A fallen tree in the Ontario wilderness has unearthed one of Canada’s most enigmatic archeological finds: 255 Nordic runes spelling out the Lord’s Prayer, carved deep into bedrock and dating back to the early 1800s. The mysterious site—discovered near Wawa—also includes a carving of a boat with 16 people and 14 Xs beside it, baffling researchers and fueling global intrigue.
Archeologist Ryan Primrose, director of the Ontario Centre for Archeological Education, has been studying the site since 2018. Now going public, he reveals that the characters are written in Swedish using a version of Futhark, the old runic alphabet. Henrik Williams, a Swedish runologist from Uppsala University, traced the prayer’s form to a 1611 edition republished in the 19th century.
Although it’s not a Viking relic, researchers believe it may be linked to Swedes employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company, which operated nearby Michipicoten post during that era. The painstaking craftsmanship suggests it was a deeply personal or communal religious expression, possibly a worship site. The fact that the carving was buried under several inches of soil adds another layer of mystery.
No artifacts have been found nearby, but Primrose has applied for a leasehold and aims to develop the site into a tourist attraction with protective infrastructure.
“The mystery around it doesn’t decrease just because it’s slightly younger than we hoped,” said Williams. “Why here, why this text, and who carved it—those questions still remain.”
Swifteradio.com
