KENSINGTON RUNESTONE: Popular Inscription Translations Through the Years

For comparing and contrasting purposes, here are offered several Kensington Runestone inscription translations, some popular over the years. For example, the translation seen just below from Hjalmar Holand had stood the test of time for several decades of his own life--and it remains as one of my own favorites for what I believe to be general overall accuracy.

There continues to be notable differences of opinions about some of the more modern translations, and who is right or wrong over specific points of "accuracy" is sometimes hard to say. Zeroing in on several specific runes and words can be, in the end, very difficult, and I therefore humbly advise anyone from thinking that there is only one truly accurate version of events. Actually, there is still so much uncertainty that question marks are sometimes offered instead of words in some translations.

Holand's book is from 1940; Kehoe's book is from 2005; Wolter's book is from 2009; Reiersgord's book is from 2001. The latter book gives Holand's version, but also gives the old Blegen/Wahlgren version, too.

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THE SAUK LAKE ALTAR ROCK (Formerly Called The Viking Altar Rock)

The actor Peter Stormare (think "Fargo"), left, and myself visiting the Altar Rock in 2018 to film an episode for the new TV series "Secrets of the Viking Stone." It was shown in 2020 and this year, 2021. Photo taken by Elroy Balgaard. To begin what is known about the Sauk Lake Altar Rock, I would like to point out that this icon of medieval-era Minnesota history seems to be one of a trifecta of icons that all share at least two features; the Sauk Lake Altar Rock, the Kensington Runestone and the Newport Tower all appear to be connected in a medieval setting to Scandinavians and to the Catholic Church. In this sense, then, all three icons tend to lend support to one another's authenticity. Beyond this, I would like to point out that an earlier regional take on the Sauk Lake Altar Rock is now seen by most historians as ill advised...that being the notion that the Altar Rock was visited and it's four stoneholes made by the Sir Paul Knutson party of me

NORWAY LAKE, MINNESOTA: A Medieval "Bardiche" and a Submerged Runestone?

Norway Lake in Minnesota is approximately 50 miles from the small town of Kensington, where the Kensington Runestone (self-dated to 1362) was discovered by an immigrant farmer named Olof Ohman in 1898. I was already aware of a medieval Scandinavian axe that was found in 1908 by a Norway Lake area fisherman named Ole Skaalerub (the axe is presently in a collection of iron weapons at Alexandria's Runestone Museum), but I didn't learn about a possible submerged runestone in the middle of Norway Lake until a few years later, when I came across a September/October 2012 article in the Atlantis Rising Magazine, entitled "Norsemen in Minnesota," with the subtitle " The Kensington Rune Stone Is Not The Only Evidence For A Prehistoric Viking Presence ." The magazine is now defunct, but I have included pertinent portions of the timeless and fascinating article in this presentation about a possible submerged runestone in Norway Lake: Excerpts from the

LOCATING THE SITE OF THE KENSINGTON RUNESTONE MASSACRE--Finding the Elusive "Lake With Two Skerries."

This posting is about solving a mystery. By putting many clues together, I believe I have discovered where the "Lake With Two Skerries" referred to in the inscription carved into the KRS is located. Much of the material contained in this blog presentation was provided to the Minnesota Historical Society a few short years ago, where it is presently archived within the KRS documentation holdings. Not by coincidence, I believe, a medieval Scandinavian battle axe was found in 1894 (four years before the KRS was unearthed), a foot and a half deep on the west bank of Davidson Lake, which is about one day's journey north from Runestone Hill. My belief is that the exact finding spot of the battle axe helps to verify--like a time capsule--where the KRS campsite was likely located by this lake with two small islands. In its inscription, the KRS indicates that a bloody massacre occurred where the men were camped by this lake. My purpose in this blog posting is to help corrob

THE KENSINGTON RUNESTONE: Commentary and Speculation by Bob Voyles

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