Glavendrup Memorial Grove

In a memorial grove a few kilometres north of Glavendrup village in North Funen, you can view one of the stone ships that are a symbol of the Viking Age. The stones form the shape of a ship, which is about 60m long and 12m wide. A rune stone still stands at the prow of the the "ship” and carries the longest inscription found on a rune stone in Denmark: Ragnhildr raised this stone in memory of Alle the Pale, priest of the sanctuary, honourable thane of the royal guard. Alle’s sons made this monument in memory of their father, and his wife in memory of her husband. And Sote carved these runes in memory of his lord. Thor hallow these runes. He is cursed who damages this stone or drags it away for use in memory of another. Alle must have been a man of great status and power: he was both a thane and Goði. A thane means chief, and as above, a ‘Goði’ a kind of priest. The last sentence on the stone is a curse on anyone who might dare to move the stone. Ragnhild is, in all likelihood, the same woman who raised the Tryggevælde stone that was also part of a stone ship. She must have been an important woman, married twice with great men worthy of memorials for posterity. It was the same rune maker, Sote, who did the practical carving – and colouring – work. This monument really is worthy of a great chieftain, even though studies suggest Alle was not buried here.