Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - I. Prehistoric Times - C. The Iron Age
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
16 A History of Sweden
At the time of Christ the Romans were the masters
of a very large part of the known world. In Europe
they extended their sway to the Danube and the Rhine,
and came in contact with many of the Teutonic tribes.
With them they carried on a brisk trade, which ex-
tended even into Sweden, carrying with it large quan-
tities of coins, utensils of bronze, glassware, weapons,
and ornaments. In recent times large numbers of such
articles have been dug up from Swedish soil. With this
traffic came also the knowledge of the alphabet.
The older Runic alphabet in use in early times by
all the Teutonic tribes numbered twenty-four letters.
After the Scandinavian people had differentiated from
the other Teutons in language only sixteen letters were
needed. These are known as the Younger Runes and
were used only in the North. They were the following :
r h > * fc K :* -M * h :
t fc h Y ,k
futhork hnias tblmr
The Runic inscriptions are usually short, only stat-
ing to whose memory and by whom the stone had been
erected. The good qualities of the departed are often
named. "A good peasant," "A very good man" are
common expressions. Sometimes whole verses are in-
scribed on the stones, as for instance :
Torsten had
this stone erected
to himself and
son of his, Hefne.
Gone to England
had the youth,
died thus, at home
to much sorrow.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
