24/05/2026
G 225 Gotland: Svenskens, Endre socken
rani : ao þn uikur
butfus ÷ fai[i]
Rane äger detta spjut.
Botfus ristade.
English:
Rane owns this spear.
Botfus carved it.
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The spearhead was discovered in 1917 when the farmer Karl Johan Malt of Svenskens in Endre parish was digging a field between Svenskens in Endre and Stora Vede in Follingbo. It is made of iron, but bears runic inscriptions on two sides covered with silver. In the image, taken at an exhibition at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, the end of the inscription is visible, reproduced in the second line above.
The name of the carver is recorded in Gotlands runinskrifter as Bōtfōs. However, what is visible in the inscription on the spearhead is clearly Bukfus, for which no explanation is given in Gotlands runinskrifter, despite a several-page discussion. The Rundata database transliterates the name as butfus.
Carver: Botfus
Photo: Christer Hamp
https://www.christerhamp.se/runor/gamla/g/g225.html
