302 



GEA VES. 



round mounds and cairns exist in different parts of the world, 

 and in Scandinavia as far back as the stone and bronze ages ; 

 the vast number of bautastones seen all over the country 

 shows also how well the injunctions of Odin were carried out 

 by his followers in that respect. Some of these are very 

 imposing, and their dark forms look weird enough against the 

 landscape or the clear or gloomy sky. One of the finest stood 



Fig. 711. Bautastone ( from grave shown on p. 301) with nineteen runes ; -, 1 , real size ; 

 5 feet 8 inches in height ; width, 3 feet 2 inches ; 9 inches thick ; length of runt 1 , 

 2 feet 1J inches. 



in Brastod parish, Bohuslan, now lying prostrate and broken, 

 its height being 26 feet ; and its place was on one corner of a 

 stone set of rectangular graves 40 feet in length and 28 feet 

 in width. 



