The Unspunnen Stone
Happy new year! And welcome to all of the new subscribers! This month's newsletter is shorter than the last, but that's not exactly difficult. My end of year review became my most successful newsletter yet, so a big thanks if you read and enjoyed it!
Let me take you to Switzerland and then briefly over to Japan for this month's newsletter. Let's fly in!
Here's your list of topics for this month. Feel free to jump around to the ones that interest you most:
- New article: The Unspunnen Stone
- Stonelifting scene in a Japanese period drama
- Dinnie Stones attempt dates announced
- Minor site updates
New article: The Unspunnen Stone
Towards the end of last year, the events for the 2023 Arnold Strongman (and Strongwoman!) Classic in March were announced. One of the events was surprising to many: the Unspunnen Stone throw.
Athletes and fans scrambled to figure out what the Unspunnen Stone throw was - taking to YouTube to watch videos of the technique used to throw the stone.
I'm always excited by the Arnold Strongman Classic. And especially by the stonelifting events; the team running the strongman show tend to favour natural stones. Rogue have been an incredible partner by creating replicas like the Húsafell stone, their Inver Stones, and now - I suspect, but don't actually know, so don't quote me - the Unspunnen stone.
So obviously I had to write about the Unspunnen stone and its history.
I first learned about the Unspunnen Stone in Of Stones and Strength, a book from the mid 90's by Steve Jeck and Peter Martin. The authors give a nice overview of the stone and its history, along with some pleasant photos. Unfortunately, now that the book is almost 30 years old, its information is a little outdated - particularly for the Unspunnen stone. A lot has happened to the stone in those interim years.
The Unspunnen stone has a long and storied history with various accounts of what happened - so I had to comb through and dig deeper and deeper to find what I believe to be the (almost) comprehensive history of the stone. Having said that, I had to leave some information out simply because the article would be far too long otherwise - it's already the longest article on the site, even surpassing the Dinnie Stones piece.
This has been one of the most difficult articles to write and put together. And I only just managed to publish it in time for January. So, after what feels like endless researching, writing, and editing, here it is: The Unspunnen Stone.
Here's a bonus image that didn't make it into the article - a photo of a man throwing the 1808 Unspunnen stone in the mid 20th century. Notice his technique: he's throwing from his shoulder. This was the throwing style until 1961 when Alois Egli helped popularize the overhead technique we see today. Alois Egli won four competitions throwing the Unspunnen Stone using his overhead style - forcing everyone else to adopt it in order to have a chance.
Stonelifting scene in a Japanese period drama
During the new year, NHK (a Japanese public broadcaster) aired a period drama set in the Edo period called Ichigeki (いちげき).
Early in the show, a group of peasants are running, carrying bales of rice as part of a physical selection test to become well-paid soldiers. One of the men organizing the test stabs a bale with his katana - destroying it after one of the peasants complained about the test.
Ushi - the main character - still hasn't had his turn, and starts to walk over to a massive power stone (chikaraishi - 力石). He squats down, lifts the stone, and presses it overhead in front of the crowd - demonstrating his immense physical strength:
Aside from the over-exaggerated lifting of a papier-mâché stone (are there any convincing heavy lifting scenes in TV / film?), it was fun to see. And it's certainly not something you're likely to see in any other dramas anytime soon.
Dinnie Stones attempt dates announced
The start of the Dinnie Stones season is approaching. And over on thedinniestones.com a few dates to lift the stones were announced. Right now, there are only a few days in March, April, and May - but more dates will be added throughout the season.
If you want to attempt to lift the stones this year, book your spot early! Go to the 'Set up your lift' page on thedinniestones.com and follow the instructions.
Minor site updates
I didn't have much spare time over the holiday period, but I did manage to make a couple of small updates to the site which are now live!
The main update is the new Top Articles page which lists the top 10 most popular stone articles on the site. It's a great place to start if you're beginning to delve into historic stones. Unsurprisingly, the top articles about historic stones are all of Icelandic and Scottish stones.
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