Glomstenen: The Floating Stone's Tale of Halland's Ebbing Tides

Glomstenen, also known as Glumstenen, is a floating stone situated in Glommen, Morups socken in Falkenbergs kommun, Halland, Sweden. It is mentioned in the accounts of King Harald Hardrada's naval campaign in 1061-62 and King Håkon Håkonsson's military campaign to Halland in the 1250s. Prior to the construction of the lighthouse on Morups Tånge, Glomstenen was used by fishermen for navigation. Today, it functions as a windbreak during sea bird watching, as the winds can be quite strong.

In September 1816, Sven Peter Bexell, a renowned Halland historian and church pastor in Grimeton and Rolfstorp, inscribed a message into the stone regarding the mean sea level. Since the early 1700s, there has been a contentious debate about the so-called water level reduction in the sea.

Bexell unearthed old records of water levels in Halland that did not align with the levels he observed. He measured the sea level at Glumstenen in September 1816 and marked the result for future researchers. Bexell writes in his 'Hallands historia och beskrivning':

'With our measuring units, Bexell's median height is 1528 millimeters. He specifies the height on a third line when, this corresponds to a millimeter in our measurements. Where 'detta märke' is inscribed, is not specified in the source.'

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons