Hogganvik Runestone Re-erected

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The recently found Norwegian 5th century runestone of Hogganvik carries a memorial inscription and so might be expected to have stood on or near a grave. My buddy Frans-Arne Stylegar has excavated the site and sadly found no preserved burial, but he did find the original stone setting of the monument. This is a rare kind of knowledge, as many runestones have been moved around through the centuries. Now the runestone stands again, the site has been cleaned up, and the public is free to come see the most important early runic document to surface in many decades.

Photograph by Frans-Arne Stylegar. I have written here about Hogganvik twice before.

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Dr. philos Kjell Aartun has solved the enigma of the language
on the Hogganvik stone. Around "Juletider" (X-mas time) the
complete poems will possible be published (together with a lot of other "new" stone engravings) in German.
As the engravings are 4-languaged the "writing" can be estimated to be approx. 3500 years old.
To talk about a burial on a hard packed breeding site is sheer nonsens.
"Hestehagen" is the area called. The Semitic word HEST may
be translated the "hard tampled".

By Steinar Skailand (not verified) on 09 Jul 2010 #permalink

I've read some of Prof. Aartun's work before. While I don't agree with his linguistic conclusions, I admire his thorough research, and (at the risk of sounding melodramatic) adore his poetry. The fertility poem he realises from of the Phaistos Disc is quite inspiring.
I look forward to reading his complete poems sometime.

By Casey Goranson (not verified) on 25 Feb 2013 #permalink