A Minnesota farmer named Olof Ohman said he found the buried Kensington Runestone stone on his farm. Others say he carved it in about 1898 as a joke.
Posted on 04/09/2004 7:03:23 PM PDT by quidnunc
Scholars who believe the Kensington Runestone is a 19th-century prank — and not concrete evidence that Norsemen beat Columbus to America by 100-plus years — say they have found the smoking gun to prove it.
The latest in the century-old Minnesota controversy came in documents written in 1885 by an 18-year-old Swedish tailor named Edward Larsson. He sometimes wrote in runes — an ancient Scandinavian language that differs from the English alphabet. But Larsson's runes were not the usual runes used over the centuries.
The scholars contend that parts of his documents seem to be written in a secret runic alphabet used by tradesmen in Sweden in the late 1800s, rather like codes that tramps have used over time to leave secret messages for each other.
Swedish linguists happened upon Larsson's documents recently and found that his writing corresponds to pieces of the Kensington Runestone inscription. They say that the journeymen's code did not exist in medieval times, when the Kensington Runestone is purported to have been carved.
"My opinion is this once again nails down the case against the Kensington Runestone," said Michael Michlovic, professor of anthropology and chairman of the Department of Anthropology and Earth Science at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
"This new evidence is really devastating. It comes unexpectedly and from a collection of old letters that have nothing to do with the Kensington Runestone."
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(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
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Runestone's authenticity takes a hit Al Edenloff, Echo Press Editor |
New documents have surfaced that some believe cast serious doubts on the authenticity of the Kensington Runestone.
Swedish linguists recently discovered papers from 1885 that contain a secret runic code used by tradesmen in Sweden in the late 1800s.
The linguists believe the code corresponds to some of the pieces in the Runestone inscription, yet the code didn’t exist in medieval times when Viking explorers are said to have left their message on the Runestone.
The papers were written by an 18-year-old Swedish tailor named Edward Larsson. He traveled around Sweden in the late 1880s while training with master tailors and kept handwritten notes about the secret alphabet. His family donated his collection of writings, pictures and other documents to a linguistics and folklore institute in Sweden.
If Larsson knew the code, some scholars believe it’s likely that Swedish immigrants to Minnesota also knew it, including Olof Ohman, the Swedish-American farmer who purportedly found the stone near Kensington in 1898.
Henrik Williams, a runic specialist in Sweden, said that in light of the Larsson documents, Alexandria could no longer call itself "the birthplace of America."
In a widely circulated e-mail, Williams noted that the Runestone Museum still possesses a "remarkable showpiece" but that he considers the matter resolved.
"Although I personally have to admit a certain feeling of loss at the realization that the mystery of the Kensington Runestone is solved, I am also glad to have learned so much in the process and to have gotten to know so many nice people," he said.
News about the new evidence has not shaken the opinion of some of the stone’s most ardent believers.
Scott Wolter, a St. Paul geologist who has extensively studied the Runestone, stood by his research that shows the inscription has weathered for more than 200 years and therefore could not have been carved as a hoax in the late 1880s.
In an interview with the Star Tribune, Wolter said that the skeptics’ reliance on the Larsson documents is "another example of people making snap decisions. They’ve made up their minds and went looking for evidence for it."
Paul Maack, president of the Runestone Museum Board of Directors, shared his opinion on the stone.
He explained that he has done research on it and believes the stone is legitimate.
"But, part of the mystery — the fun — is not knowing for sure whether or not it is real or fake," said Maack, who was not speaking on behalf of the museum, but sharing his own thoughts. "Nobody has really proved it one way or another."
He added that he is excited that the Runestone is in the limelight and that people are talking about it, adding that it creates an interest in the Runestone Museum, which is where the stone is on display.
"I think it’s fun!" Maack stated, who also said he compares it to the Shroud of Turin.
A Minnesota farmer named Olof Ohman said he found the buried Kensington Runestone stone on his farm. Others say he carved it in about 1898 as a joke.
They are merely orthography ~ a way of representing words ~ an alphabet or syllabry if you will.
Can this really be a reporter for the newspaper in the US with the greatest number of Scanderhoovian readers.
Aw, why'd they have to go and rune it?
So Sven says to Ole, he says, "Hey, Ole! You better come down from dere right now, doncha know!" . . .
Ten thousand Swedes
Ran through the weeds,
Chased by one Norwegian.
He smelled so bad,
They sure were glad
When they had left his region.
Ouch!--LOL! :) Well, until I hear the other side of the argument I'm still holding out hope it might be authentic, since the theory that it's a fake is still just a theory--it's not like it's set in stone. . .
Odin will not be pleased.
Yea, verily; nor is the Thunder God pleased by this ill news--'tis some plot of Loki, no doubt. . .
My Norsk neighbor has a sign in his yard that says 'Boat For Sale'.
"Sven", I says, "you only own a tractor and a plow."
"Ja, 'n boat for sale", he says.
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