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The actual carving required specialized skills—knowledge of runes, ability to work stone, patience to execute lengthy inscriptions without errors.
The Tools:
Iron chisels of various sizes carved runes—pointed tools for fine lines, broader chisels for filling larger areas, specialized shapes for specific carving needs. The chisels had to be hard enough to cut granite without immediate dulling but not so brittle they shattered against stone’s resistance.
Hammers drove chisels—controlled strikes that removed stone gradually, repeated blows that accumulated into complete carving. The hammer work required skill—hitting too hard risked shattering stone, hitting too lightly accomplished nothing, maintaining rhythm allowed sustainable work pace over hours and days.
Abrasive powders sometimes aided carving—making cutting easier, polishing completed sections, creating contrasts between worked and unworked surfaces.
The Technique:
The carver worked systematically—completing one rune before moving to next, following established path through inscription, maintaining even depth and width. The consistency was crucial—variations in carving depth created legibility problems, irregular widths looked amateurish, careless work dishonored subject of memorial.
The runes themselves had to be correctly formed—each character’s strokes properly oriented, distinguishing marks accurately carved, ambiguity avoided. Incorrect runes could change meaning, make inscription difficult or impossible to interpret, essentially waste entire effort.
The Pace:
Carving proceeded slowly—even skilled carver might complete only tens of runes per day when working large, deeply-cut inscription on hard granite. Long inscriptions required weeks or months to complete, consuming carver’s time that could have earned income elsewhere, representing substantial economic investment.
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