Runes and Runestones. Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sweden

Sweden has approximately 3500 runestones in all; Norway 50-100 and Denmark 250. Iceland has 0 stones from the viking-age, but there are about 60 runestones dated after the viking-age.

Answer: The carver had to "sound" the words as he worked.

The carver had to say the word and figure out which letters to use. A master would usually stick to his spelling and style, which makes it easier to determine who has carved a certain stone if he forgot or didn't bother to give it his signature. An example of difference in spelling is the frequently used word "And". It could be written in many different ways, according to who was carving the stone.

The following are some examples I´ve taken from various runestones: aik, aog, aui, asauka, ayk, iuk, ik, om, ue, uk, tuk, uuk, unuk, yg, ouk, auuk, iauk, aouk, and so on.

The abundance of variations comes from the fact that many kin-folk wanted to leave their own mark, and accordingly, had to learn much of their trade as they went along. It was not uncommon to inspect an impressive stone in order to emulate it, or just to get the wording right.

Answer: No one knows.

Wishful thinking may involve the Midgård-serpent, but the truth is that no one knows where this style originated, or what the animal stands for. My own guess would be, since there are small snakes intertwined with the animal on some stones, that it is Nidhoggr.

This dragon/serpent has its lair beneath the world tree Yggdrasil, where it gnaws ferociously at its roots with the help of innumerable snakes. In Sweden, we simply call it the "Rune-animal".

Answer: True

There are examples of stones carved with what seems to be a homemade version of the Futhark (the runic alphabet). Or there may be real runes, but without any meaning behind the carving.

Answer: Churches.

A fate that many beautiful stones met with. That is, until 1666, when the Swedish Government decided that it was against the law to destroy or move the stones. They sent out a decree stating that everyone should be involved in the quest to find and/or save any runestone they may come across. One of the most famous Runestones is the Rök-stone.

It was used as material when the Rök church built a small house for storage during the 12th century. It was freed from its degrading prison in 1862, and it continues to baffle the experts with its complexity.

It is arguably the most impressive runestone in Scandinavia.

Answer: 100-200 AD.

Although they have dated artefacts to about 100-200 AD, it is by no means an absolute date of the first runic inscriptions. It would be remarkable if the inscriptions found were among the first made. One famous find is a spearhead from Moos, Gotland. The inscription reads: 's i o a g', or the other way around, 'g a o i s'.

This is probably a magic spell. It was common practice to give the weapon special powers, as in scratching the rune T on your armour. T stands for Tyr, one of the old gods of warfare.

It wasn't unusual to name the weapon according to how you wished it would fare in battle. A spear could for instance be called "Finder" by its carrier. The most famous example is probably Thor´s hammer Mjölner, which translates to "Crusher".

Answer: 1.

It was found in 1905 on the island of Berezany. Grani had it carved in memory of his friend, Karl. The Swedish vikings in that area were called "Rus". Also, the Finnish name for the Swedish language is Ruotsi.

Answer: It was found in America.

It was found by Swedish immigrant, Olaf Ohman, in 1898, near his home in Kensington, Minnesota. He was removing a tree when he found that a slab of stone was entangled in the roots. After closer inspection by his son, they realized that it was covered with runes. My translation reads:
"8 Geats and 22 Norwegians on one journey of exploration from Vinland to the west
we had camp by 2 skerries one day's journey north from this stone
we were fishing one day after we came home found ten men red with blood and dead AVM (Ave Virgin Mary-my note)
Save us from evil"
(And on the side of the stone)
"have 10 men by the sea to look after our ship 14 days journey
from this island year 1362."
This was of course taken as a hoax, and ever since the stone was unearthed, the controversy has continued to this day. The "Geats" mentioned are Swedes. The Kensington Runestone is probably the most famous stone containing runes.

Answer: False

Sadly, no. It would be interesting to see what modern man would do with runes in a contemporary setting.

Answer: 1893.

It was carved into a tree-trunk by a boy while he was herding sheep. The inscription reads: "KAS GET 1893".
Or translated: "Karl Andersson Herded 1893". The A, G, and E (AE) are written with runes. The region in Sweden where he lived, Dalarna, developed their own Futhark, which was used until the 20th century. It contained over 35 runes, variations included, as well as some Latin letters.
For more information on runes, check out the internet. Hope you enjoyed the quiz !