The 'Viking Hoax that Rewrote History': New book examines notorious scandal born in northern Ontario

A new book takes a fresh look at the story of the so-called Beardmore sword, a notorious scandal that began in the 1930s, with a Viking relic that was reported to have been found in northwestern Ontario.

The sword, which influenced ideas about when Vikings had arrived in North America and how far they travelled, wason display at the Royal Ontario Museum for years before the story was discredited in the 1950s.

"It really was one of the great museum scandals of the 20thcentury," said historian Douglas Hunter, author of Beardmore: The Viking Hoax That Rewrote History.

• How the Royal Ontario Museum believes a Viking sword ended up in northern Ontario

Hunter, who will speak about the story at a public presentation in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Tuesday Oct. 23, said he was motivated to delve further into the history of the scandalafter discovering awealth of documentation related to the hoax.

"I realized there was a much bigger story that hadn't been told before," said Hunter.

It also doesn't play into common narratives about how museum hoaxes occur, he added.

Complicated characters

"When we think of hoaxes in museums and galleries in the world, we always think of some clever forger or faker who pulls off something smart and fools the experts," Hunter said, adding that those stories usually involve the charlatan being foiled by a clever detective.

"It doesn't work that way at all in the Beardmore case."

Central to the story is EddyDodd, a prospector who purported to have found the sword on one of his northwestern Ontarioclaims.

He may have been untruthful, but Hunter said he doesn't believe Doddever really intended to hoodwink the museum by selling it the relic.

The lack of clear villains and victims in the story is part of what makes it so fascinating, he said.

"Because really the hoax stayed alive, mainly because CharlesCurrelly, the esteemed director of the Royal Ontario Museum's archeology division desperately wanted this stuff to be authentic and he really suppressed and opposed any efforts to expose what had happened."

Hunter will give a free presentation at the Thunder Bay Museum on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m.