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Table of contents

There is a twofold error in the statement that a valuable cup of Vinland masur wood is mentioned among the tithes of the diocese of Gardar dating from First, this ciphus de nuce ultramarina was not a part of the titles of the Vinland diocese of Gardar, but of Skara , a Swedish diocese; second this goblet was not of masur but of cocoanut.

Nor are the arguments drawn from the amount and the character of the tithes levied in the diocese of Gardar for the Crusades more convincing. They are partly based on a faulty computation which estimates the tithes at triple the amounts, and partly on a mistaken conception of conditions in Greenland. As the sources testify, and modern excavations have shown, the Northmen of Greenland, as well as their Icelandic cousins, were active cattle breeders, and raised horses, cattle, sheep, and goats, so that they might easily pay their tithes in calf-skins. And lastly, the story related by Zeno the Younger of a fisherman having seen Latin books in the library of the King of Estotiland can no more be considered historical than the rest of Zeno's romance.

It is a fiction, like the island Estotiland itself and Plato's Atlantis. The history of Vinland ends with the year , but trustworthy accounts of Markland extend to a later date. The Iceland annals of have the following record: "There came a Greenland ship to Straumsfjord; the sail was set for Markland, but it was driven hither Iceland over the sea.

There was a crew of eighteen men". The object of the voyage was not mentioned, but the most probable conjecture is that the ship was bound for the forest land to obtain wood, in which Greenland was entirely deficient. But whatever the unfortunate sailors sought on the shores of Markland, it is an undoubted fact that in the middle of the fourteenth century Markland had not been forgotten by the people of Iceland , who spoke and wrote of it as a country generally known. History is silent as to later voyages to Helluland, but the role played by the Land of Stone is all the more important in legend and song, in which its situation changes at will.

The Helluland of history lay to the south of western Greenland, but the poetic Helluland was located in northeast Greenland. The reconcile both views, Bjorn of Skardza devised his theory of two Hellulands, the greater in northeastern Greenland, and the smaller to the southwest of Greenland.


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Rafn arbitrarily located greater Helluland in Labrador, and the lesser island in Newfoundland. His authority caused this arbitrary decision to find a wide acceptance, and in this way, the site of Vinland was laid unduly far to the south. For the approximate determination of the geographical position of Helluland, Markland and Greenland, we find many clues in the original historical sources.

If this be true , then an arm of the sea must separate Vinland and Markland". If we except the rash conjecture on Vinland's connection with Africa, this view of the old twelfth-century Icelandic geographer corresponds to the details of the historical sagas concerning the situation of these lands with respect to Greenland and one another.

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The sagas, however, contain other clues. A detail in the Olaf saga with regard to the position of the sun at the time of the winter solstice formerly led many to believe that the position of Vinland could be definitely determined. As a matter of fact, the statement that "on the shortest day of winter the sun was between eyktarstaor and dagmalastaor " is too vague to permit an exact determination of the position.

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To determine the accuracy the position of Vinland it must be recalled that the members of Thorfinn's great expedition were looking for the region where Leif had found the vine growing wild. With this purpose in view, they set sail along the coast of America and discovered first a land which impressed them on account of its long flat stones. They called it Helluland. Taking into consideration the starting point of the voyage, its length and direction, one may well agree with Storm that the present Labrador is the Helluland of the saga, without, however, absolutely denying the claims of the northern peninsula of Newfoundland.

Setting out from Helluland, after two runs of twelve hours each, the daring mariners came to a land remarkable for its wealth of timber which they reached "with the help of the north wind". The direction and length of the voyage, as well as the name "Markland" Woodland , point to Newfoundland , which is distinguished by its dense forests. The third land after sailing for a long time in a southerly direction did not reveal at first the desired grape clusters.

But further exploration of the land lying to the south had on the second or third day the wished-for result. Nova Scotia, inclusive of Cape Breton Island, seems to satisfy best the requirements of the saga.

The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America, by the Northmen, with Translations from the Icelandic Sagas

Wild grapes and Indian rice zizania aquatica , which is probably meant by the wild wheat of the Northmen , all growing in a natural state, are repeatedly mentioned by eyewitnesses as characteristic of Nova Scotia and the region about the Bay of St. Lawrence, e. Thorfinn was prevented from settling Vinland by the onslaught of the Skraelings.

The sagas give a vivid picture of the first encounter with these wild dark-skinned men, remarkable for their uncomely hair, large eyes, and high cheekbones. Opinions differ widely as to the ethnographic classification of these Skraelings, some maintaining that they were Eskimo while others unhesitatingly class them as Indians, The express mention of skin boats, coupled with the circumstance that the Markland Skraelings were most probably Eskimo , seem to support the theory that there were Eskimo in Vinland Nova Scotia at that period.

They may have allied themselves with neighboring Indians against the Norse invaders.

The pre-Columbian discovery of America by the Northmen : with translations from the Icelandic sagas

A definitive determination of the position of Vinland, Markland, and Helluland depends of the discovery of Norse ruins, runic stones, or other ancient remains from the time of the Vikings. Unfortunately, in spite of the efforts of Horsford and other champions of the Northmen such remains have not yet been found, and it is not unreasonable that those who deny a permanent Norse colonization should lay stress on the absence of Norse remains for proof that the Northmen did not succeed in establishing a permanent colony in the American mainland.

The case in quite different in Greenland , where for some centuries there existed flourishing Norse colonies. Numerous ruins of churches, monasteries , and farm buildings, together with miscellaneous remains, enable us to recognize clearly, even today, the position and character of the colonies of Greenland. First as to the location of the colonies, ancient documents are unanimous in speaking of an eastern and western colony, of which the first was by far the most important.

The "east settlement" as the names seems to suggest, was formerly sought on the east coast of Greenland. Even after the researches of Graah and Holm , Nordenskiold held fast to this view. It is true that even he during his most successful journey did not find the ruins expected to be on the east side of Greenland , but this in no way shook his conviction.

He simply declared that the old Norse settlements had disappeared, leaving no trace. As to the ruins, so plentiful on the western coast, which he himself had visited, he held that they did not date back to the ancient Northmen , but were of later origin. This dogmatic assertion shook the foundation of the view, just then gaining ground, namely that both eastern and western settlements were situated on the west coast of Greenland.

What proof was there that the many ruins of Greenland , so various in construction, owed their origin to the ancient Northmen? Was it right to ascribe such remarkably well-preserved stone buildings to the Viking period, or did only the confused heaps of stones belong to that time?

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The preliminary data for solving this question are furnished by Gudmundsson in his careful researchers in to the "Private Dwellings in Iceland during the Saga Period". With the help of the original authorities, the Danish scholar Bruun and his learned collaborators were enabled to produce proof that the numerous ruins of Greenland in the neighbourhood of Julianehaab really dated from Norse times, and that in consequence the eastern settlement of the saga was in reality located on the western coast of Greenland.


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    • Starting from these investigations, as thorough as they were interesting, Finnur Jonsson, a Dane, with the aid of the original sources, was able conclusively to reconstruct in all essential particulars the ancient topography of Greenland , and represent it by means of a map.

    This chart of Jonsson's shows, in the vicinity of Julianehaab the ruins of churches and manors, large and small. The most remarkable are the episcopal See of Gadar and the manor of Eric the Red, renowned in the saga as the Brattahlid. The western settlements were situated with the limits of the present Godthaab, and is, as a matter of fact, much further west. The less numerous ruins of the western district have not been thoroughly explored as yet but almost all their fjords have been determined, and the results obtained by archeological research up to the present time are in full accord with the original sources, especially with the circumstantial account of Ivar Bardsson c.

    Archeological investigations, taken in conjunction with ancient Norse legends, give evidence not only of the location of the settlements, but the number of churches, monasteries , and manors, the approximate numbers of the Norse population, their pursuits and mode of life. As to the churches, which average in length from fifty to sixty-five feet, and in breadth, twenty-six, and are built of large, carefully selected stones, the Gripla, an old northern chorography, fragments of which have come down to us, records twelve in the eastern settlement, and four in the western. In a list dating from the year the number of the former remains unchanged, but the number of churches in the western colony, which had been previously overrun by the Eskimos , was reduced to three, and in Ivar's list c.

    This statement of Ivar has given rise to the inference that there were two dioceses in Greenland , Gardar and Steinesness. According to the conjecture of Torfaeus, only Eric, the missionary bishop , who in set out for Vinland, had a cathedral in Steinesness. Greenland had but one bishopric , that of Gardar, and it had this [as is expressly stated in the "King's Mirror", one of the principal sources c. Had it been nearer to other countries, it would have been "the third part of a diocese".

    Augustine , dedicated to Sts. Olaf and Augustine , and a convent of Benedictine nuns. The Dominican monastery fantastically described by Zeno the Younger never existed in Greenland. During the most flourishing period, the number of manors in Greenland amounted to , in the eastern, and 90 in the western settlement.

    With Translations From the Icelandic Sagas

    Assuming that each manor had an average of ten to fifteen inhabitants, we have a sum total of souls , which is probably near the truth. Dwelling house, shed and stable were single-story buildings. Generally the buildings for horses, cows, sheep and goats were not adjoining. The chief occupations of the inhabitants were cattle breeding and the chase. The Kjokkenmoddings which are often found to be a height of over three feet in front of dwellings, prove that the ancient Northmen were fearless in the pursuit of large game.