The Heavener, Oklahoma,
Runestone: believed to be a Viking inscription.
According to the accompanying descriptive panels at this state park, an
American engineer and Norse scholar, Richard Nielsen, determined that
the Heavener runes are derived from a Norse alphabet called the Elder
Futhark, and may be translated as “Glome’s Valley.” The figures are six
to ten inches high and are incised into a ten by twelve foot slab,
presently housed in the structure in the second photograph. Local
residents first saw the inscription in 1874. Five other runestones are
known from Oklahoma. The Viking authors would have sailed around
Florida, up the Mississippi and the Arkansas rivers to the Poteau River,
near the Heavener site, and carved the runes as a boundary marker. A
number of such inscriptions have been reported around the U.S. Their
ancient origin is disputed by contemporary archaeologists.