Abstract
This thesis aims to present the criteria that could possibly be used to determine the social status of the people mentioned in runic memorial inscriptions. The time frame chosen for the corpus used for the study is the Viking Age and Early Medieval Period, and the region is what is known as modern day Norway. Memorial runestones have been a tradition throughout this time in all of Scandinavia, but the corpus within Norway includes only 51 runestones. The majority of memorials doesn’t directly tell which social standing the people mentioned had. Therefore criteria are needed to further discuss how status could be determined. While some criteria are rather objective and show a clear picture of who the person mentioned was, other criteria are not as clear. The first part of the analysis lists the chosen criteria and mentions the runestones from the corpus. Furthermore, it explores which runestones satisfy each criterion. The second part consists of case studies of three specific runestones. Based on the criteria discussed, all three cases mention individuals who can be determined to have enjoyed higher social status.