"A Viking farmer's grief carved in runes on a Scanian hilltop, still legible after a thousand years"
Västra Strö Stone Circle
Eslövs kommun, Skåne län, Sweden
On a low mound in the flat agricultural plain northwest of Eslov, seven stones form a circle erected by a Viking Age farmer named Fader to honor his dead brother and business partner. Two of the stones bear runic inscriptions that preserve a thousand-year-old story of loss at sea and in distant northern lands. A face mask carved on one stone watches over the memorial.
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Quick Facts
Location
Eslövs kommun, Skåne län, Sweden
Coordinates
55.8759, 13.2428
Last Updated
Feb 17, 2026
Learn More
The Vastra Stro monument was erected around 960-1050 CE by a wealthy farmer named Fader to memorialize his brother Asser, who died on a Viking expedition, and his ship-partner Bjorn. The monument combines runic inscriptions, standing stones, and a carved face mask in a configuration that reflects Viking Age memorial, territorial, and possibly ritual practices.
Origin Story
The runic inscriptions tell the story directly. DR 334 records that Fader had runes carved for his brother Asser, who found death in the north, in viking. DR 335 states that Fader raised the stone for Bjorn, who owned a ship with him. These inscriptions preserve a narrative of seafaring partnership, northern expedition, and death far from home that is characteristic of Viking Age Scandinavian life.
The phrase 'in viking' is significant. It uses the term as a description of activity rather than identity: Asser died while engaging in viking, the pursuit of trade, raiding, or exploration in northern waters. Where exactly he died, and in what circumstances, the runes do not say.
Key Figures
Fader (Fadir)
Wealthy farmer and ship co-owner who commissioned the monument to honor his dead brother and business partner, ensuring their names would endure beyond death
Asser (Ozurr)
Fader's brother, who died 'in the north, in viking' on an expedition whose destination and circumstances remain unknown
Bjorn
Fader's business partner in ship ownership, memorialized on DR 335
Ole Worm
Danish antiquarian who described the monument in the seventeenth century, providing the earliest modern documentation of the site
Spiritual Lineage
The monument connects to the broader Viking Age tradition of runestone commemoration that flourished across Scandinavia from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. Approximately 2,500 runestones survive in Sweden, many of them memorials to individuals who died on expeditions abroad. The Vastra Stro stones belong to the RAK classification, the oldest style of Viking Age runic inscription, placing them among the earliest examples of this commemorative tradition.
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