The Kensington Runestone

Image credit - wcco.com

"8 Goths and 22 Norwegians on exploration journey from Vinland over the west. We camp by 2 skerries one day journey from this stone.

The history of the Kensington Runestone, which is 16 inches wide and 31 inches high weighs 202 pounds and is six inches thick, fascinates historians and caught the attention of a Wisconsin university student Hjalmer Holand. He deciphered the writing on the stone, which reads:

We were and fished one day. After we came home, 10 men red with blood and tortured. Hail Virgin Mary, save from evil. Have 10 men by the sea to look after our ship, 14-day journeys from this island year 1362.

The stone was unearthed in 1898 by Olof Ohman, whose ten year old son Edward found the rock slab as his father was clearing land to make level ground on a hill top two and half miles from Kensington. The Historical Society of Minnesota had the stone authenticated by five scholars.

Other evidence found were the triangular holes in rock ledges where boats were anchored with pins, which is conclusive with how the Vikings secured their boats and is still practiced in Norway. Early settlers and the Indians of Minnesota didn't use these types of holes for securing boat. Norse instruments from 1362 were found and said to be identical to the tools used by the Norwegians.

Another stone that was found in 1783 by the North Dakota city of Minot may have been another message from the Vikings. The Verendrye Runestone was taken to Canada, then to France where it disappeared. The Historical Society of Minnesota offered a reward of $1,000 for its return, without any success. Many believe that this may have been another message from the Vikings that also carved the Kensington Runestone.

Those that study the Vikings and their exploration of the Minnesota area, feel that the Vikings taught the Mandan blued-eyed Indians about Christianity. The Indians lived in buildings of Norwegian design. It is said that the Vikings for some reason, may have had problems returning to the boat to travel back to Europe and settled in with the Mandan Indians.

Controversy over the authenticity of the Kensington Runestone that would predate the arrival of Columbus leaves people wondering about the stone. The controversy is warranted as some say, but those that have studied the stone and the instruments from around the same area suggest that it was indeed the Vikings, not Columbus that took their first steps on the soils of Minnesota.

The Kensington Runestone changes history as it is taught in schools. It may be that the Vikings that discovered America and not Columbus. Until the Verendrye Runestone is found, no one may ever know for sure. Since no can explain how the blue-eyed Mandan Indians learned about Christianity before the arrival of Columbus, the logical conclusion would be that they learned from the Vikings. Their way of building must have come the Vikings as well. How else could they have built buildings of Norwegian design?