The criticism of Peter Stormare's runaway program

In the documentary series The American Runestone, which premiered at Viaplay earlier this summer, Swedish Hollywood star Peter Stormare is seeking the truth about the Kensington stone.

A rune stone found by Swedish American Olof Öhman in Minnesota in the 19th century, which states that it was erected by Vikings in 1362 - over a century before Christopher Columbus should have ascended the Americas.

Öhman was accused of having made the inscription himself and in the program Peter Stormare sees it as his calling to restore the family's honor. He 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, Stormare told the Culture News in connection with the series premiere.

But now criticism of the program is being directed by researchers.

"It's inscribed by runologists and researchers in linguistics that the inscriptions on the Kensington Stone were made in the 19th century," Adam Hjorthén, historian at Stockholm University, told Culture News.

- It shows contempt for humanistic research because they did not endeavor to consult scientific expertise on the stone, but regarded academics as enemies.

Adam Hjorthén also believes that the program touches on the infectious question of how white Europeans fit into American history writing.

- The stone has since it was found to be part of an argument for Scandinavian Americans to assert their historical right and status in the United States.

Viaplay's Press Manager Susanne Nylén comments on the criticism of the program in an email to the Culture News:

“The Kensington rune stone is debatable and for many a controversial topic. The documentary makes a serious attempt to highlight the question marks that exist but does not claim to have all the facts ”.

“That debate arises is natural and as history has shown, it is often a prerequisite for reaching an accepted truth. That the series would take a stand for Whites' right to the North American continent, we and the series creator, Peter Stormare, take a definite distance from. If we have offended anyone in the series in any way, we of course apologize for that ”.

- To consider history and runology as something that can be determined through debate, says something about Viaplay's view of science. This can only be done if you do not care about the scientific research that exists, says Adam Hjorthén.