The most verbose of all the Varangian stones – the Turinge Runestone in Sweden – is devoted to a Viking chief in service of Kyiv King Yaroslav the Wise at the beginning of the XI century

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1930

This is a runestone raised in the church of Turinge. It is in sandstone, in the style Pr4 and it was made in memory of the chieftain of a warband. It is the most verbose of all the Varangian stones, and it was probably made in the mid-11th century.

Omeljan Pritsak identifies this Þorsteinn with Þorsteinn of the Veda inscription, who bought an estate for his son with money earned in Kievan Rus’. He suggests that Þorsteinn was the commander of the retinue of Yaroslav I the Wise and that his son Erinmundr may have died in Kievan Rus’ while serving under his father.” (Wikipedia)

“Yaroslav had at least three of his daughters married to foreign princes who lived in exile at his court:

  • Elisiv of Kiev to Harald Harðráði[10] (who attained her hand by his military exploits in the Byzantine Empire);
  • Anastasia of Kiev to the future Andrew I of Hungary;[10]
  • Anne of Kiev married Henry I of France[10] and was the regent of France during their son’s minority (she was Yaroslav the Wise’s most beloved daughter);
  • (possibly) Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile, of the royal family of England, the mother of Edgar the Ætheling and Saint Margaret of Scotland.” (Wikipedia)

This runestone is mentioned in the “Kyiv Rus in Heimskringla Sagas and Byzantine Texts” book with several other runestones and insights to the events described on them.

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