The Spirit Pond runestones are three stones with alleged runic inscriptions, found at Spirit Pond in Phippsburg, Maine in 1971 by a Walter J. Elliott Jr., a carpenter born in Bath, Maine. The stones, currently housed at the Maine State Museum, are widely dismissed as a hoax or a fraud. [1] [2]
Unlike the prehistoric monumental runestones raised in Scandinavia, the Maine stones are small handheld objects similar to the authentic Kingittorsuaq Runestone found in Greenland in 1824.
Of the three stones, one contains a total of 15 lines of 'text' on two sides. The map stone contains a map with some inscriptions. Paul H. Chapman proposes that the map depicts the landscape visible from the 1,075 feet (328 m) high White Mountain, the highest point in the vicinity of Spirit Pond, [3] or the northern tip of Newfoundland. [4]
The inscriptions contain several instances of the use of pentadic numerals in European digits placement. The first to study the stones scientifically was Harvard University professor Einar Haugen. In 1974, after transcribing, he found the individual runes used to be inconsistent with 11th century Old Norse, and that the text contains only "a few Norse words in a sea of gibberish". [2] He also noted peculiarities relating the inscriptions directly to the Kensington Runestone inscription. Thus, he concluded that the inscriptions were most likely created after 1932. [2]
Amateur researchers have been more sympathetic to a medieval origin of the stones. Suzanne Carlson of NEARA, a group of enthusiasts who believe there was a widespread Viking presence in North America, suggests a mid 14th century date for the inscriptions, although it is unclear how Carlson arrived at this date. [5] [6] Similarly, amateur rune-enthusiast Richard Nielsen claims a precise date of 1401. [7]
The Kensington Runestone is a slab of greywacke stone covered in runes that was discovered in Western Minnesota, United States, in 1898. Olof Ohman, a Swedish immigrant, reported that he unearthed it from a field in the largely rural township of Solem in Douglas County. It was later named after the nearest settlement, Kensington.
A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but the majority of the extant runestones date from the late Viking Age. While most of these are located in Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, there are also scattered runestones in locations that were visited by Norsemen. Runestones were usually brightly coloured when erected, though this is no longer evident as the colour has worn off.
Pentadic numerals are a notation for presenting numbers, usually by inscribing in wood or stone. The notation has been used in Scandinavia, usually in conjunction with runic calendars and inscriptions in runes.
A rune is a letter in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter. In addition to representing a sound value, runes can be used to represent the concepts after which they are named (ideographs). Scholars refer to instances of the latter as Begriffsrunen. The Scandinavian variants are also known as fuþark, or futhark; this name is derived from the first six letters of the script, ⟨ᚠ⟩, ⟨ᚢ⟩, ⟨ᚦ⟩, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚬ⟩, ⟨ᚱ⟩, and ⟨ᚲ⟩/⟨ᚴ⟩, corresponding to the Latin letters ⟨f⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨þ⟩/⟨th⟩, ⟨a⟩, ⟨r⟩, and ⟨k⟩. The Anglo-Saxon variant is known as futhorc, or fuþorc, due to changes in Old English of the sounds represented by the fourth letter, ⟨ᚨ⟩/⟨ᚩ⟩.
The Funbo runestones constitute a group of four runestones originally from Funbo in the province of Uppland, Sweden, which were raised by members of the same family during the eleventh century.
A number of runestones have been found in Oklahoma. All of them are of modern origin dating to the 19th century "Viking revival" or were produced by 19th-century Scandinavian settlers.
The Glavendrup stone, designated as DR 209 by Rundata, is a runestone on the island of Funen in Denmark and dates from the early 10th century. It contains Denmark's longest runic inscription and ends in a curse.
The Sigurd stones form a group of eight or nine Swedish runic inscriptions and one picture stone that depict imagery from the Germanic heroic legend of Sigurd the dragon slayer. They were made during the Viking Age and constitute the earliest Norse representations of the matter of the Völsung cycle that is the basis of the Middle High German Nibelungenlied and the Sigurd legends in the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and the Völsunga saga.
The Tullstorp Runestone is a Viking Age memorial runestone, listed as DR 271 in the Rundata catalog, that is located in Tullstorp, which is about twenty kilometers east of Trelleborg, Skåne County, Sweden, and in the historic province of Scania.
This Viking Age runestone, designated as G 181 in the Rundata catalog, was originally located at a church at Sanda, Gotland, Sweden, and is believed to depict the three Norse pagan gods Odin, Thor, and Freyr.
The AVM Runestone, also known as the Berg-AVM Runestone, is a hoax created in 1985 by students carving runes into a boulder near Kensington, Minnesota, not far from where the Kensington Runestone was found in 1898. In 2001, a carving expert and her geologist father found the AVM Runestone, told the press that it was proof of early Viking or Norse settlement in Minnesota, and began an investigation to prove its authenticity. The creators said it was a hoax and not an artifact of Viking explorers.
Sö 86 is the Rundata catalog number for a Viking Age memorial runic inscription located in Åby, which is about one kilometer north of Ålberga, Södermanland County, Sweden, and in the historic province of Södermanland. The inscription features a depiction of the hammer of the Norse pagan god Thor named Mjöllnir and a facial mask.
The Lund 1 Runestone, designated as DR 314 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone originally located on the grounds of the All Saints Church in Lund, Scania, Sweden.
The Västra Strö 2 Runestone, listed as DR 335 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone located at the Västra Strö Monument, which is at a church that is about four kilometers northwest of Eslöv, Skåne County, Sweden.
The Skern Runestone, designated as Danish Runic Inscription 81 or DR 81 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone located in the small village of Skjern, Denmark between Viborg and Randers. The stone features a facial mask and a runic inscription which ends in a curse. A fragment of a second runestone designated as DR 80 was also found in Skjern.
The Bjärby Runestones are two Viking Age memorial runestones located near Grästorp, Sweden, in Bjärby synod, which was in the historic province of Västergötland. The two stones are memorials to men who held the titles thegn and drengr, and one has a depiction of the hammer of the Norse pagan deity Thor.
The Kyrkogården Runestones are three Viking Age memorial runestones located at the cemetery of St. Mary's Church in Sigtuna, Stockholm County, Sweden, in the historic province of Uppland. One of the runic inscriptions documents the existence of a Viking Age mercantile guild in Sweden.
The Egtved Runestone or DR 37 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet. It was discovered in 1863, by a master mason named Anders Nielsen from Starup, in the southern part of the cemetery of Egtved church. It is dated to the period 900–1020. The stone is in granite and measures 80 cm in height, 55 cm in width and 43 cm in thickness. The style of the runestone is the runestone style RAK.
The Nylarsker stone 2, Ny Larsker stone I or DR 380 is a Viking Age runestone engraved in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark runic alphabet on Bornholm. The runestone was discovered in 1643 and first mentioned in Ole Worm's Monumenta Danica. It was to be found outside the entrance of Nylars Church until 1855. It is securely dated to the period 1075–1125, and belongs to a group of Bornholm runestones that were made during the transition from the Viking Age to the Nordic Middle Ages. It made in sandstone and it is 186 cm tall, 146,5 cm wide and 17 cm thick, and the style of the runestone is the runestone style RAK.