The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-11-14
THE VIKINGS
Earliest Relic of White Men in America Believed to
Be Kensington (Minn) Rhinestone
By Robert Page lincoln, in Rod and Gum in Canada

that, while it cannot be said with q
certainty that the Kensington stone
is authentic, still the evidence OF
it's genuineness is preponderous. II
had been the Professors desire
that the stone should be sent to
DR.. Sievers at Leipzig, the great.
est authority on runes in the
world today. that the disputes OF
the dilettante runologists might be
set at rest, but whether this has
been done I cannot say. The ques-
tion will no doubt rest until the
close of the war when comm1ni-
cation can again be taken up be-
tween the countries.
In regard to the stone. The
transcription by Hjalmer Rued
Holland of the words on the stone
stands as follows:
''8 goter ok % norrmen po op.
dhagelse fardh fro Vinland of vest
vi hadhe Jaeger we'd Q skjar en- days
rise norr fro dheno sten vi var ok
fiske en- dhagh aeptir vi kom hem
fan 10 man rodhe af blodh og dhedh
AVN fraelse af lily.
'har 10 mans We havet at sc
aeptir wore skip IA dhagh rise
from dheno oh abr 1892"
Translated into English these
words appearing on the stone
would read:
Eight Goths (Swedes) and %
Norwegians upon a journey of dis
covery from Vineland, westward.
We had a camp by two skerries,
one days journey north from this
stone. We were out fishing one
day. When we came home we
found 10 men red with blood, and
dead. A. V. M. (Hail thee, Vir-
gin Nary save us from evil.
Have 10 men by the sea to look
after our vessels, IA days journey
from this island. Year, 1862"
Critics aver that such words con.
tanned in these inscriptions, such as
ok" at Skip" 'aeptir, -
men," ''hem," 'frealse," and
various others were not in use in
Scandinavia 500 and 600 years ago
The word ''of' is criticised as an
Anglicism. Many other philo-
logical faults are found. But Pro.
fessor Evjen, delving into the ole
laws of Norway of 1887 and 1885
has found that almost these e1ac1
aUords Were IN use at that time.
Summed up" Professor Evjer
has said. the language of the
stone strikingly resembles thai
used about the year 400 in the
southern part of the present Swed
en-. When one knows the vicissi
tudes of phonetic spelling in tht
old records, the rapid Interchange
of vowels, the game of mutes, etc.
one will be astonished at the ap
parent inconsistencies in ole
records. l have not read many O.
the arguments put forth in behal
of the language of the rhinestone
I have read the objections made
against it. But l must say that th'
more I study the laws of Norway
the more / am disposed to believ'
that the rhinestone is genuine.
still raise some objections agains
the language it employs, but 1 be
lieve that this is due to mistaken
readings. l am not sure that tn
two skerries mentioned are skeyvie
at all. When l copied the stone
read 'setar,' which means 'dwellin.
Places places of abode It i
highly interesting and noteworth.
that 1852 is given in one of tn
modern works on theology as tn
year in which the pope ordere'
that Ave Maria should be sung ev
cry morning, noon and evening a
the ringing of the Angelus bell
Former works have connected thi
order with the year 1927. Coul'
it be possible that the order ha'
reached Greenland in the beginnin.