Ulfr of Borresta: Three Payments from England

Direct evidence: a rune stone in Uppland, Sweden, names a man, Ulfr, and the three payments he took in England.

The stone, catalogued as U 344, was found at Yttergärde in 1868 and now stands at Orkesta church. It says that Ulfr took three payments in England, and names who paid them in order: Tosti, then Þorketill, then Knútr. A second stone, U 343, raised by his sons, reported his death and is now lost. Modern accounts tie the names to particular campaigns, and so give dates, but that is a further step beyond the carving. The stone does not describe fighting, a rank or a term of service. It records money received, and an overseas payment can also be read from the other side: it meant extraction from the people who paid it, whoever took it.

What is recorded: a man called Ulfr, three payments, England as the place, and three payers named in a fixed order. One article suggests that long gaps between payments mean he returned to Sweden after each and lived as a wealthy landowner, which is an inference.

What is not recorded: which campaigns the payers belonged to, the sums, whether Ulfr fought or was paid as part of a force, his rank, and what the people who paid went through. Matching the names to dated events is later scholarly work, so no dates are given here. He should not be described as a soldier with a service record.