User:Davidkrueger01

I am a scholar of American history and religion and I received a PhD from Temple University. I am also the author of Myths of the Runestone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America set to be published by the University of Minnesota Press in September of 2015. The book traces the genesis and propagation of an American myth of origin, which claims that the nation was founded in the heart of the continent by the sacrifices of Viking missionaries in the fourteenth century. Minnesotans advanced this notion by promoting the authenticity of a stone with a Medieval Norse inscription dating to the year 1362. The artifact – unearthed by a Swedish immigrant farmer in 1898 and later called the Kensington Rune Stone was determined by scholars to be the product of a hoax. In spite of this, by the 1960s, more than 60% of Minnesotans believed that Vikings visited their region long before Columbus’ exploration of the Caribbean. Popular enthusiasm for this fantastic story developed as a local expression of American civil religion that both affirmed and challenged status quo assumptions about the origins of the United States. The narrative of a primordial, white, Christian sacrifice staked an exclusive claim to the landscape, shaped collective identities, and generated social power for groups that viewed themselves as “under attack.” Scandinavian immigrants, German Catholics, and small-town residents all used the mythic narrative to advance the notion that their group was superior to others and also demonstrate that the violent expulsion of Dakota Indians from Minnesota in 1862 was justified and blessed by God. Visit my website at davidkrueger.org