“The two brothers Jokul and Thorstein were to meet Finnbogi for a Holmganga.[[154]] As he did not come, they took a post from the latter’s farm; Jokul carved a man’s head at one end, and traced in runes an account of what had occurred that day” (Vatnsdæla, 34).
The inscriptions of the earlier runes, the translation of which must be received with extreme caution, are short, while those of a later period are much longer.
Fig. 291.—Runic stone, showing transition between earlier and later runes, about 4½ feet above ground; breadth, 2 feet 4 inches.—Stentofte, Blekinge, Sweden.
Fig. 292.—Part of stone block, with earlier runes.—Torvik, Norway. Eight feet 10 inches in length by 2 feet 2 inches wide, with a thickness of from 2⅓ to 3⅛ feet.
Fig. 293.—Red quartz stone, with earlier runes and warrior on horseback. Height, 8 feet 3 inches, but only 6 feet above ground; greatest breadth, 5 feet.—Hagby, Upland.
Fig. 294.—Granite slab of a stone coffin in a grave-mound, forming one of the sides 1
15 real size.—Torvik, Hardanger, Norway.