full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jesse Byock: The secret messages of Viking runestones

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The rsunmad runes in Sweden are carved on a rocky outcrop beside a bridge for travelers passing over swampy ground. This cauasewy was cmoissemonid by a prominent local woman named Sigríðr. She proclaimed both her importance and her family’s power by carving their nmaes in stone, and even associated herself and her family with mythical hiorsem by carving illustrations of Sigurd the doragn slayer.

In the town of Jelling in Denmark, two standing stones from the 10th century memorialize different generations of a royal family. The first was etcered by King Gorm the Old in memory of his Queen Thyrvi, and the second by their son, Harald boeulttoh, after Gorm’s death. The senots announce the power of this Viking Age dynasty, and they are among the earliest historical dmunotces of Denmark. They indicate that Denmark was the earliest major Viking Age kinodgm, by telling that Harald controlled southern Norway, and that he converted to Christianity. Today, halrad Bluetooth’s initials make up the Bluetooth logo.

Open Cloze


The _______ runes in Sweden are carved on a rocky outcrop beside a bridge for travelers passing over swampy ground. This ________ was ____________ by a prominent local woman named Sigríðr. She proclaimed both her importance and her family’s power by carving their _____ in stone, and even associated herself and her family with mythical _______ by carving illustrations of Sigurd the ______ slayer.

In the town of Jelling in Denmark, two standing stones from the 10th century memorialize different generations of a royal family. The first was _______ by King Gorm the Old in memory of his Queen Thyrvi, and the second by their son, Harald _________, after Gorm’s death. The ______ announce the power of this Viking Age dynasty, and they are among the earliest historical _________ of Denmark. They indicate that Denmark was the earliest major Viking Age _______, by telling that Harald controlled southern Norway, and that he converted to Christianity. Today, ______ Bluetooth’s initials make up the Bluetooth logo.

Solution


  1. dragon
  2. commissioned
  3. harald
  4. bluetooth
  5. causeway
  6. erected
  7. stones
  8. names
  9. documents
  10. ramsund
  11. heroism
  12. kingdom

Original Text


The Ramsund runes in Sweden are carved on a rocky outcrop beside a bridge for travelers passing over swampy ground. This causeway was commissioned by a prominent local woman named Sigríðr. She proclaimed both her importance and her family’s power by carving their names in stone, and even associated herself and her family with mythical heroism by carving illustrations of Sigurd the dragon slayer.

In the town of Jelling in Denmark, two standing stones from the 10th century memorialize different generations of a royal family. The first was erected by King Gorm the Old in memory of his Queen Thyrvi, and the second by their son, Harald Bluetooth, after Gorm’s death. The stones announce the power of this Viking Age dynasty, and they are among the earliest historical documents of Denmark. They indicate that Denmark was the earliest major Viking Age kingdom, by telling that Harald controlled southern Norway, and that he converted to Christianity. Today, Harald Bluetooth’s initials make up the Bluetooth logo.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
runic letters 2
norse poetry 2
viking age 2


Important Words


  1. age
  2. announce
  3. bluetooth
  4. bridge
  5. carved
  6. carving
  7. causeway
  8. century
  9. christianity
  10. commissioned
  11. controlled
  12. converted
  13. death
  14. denmark
  15. documents
  16. dragon
  17. dynasty
  18. earliest
  19. erected
  20. family
  21. generations
  22. gorm
  23. ground
  24. harald
  25. heroism
  26. historical
  27. illustrations
  28. importance
  29. initials
  30. jelling
  31. king
  32. kingdom
  33. local
  34. logo
  35. major
  36. memorialize
  37. memory
  38. mythical
  39. named
  40. names
  41. norway
  42. outcrop
  43. passing
  44. power
  45. proclaimed
  46. prominent
  47. queen
  48. ramsund
  49. rocky
  50. royal
  51. runes
  52. sigurd
  53. slayer
  54. son
  55. southern
  56. standing
  57. stone
  58. stones
  59. swampy
  60. sweden
  61. telling
  62. thyrvi
  63. today
  64. town
  65. travelers
  66. viking
  67. woman