Vinland sagas

Summer in the Greenland coast c.1000 by Carl Rasmussen
Possible routes traveled in Saga of Eric the Red and Saga of the Greenlanders

The Vinland sagas are two Icelandic texts written independently of each other in the early 13th century—the Saga of the Greenlanders (Grænlendinga Saga) and the Saga of Erik the Red (Eiríks Saga Rauða). The sagas were written down between 1220 and 1280 and describe events occurring around 970–1030.[1]

The Vinland Map, which was thought to be an authentic 15th century map of Vinland. However, it was later identified as a forgery.[2]

The Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders both contain different accounts of Norse voyages to Vinland. The name Vinland, meaning "Wineland", is attributed to the discovery of grapevines upon the arrival of Leif Erikson in North America. However, the translation of vin meaning wine is not the only possible origin; some scholars believe the "vin-" in Vinland refers to "pasture" or "meadow."[3] The Vinland sagas represent the most complete information available regarding the Norse exploration of the Americas, although due to Iceland's oral tradition, they cannot be deemed completely historically accurate and include contradictory details, such as who first sighted land, as well as the number of voyages taken.[3] Nevertheless, historians commonly believe these sources contain substantial evidence of Viking exploration of North America through the descriptions of topography, natural resources, and Indigenous cultures, despite their embellishments. In comparing the events of both texts, a realistic timeline can be created.[4] Today these texts are viewed as accounts of family exploration led by the children of Erik the Red. They give insights to the people and geography at the time.[5]

Geographical locations

The veracity of the sagas was supported by the discovery and excavation of a Viking Age settlement in Newfoundland, Canada. Research done in the early 1960s by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, identified this settlement located at what is now the L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada, dating approximately 1000 A.D.[6][7]

Rather than a complete colony, the settlement found in L'Anse aux Meadows appears to have been a specialized winter base camp used to repair boats and to obtain resources such as timber and grapes.[7] The site layout suggests a society of approximately 70 to 90 people, with structures indicative of all different statuses; high, mid, and low, including servants.[7]

While L'Anse aux Meadows has been identified as Norse settlement, there is ongoing debate whether L'Anse aux Meadows was truly Vinland. It has been suggested that the butternuts, wild grapes, and the wheat mentioned in the sagas correspond more accurately to the environment of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or in the Gulf of St. Lawrence regions. Though, it is difficult to confirm with complete accuracy as the butternuts today lack the flesh that they once had, also, it is impossible to obtain samples of the butternuts of that time period.[7][8]

The Vinland Map

The Vinland Map, and manuscript named Hystoria Tartarorum, otherwise known as The Tartar Relation, was discovered by Yale University. These manuscripts were dated to have been copied in the mid 15th century and mid 13th century. The origin of these manuscripts are questioned due to the secrecy surrounding them.[9]

Analysts suggest that the text on the islands in the northwest were written by a different person than the text on the rest of the map.[9]

Contact with Indigenous Peoples

The Norse interacted, and participated in, trade with the Indigenous peoples of Eastern Canada. The Indigenous groups approached the Norse requesting to trade furs for weapons, but the Norse traded them milk and cloth instead of weapons.[10] Due to an attempted theft of their weapons, according to the Greenlanders saga, an Indigenous person was killed; starting a conflict which the Norse decided to abstain from, choosing to leave Vinland.[10]

Family relations

Lineage of Erik the Red

In the lineage of Erik the Red, Thorvald Asvaldsson was Erik's father. Asvlad was Erik's grandfather, Ulf was his great grandfather, and Oxen-Thorir was his great-great grandfather.[11]

Erik went on to marry Thjodhild who was the daughter of Jorund and Thorbjorg Shipbreast.[11]

Erik had four children, three legitimate sons with Thjodhild and one illegitimate daughter. His sons were Leif Erikson, Thorvald, and Thorstein.[11] His daughter, Freydis, was described as a prominent, controversial figure in the expeditions to Vinland.[11]

Erik's son, Leif, had an illegitimate son named Thorgils, who was born to Thorgunna in the Hebrides.[11]

Lineage of Gudrid and Thorfinn Karlsefni

Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir was the daughter of Thorbjorn Vifilsson, a Norwegian chieftain, and was married three times.[5]

Her first marriage was to a Norwegian named Thorir, who died in Greenland. The second was to Thorstein Eiriksson, the son of Erik the Red, who also died in Greenland. Her third husband was Thorfinn Karlsefni, who she led a major expedition to Vinland with.[11]

Thorfinn Karsefni was the son of Thord Horsehead. While in Vinland, Gudrid and Thorfinn had a son, Snorri Thorfinnsson.[11]

Translations

English translations of both of the Vinland sagas can be found in the following works:

  • Reeves, Arthur Middleton, The Finding of Wineland the Good: The History of the Icelandic Discovery of America, London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1890.
  • Magnusson, Magnus; Palsson, Hermann, The Vinland Sagas, London: Penguin, 1973, ISBN 0-14-044154-9.
  • Kunz, Keneva, The Sagas of the Icelanders, London: Penguin, 2005, ISBN 0-14-100003-1.
  • Kunz, Keneva; Sigurdsson, Gisli, The Vinland Sagas, London: Penguin, 2008, ISBN 0-14-044776-8.

The manga and anime series, Vinland Saga is a semi-fictionalized version and expansion of the Saga of the Greenlanders and Erik the Red depicting a fictional backstory of Thorfinn Karlsefni wherein he participates in Danish King Sweyn's conquest of England as a Viking warrior and later becomes a slave before committing his own expedition to Vinland.

Notes

  1. ^ "Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on February 23, 2002. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  2. ^ "Vinland Map", Wikipedia, 2026-01-25, retrieved 2026-04-08
  3. ^ a b McManis, Douglas R. (1969). "The Traditions of Vinland". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 59 (4): 797–814.
  4. ^ "Vinland Sagas". Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Vohra, Pragya (2008). "The Eirikssynir in Vinland: Family Exploration or Family Myth?". Viking and Medieval Scandinavia. 4: 249–267.
  6. ^ "L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada". Parks Canada. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d Wallace, Birgitta (2009). "L'Anse aux Meadows, Leif Eriksson's Home in Vinland". Journal of the North Atlantic. 2: 114–125.
  8. ^ Larsson, Mats G. (1992). "The Vinland Sagas and Nova Scotia: A Reappraisal of an Old Theory". Scandinavian Studies. 64 (3): 305–335.
  9. ^ a b Szezesniak, B. B. (1966). "Notes and Remarks on the Newly Discovered Tartar Relation and the Vinland Map". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 86 (4): 373–376.
  10. ^ a b McGhee, Robert (1984). "Contact between Native North Americans and the Medieval Norse: A Review of the Evidence". American Antiquity. 49 (1): 4–26.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Romano, John F. (2020). Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. Universoty of Toronto Press. pp. 248–260. ISBN 978-1-4875-8802-1.

References

  • Brown, Nancy Marie (2012) Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths (Palgrave Macmillan) ISBN 978-0-230-33884-5
  • Haugen, Einar (2007) Voyages To Vinland – The First American Saga Newly Translated And Interpreted (Barzun Press) ISBN 978-1-4067-7499-3
  • Hreinsson, Vidar (1997) The Complete Sagas of Icelanders (Leifur Eiriksson Publishing, Reykjavik, Iceland) ISBN 978-9979-9293-0-7

Further reading

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