Free Republic

A recent study by Stockholm University has provided a new interpretation of the runic inscription on the Forsa Ring, an ancient ring that dictated fines for specific offenses. The reinterpretation positions that ring as the oldest documented value record in Scandinavia and reveals how the Vikings handled fines in a flexible and practical manner. The research was recently published in the Scandinavian Economic History Review.The Forsa Ring (Forsaringen in Swedish) is an iron ring from Hälsingland, dated to the 9th or 10th century. The runic inscription on the ring describes fines for a specific offense, where payment was to be...

The German election has two faces. Most observers consider the race at the top over, with conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel running around 15 percent ahead of her Social Democratic (SPD) rival Martin Schulz. Yet skepticism remains about the accuracy of pre-election opinion surveys. After all, the overwhelming majority of pollsters failed to predict victories for the pro-Brexit camp in the UK and Donald Trump in the US. The methodologies used by German pollsters range from the telephone interviews employed by established organizations like Infratest dimap and Forsa, which have standing contracts with major news outlets, and online surveys used by...