Long before the Edda was written down, the people of Gotland told their stories in stone – in images that still puzzle us today.
On the Swedish Baltic island of Gotland, hundreds of picture stones have survived – upright stone slabs decorated with images over many centuries. They are a unique source: here we see the myths as the people themselves imagined them.
On the larger stones, scenes are stacked one above another like the panels of a comic: at the top often a rider on an eight-legged horse – Odin on Sleipnir riding into Valhalla – below it a longship under full sail, along with warriors, women with mead-horns and mysterious knots like the Valknut.
The oldest stones date from the 5th century, the most artful from the Viking Age. Many stood by roads and graves as memorials. Because we often know the accompanying stories only in fragments, some scenes remain uninterpreted to this day.
The picture stones show a basic principle of Norse culture: a whole story can be held in a single image. Our laser-engraved Atli motif on teak takes up exactly this idea – a saga told in a single image.
We link to the picture-stone database and museums in our Library.