+INONIN […]

The runic monument at Karlevi on Öland (Öl 1) has a fragmentary and garbled Latin inscription on its back side, probably executed by the same person/s responsible for the runic inscription. This article investigates possible analogs for the Latin phrase, suggests how the carvers might have come across it, and investigates its significance for the monument as a whole. It concludes by arguing that the Latin phrase serves a similar apotropaic function to invocations of the god Þórr on other Viking Age runestones.