Taboo runestone: Peter Stormare seeks the truth

The first time actor Peter Stormare saw the Kensington rune stone was in the 90's when he filmed the movie Fargo in Minnesota. But a few years ago he ran on the stone again, and since then he has not been able to let go of his thoughts.

The stone is called The Kensington Runestone and was found in the United States by the Swedish American Olof Öhman in the earth on his property in 1898. The rune stone says it was erected by the Vikings in 1362 - over a century before Christofer Columbus should have ascended into America.

Olof Öhman was charged with forgery and the family became so mocked that two people took their lives. Peter Stormare sees it as his calling to restore the family's honor, and has even experienced that Olof Öhman's wife spoke to him from the other side.

- His wife, Karin, that was her voice I heard. She said: you are called, we have called you because we want the truth to come out, says Stormare.

The more Peter Stormare read about the stone, the more similarities he found between himself and Olof Öhman, and the more convinced he became that it was his destiny to purge Öhman and his family.

- He comes from my neighboring village in Hälsingland, where I've played football as a kid. We were born exactly one hundred years apart and he emigrated a hundred years before I emigrated. There are too many factors. Then he has the same eyes, nose and forehead as I do, which is also very strange.

In the documentary series The American Runestone, Stormare and the amateur archaeologist Elroy Balgaard try to find out who actually carved and raised the stone, and when it may have happened. For their help, they take on different researchers and locals. But in the research world, the subject is partly taboo.

- If we write about American history, we also write about European history, but I think it is important for our future generations to know how it really went, says Stormare.

Although the most important thing for Peter Stormare has been to restore the Öhman family, which he feels he has done.

- Karin is happy now. She comes and visits me often.