The royal runestone U 11 in Hovgården, Adelsö

Runestone U 11
The royal runestone in Hovgården, Adelsö, Ekerö municipality

This runestone is placed on its original location in an ancient harbor at Hovgården on Adelsö.

This royal runestone located at Adelsö is not one of Sweden’s most beautiful runestones, but it must be part of this list since it has so much to tell us. It is also a big part in my historical travels.

Around 1065 the big rock was transported to this place, weighing 7 tons. The surface was placed so that all boats would see it when they entered the harbor. The runestone must have given the king a lot of credit.

Today the runestone is heavily damaged due to the fact that people has used it for a fire place. Lighting leaning branches on the sloping surface apparently gave the fire a lot of oxygen.

Some of the décor on the right hand side has been lost along with some runes. In a few places there are some cracks too.

The décor was well planned beforehand, even if it did not turn out as beautiful and harmonious as the runecarver probably had wanted. The runes give us a lot of information about the king’s farm and of the keeper Tolir and his family.