The stones on this update are all from the Swedish island Gotland. The earliest picture stones are from around 400 AD, and they are quite small and contain no runes. Read more about the different styles and the dating of them here.

Every year I do a rune stone-trip with my Russian friend Ogneslav. He flies from Moscow and I fly from Oslo to Stockholm. Then we rent a car for a few days, and visit as many rune stone sites that we possibly can. We normally stay in Uppland and Sörmland, 'cause there are enough of them there for plenty of visits. Not this year though, and that is of course due to the Covid-19 situation.

I've been to Gotland three times. The first time I was a teenager who was more interested in swimming in the sea. The second time my historical interest had awoken, but I didn't take many photos back then. The third time was in 2013 - we were two couples spending one week on the island looking closely at nature; birds and wild flowers, but not so much at medieval churches and rune stones as I would have wanted. My Russian friend has been on Gotland several times, and he has taken most of the photos of the Gotland rune stones. You'll soon recognize his logo on the bottom corner of his photos.

Explore and enjoy.