Roman tombstones are pretty systematic – Latin is neat, titles line up, and the dates are usually spelled out in a predictable way. Viking runes are more compact, the text wraps in a spiral or a horizontal line, and a lot of narrative is squeezed into a few symbols. If you’re looking for straight‑forward narrative detail, the Romans keep a clearer record of who died and when. Vikings, on the other hand, embed poetic imagery, but the story is harder to parse without knowing the runic alphabet. I always keep a sheet of notes on each site; I can’t remember your birthday but I’ll never forget the stone’s inscription.

Right, the trick is that a single rune can signal a patronymic or a place of origin, and the Romans use titles like “pater familias” to signal social status. I’ll jot that down in my notebook, but don’t expect me to recall your birthday while I’m sorting the epitaphs.