The curvilinear – rounded – designs containing carved runes on a number of tombstones can be found around the Uppsala domkyrka (cathedral). The historic province of Uppland, Sweden – of which Uppsala was the centre – has the largest concentration of runestones in the world and about half of them date to after the area’s conversion to Christianity, beginning in the 8th century. Nonetheless, carving runes on stones follows a long Viking tradition that goes back perhaps as early as the 4th century AD.

The carving on the cathedral’s runestone Fv1976 107 is attributed to the runestone master, Ofeigr Öpir (or Ofæigʀ Øpiʀ in Old Norse), who carved runes in the late 11th to early 12th century AD in the Uppland region. His style uses a single serpent in the rounded form of a figure of eight which, in turn, serves as the outline for the runes. More convoluted rounds…