This rune stone is located nearby the majestic Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, - a small town 42 miles southwest of Stockholm.
The runes were the old Scandinavian alphabet, which started to be used around 200 A.D. More than 90% of  the inscriptions on the rune stones were made during the 11:th century.

The History of Sweden:
Fourteen thousand years ago the whole of the present country of Sweden was covered by a thick ice cap. As the ice slowly retreated, man came to Sweden and the first known human dwelling place, which has been found in southern Sweden, dates from around 10,000 BC. The Bronze Age is marked in the Nordic region, especially in Denmark but also in Sweden, by a high level of culture, as is shown, for example, by the artefacts found in graves. After about 500 BC such artefacts become more rare as iron began to be more generally used. During the Early Iron Age (500 BC- 400 AD), the period of the great migrations (400- 550) and the socalled Vendel period (550- 800) the population of Sweden became a settled one and agriculture came to form the basis for the economy and for society. 

The Viking Age, 800-1050, was characterized by a marked expansion, which in the case of Sweden was mainly directed eastwards. Many Viking expeditions set off from Sweden with the mixed purpose of plunder and trade along the coasts of the Baltic Sea and the rivers which stretched deep into present-day Russia, where Swedish Vikings established trading stations and short- lived principalities. At the same time, Christianity first reached Sweden with 
the mission of Ansgar. However, it was not until the eleventh century that Sweden was Christianized. Even then the old pagan Nordic religion survived until far into the twelfth century. Sweden's expansion in the east continued during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries through the incorporation of Finland into the Swedish kingdom after several crusades.

Geography:
Sweden is the fifth largest country in Europe, by area. Treriksröset in the north, where the borders of Sweden, Norway and Finland meet, is as far north as the north of Alaska. More than half of Sweden is covered by forests. About 100,000 lakes covers nine per cent of the area. 

Northern Sweden has long and cold winters with lots of snow and bright summers; in June and July daylight lasts around the clock: the famous midnight sun. In December they don't get any daylight at all...

Population:
About 8.9 million inhabitants. This includes about half a million foreign citizens living here. The largest group are from Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Iran and Turkey.
Since ancient times, the Sami (Lapps) have inhabited northern Europe. They still live here as a minority group within our society, with their own language and culture. They used to live as nomads, mainly on reindeer herding. Some still do,
but many have merged with the majority population. Life expectancy in Sweden is nowadays one of the highest in the world: about 76 years for men and 82 for women. The fertility level of 1.5 children per woman (1998) is the lowest ever in Sweden but still above average in Europe.

Religion:
Around 85% of us belong to the Church of Sweden, which is Lutheran since the 16th century, when we adopted the teachings of Martin Luther and broke loose from the Roman Catholic Church. Because of the immigrants, memberships in other churches are increasing. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest, then there are Orthodox and Oriental churches, the Estonian Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and mosques for the muslims are being built in many parts of the country.

Politics:
Sweden is a monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. Our King, Carl XVI Gustaf, has only ceremonial functions nowadays. The parliament's members are directly elected by proportional representation for four-year periods. We get to vote from the age of 18. 
Capital: Stockholm (1,6 million people in 1996)
2nd largest city: Göteborg
Population: 8,8 million in 1997
GNP per capita: 22 499 US dollars (1994)
~
Translation of the Swedish national anthem

"Thou ancient, thou freeborn, thou mountainous North,
In beauty and peace our hearts beguiling,
I greet thee, thou loveliest land on the earth,
Thy sun, thy skies, thy verdant meadows smiling.
Thy sun, thy skies, thy verdant meadows smiling." 

"Thy throne rests on mem'ries from great days of yore,
When worldwide renown was valour's guerdon.
I know to thy name thou art true as before.
Oh, I would live and I would die in Sweden,
Oh, I would live and I would die in Sweden." 
~
Swedes are by tradition among the most frequent readers of newspapers. In 1996, with 465 newspapers per 1,000 people, Sweden was ranked fourth behind Norway, Japan and Finland. Sweden has 13 million telephones, or 46 times the number of Costa Rica. 
The life expectancy of males in Sweden is 76.5 years, or 8 years longer than in Poland. Infant mortality in Sweden is 3.93 deaths per 1000 births, compared to 5.87 in UK. Sweden has 105,000 km of paved highways, compared to 3.90 million km in USA. Sweden has 255 airports, Spain has 98. Sweden and Syria have about the same amount of land boundaries, (2,205/2,253 km). The land forests in Sweden is 66 times that of Denmark (279,431/4,239 sq km). Every Swede consumes 10.6 times as much electricity (kWh per year) as a person in French Polynesia.