Come and Carve a Rune

Paper and ballpoint pens didn't exist in Viking times - so how did people actually send messages? That question is the focus of this morning session about runes, the Vikings' writing system.

The programme covers the many uses of runes: from short everyday messages and loving greetings to memorial inscriptions and magical formulas. Participants will also learn to write their own name in runes.

Part of the event takes place outdoors at the runestone in front of Hobro Library. Here we explore the questions: Who was Thore, and who was Karl - the good boy the stone was raised to commemorate? And what happened to the runestone from Hobro that later disappeared? The stories behind the stones are interpreted and retold together.

The event is led by historian Katrine Rønne Nikolajsen and astronomer Ole J. Knudsen from Aarhus University.