Heavener Runestone
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The Heavener Runestone is an inscribed stone located in Heavener, Oklahoma. The land on which it sits is now a state park on Poteau Mountain, just outside the town limits. The origin of the stone's runic carvings is disputed.[1]
News
The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department announced in March 2011 that it would close the Heavener Runestone State Park on August 15 due to budget cuts.[2] However, the City of Heavener agreed to assume ownership and operation of the 55-acre park beginning July 1, 2011.[3]
Inscription
The inscription has been rejected by Scandinavian philologists and runologists, who consider it most likely modern (19th or early 20th century). The reading of the "Elder Futhark" style runes is probably "GNOMEDAL" (meaning "Gnome Valley", or perhaps a personal name "G. Nomedal").
The difficulty of using the Heavener Runestone to demonstrate Viking exploration of the area is that the Elder Futhark had become obsolete by the 8th century, long before the Viking expeditions to Greenland and Vinland. Also, only six of the eight characters are correct Elder Futhark runes. A transliteration would read "G [rough backwards N] O M E D A [backwards L]".
Archaeology
Archaeologist Ken Feder notes that unlike the situation in eastern Canada where evidence has been found that proves a Norse presence, nothing similar has been found anywhere near Heavener or even in the American Midwest. He suggests that "it is unlikely that the Norse would get significantly more fastidious about leaving any evidence behind of their presence in Oklahoma."[4]
Archaeologist Lyle Tompsen in a 2007 Masters Thesis for the University of Leicester (later published in ESOP 29 2011:5-43) examined the rune stone and noted: 1. There is no cultural evidence of Vikings in or near the region. 2. No Old Norse approach to translation fits this stone. 3. The stones most likely translation is “Gnome Dal” (Valley of the Gnomes) 4. Scandinavian presence in the nearby town of Heavener is early and the likeliest source of the carving of the stone. 5. Other purported rune stones in the region are modern creations, or misinterpreted Native American rock art. Barring any new evidence, the stone is best considered a modern creation. ."[5]
Cultural significance
- In 1991, Carl Albert State College in nearby Poteau changed its mascot to a Viking in the stone's honor.
- Don Coldsmith's 1995 novel Runestone, offers a speculative theory about how an 11th century Viking could have made his way to the area of Heavener.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/americanstones.html
- ^ Regina Smith (March 5, 2011). "Heavener Runestone State Park Closing Due To Budget Cuts". Poteau Daily News.
- ^ Mary L. Crider (June 11, 2011). "Brushy Lake State Park Transfers To Sallisaw". The Times Record.
- ^ Kenneth L. Feder, Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis To The Walam Olum, page 137 (Greenwood, 2010). ISBN 978-0-313-37919-2
- ^ Lyle Tompsen ESOP 29 2011:5-43