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The John Batchelor Show

HEADLINE: Runestones, Artifacts, and Modern Misappropriation BOOK TITLE: American Vikings: How the Norse Sailed into the Lands and Imaginations of America AUTHOR: Martyn Whittock 100 WORD SUMMARY: Following the translation of the sagas, runestones (e.g.,

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, Society & Culture, News, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

HEADLINE: Runestones, Artifacts, and Modern Misappropriation BOOK TITLE: American Vikings: How the Norse Sailed into the Lands and Imaginations of America AUTHOR: Martyn Whittock 100 WORD SUMMARY: Following the translation of the sagas, runestones (e.g., Kensington in Minnesota) began appearing, primarily after 1865. These are almost certainly fakes created by newly arrived Scandinavian immigrants seeking to claim "prior title" to the land by asserting "Vikings were here first." The only artifact likely to be genuine is the Maine Penny (Goddard Coin), found at a Native American trading site in 1957. It was likely passed along Native American trade networks, indicating Norsecontact as far south as Maine.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Building a coffee business?

0:22.0

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0:23.7

The book is American Vikings.

0:26.8

We have L'Ance en Meadow.

0:27.8

That's established.

0:28.9

You can visit it.

0:30.8

There are remains of the camp.

0:34.6

We have very little else that stands up, however.

0:38.2

But there's been a lot of effort over the last few centuries.

0:42.2

Martin, I enjoy these episodes because I'd always heard

0:43.8

there were other places

0:45.4

that the Vikings traveled to.

0:47.5

We're looking for them.

0:48.5

I understand.

0:49.9

There continue to be, however,

0:52.3

ruin carvings in rocks, Minnesota, Nova Scotia, however, ruin carvings in rocks,

0:55.1

Minnesota, Nova Scotia, Maine,

0:59.0

and on.

1:00.4

I believe there's one

1:01.5

as far south as Massachusetts.

1:06.1

Oh, there's one in Rhode Island.

1:08.1

What do we know about these carvings,

...

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