Myths Of The Rune Stone

In 1862, four years after Minnesota was ratified as the thirty-second state in the Union, simmering tensions between indigenous Dakota and white settlers culminated in the violent, six-week-long U.S.-Dakota War. Hundreds of lives were lost on both sides, and the war ended with the execution of thirty-eight Dakotas on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota--the largest mass execution in American history. The following April, after suffering a long internment at Fort Snelling, the Dakota and Winnebago peoples were forcefully removed to South Dakota, precipitating the near destruction of the area's native communities while simultaneously laying the foundation for what we know and recognize today as Minnesota. In North Country: The Making of Minnesota, Mary Lethert Wingerd unlocks the complex origins of the state--origins that have often been ignored in favor of legend and a far more benign narrative of immigration, settlement, and cultural exchange. Moving from the earliest years of contact between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the western Great Lakes region to the era of French and British influence during the fur trade and beyond, Wingerd charts how for two centuries prior to official statehood Native people and Europeans in the region maintained a hesitant, largely cobeneficial relationship. Founded on intermarriage, kinship, and trade between the two parties, this racially hybridized society was a meeting point for cultural and economic exchange until the western expansion of American capitalism and violation of treaties by the U.S. government during the 1850s wore sharply at this tremulous bond, ultimately leading to what Wingerd calls Minnesota's Civil War. A cornerstone text in the chronicle of Minnesota's history, Wingerd's narrative is augmented by more than 170 illustrations chosen and described by Kirsten Delegard in comprehensive captions that depict the fascinating, often haunting representations of the region and its inhabitants over two and a half centuries. North Country is the unflinching account of how the land the Dakota named Mini Sota Makoce became the State of Minnesota and of the people who have called it, at one time or another, home.

A guide to the secrets of rune-reading, an ancient predictive art, that teaches you how to lay out runes and interpret them instantly. Once the sacred alphabet of the Germanic people of Northern Europe, runes are more than 2,000 years old. Runes (meaning a secret or mystery) were words of power, once carved on amulets, rings and weapons, and found as inscriptions on tombstones. The 1st rune, Fehu, is connected with cattle, and since wealth was measured in the number of cows a person owned, it has an underlying meaning of material wealth. The 11th rune, Isa, literally means 'ice', signifying danger and the probability of slipping up. Likewise, the 17th rune, Tiwaz, shares its significance with the North Star as an aid to navigation and charting life's path. In this insightful book, each of the runes is fully described, together with the symbolic images and celestial phenomena associated with them. Methods of laying out, or 'casting' the runes are described in order to give a full and comprehensive reading to answer any question. There are six spreads to choose from, from Odin's Rune, a simple reading with one rune stone, to using up to nine runes for deeper insight into the past, present and future.

What do our myths say about us? Why do we choose to believe stories that have been disproven? David M. Krueger takes an in-depth look at a legend that held tremendous power in one corner of Minnesota, helping to define both a community’s and a state’s identity for decades. In 1898, a Swedish immigrant farmer claimed to have discovered a large rock with writing carved into its surface in a field near Kensington, Minnesota. The writing told a North American origin story, predating Christopher Columbus’s exploration, in which Viking missionaries reached what is now Minnesota in 1362 only to be massacred by Indians. The tale’s credibility was quickly challenged and ultimately undermined by experts, but the myth took hold. Faith in the authenticity of the Kensington Rune Stone was a crucial part of the local Nordic identity. Accepted and proclaimed as truth, the story of the Rune Stone recast Native Americans as villains. The community used the account as the basis for civic celebrations for years, and advocates for the stone continue to promote its validity despite the overwhelming evidence that it was a hoax. Krueger puts this stubborn conviction in context and shows how confidence in the legitimacy of the stone has deep implications for a wide variety of Minnesotans who embraced it, including Scandinavian immigrants, Catholics, small-town boosters, and those who desired to commemorate the white settlers who died in the Dakota War of 1862. Krueger demonstrates how the resilient belief in the Rune Stone is a form of civil religion, with aspects that defy logic but illustrate how communities characterize themselves. He reveals something unique about America’s preoccupation with divine right and its troubled way of coming to terms with the history of the continent’s first residents. By considering who is included, who is left out, and how heroes and villains are created in the stories we tell about the past, Myths of the Rune Stone offers an enlightening perspective on not just Minnesota but the United States as well.

Seven o’clock on a Monday morning, five hundred years after the end of the world, and goblins had been at the cellar again. . . . Not that anyone would admit it was goblins. In Maddy Smith’s world, order rules. Chaos, old gods, fairies, goblins, magic, glamours–all of these were supposedly vanquished centuries ago. But Maddy knows that a small bit of magic has survived. The “ruinmark” she was born with on her palm proves it–and makes the other villagers fearful that she is a witch (though helpful in dealing with the goblins-in-the-cellar problem). But the mysterious traveler One-Eye sees Maddy’s mark not as a defect, but as a destiny. And Maddy will need every scrap of forbidden magic One-Eye can teach her if she is to survive that destiny.

In 1898, a farmer in northwestern Minnesota unearthed a large stone engraved with what appeared to be Norse runes carved in 1362. Could medieval Scandinavians have penetrated deep into mainland North America over a century before Columbus discovered the New World? Does the stone provide evidence that forces a rewrite of American history, or was it merely a well-executed hoax? In the absence of written records documenting a Norse expedition into Minnesota, most historians have dismissed the Kensington Runestone as a forgery. However, Kehoe approaches the question holistically. She examines not only historical and literary evidence, but also brings in data from archaeology, geology, linguistics, and biological anthropology. She concludes that the stones authenticity should not be dismissed as readily as it has been so far, even if that means re-thinking deeply ingrained ideas about contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans.

Controversy about the so-called Kensington stone, found in Minnesota in 1898 - whether it is an authentic Rune stone left by Pre-Columbian explorers from Scandinavia.

The ancient origins and divinatory power of the runes • Uncovers the original divinatory meaning of each rune through the myths of its corresponding Norse god or goddess • Includes beautiful full-color illustrations of the runic gods and goddesses • Presents rune-casting spreads for divination and character analysis • Explores the controversial history of runes from the Paleolithic Stone Age to today Invented long before the appearance of the runic alphabet Futhark less than two thousand years ago, the runes were originally created as symbols for specific deities. Representing the twenty-four Norse gods and goddesses from the Vanir and Aesir pantheons, the runes provide a way to establish direct contact with the divine shapers of fate. Based on the work of Austrian mystic and runologist Guido von List and anthropologist Marija Gimbutas as well as the oldest rune artifacts to survive from pre-Christian Europe, this book reveals the long history of runes from their appearances in Paleolithic cave paintings through their rechristening in Medieval times to their modern resurgence as a popular tool of divination. It uncovers the original names and divinatory meanings of each rune by exploring the myths, personality traits, astrological periods, identifying colors, and gemstones of the rune’s corresponding god or goddess. It also illustrates and explains five ancient rune-casting spreads used by Norse adepts for divination as well as character analysis. By renewing their link with the divine, Gods of the Runes shows how working with the runes can be a genuine mystical experience, enabling a personal connection with the gods and a rediscovery of their perennial truths.