Today we visited Suenos Stone in Forres, at the start of our journey further north to Dornoch.

The stone stands over 6.5 metres high and is the largest surviving Pictish stone of its type.  It is an upright cross slab with interwoven vine symbols on the edge panels. It is carved from sandstone and not surprisingly has suffered considerable weathering in places. The western face has a carved Celtic Cross with elaborately interlaced decoration and a poorly preserved figural scene (perhaps a royal inauguration) set in a panel below the cross. The east face has four panels that show a large battle scene. The top panel is quite weathered and shows rows of horsemen. The second panel depicts armed foot soldiers and the third panel shows the decapitated vanquished soldiers. The base panel depicts the victorious army leaving the battlefield.

In the early 1990s the stone was encased in armoured glass to prevent further erosion.

There is general agreement that the stone dates from between the 9th and 10th centuries.  The traditional interpretation of the battle scene was that it shows a victory by Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) (reigned 1005–1034) against Danes or Norse led by Sueno.  More recent interpretations suggested that the stone displayed the final triumph of the Christian Gaels over their, supposedly heathen Pictish enemies. Another holds that Sueno's Stone commemorates an unknown victory by the Gaelicized  Picts of the lands south of the Mounth (a range of hills on the southern edge of Strathdee) over the men of Moray, those of the lands north of the Mounth.