At the time of the vikings, this magnificent marble lion stood at the port city of Athens, Piraeus. The lion appears to have been sculpted around 360 BCE. Long after the lion had been originally sculpted, it appears some vikings made their way to Piraues as mercenaries or travellers and chiseled snaking bands of rune graffiti on the lion’s right and left shoulders. Although these runes have faded from weathering and pollution, some have made attempts at translating it. These include: “Asmund cut these runes with Asgeir and Thorleif, Thord and Ivar, at the request of Harold the Tall, though the Greeks considered about and forbade it. (Right Side)” and “Hakon with Ulf and Asmund and Örn conquered this port. These men and Harold Hafi imposed a heavy fine on account of the revolt of the Greek people. Dalk is detained captive in far lands. Egil is gone on an expedition with Ragnar into Romania and Armenia. (Left Side)”² 

 This Byzantine Lion is living evidence of the literacy of the vikings. While Latin was the primary language of the time, it was generally reserved for high status and church officials and very few knew it well. But runes were widely understood and written, even in graffiti. These runes are also a way to track the vikings whereabouts, what they did there. Clearly, their travels included not just locations like Ireland and Frankia: they also included the Byzantine Empire as well as Russia