The Beardmore Relics and Norval Morrisseau - Beardmore, Ontario.

The Beardmore Relics are a cache of Viking Age artifacts, said to have been unearthed near Beardmore, Ontario, Canada, in the 1930s. The cache consists of a Viking Age sword, an axe head, and a bar of undetermined use (possibly a part of a shield). It has been claimed by some that the relics are proof of the early Norse occupation in northern Ontario. While the authenticity of the fragments is not generally disputed, the discovery is generally considered to be a hoax. In the 1930s, the Royal Ontario Museum purchased the relics from the man who supposedly unearthed them. For about twenty years they were prominently displayed by the museum; however, the museum was forced to pull the relics from display following a public inquiry in about 1956–1957. About this time, the son of the supposed discoverer admitted that his father had planted the relics. The provincial museum quietly re-introduced the relics to public display in the 1990s.

Edmund Carpenter

 
 
Photo of Norval Morrisseau in Beardmore
Copyright Terry Lusty