Viking Sunstones - Real Or Make-Believe? Mythbuster For Keystage 2
A Sunstone? What’s one of those then?
The Viking Sagas describe how Vikings would find their way at sea using a chunk of crystal rock called a Sunstone.
Hold up, what’s a Viking Saga?
The Viking Sagas are epic stories from the Viking age that came from Scandinavia. The Sagas were about the lives, beliefs and adventures of the Vikings. The stories sometimes featured Norse gods like Loki and Thor, mythological creatures, fantastical histories of famous Viking people and, of course, exciting voyages on longships (and the tools Vikings may have used whilst on those voyages, such as the Sunstone).
Alright, so what did a Viking need a Sunstone for?
Vikings did a lot of travel at sea. The theory is that a Viking could use the Sunstone to find the position of the sun on a cloudy day. Locating the sun is essential if you want to find your way at sea (at least back in the Middle Ages, when there were no fancy electrical gadgets, GPS or even a magnetic compass to guide you). The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west, so if a Viking were to set off from Scandinavia to find England, they’d know to follow the setting sun in the west if they were to get anywhere close!
And the sunstone helped them find the sun? Even when it was cloudy? How on earth did they do that?
According to the Viking Sagas, it was fairly simple. The Viking would hold the crystal up towards the sky and, when the crystal was positioned in the direction of the sun, the light would radiate through the stone, even if there were clouds blocking the sun’s rays.
Whoa! That sounds magical! And maybe a bit far-fetched.
Yes, you’re not wrong. For a long time, historians have argued about whether Viking Sunstones really existed or whether they were just a myth in a story. But there are certain rock minerals with polarising qualities which historians thought could be used to find the sun. But this wasn’t tested until recently when an exciting discovery brought more evidence to light (pun intended).
Ooh! Did they find a real Viking Sunstone?
Historians discovered a type of crystal calcite called Iceland Spar on an Elizabethan shipwreck that sank in Alderney near Guernsey in 1592. The stone was found amongst other tools used for navigation. This suggested that perhaps it had been used by the Elizabethan sailors to help them find their way at sea.
And did they find out if the stone actually worked?
After some investigation, experts learned that when held in certain positions the refracts or polarises light in such a way that you can tell which way is east or west. The powers of this stone even worked in foggy and cloudy conditions and even during twilight.
Wow! So Sunstones really work! Does that mean that Sunstones aren’t just a myth after all?
Yes! Iceland Spar can actually be used to accurately find the sun, just like a Viking Sunstone. But unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that the myth has been busted. The stone that was tested came from an Elizabethan ship. This meant it was used by people who lived over 500 years after the Viking era in England had ended.
Oh right. And no Sunstones have been found from the Viking era?
Some calcite crystal fragments have been found at Viking settlements and historians believe that the Vikings could easily have had access to polarising crystals like Iceland Spar. But sadly no concrete evidence has ever been found that the Vikings actually used these crystals to help them navigate at sea.
So what does that mean for the Viking Sunstone myth then?
Good question. What do you think? We know that Iceland Spar can be used just like a Viking Sunstone is described and we know that Vikings could have easily got their hands on such a stone. But does that mean they used them like the Viking Sagas tells us? If no complete Sunstones have ever been found at Viking sites, does this mean that the Sunstones are just a myth? Pop your historian hat on and see if you can bust this myth for good!
