According to Icelandic sagas written in the 12th and 13th centuries (but
based on much earlier oral tradition), in about
985 Bjarni Herjolfsson, a Norse settler in Greenland, was blown
off course and sighted a continent west of Greenland, but he did not go
ashore. About 15 years later Leif Eriksson (son of Erik the Red) explored
the new continent. For the next ten years a number of voyages were made
from Greenland to the new land, which the Norsemen called "Vinland"
because of the profusion of grapes that grew there.
Return to
A copper alloy ring headed pin of Norse
design. Greatly magnified. Pins such as these were used to close the
outer garments of
both men and women.
A soapstone spindle whorl of Norse
design. These common household items, typically carved from soapstone,
served as small flywheels on the spindles used for spinning yarn and
thread.
A simple stone lamp. The carved
indentation would hold animal fat and a wick.
Carved wooden pieces of unknown use.
These pieces were likely some sort of ship fittings. There is evidence
that a substantial amount of woodworking and carpentry was conducted at
L'Anse aux Meadows during the Viking era.
A ship repair piece made from
wood. Identical repair patches have been found in excavations of Norse
Dublin.
Excavations and Reconstructed Buildings
Aerial view of three reconstructed buildings,
surrounded by a fence. In the tradition of Iceland, buildings were
constructed of sod over a wooden frame.
Another view of the above scene, showing
the settlement as it would have appeared during the Viking era.
A close-up view of the fence, showing its
woven construction (a technique still used in Scandinavia), with sod
buildings in the background.
Excavation of the smithy. The existence
of a smithy or furnace pit at L'Anse aux Meadows suggests that the
location's most important function was that of a way station where Viking
travelers could repair their ships and restock their supplies.
Reconstructed smithy, showing the
facility as it would have appeared during the Viking era.
Another view, showing a central fireplace,
of
the
above longhouse interior. Norse longhouses were heated by central,
open fires. The smoke escaped through one or more vents in the roof.
Poetry about Vikings in America
"The
Skeleton in Armor" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In this well known
ballad, Longfellow creates a tale of ancient love and adventure around two
New England
artifacts of his day: a skeleton clad in corroded armor and the ruin of
the Round Tower at Newport, then thought to have been built by the
Vikings, a view not shared by twentieth-century scholars.
"The
Norsemen" by John Greenleaf Whittier. A ballad prompted by the
discovery, in the early nineteenth century, of the fragment of a statue
held to be a relic from the Norsemen in New England.
The Vinland Map
Vinlanda: The
Vinland Map on the Web. Tim Spalding's excellent study and collection
of sites dealing with a document purporting to be a 15th-century map
depicting North America. Despite intensive scrutiny,
scholars are not united as to whether this map is a genuine pre-Columbian
document, or a very clever forgery.
North American Runestones
Examine the following sites, then decide for yourself: Are the North
American runestones authentic artifacts from Viking explorers, or are
they elaborate frauds by Scandinavian-Americans?
