[MR] BBC: Viking Runes in Oklahoma?

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Vikings,

Today BBC Travel is offering an intriguing feature about the Heavener
Runestones.

These supposed runes are found in eastern Oklahoma. A single inscription is
etched into a large rock, preserved at Heavener Runestone Park. Two shorter
inscriptions have been found in the same area. The runes appear to be in
futhark script.

Whether they are authentic Viking inscriptions, or a clever hoax, has long
been debated. Like the more famous Kensington Rune Stone mentioned in the
story, the Heavener inscriptions have both detractors and champions.

Despite claims to the contrary by the "no Europeans before Columbus" crowd,
there certainly is evidence that Vikings were in North America. It is
pretty hard to ignore the L'Anse aux Meadows site in Newfoundland. Whether
they reached Oklahoma or Minnesota is open to debate.

The story is at
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221030-the-mysterious-viking-runes-found-in-a-landlocked-us-state
.

Wikipedia offers a further discussion at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_runestones .

A Wikipedia article about the aforementioned Kensington Rune Stone is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Runestone .

As a proud Scottish descendant, I cannot fail to mention the Westford
Knight, a carved stone in Westford, Massachusetts, alleged to be evidence
of a 1398 voyage to North America by Scottish earl Henry Sinclair. I have
seen the Westford Knight, and to my mind it is pretty dodgy (and weathering
badly!), except for his well-outlined sword. However, a smaller carved
stone I viewed at the nearby J.V. Fletcher Library (not mentioned in the
Wikipedia article, or on the library's own web site) clearly shows a
medieval ship, as well as an arrow and some other odd graffiti. It was on
"display" in the library's basement, right outside the restrooms. Make of
that what you will!

For the curious, here is the Westford Knight link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westford_Knight .

And the Fletcher Library stone can be seen at
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/63918 .

Are all of these (or maybe some) clever hoaxes, or are they real evidence
of European exploration? I love a good hoax (and I've perpetrated a couple
of dillies), but I am open to real historical evidence in these cases,
should it ever be found.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆