The Stone on Randbøl Heath

Randbøl Heath is 10km west of the bridge at Ravning Enge and the Randbøl stone is still in its original location. The inscription reads: “Tue the steward raised this stone in memory of his wife. These runes will live very long for Thorgunn”. This Thorgunn is probably the woman whose remains were found under the stone when it was discovered in 1874. The Randbøl stone is one of the few examples of rune stones placed on top of a mound or as part of a grave, so it’s likely that it was raised before the introduction of Christianity. In written sources from the early Middle Ages, Old Norse "brytia" was mostly used for a steward, but also for king’s men. The text on the Randbøl stone has the same style as the Ravnung-Tue rune stone at the Klebæk Mound, and the band of text on both the Randbøl and the Bække stones have a serpent head flourish.