The Lord’s Prayer, written in ancient Swedish runes, has been found in Canada's wilderness.
Discovered in 2018 near Wawa, Ontario, the 255 symbols had baffled researchers until archaeologist Ryan Primrose, working with experts in Nordic languages, confirmed the inscription was the Lord’s Prayer in Swedish.
The prayer, deeply familiar to Christians worldwide, was carved within a three-by-four-foot stone slab, as reported by Express.
Primrose said: “This is certainly among the least expected finds I have encountered in my career.”
The site, likely an open-air place of worship, dates back about 200 years, when Swedish labourers were employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company to staff remote trading posts.
Nearby etchings, including a boat surrounded by 16 figures, suggest a Scandinavian group carved the message as a sign of both faith and identity.
Henrik Williams, a runes expert from Uppsala University in Sweden, said: “Any runic inscription is rare. Someone put all this effort into this particular text and you wonder why.”