A piece of bone, found at Trondhjem in 1901, with the following runic inscription (about A.D. 1050) cut on it: iI loved her as a maiden; I will not trouble Erlend's detestable wife; better she should be a widow. i br br Words scored upon a bone, br Scratched in despair or rage -- br Nine hundred years have gone; br Now, in another age, br They burn with passion on br A scholar's tranquil page. br br The scholar takes his pen br And turns the bone about, br And writes those words again. br Once more they seethe and shout br And through a human brain br Undying hate rings out. br br "I loved her when a maid; br I loathe and love the wife br That warms another's bed: br Let him beware his life!" br The scholar's hand is stayed; br His pen becomes a knife br br To grave in living bone br The fierce archaic cry. br He sits and reads his own br Dull sum of misery. br A thousand years have flown br Before that ink is dry.