TheHällestad Runestones are threerunestones located in the walls ofHällestad Church in Torna-Hällestad, about 20 kilometers east ofLund inSkåne, southernSweden. TheirRundata identifiers are DR 295, 296, and 297. DR 295 is notable because it is held to be raised in memory of a warrior who fell in the legendaryBattle of the Fýrisvellir,^[1] nearUppsala, Sweden between theJomsvikings led byStyrbjörn the Strong and Styrbjörn's uncleEric the Victorious, theking of Sweden, c. 985.^[2] The other stones were raised by the same people, and they probably formed a monument together in memory of comrades lost in the battle. TheKarlevi Runestone, theEgtved Runestone and theSjörup Runestone may be connected to them.

Thissandstone runestone, which is walled into the south-western corner of the church of Hällestad, has been known since the late 17th century.^[3] The inscription begins in the left row on the front side and follows theboustrophedon order of reading.^[4] The inscription is dated to the late 10th century, and shows an early dottedk-rune which represents the g-phoneme inaigi^[1] It also contains an unusual dottedm-rune (), which is however only for decorative purposes since it does not change the pronunciation^[1] (compare theTransjö Runestone). An interesting detail is the fact that it callsToki Gormsson "brother", which should be interpreted as "brother-in-arms" and not a biological brother.^[1] TheViking Age warbands consisted of brotherhoods, where each member had equal worth, including the warchief who in this case was Toki Gormsson.^[1] Toki was probably the son of the Danish kingGorm the Old, who died c. 958 or 959.^[1] This Toki is not remembered by the Norse sagas but, unlike the sagas, the runestones constitute contemporary documentation.^[1] Also notable is that the stone reports that the men went closest to Toki, meaning that the best warriors formed a shield circle around the warchief during battle in order to show fealty to their leader (compare with theKålsta Runestone).^[1] The hill which is referred to was probably abarrow in which the brothers-in-arms buried Toki according to the traditions of the time.^[1]

First line is transliteration; second is transcription in Old Norse.

This runestone is contemporary with the preceding runestone and it is made ofgranite. The inscription refers to Erra as Tóki'shemþægi orheimþegi (pl.heimþegar), meaning "home-receiver" (i.e., one who is given a house by another).^[5] A total of six runestones in Denmark refer to a person with this title, the others besides DR 296 and DR 297 beingDR 1,DR 3, DR 154, and DR 155. The use of the term in the inscriptions suggest a strong similarity betweenheimþegar and theOld Norse termhúskarl (literally, "house man"), orhousecarl. Like housecarls,heimþegar are in the service of a king or lord, of whom they receive gifts (here, homes) for their service.^[5] Some, likeJohannes Brøndsted, have interpretedheimþegi as being nothing more than a local Danish variant ofhúskarl.^[6]

This runestone is contemporary with the preceding runestones and it is made ofsandstone. It is probably made by the samerunemaster as DR 295. Similar to DR 296, the inscription also refers to Ásbjôrn as being Toki'shemþægi.

• Arild Hauge's page on Danish runestones.
• Picture of DR 295.
• Picture 1 of DR 296.
• Picture 2 of DR 296.
• Picture of DR 297.
• Carl L. Thunberg (2012):Slaget på Fyrisvallarna i ny tolkning (The Battle of Fýrisvellir in a New Interpretation)

• Enoksen, Lars Magnar. (1998).Runor : historia, tydning, tolkning. Historiska Media, Falun.ISBN 91-88930-32-7
• Rundata

• 10th-century inscriptions
• Runestones in memory of Viking warriors
• Jomsvikings
• Runestones in Scania
• Lund Municipality

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata