THE KENSINGTON RUNESTONE: Commentary and Speculation by Bob Voyles

  About "chemical fingerprinting of iron weapons," Professor of Mediterranean Prehistory, Mark Pearce adds: “This is an exciting collaboration that will use the latest scientific techniques to reveal the unique isotope composition of these ancient artefacts and how this informs us where they were made. The project will revolutionise our understanding of archaeological iron objects, finally giving us a method accurately to pinpoint their origin.” From Bob:  We can only hope that some iron objects in the Runestone Museum's collection may eventually be chemically fingerprinted, to determine points of origin, if possible.  A good place to start may be with the bardiche axe found at Norway Lake, Minnesota.  If Peter Stormare ever decides to continue on with his TV episodes about the KRS, the fantastic story about Norway Lake's axe and possible submerged runestone would be a wonderful place to begin a new search.  In the meantime, chemical testing of the axe (and oth...

There are many, many stoneholes in Minnesota.  Just several days ago, a chart was posted here showing several reasons for proposed medieval stoneholes to exist, along with several reasons for so-called "modern" stoneholes to exist (in this case, stoneholes from the late 1800s).  My purpose for this brief essay is to hone in on comparing and contrasting the aging of some of these stoneholes.  Yes, it can be done, and to great effect.   Let's do it here, then.  Okay, this will be an exercise in just one aspect of empirical evidence, that being:  visual observation, or "just plain seeing."     I would like to invite readers to look at the crispness of the edges of the large and fancy "star" stonehole seen at the top of this page, and then compare what you see with the edges of the small diameter stonehole.  What you are seeing with a little help from a flashlight is simple and clear empirical evidence showing a remarkable degree of con...

  A beautiful noon Sunday in May at a secluded ridgeline south of Appleton, Minnesota.  Gusty winds and about 74 degrees.  I haven't visited the site for a few years...since Peter Stormare and his film crew came to the site back in 2018.  I came today a bit anxious that all would be okay, and it was.  I noticed that a lot of invading buckthorn had recently been cut out of the area, and invading prairie gophers hadn't upheaved the topsoil too badly..  Here I am with a happy smile on my face and a fancy stonehole at my hand, one of my favorites at the site.  By common medieval Norse standards, this kind of large stonehole was unknown.  I believe there are both Norse and late 1800's stoneholes at this same remote spot on the ridgeline.  I will show you fine examples of both in this photo-trip.  Your understanding will be increased by first seeing my blog entry for the "Norse Code-stone."  It doesn't look like it, but this is the beginn...

  This old photo at Minnesota's Pope County Museum, entitled "1869 Survey Team With Glenwood in the Background," has helped me to understand what some of the stoneholes were made for in Minnesota during the latter half of the 19th century, apparently related to early railroad surveying and keeping tents secure on windy ridgelines.  Please note in the photo that a pole stuck into a hole in a rock is effectively being used with a tent-tie to help secure the tent. A similar situation presents itself on a lonely and windswept ridgeline a few counties away, in Lac Qui Parle county, south of Appleton.  Indeed, at this site, there are about 40 large, machine-made stoneholes, some revealing a "foundation pattern" suggesting tents being secured.  Again, this is directly on a ridgeline, as in the Glenwood photo. However, in my opinion, these fairly "modern" stoneholes have nothing to do with several of the stonehole rocks at the same site near Appleton, those ex...

  (From back-cover copy of Alice Kehoe's book, "The Kensington Runestone." ) I see that the question of Norse fur traders possibly arriving in Minnesota in 1362 may have much to do with the difference of the men being able to get more, not fewer, furs.  The Russian fur trade had been pretty much cut-off to them by the Hanse.  An annual ship brought Greenland furs back to Norway, but any other furs would likely need to come from America, traded from natives, instead of through Russians.  Here, then, according to Kehoe, seems to be a plausible reason for the 1362 KRS-party's expedition to Minnesota. So, the Hanse basically invaded Bergen and took over the city and the port and cut the Scandinavians off from their centuries-old, very lucrative trade which had entailed obtaining furs from Northern Russian natives and then taking them to Constantinople.  It also entailed both hazardous and lengthy trips but was very profitable when successful. The Hanse took advantag...

             (2005, by Geir Atle Ersland, Historian at the University of Bergen)   From page 21,  "German merchants arrived in Bergen in increasingly larger numbers following the 1250 peace treaty with Lubeck.  What was once short term stays during the summer months, became more permanent year round residences.  Initially the merchants rented housing and storage rooms on Bryggen from the locals, but eventually they bought gards of their own.  The Hanseatic population grew rapidly throughout the 14th century.  By the middle of the 14th century the German merchants in Bergen organised themselves."   From page 63, "As early as the 13th century, the Norwegian King declared that all goods were to be exported through Bergen, even those originating from Iceland and Greenland.  This is one of the reasons why the Hanseats were so successful in gaining control of the export from Bergen." In other words, control of trade wa...

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 fr...

  https://www.academia.edu/44661729/The_Kensington_Rune_Stone_A_Study_Guide Happily engaged with winter researching, I came upon this study guide of the Kensington Runestone I had not yet seen, and I wanted to share it with others who are serious about the KRS. In my own opinion, I believe the author, Bengtson, has done an admirable job of offering a brief history of the KRS in a fair manner.  He has also done a good job of giving his take on the various players in the on-going drama, and he seems to have been quite neutral in his approach...though he does end up coming out on the side of authenticity. There seems to be something for everyone in this essay...plenty of opportunities to agree or disagree on individual topics.  One of my own biggest disagreements with others is still over the issue of how the ten Norsemen died: https://americanrunestone.blogspot.com/2021/06/one-days-journey-north-of-runestone.html   Anyway, I recommend Bengtson's study guide as a means ...