LEGEND OF THORVALD'S ROCK
(more exclusive photos)

Hampton's Tuck Museum guide Russell Merrill points out the faded markings on Thorvald's Rock. Today the markings are considered not to be an epitaph for a Viking explorer from 1004 AD.

Runic expert Olaf Strandwold saw the following markings on the stone in his interpretation in the 1930s. He believed it said "bui reis stein" or "Bui raised stone." But is the name of a famed Norseman who died in 986. Although unsupported this data appeared in a book on Norse stones in North America and is often quoted as proof of the stone's accuracy. (Courtesy Hampton Historical Society)

Close-up of the imagined runic markings on the Viking Stone found near Boar's Head in Hampton.

Off Viking Street we still find Thorwald Ave., not far from the location of the rock before the development of local real estate in the early 1900s. The rock was moved in 1989.Today scientists believe Thorvale, son of Erik the Red, actually died in Nova Scotia off Cape Breton Island.

Color photos by J. Dennis Robinson / SeacoastNH.com. All rights reserved. Additional images courtesy of the Hampton Historical Society..