The Discovery of the Kensington Runestone: A Reappraisal, by O. G. Landsverk

The Discovery of the Kensington Runestone: A Reappraisal of the Circumstances Under Which the Stone Was Discovered, by O. G. Landsverk. 1961 softcover. 77 pages, nice condition.

The Kensington Runestone is a slab of greywacke stone covered in runes that was allegedly discovered in central Minnesota in 1898. Olof Öhman, a Swedish immigrant, reported that he unearthed it from a field in the largely rural township of Solem in Douglas County. It was later named after the nearest settlement, Kensington. The inscription purports to be a record left behind by Scandinavian explorers in the 14th century (internally dated to the year 1362). There has been a drawn-out debate regarding the stone's authenticity, but since the first scientific examination in 1910, the scholarly consensus has classified it as a 19th-century hoax, with some critics directly charging Öhman with fabrication. Nevertheless, there remains a community convinced of the stone's authenticity.

This is a very rare, seemingly self-published book (The Church Press, Glendale, CA), discussing the history of the Runestone, by a scholar of Norwegian descent who has written many articles on runic inscriptions of Scandinavian origin in the US. It includes an examination of the witness statements made by Öhman and others at the time it was unearthed.