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During the last years, our understanding of runic inscriptions has changed thoroughly when runology processed recent developments in the Humanities. One of the more radical proposals, as postulated in two papers by Judith Jesch and anders andrén respectively, was the idea that meaning in runic inscriptions of the Viking age could be created by relating words visually which were not connected grammatically. as this would gravely affect runological methodology as well as our idea of Viking age runic literacy, these assumptions were scrutinizingly checked. The critique focused on two points: on the one hand, both studies were based on the analysis of a few exemplary sources and not of a representative corpus; on the other hand, it seems impossible to distinguish whether the proximity of words was intentionally arranged by the carver or occurred by chance. in this paper, the second argument is addressed. Two pairs of rune-stones (Dr 2 + 4 from 10th-century Jutland, U 644 + 654 from 11th-century Uppland) are analyzed, each couple bearing near-identical inscriptions and being erected by the same sponsor(s) to commemorate the same person. Despite differences in wording and layout, identical visual patterns of related words can be found on both monuments of each pair. Obviously, they were intentionally placed. an interpretation reveals that these patterns of proximity emphasized or even augmented the content of the inscriptions. The placing of words in close proximity to each other appears as a stylistic device to create meaning, employed at least by the rune-carvers of these four inscriptions, but probably known to other rune-wise persons in Viking age Scandinavia.

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