The stone has inscriptions on two sides, called side A and side B. Side A consists of an inscription of two lines (A1 and A2), and side B consists of an inscription of three lines (B1, B2 and B3),[2] each line done in boustrophedon style.[3]
The A side reads:
A1: ekwiwazafter·woduri
A2: dewitadahalaiban:worathto·?[---
The B side reads:
B1: ????zwoduride:staina:
B2: þrijozdohtrizdalidun
B3: arbijasijostezarbijano
The transcription of the runic text is:
A: Ek Wiwaz after Woduride witandahlaiban worhto r[unoz].
I, Wiwaz, made the runes after Woduridaz, my lord. For me, Woduridaz, three daughters, the most distinguished of the heirs, prepared the stone.[4]
The name Wiwaz means 'the promised one', from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ-ós[citation needed], while Woduridaz means 'fury-rider'.[3] The phrase witandahlaiban, translated as 'my lord', literally means 'ward-bread' or 'guardian of the bread'.[5][6] (The English word lord similarly originates from Old English hlāford < hlāf-weard, literally 'loaf-ward', i.e. 'guardian of the bread'.)
The runic inscription was first interpreted by Sophus Bugge in 1903 and Carl Marstrander in 1930, but the full text was not interpreted convincingly until 1981 by Ottar Grønvik in his book Runene på Tunesteinen. A later interpretation was made by Terje Spurkland in 2001.[7]
Spurkland's translation differs somewhat from the translation given above, running:
I, Vi, in memory of Vodurid, the bread lord, made runes
I left Vodurid the stone. Three daughters prepared the burial ale, the most godborne of the heirs[7]
Grønvik and Marstrander also agree the three daughters prepared the burial ale, rather than the stone.
Nielsen, Hans Frede (2006). "The Early Runic Inscriptions and German Historical Linguistics". In Stoklund, Marie; Nielsen, Michael Lerche; et al. (eds.). Runes and Their Secrets: Studies in Runology. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN87-635-0428-6.
