SONDUR, FAROE ISLANDS—All That’s Interesting reports that a centuries-old runestone was unearthed from the ruins of a medieval prayer house at the site of Á Sondum on the island of Sandoy. Runic inscriptions are exceptionally rare in the Faroe Islands, with only a few other known examples. Experts from the National Museum have only partially translated the lettering, but believe that some of the legible characters appear to read “Her hvílur,” meaning “Here lies” or “Here rests” in Old Norse. The object was found embedded in the floor of the chapel-like structure and may have served as a burial marker for a notable individual. Other artifacts recovered at the site include fragments of a small sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus, as well as a kola, a type of small oil lamp. Dating to around a.d. 1000, the building and objects uncovered within it are providing scholars with important new insight into the early Christian period in the Faroe Islands, when Norse pagan traditions gradually merged with Christianity. To read more about the islands' earliest era, go to "Letter from the Faroes: Lost History of the Sheep Islands."
