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.

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

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." Bui 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)

The original site of the stone was near this are of Hampton. Off Winnacunnett Road, Viking Street is in an area of small homes and cottages called Surfside Park.

The boulder as it appeared in the 1930s before it was excavated from its location near Boar's Head in Hampton NH. This image comes from the souvenir catalog of the 1938 Hampton Tercentennial that featured a story promoting the authenticity of Thorvald's Rock. (Courtesy Hampton Historical Society)

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.

Disposable photos by J. Dennis Robinson
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