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Chap. LUI.
RUNIC STONES.
349
of booty, but at the same time anxious for the future
safety of their souls, killed two birds with one stone—
they founded churches and prayed to the saints. The
church itself differs from the two preceding ones, which
are supported by one solid pillar; here the centre is
open and supported by six round arches. A broad cross
spans the round-arch dome, resting on simple brackets.
The arrangement is similar, on a smaller scale, to
that of the Temple de Lanleff, in the neighbourhood of
St. Brieuc, in Brittany. Unfortunately, these round
churches are so defaced by galleries, pews, &c., it is
difficult to judge of their proportions; and the apse
here, which with the exterior is of fine old Norman
work, is so bedaubed with whitewash as entirely to
obscure the carvings with which it is decorated.
At the entrance without stands a Runic stone, dug
out some years since from the bridge of the Devil’s
Creek,—dating from the Christian period, for in the
centre is inscribed a cross. The. signification of this
I know not. Bornholm is rich in Runic stones, many
of the Christian era. In the church of St. Clemens
stand two of picturesque appearance under the shade of
a walnut-tree, inscribed as follows. The first is of
heathen times :—“ Gobu Sven raised this stone to his son
Bjørn, who was a mighty and a strong man. He had a
wife named Godruna, and he was slain by the Jari.”
The second: “Selfia raised this stone to her husband
Gudbjørn. Christ help Gudbjørn Alerson’s soul. Christ
help the pious Selfia.” . Selfia appears to have had a
good opinion of herself. These inscriptions mostly run
in the same style ; those of Pagan days merely stating
who raised the stone and the manner of the death of
the deceased, while the later ones for the most part
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