Sunstone (medieval) (nonfiction)

The sunstone (Icelandic: sólarsteinn) is a type of mineral attested in several 13th–14th century written sources in Iceland, one of which describes its use to locate the sun in a completely overcast sky.

Sunstones are also mentioned in the inventories of several churches and one monastery in 14th–15th century Iceland.

A theory exists that the sunstone had polarizing attributes and was used as a navigation instrument by seafarers in the Viking Age.

A stone found in 2013 off Alderney, in the wreck of a 16th-century warship, may lend evidence of the existence of sunstones as navigational devices.

Fiction cross-reference

• Rulestone (medieval)

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Sunstone (nonfiction)

External links:

• Sunstone (medieval) @ Wikipedia
• Viking Sun Stone @ Atmospheric Optics