Is it an eagle? A dove of peace? Anyone know?
Dahl was RAF in WW2 - maybe it has something to do with that.
It’s definitely an eagle as opposed to a dove. May be something to do with his time in the RAF. Maybe the insignia of his squadron?
Hmm maybe a spoke too soon. Magniying the picture it does look like a dove.
Looks a lot like a ruptured duck.
Dahl was in No. 80 Squadron RAF, and its symbol was a bell – http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn076-80.htm
Doesn’t look like an RAF eagle:
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/irregulars1.jpg
I’m somewhat confused…I’m finding three different gravestones for Dahl in Google (not counting the temporary marker they had on the grave before the real stone was put in place). Which one is the real gravestone? Or have they ALL been the “real” marker but were each replaced?
It looks vaguely mythological and his parents were Norwegian; any big birds that are important in Scandinavian grave iconography?
I know it’s not, but it’s strange how much that looks like a rebel flag on his grave.
Incidentally, his first publication was a nonfictional but very colorful account of his getting shot down. He had originally planned to be career military, and just wrote the piece for something to do while recovering, but it was a big hit.
If the neck was longer, pelican in its piety. As it is, I would say badly done eagle.
Not that I know.
Well, how did he die? Maybe he IS buried in multiple places.
Silhouette of a vermicious knid? Maybe a snozzwanger?
Snozzwanger? Whoever heard of a snozzzzwanger!?
Might be a Roly-Poly, eh? 
But if you zoom all the way in, there’s a definite roundness to the body/breast, suggesting it’s a dove. Definitely not an eagle. Gravestone icons and symbolism aren’t very traditional in Norway - at least not in my generation. I’ve sent an e-mail off to my grandmother, who’s also a hobby geneologist.
It looks like a dove to me, it’s not that unusual to see carvings of them on tombs. I doubt you’ll find a definitive answer unless you contact the Dahl family, but it’s quite possible someone just liked the look of it.
I vote dove. I’ve never seen one like that, but sculpted doves sitting on the tombstone, and other dove iconography, is not uncommon in Norwegian graveyards.
Looks like a stylised dove