In 1898, a Swedish-American farmer in Minnesota dug up a hefty stone covered with medieval runes. They told how in 1362, a viking had lost many of his companions to an Indian attack but they hoped to make it back to their ships. Although the 鈥淜ensington Rune Stone鈥� was displayed by the Smithsonian from 1947 to 1958, skeptics have always outnumbered the believers. In The Kensington Rune-Stone: Authentic and Important (Jupiter Press, PO Box 101, Lake Bluff, Illinois 60044, ISBN 0 9 33104 30 8) Cornell linguist Robert Hall present a spirited defence of the stone, on linguistic, historical and archeological grounds.
There is now no doubt that Norse explorers reached North America; whether they got as far as Minnesota is debatable. Curious readers will be rewarded with an introduction to runic writing and medieval Scandinavia 鈥� they will also understand why Hall鈥檚 most important mentor pressed him to keep quiet about the stone: 鈥淚t would only encourage the kooks.鈥�