part 12 in the exact same stone.

[@jonathanryals9934]

I speculate they wanted a "finished" product and intended to put it all on there but realized they didn't have room so they skipped to the end.

[@Reikianolla]

The thing is just that it's just a theory. There is so little to go on.

[@troelspeterroland6998]

Maybe, as a kind of funeral formula the poetry was so well known by everybody that it was perfectly fine to quote a bit from the beginning and a bit from the end.

[@jonathanryals9934]

@@Reikianolla yes, speculating about history is crucial to the discovery process but there are definite pitfalls. Having "pet theories" is a no-no.

[@germanicgems]

​@@samsonsoturian6013 Compared to any other runestone it is definitely not sloppily written. The orthography is extremely consistent and there are basically no errors.

[@carlsefni]

I suppose it will inevitably sound churlish if I say that I am not _really_ on board with the interpretation of the Rök inscription given here (or as published in the paper in "Futhark" from Williams and others in 2019), but I should emphasize that although I have issues with this _particular_ argument, in general I hold the work of Henrik Williams and his colleagues in the highest respect. 👍

[@sailonstellarwinds]

Disagreeing is always allowed, this is science.

[@carlsefni]

For what it is worth, here is a post on the 2019 Rök article I put on Facebook back when the article had first been published. I hope it shows that I'm open the re-interpretations, though I'm still fully on board with this one: It’s interesting [the article's argument], but I’m having trouble being convinced. There really seem to be several things going on in the article: it wants to link the “536 AD climate event” to the author’s interpretation of the early 9th-century Rök inscription. Firstly, the authors want to emphasize that the “536 AD climate event” had a significant impact on contemporary Scandinavian economics and society, and hence culture - and I think many are sympathetic to this understanding. They also want it to be understood that the effects of the “536 event” had a long afterlife in Scandinavian culture, still present even in the apocalyptic Ragnarök mythology of the Viking Age as reflected in medieval Icelandic sources. This is not entirely unreasonable, but it has to be fairly speculative, given the relative lack of earlier written (or comparative) sources. Then, the authors have a particular interpretation of the Rök stone, which is essentially that the father Varinn wishes to place the untimely death of his son VāmōðR in the context of the Norse myth of Ragnarök. This is not unreasonable; it reminds me of Joe Harris’s arguments that the death of Varinn is being placed in the context of a Baldr-type myth. However, I feel like their argument glosses very rapidly over some of the complicated philological problems of the inscription. To pick just one example, they accept Nordenstreng’s 1912 reading of “sakumukmini” as “Sagum Ygg minni”, noting that this is not “the standard linguistic interpretation” but not really providing an argument in support of their preferred “alternative” linguistic interpretation. I kind of feel like I want to see that argument. There are other similar issues of this kind, too, though this one is certainly a key element in their overall interpretation of the presence of the Ragnarök myth in the inscription. Overall, I think it’s one thing to argue that Scandinavian society and culture was affected by the “536 event”, or even that this effect might have had a lasting impact on the mythology, but then quite another to suggest an early 9th-century inscription is making fairly explicit reference to that event. Also, I think it’s one thing to argue that the Rök stone seeks to place the untimely death of the memorialized son within a mythic context (as others have done), but I think that the particular interpretation that the authors put forward would (potentially) benefit from more detailed philological support, especially where they choose to depart from more “familiar” interpretations. So, this is all fun and interesting, and very far indeed from the craziest things written about the Rök stone (some of which are quite crazy!), though I think the arguments should be stronger (especially on the linguistic/philological side). If that could be done, I think those arguments themselves would carry more weight than the interesting though inevitably speculative effort to link the inscription to the “536 event”.

[@carlsefni]

I would acknowledge that it's quite possible (perhaps even probable) that the space available in a single journal article would not have been sufficient to allow the (probably detailed and complicated) philological arguments that might more fully support the overall argument.

[@thesparkypilot]

Oh cool! I’ve been to this stone before!

[@end0skeleton404]

I'd buy a copy of that book.

[@anderskristoffersson6587]

A local myself, I should go look at it again.

[@GustavSvard]

I can hear you're both comfortable with the Old Norse language, but there's still a clear hint of English in Jackson's pronunciation and of Swedish in Henrik's. I'd say that Swedish is much more obvious in Henrik's Norse than in his English. Which is neither strange nor bad in any way, more just fun to notice.

[@MrBarborosa]

Fully earned lifestyle. You are top notch dude

[@cernunnos_lives]

Even though we can read the Stone, we still miss it's total meaning. It has important references that you & i don't understand. I'm hoping our new age can preserve as much possible. Context is everything. I'm hoping we look around these areas to find more of our forefathers.

[@rasmuskirkebk-jensen1772]

gonna buy that book

[@Eulemunin]

Only 45 minutes long? More please.

[@alexandriadesrameaux7208]

Hi sir. I just got curious about the runic language. I have a question. Is it possible the ancient people didn’t make a mistake. Could the used both forms of writing interchangeable? Can it be it’s like sling in English language? I am sorry if I don’t know anything about this subject but the video is soooo interesting.

[@Hin_Håle]

Wow that's fascinating! If Dr. Williams is right, that might be the most important piece of evidence for an ancient asatro ritual ever! That sends chills down my spine!

[@4further.information]

The Old Norse word raukr which became røk in Old Swedish roughly means "stack" or "pointed object",

[@RebeccaStone-e8q]

Hej! Har du gjort någon video vid Jellingstenen?

[@tylerdillon3745]

I'll buy an English copy of Dr. William's book!

[@jonnyueland7790]

The first part of the Rune-stone could be a description of the start of the dark ages, as the moon and sun would dim down (maybe for 12 moons/months). And that many people died . The back side, the one about the brothers could well be they had the same lastname, like Olafsøn and there sons would be called Olafsøn also.

[@Sandlund93]

So it doesn´t say anything about Erik, Björn or the formation of a sea route that ultimately lead to the founding of Sweden? I mean, if we are missing 500 years of our history it could be quite significant. Especially if it was hidden on purpose by say the aristocracy. Why would anyone do this unless they intended "to act, not to seem to be"?

[@islaannisainsworth4443]

Amazing video. Ty both. Stay curious & open to interpretations. IMHO I really dislike the word "heathen". 🙄 It's ugly. Everyone has some form of belief system. Who is to say what is correct. There are a million systems. Which is right?