Have you ever heard of the 1977 novel Rune Struck?

It's a fun little piece of satirical fiction by the American author Calvin Trillen.

It explores the mania that consumes a small town in Maine after a gas station attendant and his pal

discover what they describe as this real weird rock while they're out clamming.

Upon further inspection, the rock seems to be inscribed with an ancient Norse rune.

The president of the local amateur archaeological society is alerted,

and he's immediately convinced that not only is the runstone an authentic Viking artifact,

it proves that the little town of Berryville, Maine,

was once visited by the Norse explorer Leif Erickson in the 11th century.

You see, in the Norse sagas, there are tales of a beautiful and fertile territory located somewhere southwest of Greenland.

This place was dubbed Vinland, or the Land of Wine, because of the wild grapes that

allegedly grew there in abundance.

According to the medieval sources, Leif Erikson and a handful of other Norse seafarers made the journey

to Vinland in the early 11th century. There, they collected resources, traded, and fought with the

local people they called the Scrailings. Despite the great resources of Vinland, it was eventually abandoned by the Norse,

and its existence became a distant memory, bordering on myth.

In the mind of Calvin Trillen's eager amateur archaeologist,

this mysterious ruin confirmed that Berryville was undoubtedly Vinland.

News of the Rune and Barryville's Viking history very quickly becomes the talk of the town.

Before the Rune can be properly authenticated, local boosters have already seized on the chance

to reinvent their quiet seaside town as a Viking-themed tourist destination.

An architect is brought in to completely reimagine the town's beachside parks,

...