Olaf Ohman and the Kensington Rune Stone in 1929. This is a quick follow-up to a blog post from earlier today about the Faram Research Foundation's take on the Kensington Rune Stone (KRS). I was curious about the idea that the runes on the stone were carved by two different people. In the comments to that post, Joe Scales pointed me to this website which contains a link to a 1976 article in Minnesota History titled "The Case of the Gran Tapes" that sheds some light on that issue.
The Minnesota History article transcribes a 1967 interview with Walter Gran, son of John P. Gran, and Walter Gran's sister (Anna Josephine) and nephew. John P. Gran was a neighbor of Olaf Ohman, the man who unearthed the KRS in 1898. As described in the article (pg. 153),
"The pertinent information as to the inscription derives from conversations in the late 1920s between Walter and his father, who was ill at the time and convinced that he was dying. The evidence thus has the quality of a deathbed statement."
Here is a bit of the interview relevant to the issue of right- and left-handed carvers of the KRS:
"Nephew. Well now, did Ohman ever admit that be did this?
Walter. No, Ohman didn't. Well, you see, then as time went on. Papa was getting older and older, and I was in Canada. Then I got a telegram, I think it was Art [his brother, Arthur Gran] who sent me a telegram, if you want to see Dad alive, you better come right away. . . . Let me see, when 1 came back, what year was that now? I believe it was in 1926 or '27, I ain't so sure, one of them years. I come up and seen Dad then, and Dad was glad to see me. He was laying in bed but he was pretty weak. Well, then of course we talked about what I was doing. . . Yeah, well, then he got to talking. He brought up about the rune stone, then again. He said to me, you should go to see Ohman now, he said, and visit Ohman. And then he says, you find out how we made the rune stone, he says. He says, you know it is false, he says. You know, he said to me, just like it was important that it was so. And I says Yeah. . . .
Anna Josephine. You see Papa was left-handed . . . and Ohman was right-handed.
Walter. You know I seen that sculpture [rune stone] had been examined and it said it had been two men working on that stone and because one was a left-handed man and one a right-handed man. Well, that fitted in for Dad and Ohman, but then I thought, by God it is something isn't it? . . ."
The Minnesota History article transcribes a 1967 interview with Walter Gran, son of John P. Gran, and Walter Gran's sister (Anna Josephine) and nephew. John P. Gran was a neighbor of Olaf Ohman, the man who unearthed the KRS in 1898. As described in the article (pg. 153),
"The pertinent information as to the inscription derives from conversations in the late 1920s between Walter and his father, who was ill at the time and convinced that he was dying. The evidence thus has the quality of a deathbed statement."
Here is a bit of the interview relevant to the issue of right- and left-handed carvers of the KRS:
"Nephew. Well now, did Ohman ever admit that be did this?
Walter. No, Ohman didn't. Well, you see, then as time went on. Papa was getting older and older, and I was in Canada. Then I got a telegram, I think it was Art [his brother, Arthur Gran] who sent me a telegram, if you want to see Dad alive, you better come right away. . . . Let me see, when 1 came back, what year was that now? I believe it was in 1926 or '27, I ain't so sure, one of them years. I come up and seen Dad then, and Dad was glad to see me. He was laying in bed but he was pretty weak. Well, then of course we talked about what I was doing. . . Yeah, well, then he got to talking. He brought up about the rune stone, then again. He said to me, you should go to see Ohman now, he said, and visit Ohman. And then he says, you find out how we made the rune stone, he says. He says, you know it is false, he says. You know, he said to me, just like it was important that it was so. And I says Yeah. . . .
Anna Josephine. You see Papa was left-handed . . . and Ohman was right-handed.
Walter. You know I seen that sculpture [rune stone] had been examined and it said it had been two men working on that stone and because one was a left-handed man and one a right-handed man. Well, that fitted in for Dad and Ohman, but then I thought, by God it is something isn't it? . . ."
That's the story from Walter Gran's side. Needless to say, supporters of the KRS don't accept Gran's report of a 40-year-old confession. Here is the take from one website:
"1972-1975 - The “Deathbed Confession”
As strange as the events that had swirled around the rune stone till now had been, it got even stranger. Walter Gran was the son of John Gran who lived at Kensington. Walter claimed in an interview that his father, while dying, had told him that the rune stone was a fake and that he and Olof Ohman had carved the inscription. Even though no-one around Kensington believed Gran and everyone spoke of his tendency to “exaggerate,” the story caught on. A subsequent interview with Gran showed him to not have a coherent story. A jury would never have bought it, but there was no jury. The rune stone and Olof were convicted of fraud without a trial. The “deathbed confession” suited the anti-stone atmosphere of the times and fit the template of hoax that the hungry media had adopted."
Anyone know where I can find that "subsequent interview"?
"1972-1975 - The “Deathbed Confession”
As strange as the events that had swirled around the rune stone till now had been, it got even stranger. Walter Gran was the son of John Gran who lived at Kensington. Walter claimed in an interview that his father, while dying, had told him that the rune stone was a fake and that he and Olof Ohman had carved the inscription. Even though no-one around Kensington believed Gran and everyone spoke of his tendency to “exaggerate,” the story caught on. A subsequent interview with Gran showed him to not have a coherent story. A jury would never have bought it, but there was no jury. The rune stone and Olof were convicted of fraud without a trial. The “deathbed confession” suited the anti-stone atmosphere of the times and fit the template of hoax that the hungry media had adopted."
Anyone know where I can find that "subsequent interview"?
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