After seven years of study, archaeologist Ryan Primrose of the Ontario Centre for Archaeological Education announced that Nordic runes carved into a remote rock near Wawa, Ontario, represent the Lord's Prayer penned entirely in Swedish. The runes were originally found in 2018.
"We didn't want to release information publicly until we had done as much as we could at the time to understand exactly what it was," said Primrose, according to CBC News. The 255 symbols were revealed when a tree fell, exposing a carefully carved inscription buried under several inches of soil. "The carving was found under several inches of soil, indicating it was likely deliberately buried," noted Primrose.
Primrose's investigation revealed the marks were Nordic runes from the Futhark alphabet, Primrose sought the expertise of Henrik Williams, a retired Swedish professor emeritus from Uppsala University. Williams came to analyze the well-worn carvings on a drizzly cold October day several years ago. "I was under a tarpaulin for three hours with a flashlight, looking at the runes and the others were sitting outside freezing," Williams recounted to CBC News.
Williams traced the runic writing back to a 1611 runic version of the Lord's Prayer, which was republished in the 19th century. "It must have taken days and days of work. They are really deeply carved into the rock. Someone must have spent a couple of weeks carving this thing," he said. "Any runic inscription is rare. Someone put all this effort into this particular text and you wonder why. The mystery does not decrease just because of its age," Williams added.
Further investigation revealed that Swedish workers had been enlisted by the Hudson's Bay Company to staff isolated trading posts in the 1800s, including the Michipicoten post near the carving site. "This suggests that one of the Swedish workers is the probable author of the carving," said Primrose. During the 19th century, the Hudson's Bay Company, a British fur trading network, was expanding swiftly across North America and frequently recruited from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark to staff remote locations in Canada's interior and the Pacific Northwest.
Although the Bible was translated into Swedish in 1541, scholars suggest that the use of runes in this inscription might have been a way to honor Scandinavia's linguistic heritage. "And this must have been a Swede. Were there any Swedes at all here?" pondered Williams. The etched symbols on the Canadian rock represent the Lord's Prayer in Swedish, reflecting both religious devotion and cultural identity.
Primrose is now hoping to get funding to develop the site into a historical tourist attraction, working with the property owner to apply for a leasehold on the land. He plans to include a structure over the carving to protect it from further wear and give the public a chance to ponder the mysterious carving in person.
Despite the carving being around 200 years old, both Primrose and Williams find the discovery remarkable. Williams admits to being "a little disappointed" that the carving is only about 200 years old but added, "But mysteries they do tend to attract people and this one will certainly do that." Primrose agreed, noting, "This is certainly among the least expected finds I have encountered in my career."
Next to the runic symbols, there is a carved picture of a boat with 16 people, similar to a stone slab found in Manitoba featuring a boat circled by 16 figures. Mystery surrounds the stone slab, featuring ancient carvings within a precise square border three feet by four. Although the wear on the stone hints it might date from several centuries past, evidence points to Swedish speakers in the area just two centuries ago.
The Lord's Prayer, known to Christians, Catholics, and Bible readers alike, summarizes vital Christian teachings from begging for daily bread to the significance of pardon and eschewing sin. It appears twice in the New Testament: once in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13) and again in Luke when a disciple asks Jesus how to pray (Luke 11:2-4).
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.