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| ==Greenland== | ==Greenland== | ||
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| {{main|History of Greenland}} | {{main|History of Greenland}} | ||
| According to the ], Norsemen from ] first discovered Greenland in the 980s. ] sailed 450 miles to lead a settlement expedition there in 982. He was banished from Iceland for three years because he had killed two sons of a farmer named Thorgost, after an argument about some allegedly stolen lumber. The settlement Erik led was springy with ] and wild ] grew almost everywhere. He named the ] "Eiriksfjord" and, as an act of leadership, took the best land for himself and issued tracts of land to his followers.<ref name = ROBW>Wernick, Robert; ''The Seafarers: The Vikings,'' (1979), 176 pages, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia: ISBN 0809427095.</ref> | According to the ], Norsemen from ] first discovered Greenland in the 980s. ] sailed 450 miles to lead a settlement expedition there in 982. He was banished from Iceland for three years because he had killed two sons of a farmer named Thorgost, after an argument about some allegedly stolen lumber. The settlement Erik led was springy with ] and wild ] grew almost everywhere. He named the ] "Eiriksfjord" and, as an act of leadership, took the best land for himself and issued tracts of land to his followers.<ref name = ROBW>Wernick, Robert; ''The Seafarers: The Vikings,'' (1979), 176 pages, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia: ISBN 0809427095.</ref> | ||
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| ==Vinland and L'Anse aux Meadows== | ==Vinland and L'Anse aux Meadows== | ||
| {{main|Vinland}}{{main|L'Anse aux Meadows}} | {{main|Vinland}}{{main|L'Anse aux Meadows}} | ||
| According to the Icelandic sagas ("]" and the "]"—chapters of the ] and the ]), the Norse started to explore lands to the west of Greenland only a few years after the Greenland settlements were established. In 985 while sailing from Iceland to Greenland with a migration fleet consisting of 400-700 settlers<ref name=ROBW/><ref name=NM2/> and 25 other ships (14 of which completed the journey), a merchant named ] was blown off course and after three days sailing he sighted land west of the fleet. Bjarni was only interested in finding his father's farm, but he described his discovery to ] who explored the area in more detail and planted a small settlement fifteen years later.<ref name=ROBW/> | According to the Icelandic sagas ("]" and the "]"—chapters of the ] and the ]), the Norse started to explore lands to the west of Greenland only a few years after the Greenland settlements were established. In 985 while sailing from Iceland to Greenland with a migration fleet consisting of 400-700 settlers<ref name=ROBW/><ref name=NM2/> and 25 other ships (14 of which completed the journey), a merchant named ] was blown off course from Polar winds<ref name=NM2/> and after three days sailing he sighted land west of the fleet. Bjarni was only interested in finding his father's farm, but he described his discovery to ] who explored the area in more detail and planted a small settlement fifteen years later.<ref name=ROBW/> | ||
| The sagas describe three separate areas discovered during this exploration: ], which means "land of the flat stones"; ], "the land of forests", definitely of interest to settlers in Greenland where there were few trees; and ], which recent linguistic evidence identifies as "the land of meadows", found somewhere south of Markland. It was in Vinland that the settlement described in the sagas was planted. | The sagas describe three separate areas discovered during this exploration: ], which means "land of the flat stones"; ], "the land of forests", definitely of interest to settlers in Greenland where there were few trees; and ], which recent linguistic evidence identifies as "the land of meadows", found somewhere south of Markland. It was in Vinland that the settlement described in the sagas was planted. All four of Erik the Red's children were to visit the North American continent: his sons Leif, Thorvald, and Thorstein as well as their half-sister Freydis. Unfortunately, Thorvald died while attempting to explore the lands there. | ||
| All four of Erik the Red's children were to visit the North American continent, his sons Leif, Thorvald and Thorstein and their sister Freydis. One of the sons, Thorvald , died there. | |||
| ===Leif's winter camp=== | ===Leif's winter camp=== | ||
| ⚫ | Using the routes, landmarks, ], rocks, and winds Bjarni described to him Leif sailed some 1,800 miles to the ''New World'' with a crew of 35—commanding the same ] Bjarni had used to make the voyage. He described Baffin Island as, "level and wooded, with broad white beaches wherever they went and a gently sloping shoreline."<ref name=ROBW/> Leif and others had wanted his father, ], to lead this expedition and talked him into it. However as Erik attempted to join his son Leif on the voyage towards the continent of North America, his horse slipped on the wet rocks near the ]line and he was injured and thus stayed behind.<ref name=ROBW/> | ||
| {{Cleanup-section|date=August 2008}} | |||
| ⚫ | Using the routes, landmarks, ], rocks, and winds Bjarni described to him Leif sailed some 1,800 miles to the ''New World'' with a crew of |
||
| Leif wintered in 1001, probably at ], ], and his foster father Tyrkir was there found drunk of what the saga describes as "wine". Leif could have been confused between squashberries, ], and ], all of which grew wild in the area. There are varying explanations for Leif apparently describing ] as "wine". In ''Old Norse'', there could be two different meanings for the word "vin" depending on whether a short ''i'' or long ''í'' is used. A long ''í'' in the word "vin" could mean "wine", while a short ''i'' could mean "pasture", and linguistic research indicates that the ''pasture'' or ''meadow'' argument is probably the most logical in the name ''Vinland''. Leif spent another winter at "Leifsbodarna" without conflict, and sailed back to Brattahlid in Greenland to assume filial duties for his father. | Leif wintered in 1001, probably at ], ], and his foster father Tyrkir was there found drunk of what the saga describes as "wine". Leif could have been confused between squashberries, ], and ], all of which grew wild in the area. There are varying explanations for Leif apparently describing ] as "wine". In ''Old Norse'', there could be two different meanings for the word "vin" depending on whether a short ''i'' or long ''í'' is used. A long ''í'' in the word "vin" could mean "wine", while a short ''i'' could mean "pasture", and linguistic research indicates that the ''pasture'' or ''meadow'' argument is probably the most logical in the name ''Vinland''. Leif spent another winter at "Leifsbodarna" without conflict, and sailed back to Brattahlid in Greenland to assume filial duties for his father. | ||
| ===Thorvald's voyage=== | ===Thorvald's voyage=== | ||
| In ], Leif's brother Thorvald Ericson led another ] with a crew of 30 men on a voyage back to ] and spent the following winter at Leif's camp. In the spring of that winter season, Thorvald attacked nine ]s sleeping under three skin-covered ]s. The ninth victim managed to escape and soon came back to the Norse camp with a force. Thorvald himself was hit in the armpit by an arrow that managed to pass through the ]. Although brief hostilities ensued, the Norse explorers stayed another winter and left the following spring. Another of Leif's brothers, Thorstein, sailed to the ''New World'' and succeeded in retrieving his dead brother's body, but he only stayed for one summer.<ref name=ROBW/> | In ], Leif's brother Thorvald Ericson led another ] with a crew of 30 men on a voyage back to ] and spent the following winter at Leif's camp. In the spring of that winter season, Thorvald attacked nine ]s sleeping under three skin-covered ]s. One of their most common practices was the 'strandhogg' which was designed to carry off young girls or strong boys to sell as slaves.<ref name=TFW2></ref> Nevertheless, the ninth victim managed to escape and soon came back to the Norse camp with a force. Thorvald himself was hit in the armpit by an arrow that managed to pass through the ]. Although brief hostilities ensued, the Norse explorers stayed another winter and left the following spring. Another of Leif's brothers, Thorstein, sailed to the ''New World'' and succeeded in retrieving his dead brother's body, but he only stayed for one summer.<ref name=ROBW/> | ||
| ===Karlsefni's expedition=== | ===Karlsefni's expedition=== | ||
| {{POV-section|date=August 2008}} | |||
| {{Cleanup-section|date=August 2008}} | |||
| It was in 1009 that ], also known as "Thorfinn the Valient", supplied three ] with livestock and 160 men and women<ref name=NM2>Oxenstierna, Eric; ''The Norsemen'' (1965), 320 pages, New York Graphic Soc.: ISBN 1122216319</ref> (although another source sets the number of settlers at 250). After a cruel winter, he headed south and landed at ''Straumfjord'', but later moved to ''Straumsöy'' since the current was stronger there. In that small landlocked bay, the first sign of peaceful relations between the ]s and the Norsemen was noted. The two sides ]ed with furs and ] skins for ] and red cloth, which the natives tied around their heads as a sort of ]. | It was in 1009 that ], also known as "Thorfinn the Valient", supplied three ] with livestock and 160 men and women<ref name=NM2>Oxenstierna, Eric; ''The Norsemen'' (1965), 320 pages, New York Graphic Soc.: ISBN 1122216319</ref> (although another source sets the number of settlers at 250). After a cruel winter, he headed south and landed at ''Straumfjord'', but later moved to ''Straumsöy'' since the current was stronger there. In that small landlocked bay, the first sign of peaceful relations between the ]s and the Norsemen was noted. The two sides ]ed with furs and ] skins for ] and red cloth, which the natives tied around their heads as a sort of ]. | ||
| ] | |||
| There are conflicting stories but one account states that a bull belonging to Karlsefni came storming out of the wood, so frightening the natives that they ran to their skin-boats |
There are conflicting stories but one account states that a bull belonging to Karlsefni came storming out of the wood, so frightening the natives that they ran to their skin-boats and rowed away. They returned three days later with a force. Amongst slings and bows, the natives used a catapult hoisting "a large sphere on a pole; it was dark blue in color" and about the size of a sheep's belly,<ref name="VS">{{citation | ||
| |title=The Vinland Sagas | |title=The Vinland Sagas | ||
| |first1=Magnus | |first1=Magnus | ||
| Line 49: | Line 41: | ||
| |isbn=9780140441543 | |isbn=9780140441543 | ||
| |year=1965 | |year=1965 | ||
| }}</ref> which flew over the heads of the men and made an ugly din when it hit the ground.<ref name=VS/> |
}}</ref> which flew over the heads of the men and made an ugly din when it hit the ground.<ref name=VS/> Unable to keep up with the retreating Norsemen, ]'s half-sister ]—who was pregnant—called out to stop fleeing from "such pitiful wretches" adding that if she had weapons, she could do better than that. Freydís seized the sword belonging to a man who had been killed by a flat stone to the head<ref name=TFW2/> and turned to defend herself. She pulled out one of her breasts from her bodice and struck it with the sword as if infusing it with god-like powers.<ref name=NM2/> Upon seeing this, the natives turned and fled.<ref name=VS/> | ||
| As noted, the contacts between the two ]s were not always hostile given that there are records of a renewed trade between the two. In addition, different types of Norse materials have been excavated in several ]. | As noted, the contacts between the two ]s were not always hostile given that there are records of a renewed trade between the two. In addition, different types of Norse materials have been excavated in several ]. | ||
| ==The Skraelings== | |||
| One of the most important military ] the Native Americans had was the ability to employ an effective ].<ref name=TFW2/> It seems that the natives were easily able to find the emerging ]s while the Norsemen hadn't shown much success in locating any Indian villages.<ref name=TFW2/> In addition to this, they could mobilize a very large number of warriors in a very short time: due to the lightness of their skin-covered ]s.<ref name=TFW2/> They also used their canoes to feint retreats in hopes that they could rapidly ] the Vikings, or to set up ]es.<ref name=TFW2/> These types of tactics worked very well against the very few Norse warriors that were able to be mustered against the native warriors.<ref name=TFW2/> | |||
| In contrast, the Norsemen utilized ]s, swords, spears, and bows—although many sources don't mention them having archers in their ranks.<ref name=TFW2/> For defence they used round wooden shields which had an iron ] to protect the hand called an 'umbo'; iron helmets or ] were also used, but only the wealthiest Norsemen were able to afford them.<ref name=TFW2/> According to many sources, the Viking warriors never wore horns on their helmets.<ref name=NM2/> Despite their knowledge of iron, the Saga of Eric the Red stated that the Norsemen "realized that even though this was good land, their lives here would always be filled with battle and fear."<ref name=TFW2/> Another 500 years would pass until the next wave of Europeans would attempt to ] the northern ]s—who were to ally themselves with either the ] or the ]. | |||
| ==Supply voyages== | ==Supply voyages== | ||
Revision as of 17:59, 21 August 2008
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As early as the 10th century Norse sailors (often referred to as Vikings) explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeastern fringes of North America.
Unlike Greenland, which the Norse occupied for almost 500 years, the continental North American settlements were small and did not develop into permanent colonies. This was in part due to hostile relations with the Native Americans, referred to as Skrælings by the Norse. Settlements in continental North America aimed to exploit natural resources such as furs and in particular lumber, which was in short supply in Greenland due to deforestation. Despite some later voyages, there is little supporting evidence of enduring Norse settlements in North America.
Greenland
Main article: History of GreenlandAccording to the Sagas of Icelanders, Norsemen from Iceland first discovered Greenland in the 980s. Erik the Red sailed 450 miles to lead a settlement expedition there in 982. He was banished from Iceland for three years because he had killed two sons of a farmer named Thorgost, after an argument about some allegedly stolen lumber. The settlement Erik led was springy with moss and wild thyme grew almost everywhere. He named the fjord "Eiriksfjord" and, as an act of leadership, took the best land for himself and issued tracts of land to his followers.
At its peak, the colony consisted of two settlements, the Eastern and the Western Settlement, with a total population of between 3000 and 5000; at least 400 farms have been identified by archaeologists. Norse Greenland had a bishopric (at Garðar) and exported walrus ivory, furs, rope, sheep, whale or seal blubber, live animals such as polar bears, and cattle hides. In 1261, the population accepted the overlordship of the Norwegian King although it continued to have its own law. In 1380, the Norwegian Kingdom entered into a personal union with the Kingdom of Denmark.
The colony began to decline in the 1300s. The Western Settlement was abandoned around 1350 and by 1378 there was no longer a bishop at Garðar. After a marriage was recorded in 1408, no written records mention the settlers. It is probable that the Eastern Settlement was defunct by the late 1400s, although no exact date has been established. The most recent radiocarbon date found in Norse settlements as of 2002 was 1430 A.D. (+/- 15 years). Several theories have been advanced to explain the decline. The Little Ice Age of this period would have made it harder to travel between Greenland and Europe, as well as making it more difficult for the Greenlanders to farm; in addition, Greenlandic ivory may have been supplanted in European markets by cheaper ivory from Africa. Despite the loss of contact with the Greenlanders, the Norwegian-Danish crown continued to consider Greenland a possession and the existence of the island was not forgotten by European geographers. It is also possible that the lands west of Greenland were remembered.
Not knowing whether the old Norse civilization remained in Greenland or not—and worried that if it did, it would still be Catholic 200 years after the Scandinavian homelands had experienced the Reformation—a joint merchant-clerical expedition led by the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland in 1721. Though this expedition found no surviving Europeans, it marked the beginning of Denmark's assertion of sovereignty over the island; see Danish colonization of the Americas.
Vinland and L'Anse aux Meadows
Main article: VinlandMain article: L'Anse aux MeadowsAccording to the Icelandic sagas ("Eirik the Red's Saga" and the "Saga of the Greenlanders"—chapters of the Hauksbók and the Flatey Book), the Norse started to explore lands to the west of Greenland only a few years after the Greenland settlements were established. In 985 while sailing from Iceland to Greenland with a migration fleet consisting of 400-700 settlers and 25 other ships (14 of which completed the journey), a merchant named Bjarni Herjólfsson was blown off course from Polar winds and after three days sailing he sighted land west of the fleet. Bjarni was only interested in finding his father's farm, but he described his discovery to Leif Ericson who explored the area in more detail and planted a small settlement fifteen years later.
The sagas describe three separate areas discovered during this exploration: Helluland, which means "land of the flat stones"; Markland, "the land of forests", definitely of interest to settlers in Greenland where there were few trees; and Vinland, which recent linguistic evidence identifies as "the land of meadows", found somewhere south of Markland. It was in Vinland that the settlement described in the sagas was planted. All four of Erik the Red's children were to visit the North American continent: his sons Leif, Thorvald, and Thorstein as well as their half-sister Freydis. Unfortunately, Thorvald died while attempting to explore the lands there.
Leif's winter camp
Using the routes, landmarks, currents, rocks, and winds Bjarni described to him Leif sailed some 1,800 miles to the New World with a crew of 35—commanding the same knarr Bjarni had used to make the voyage. He described Baffin Island as, "level and wooded, with broad white beaches wherever they went and a gently sloping shoreline." Leif and others had wanted his father, Erik the Red, to lead this expedition and talked him into it. However as Erik attempted to join his son Leif on the voyage towards the continent of North America, his horse slipped on the wet rocks near the shoreline and he was injured and thus stayed behind.
Leif wintered in 1001, probably at Cape Bauld, Newfoundland, and his foster father Tyrkir was there found drunk of what the saga describes as "wine". Leif could have been confused between squashberries, gooseberries, and cranberries, all of which grew wild in the area. There are varying explanations for Leif apparently describing fermented berries as "wine". In Old Norse, there could be two different meanings for the word "vin" depending on whether a short i or long í is used. A long í in the word "vin" could mean "wine", while a short i could mean "pasture", and linguistic research indicates that the pasture or meadow argument is probably the most logical in the name Vinland. Leif spent another winter at "Leifsbodarna" without conflict, and sailed back to Brattahlid in Greenland to assume filial duties for his father.
Thorvald's voyage
In 1004, Leif's brother Thorvald Ericson led another boat with a crew of 30 men on a voyage back to Newfoundland and spent the following winter at Leif's camp. In the spring of that winter season, Thorvald attacked nine Native Americans sleeping under three skin-covered canoes. One of their most common practices was the 'strandhogg' which was designed to carry off young girls or strong boys to sell as slaves. Nevertheless, the ninth victim managed to escape and soon came back to the Norse camp with a force. Thorvald himself was hit in the armpit by an arrow that managed to pass through the barricade. Although brief hostilities ensued, the Norse explorers stayed another winter and left the following spring. Another of Leif's brothers, Thorstein, sailed to the New World and succeeded in retrieving his dead brother's body, but he only stayed for one summer.
Karlsefni's expedition
It was in 1009 that Thorfinn Karlsefni, also known as "Thorfinn the Valient", supplied three ships with livestock and 160 men and women (although another source sets the number of settlers at 250). After a cruel winter, he headed south and landed at Straumfjord, but later moved to Straumsöy since the current was stronger there. In that small landlocked bay, the first sign of peaceful relations between the Native Americans and the Norsemen was noted. The two sides bartered with furs and gray squirrel skins for milk and red cloth, which the natives tied around their heads as a sort of headdress.
There are conflicting stories but one account states that a bull belonging to Karlsefni came storming out of the wood, so frightening the natives that they ran to their skin-boats and rowed away. They returned three days later with a force. Amongst slings and bows, the natives used a catapult hoisting "a large sphere on a pole; it was dark blue in color" and about the size of a sheep's belly, which flew over the heads of the men and made an ugly din when it hit the ground. Unable to keep up with the retreating Norsemen, Leif Ericson's half-sister Freydís Eiríksdóttir—who was pregnant—called out to stop fleeing from "such pitiful wretches" adding that if she had weapons, she could do better than that. Freydís seized the sword belonging to a man who had been killed by a flat stone to the head and turned to defend herself. She pulled out one of her breasts from her bodice and struck it with the sword as if infusing it with god-like powers. Upon seeing this, the natives turned and fled.
As noted, the contacts between the two civilizations were not always hostile given that there are records of a renewed trade between the two. In addition, different types of Norse materials have been excavated in several Inuit communities.
The Skraelings
One of the most important military strategies the Native Americans had was the ability to employ an effective surveillance system. It seems that the natives were easily able to find the emerging settlements while the Norsemen hadn't shown much success in locating any Indian villages. In addition to this, they could mobilize a very large number of warriors in a very short time: due to the lightness of their skin-covered canoes. They also used their canoes to feint retreats in hopes that they could rapidly out-flank the Vikings, or to set up ambushes. These types of tactics worked very well against the very few Norse warriors that were able to be mustered against the native warriors.
In contrast, the Norsemen utilized battleaxes, swords, spears, and bows—although many sources don't mention them having archers in their ranks. For defence they used round wooden shields which had an iron shield boss to protect the hand called an 'umbo'; iron helmets or coats of mail were also used, but only the wealthiest Norsemen were able to afford them. According to many sources, the Viking warriors never wore horns on their helmets. Despite their knowledge of iron, the Saga of Eric the Red stated that the Norsemen "realized that even though this was good land, their lives here would always be filled with battle and fear." Another 500 years would pass until the next wave of Europeans would attempt to colonize the northern Native Americans—who were to ally themselves with either the British or the French.
Supply voyages
Evidence suggests that sporadic voyages to Markland for forages, timber, and trade with the native locals could have lasted as long as 400 years. Evidence of continuing trips includes the Maine Penny, a Norwegian coin from King Olaf Kyrre's reign (1066-80) found in a Native American archaeological site in Maine, United States, suggesting an exchange between the Norse and the Native Americans late in or after the 11th century; and an entry in the Icelandic Annals from 1347 which refers to a small Greenlandic vessel with a crew of eighteen that arrived in Iceland while attempting to return to Greenland from Markland with a load of timber.
The question was definitively settled in the 1960s when a Norse settlement was excavated at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland by the outdoorsman and author Helge Ingstad and his wife Dr. Anne Stine Ingstad, an archaeologist. The location of the various lands described in the sagas is still unclear however. Many historians identify Helluland with Baffin Island and Markland with Labrador. The location of Vinland is a thornier question. Most believe that the L'Anse aux Meadows settlement is the Vinland settlement described in the sagas; others argue that the sagas depict Vinland as being warmer than Newfoundland and that it therefore lay further south. There are still many questions remaining and only new archaeological findings can supply more information.
Aftermath
For some centuries after Christopher Columbus' voyages opened the Americas to large-scale colonization by Europeans, it was unclear whether these stories represented real voyages by the Norse to North America. The sagas were first taken seriously when in 1837 the Danish antiquarian Carl Christian Rafn pointed out the possibility for a Norse settlement in or voyages to North America.
Adam of Bremen is the first historian in the Old World that referred to the Americas (by the name Winland). The Sagas of Icelanders remain the most important written sources about the early Norse activities in America. Purported runestones have been found in North America (e.g. the Kensington Runestone, the Newport Tower, and Heavener Runestone) that are thought by some to be artifacts from further Norse exploration. However, these runestones are generally considered to be forgeries. There is a map depicting North America (the Vinland map) that some believe is related to Norse exploration, though it is almost certainly a hoax.
References
- Diamond, Jared: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
- Irwin, Constance; Strange Footprints on the Land; Harper&Row, New York, 1980; ISBN 0-06-022772-9
- ^ Wernick, Robert; The Seafarers: The Vikings, (1979), 176 pages, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia: ISBN 0809427095.
- ^ Oxenstierna, Eric; The Norsemen (1965), 320 pages, New York Graphic Soc.: ISBN 1122216319
- ^ The Encounter With The Vikings
- ^ Magnusson, Magnus; Palsson, Hermann (1965), The Vinland Sagas, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780140441543
- Schledermann, Peter. 1996. Voices in Stone. A Personal Journey into the Arctic Past. Komatik Series no. 5. Calgary: The Arctic Institute of North America and the University of Calgary.
- Sutherland, Patricia. 2000. “The Norse and Native Norse Americans”. In William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward, eds., Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, 238-247. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution.
- "Markland and Helluland". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. pp. Archeology page and following. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
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See also
- Pathfinder (2007 film) - a feature film based on Vikings encountering Native Americans.