The Maes Howe carvings - SMC078


Maes Howe is a magnificent chambered tomb in Stenness on the Orkney Mainland that was excavated in 1861. On the walls is a collection of Viking runic carvings from when the tomb was broken into in the twelfth century.

The graffiti includes simple inscriptions of names, funny and rude inscriptions, and romantic writing. One carving is by a man who claimed to be the most skilled with runes in the western ocean.

The collection of runes is one of the largest in the world with about thirty inscriptions. Also carved on the walls are a walrus, a knotted serpent, and a dragon.


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