[Great Hall of Rockwall] FW: New Evidence on Minnesota's Runestone?

[Kelli Quinn]

I was sent this from the IL-Pagans Yahoo! list. While I can't vouch for Mr. 
Anderson's experience with runes, it seems the boys and girls in the lab are 
closer than ever to proving that the Norwegians have been in Northshield for 
a looooong time. And while I agree that "You can't just make up the past," 
as one historian in these article says, I think that the past may have been 
a lot different than we believe. Not everyone stopped to write everything 
down. Thor Bless Vinland!

Yours from a southern outpost,
Edda Eiriksdottir


"I imagine I was always writing. Twaddle it was, too. But better far write 
twaddle or anything, anything, than nothing at all."

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923)

Down the Rabbit Hole: downrabbit.blogspot.com

From: "Edward Anderson" <jotun_hertigen at yahoo.com>
To: IL-Pagans at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IL-Pagans] Knights Templar Code Found Hidden in the Kensington 
Rune Stone!?
Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 19:18:57 -0000
>
>Unlocking Minnesota's 'DaVinci Code'
>   VIDEO: Ben Tracy reports.
>
>(WCCO) Kensington, Minn. Researchers have found new evidence of a
>secret code concealed on the Kensington Runestone, one of the most
>controversial pieces of Minnesota history.
>
>The rock was found near Alexandria, Minn. a century ago. It bears an
>inscription that places Norwegians here in 1362.
>
>Were Vikings exploring our land more than 100 years before Columbus?
>Or is the Kensington Runestone an elaborate hoax?
>
>New research suggests the rune stone is genuine, and a hidden code
>can prove it.
>
>"Eight Goths and 22 Norwegians on an exploration journey ... 10 men
>red with blood and dead ... 14 days journey from this island ...
>year 1362."
>
>The Kensington Runestone's carved words have haunted the Ohman
>family for more than 100 years.
>
>Olof Ohman has been accused of authoring Minnesota's most famous
>fraud. The farmer claimed he found the stone buried under a tree in
>1898.
>
>Critics believe the language on the rune stone is too modern and
>that some of the runes are made up. They say Ohman carved it himself
>to fool the learned.
>
>The Ohman family's faith in the stone has never wavered, however.
>
>"I just never had any doubt," said grandson Darwin Ohman. "I mean, I
>was very emphatic about it. Absolutely it's real. There's no doubt."
>
>"(Critics are) calling (Olof Ohman) a liar," Minnesota geologist
>Scott Wolter said. "If this is a hoax, he lied to his two sons, he
>lied to his family, lied to his neighbors and friends and lied to
>the world."
>
>Wolter and Texas engineer Dick Nielsen believe hidden secrets are
>carved in the Kensington Runestone.
>
>"It changes history in a big way," Wolter said.
>
>In 2000, Wolter performed one of the very few geological studies on
>the Kensington Runestone. He said the breakdown of minerals in the
>inscription shows the carving is at least 200 years old, placing it
>before Olof Ohman's time.
>
>Wolter's findings support the first geological study that also found
>the stone to be genuine, which was performed in 1910.
>
>"In my mind, the geology settled it once and for all," Wolter said.
>
>Linguistic experts believe some of the stone's runes are made up,
>but Nielsen said he found one of the disputed runes in a Swedish
>rune document dating back to the 14th century.
>
>"If they were wrong about that, what else were they wrong about?"
>Wolter said.
>
>Wolter documented every individual rune on the stone with a
>microscope.
>
>"I started finding things that I didn't expect," Wolter said.
>
>Wolter discovered a dot inside each of four R-shaped runes.
>
>"These are intentional, and they mean something," Wolter said.
>
>Wolter and Nielsen scoured rune catalogs and found the dotted R's.
>
>"It's an extremely rare rune that only appeared during medieval
>times," Wolter said. "This absolutely fingerprints it to the 14th
>century. This is linguistic proof this is medieval. Period."
>
>Wolter and Nielsen traced the dotted R to rune-covered graves inside
>ancient churches on the island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden.
>
>"The next thing that happened is, we started finding on these grave
>slabs these very interesting crosses," Wolter said.
>
>Templar crosses are the symbol of a religious order of knights
>formed during the Crusades and persecuted by the Catholic Church in
>the 1300s.
>
>"This was the genesis of their secret societies, secret codes,
>secret symbols, secret signs -- all this stuff," Wolter said. "If
>they carved the rune stone, why did they come here? And why did they
>carve this thing?"
>
>Wolter has uncovered new evidence that has taken his research in a
>very different direction. He now believes the words on the stone may
>not be the record of the death of 10 men, but instead a secret code
>concealing the true purpose of the stone.
>
>Linguists single out two runes representing the letters L and U as
>evidence Olof Ohman carved the stone. They are crossed, and
>linguists say they should not be. A third rune has a punch at the
>end of one line.
>
>"Maybe they're saying, 'Pay attention to me,'" Wolter said.
>
>Each rune on the stone has a numerical value. Wolter and Nielsen
>took the three marked runes and plotted them on a medieval dating
>system called the Easter Table.
>
>When we plotted these three things we got a year: 1362," Wolter
>said. "It was like, oh my God, is this an accident? Is this a
>coincidence? I don't think so.
>
>"We think, if it's the Templars, they confirmed the date which is on
>the stone -- 1362 -- by using a code in the inscription."
>
>But why would Templars come to America, carve this stone and code
>the date?
>
>"If it's the Templars, who were under religious persecution at the
>time, that would be a pretty good reason to come over here," Wolter
>said. "Maybe the rune stone is a land claim.
>
>"I'm sure a lot of people are going to roll their eyes and say, 'Oh,
>it's "The DaVinci Code,"' and if they do, they do. This is the
>evidence, this is who was there, this is what the grave slabs tell
>us. It is what it is."
>
>Wolter and Nielsen said they expected their work to be criticized.
>The developments in their research are too recent to have been
>reviewed by other rune stone experts.
>
>The pair are preparing a book, "The Kensington Rune Stone:
>Compelling New Evidence," for future publication.
>(WCCO)
>
>See link below for video:k
>http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_143121108.html
>
>
>My comment on this story:
>
>This is great news and hopefully will further validate the
>Keinngston Rune Stone!
>
>The idea that there were Dotted Rune writing Scandinavian Knight
>Templars is quite correct.  What is in doubt is whether or not they
>made it to Minnesota in the year 1362.
>
>The dotted runes themselves as a writing system held on in Sweden
>quite well.  Some areas used them as their normal writing system
>into the late 1700's at least.  They were used in military and
>perhaps even in diplomatic codes due to their potential complexity.
>The "Journeyman's Code" was a late surviving example of dotted runic
>writing by trades men.
>
>I have some artifacts carved in Swedish dotted runes that my Great
>Grand father made for my father in the 1940's.  My Great Grand
>Father had some exposure at the Swedish Court as a young man and
>presumable that was where he learned about this writing system.  My
>father made his name in dotted runes on a silver arm band when he
>was young.  At the suggestion of my older sister (who is a local
>university dean specializing in languages), since our father taught
>these runes to us, my siblings and I included a 4 or 5 line Swedish
>dotted runic inscription on the memorial for my father (which was
>also the largest such memorial that that particular cemetery
>allows).  So dotted runic writing did have some survival.
>
>This well known common survival of the knowledge of dotted runic
>writing among Swedish immigrants is what put the authenticity of the
>Kensington Rune Stone into question in the first place.  This newly
>discovered code hidden in the dotted runes puts that authenticity
>realistically beyond question.
>
>The issue of Knights Templars exploring in North America is not at
>all unique either since some think that Prince Henry Sinclair sailed
>to North America on behalf of the Knights Templars in 1398.
>The "Prince Henry Sinclair Society of North America" have spent $
>30,000.00 building a statue to him as an early explorer who got to
>North America before Christopher Columbus and they hope to build a
>National Park for Prince Henry Sinclair in Nova Scotia since he
>sailed here before Columbus (as some at least believe).  For that
>matter some also believe that Christopher Columbus was himself a
>Knight's Templar member and / or paid agent.
>
>That the Knights Templar would survive in Scandinavia into the
>1360's long after being persecuted in France and Italy is also not
>in any doubt.  The Knights Templars were quite a strong organization
>in Scandinavia as else where in Europe.  And the Scandinavian
>Knights Templar had the advantage of being geographical far from the
>Pope's or French killers and torturers.  In fact as a quite serious
>modern military order a priory of Knights Templars still exists in
>every Scandinavian country today.  Though I am personally not
>certain on their claimed direct and unbroken lineage from the
>original orders.
>
>Below is a time line of notable events as they relate to this period
>of the history and survival of the Knights Templars in Scandinavia.
>Later are some links that I hope some may find informative or fun in
>the case of the dress-up Knights.
>
>Edward A. Anderson II
>
>1239 Swedish Crusade to Finland
>
>1307 -- Philip IV of France suppresses Knights Templar for
>witchcraft and heresies; de Molay imprisoned in the Temple in Paris.
>
>1309 Teutonic Order moves headquarters to Marienburg in Prussia
>
>1312 (3 April) Order of the Knights Templar suppressed
>
>1313 -- Knights Templar dissolved by papal decree.
>
>1314 The last Templar master, James of Molay and Geoffrey of Charney
>burnt at the stake
>
>1323 Norwegian Crusade against the Russians in Finland
>
>1331 New Crusade to the East proclaimed
>
>1348 Crusade of King Magnus of Sweden to Finland (renewed 1350,1351)
>
>1360 -- Approximate date of the earliest known Satanic cults; black
>masses celebrated in France.
>
>1386 Crusade of John of Gaunt in Castile Union of Poland and
>Lithuania. Conversion of Lithuania to Christianity commences
>
>1444 Crusade of Varna, (19 Nov) Crusaders defeated at Varna
>
>Time line sites:
>
>http://www.ordotempli.org/knights_templar_chronology.htm
>http://www.skepticfiles.org/cp002/illumhis.htm
>
>Scandinavian Knights Templar public web site:
>http://www.tempelherreorden.org/public/start.htm
>
>European Knights Templar links:
>http://www.ordotempli.org/european_government_links.htm
>
>Some modern dress-up, perhaps SCA like, Knights Templars:
>http://user.bahnhof.se/~sunner/bilder.html
>
>Before Columbus: Vikings & Templar Knights in the Northeast
>http://ancientgreece-earlyamerica.com/html/_before_columbus.html
>
>The Ship of Dreams:
>
>IT IS 1398 and the fleet sails from Orkney on a voyage funded by the
>Templars to the New World. On board are Prince Henry Sinclair, Lord
>of Rosslyn, and the Zeno brothers, renowned Venetian sailors.
>
>One hundred years before Christopher Columbus discovered America
>they reached Nova Scotia where Templar architecture and the oral
>history of the Mi'kmaq Indians are all that remain to inform us of
>this voyage. Prince Henry's death shortly after returning to Orkney
>meant that news of his epic journey was lost for centuries.
>
>Attempts to bring Prince Henry's exploits back to life have been
>renewed in recent years. Much of the credit for this lies with Niven
>Sinclair, an 81-year-old businessman and Sinclair clan member who
>says that for 30 years he has "worked solely to finance this crusade
>to re-write history."
>
>To claim that a Scottish Knight Templar first landed in North
>America is an enormous re-write of history – or it would be if there
>wasn't a big question mark hanging over the historical proof.
>
>"The whole thing is complete baloney from beginning to end," says
>Brian Smith, archivist with Shetland Islands Council, who has
>written papers on Prince Henry's voyage. "It makes me blush that
>people actually believe any of it."
>
>The veracity of the voyage has become a battleground. In the red
>corner are those who want to hold up a mirror to history and re-
>write it, and those in the blue corner who demand greater historical
>accuracy.
>
>"There is so much proof that the voyage happened," insists Niven
>Sinclair, the red corner's biggest hitter. "Unlike Brian Smith I've
>walked in the footsteps of Prince Henry. I have seen tonnes of
>documentation and there is absolutely no doubt at all about it."
>
>The proof for the voyage seems compelling. There is the famous Zeno
>Narrative, a map which purports to show the journey the brothers
>took with a man called Zichmni (later identified by writer John
>Forster as Prince Henry himself). This provided the foundation for a
>19th-century book by Richard Major, a well-respected geographer who
>suggested Prince Henry indeed reached America.
>
>A later book by Frederick Pohl traced the actual landing spot to
>Guysborough, Nova Scotia. Pohl found confirmation of the voyage by
>studying Mi'kmaq oral history.
>
>And there is an ancient Venetian canon, a strange carving of a
>knight and the Newport Tower found down the eastern seaboard from
>Guysborough that offer further proof.
>
>Finally there are the carvings at Rosslyn Chapel, built near
>Edinburgh by the Sinclair family in 1446 and made popular by the
>book The Da Vinci Code, that show maize and aloe vera - plants which
>at that time were indigenous to North America but carved before
>Columbus discovered the New World in 1492.
>
>Pretty compelling stuff, and certainly enough to convince D'Elayne
>and Richard Coleman who run the Prince Henry Sinclair Society of
>North America. They read Pohl's book, met with Niven Sinclair and
>were converted. Richard Coleman says he is passionate about the
>story because he is "interested in real history, not phoney history."
>
>So far the Colemans say they have spent $30,000 building a monument
>to Prince Henry in Nova Scotia. They are also hoping to build a
>national park in his memory.
>
>Ranged against them in the blue corner is Smith, the Shetland
>archivist who has had some robust run-ins with Niven Sinclair. Smith
>argues that the Newport Tower is a fully documented 17th-century
>tower, that the knight is even later, and argues there is more than
>enough evidence to prove "without a shadow of doubt that the Zeno
>Narrative was written in the 16th century."
>
>And as for the maize and the aloe vera?
>
>"You mean the wheat and the strawberries?" chides Mark Oxbrow, a
>Fellow of the Antiquarian Society who is writing a book about
>Rosslyn.
>
>Oxbrow has become increasingly concerned with the high profile the
>Prince Henry voyage is enjoying. More generally he is worried about
>stories linking the Sinclairs with the Templars.
>
>"The problem today is that very little is actually historical," he
>says. "And the more publicised it gets, the more loopy it gets too."
>
>The "loopiness" that Oxbrow is referring to is the staggering number
>of people who believe the Sinclairs are, variously: the keepers of
>the Ark of the Covenant and/or the Holy Grail, voyagers to America
>and descendants of Jesus Christ himself.
>
>Niven Sinclair certainly believes that the blood of Jesus runs
>through his veins and that the history of the Sinclairs is an
>incredibly one. "You can't be anything but humbled by being a
>Sinclair," he enthuses.
>
>This claim to greatness on behalf of the Sinclair clan is not
>supported universally. Robert Cooper, curator to the Grand Lodge of
>Scotland, has looked into the genealogy of the Sinclairs.
>
>"Until recently the Sinclairs were not an important family," Cooper
>says. "Look at the back of any history book and they don't have many
>references."
>
>Cooper gets irate when he is told that Rosslyn is a Templar church
>and that the Sinclairs grew rich from Templar money. He cites as an
>example the fact a Sinclair testified against the Templars at their
>Scottish trials.
>
>So just why are a hitherto nondescript Scottish family now at the
>forefront of so much speculative revisionist history? Smith thinks
>he knows the answer.
>
>"I always say that there is only one book that anyone needs to
>read," Smith says, "and that is Niven Sinclair's cheque book."
>
>By his own admission, Niven Sinclair has spent a lot of money on the
>Prince Henry project. "I can't tell you how much I've spent because
>I would have the tax man chasing me," he confirms, "but I work in
>order to finance this."
>
>Developing this new Sinclair legend may be a jolly good wheeze, but
>Smith says it compromises our known history in favour of a
>flamboyant version.
>
>"You can't just make up the past," Smith insists.
>http://heritage.scotsman.com/myths.cfm?id=515952005