Editing Runestone (section)

==Imagery==
{{main|Urnes style|Runestone styles|Runemaster}}
[[File:Sigurd.svg|thumb|upright|A drawing of the Ramsund inscription, in the province of Södermanland, Sweden]]
The inscription is usually arranged inside a band, which often has the shape of a serpent, a dragon or a quadruped beast.<ref name="national"/>

===Norse legends===
It appears from the imagery of the Swedish runestones that the most popular Norse legend in the area was that of [[Sigurd]] the dragon slayer.<ref name="Jansson144">Jansson 1987:144</ref> He is depicted [[Sigurd stones|on several runestones]], but the most famous of them is the [[Sigurd stones#Sö 101|Ramsund inscription]]. The inscription itself is of a common kind that tells of the building of a bridge, but the ornamentation shows Sigurd sitting in a pit thrusting his sword, forged by [[Regin]], through the body of the dragon, which also forms the runic band in which the runes are engraved. In the left part of the inscription lies Regin, who is beheaded with all his smithying tools around him. To the right of Regin, Sigurd is sitting and he has just burnt his thumb on the dragon's heart that he is roasting. He is putting the thumb in his mouth and begins to understand the [[language of birds|language]] of the [[marsh tit|marsh-tits]] that are sitting in the tree. They warn him of Regin's schemes. Sigurd's horse [[Grani]] is also shown tethered to the tree.<ref name="Jansson145">Jansson 1987:145</ref>

Another important personage from the legend of the [[Nibelung]]s is [[Gunther|Gunnarr]]. On the [[Sigurd stones#Sö 40|Västerljung Runestone]], there are three sides and one of them shows a man whose arms and legs are encircled by snakes. He is holding his arms stretched out gripping an object that may be a harp, but that part is damaged due to flaking.<ref name="Jansson145"/> The image appears to be depicting an older version of the Gunnarr legend in which he played the harp with his fingers, which appears in the archaic eddic poem ''[[Atlakviða]]''.<ref name="Jansson146">Jansson 1987:146</ref>

===Norse myths===
[[File:Fenris Ledbergsstenen 20041231.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Odin]] attacked by [[Fenrir]] on the [[Ledberg stone]], Sweden]]
The Norse god who was most popular was [[Thor]],<ref name="Jansson149">Jansson 1987:149</ref> and the [[Altuna Runestone]] in [[Uppland]] shows Thor's fishing expedition when he tried to capture the [[Jörmungandr|Midgard Serpent]].<ref name="Jansson150">Jansson 1987:150</ref> Two centuries later, the Icelander [[Snorri Sturluson]] would write: "The Midgarth Serpent bit at the ox-head and the hook caught in the roof of its mouth. When it felt that, it started so violently that both Thor's fists went smack against the gunwale. Then Thor got angry, assumed all his godly strength, and dug his heels so sturdily that his feet went right through the bottom of the boat and he braced them on the sea bed." (Jansson's translation).<ref name="Jansson151ff">Jansson 1987:151ff</ref> The Altuna Runestone has also included the foot that went through the planks.<ref name="Jansson152">Jansson 1987:152</ref>

It appears that [[Ragnarök]] is depicted on the [[Ledberg stone]] in [[Östergötland]]. On one of its sides it shows a large warrior with a helmet, and who is bitten at his feet by a beast. This beast is, it is presumed, [[Fenrir]], the brother of the Midgard Serpent, and who is attacking [[Odin]]. On the bottom of the illustration, there is a prostrate man who is holding out his hands and who has no legs. There is a close parallel from an illustration at Kirk Andreas on the Isle of Man. The Manx illustration shows Odin with a spear and with [[Hugin and Munin|one of his ravens]] on his shoulders, and Odin is attacked in the same way as he is on the Ledberg stone. Adding to the stone's spiritual content is a magic formula that was known all across the world of the pagan Norsemen.<ref name="Jansson152"/>

On one of the stones from the [[Hunnestad Monument]] in [[Scania]], there is an image of a woman riding a wolf using snakes as reins. The stone may be an illustration of the giantess [[Hyrrokin]] ("fire-wrinkled"), who was summoned by the gods to help launch [[Baldr]]'s funeral ship ''[[Hringhorni]]'', which was too heavy for them. It was the [[warg|same kind of wolf]] that is referred to as the "Valkyrie horse" on the [[Rök runestone]].<ref name="Jansson152"/>