04 October 2009

Haunted By the REEEALLY Old Past

Not that many rune stones show up in Norway these days -- the last one found was discovered in 1947 -- but there's one that turned up in a garden in Mandal, -- it's on the southern coast, the lowest tip -- one of our ancestral hometowns. Still have cousins there. Lovely place. It's in Vest Agder. It has three salmon on the coat of arms. Now I'm homesick, just thinking about it. Which is odd, since I've never lived there. Just seen the cousins, and the ruined foundations of the farmstead where my great grandmother lived...Where was I...Oh, right, rune stones. There are about 3,000 in Scandinavia. Mostly carved in honor of dead men. The one they've found is a pretty early one.

1 comment:

Karen said...

Did you see in the news about the guy in England who, armed with only an old metal detector, found a treasure trove that had to belong to a king or some such important person like a bazillion years ago? (okay, maybe it was more like a thousand years ago, but still.) Really cool stuff, and amazing to think it's just been sitting in the ground all this time. Now it will be on display for others to see...