The Viking Rune: All Things Norse and Germanic is a site, which addresses the heritage of all ancient Germanic peoples and cultures. However, Vikings, runes and Iceland are the most blogged topics here. While not purposely academic, this web resource sometimes ventures into Germanic folklore, religion or etymology. All in all, the content that I post on these pages may be summarized as simply anything related to Germanic studies. Among the highlights is the 
Last fall an area near a church outside Stockholm, Sweden was excavated in order to lay some cables. The workers dug out some rocks, which were left on the plot. One of these rocks covered with mud and earth was thought to be quite fitting for use as a church parking lot border. Week after week rains cleaned the surface of the rock until finally it became clear that this is actually an ancient runestone. The discovery of a 1,000-year-old runic inscription in April of this year thanks to rainy weather was a significant event for the local community. Lars Andersson, Stockholm County Museum expert on runic inscriptions, said, “To read something that nobody else has read for 1,000 years is almost a religious experience”. Read More
Early this month a team of divers discovered a wreck of a 20-metre long Viking ship at the bottom of Lake Vänern, Sweden’s largest lake. Several Viking ships had been unearthed in Sweden before, but all of them on dry land. This is the first find of such type in Swedish waters. One of the protruding wreck’s ribs was uncovered by chance by a group of 50 coastguard scuba divers who surveyed the bottom of the lake. The rest of the ship was filled with a thick layer of sediment. Experts will now analyse a wood sample from the ship, as well as iron samples from a spear and a sword found near the vessel. Both the weapons and the clinker-built structure of the boat are similar to earlier Viking Age finds. 
1. Vinland Map. The so called Vinland Map is a medieval style map of the old world. It is said to date to the 15th century, when it was purportedly redrawn from a 13th century original. In the western Atlantic it has a large island identified as Vinland, which is the name given to an area in North America by Leif Eriksson who discovered it early in the 11th century. The Vinland Map came to light in 1957, when it was offered for sale to the British Museum, which turned it down because of its lack of provenance and non-original binding. Later the Vinland Map was bought by Paul Mellon who donated it to Yale University. In 1996 it was reported that insurers valued the map at $25 million. Even though the authenticity of the Vinland Map has enthusiastic supporters, 
Tagma ton Varangion, the Varangian Guard, was first created in the Byzantine Empire under Basil II Bulgaroctonus (Slayer of the Bulgars), one of the outstanding Byzantine emperors. After the death of John I Tzimisces in 976, who governed the empire before Basil, two powerful generals revolted and received military support from Georgia and Baghdad. Basil II and his great-uncle, Basil the chamberlain, were able to defeat them by 989 only with the help of Vladimir of Kiev. There were many Scandinavians among Russian soldiers who faught for Basil II under Vladimir, and some Varangians eventually remained in Basil II’s service. The emperor distrusted the native Byzantine guards 
The Jelling stones are two massive runestones standing in a churchyard in Jelling, Danemark, between two large mounds. Both date to the 10th century. The older and the smaller of the two was erected by Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The Larger stone was erected by Harald Bluetooth in memory of his parents, his conquest of Danemark and Norway and the conversion of the Danes to Christianity. This stone has a figure of Christ on one side and a serpent wrapped around a lion on another side. Since king Gorm was the first king of all of Danemark, it is generally considered that the Jelling stones declare the birth of the Danish nation. Both the Jelling church and the stones are put by UNESCO on its list of World Heritage Monuments. Recently experts from Danemark’s National Museum examined the two stones and discovered that they are steadily eroding because of the cold and wet climate. The smaller stone was deemed to be in extremely critical danger of deterioration. 
Sunday May 24th a garden party will be held by the National Trust to celebrate the great 1939 discoveries at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. At the time the estate was owned by Mrs. Edith Pretty. She invited Basil Brown , a local archeologist, to investigate the mounds of the site. The investigation was led under the supervision of Guy Maynard, curator at Ipswich Museum. Inside one of the mounds they discovered the remains of a 27 metre long ship and the burial chamber of Rædwald, the Anglo-Saxon warrior king of East Anglia, full of his treasured possessions. The excavation was taken over by Charles Phillips of Cambridge University. Soon it became clear that it was the reachest grave ever discovered in Europe: numerous large gold ornaments of fine workmanship were truly breathtaking. The undisturbed burial, probably dating from the early 7th century, shed light on a rather poorly researched period of English history. 
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