Frögärd i Ösby

Frögärd Ulvsdotter i Ösby (11th century) was a Swedish Norse woman. She was according to a common misconception believed to be a Viking Age female runemaster. This notion is based on Erik Brate's [1] erroneous interpretation of runestone U 203. As early as 1943, Elias Wessén convincingly demonstrated that the sequence in question cannot be read as a carver's signature.[2] Also, the place name uisby should be read Väsby rather than Ösby.

U 194 in Väsby has been erroneously attributed to Frögärd.
Uppland Runic Inscription U 203 beside Angarn Church in Uppland

U 203 was raised by Ale (or Alle) in memory of his son Ulv, “father to Frögärd in Väsby”. Ale (Alle) is also responsible for runestone U 194, which he raised in memory of himself while he was still alive. According to this inscription, Ale (Alle) received a share of Canute the Great’s Danegeld in 1017. Thus, Frögärd was probably a member of a wealthy family and the only beneficiary of her father's and grandfather's inheritance. Birgit Sawyer suggests that Ale's (Alle's) purpose with U 203 could have been to take care of his underage granddaughter's inheritance.[3]

Both U 194 and U 203 are carved by Åsmund Kåresson.

An actual Swedish female Viking Age runemaster was Gunnborga.

References
  1. Erik Brate: Svenska runristare (Swedish runmasters) (1925), p. 13 (in Swedish)
  2. Upplands runinskrifter 1, s. 307 ff.
  3. Birgit Sawyer (2000). The Viking-age Rune-stones: Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia. Oxford University Press. p. 58 n., 65. ISBN 978-0-19-820643-9.


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