Kylver Stone

The Kylver stone, listed in the Rundata catalog as runic inscription G 88, is a Swedish runestone which dates from about 400 AD.

[1] The stone was a flat limestone rock used to seal a grave and the runic inscription was written on the underside, and could therefore not be read from above.

[1] The Kylver stone was removed from Gotland and brought to the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm where it is on display As of 2022[update].

The fact that the inscription was on the inside of a cover to a grave has resulted in speculation that it represented a use of the Elder Futhark to pacify the dead man in some manner.

[2] The Kylver stone is inscribed with the earliest known sequential listing of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark,[4] …ᚢ[f]uᚦþᚨaᚱrᚲkᚷg…[w]ᚺhᚾnᛁiᛃjᛈpᛇïᛉzᛊsᛏtᛒbᛖeᛗmᛚlᛜŋᛞdᛟo…ᚢ ᚦ ᚨ ᚱ ᚲ ᚷ … ᚺ ᚾ ᛁ ᛃ ᛈ ᛇ ᛉ ᛊ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛜ ᛞ ᛟ[f]u þ a r k g [w] h n i j p ï z s t b e m l ŋ d owith the a (ᚨ), s (ᛊ), and b runes (ᛒ) mirrored compared to later use, and the z rune (ᛉ) upside down (ᛦ).