Vinland is North America
- Gunnsi and Tyffi
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The Viking settlement in Greenland lasted over 350 years or longer than the United States Constitution has been in effect (1787-?). Eric the Red discovered Greenland in 985 AD and led 25 ships there to settle with livestock and all necessary supplies. His son, Leif, later sailed from Greenland to discover America in 1000 AD.
While it was long believed that the Vikings only stayed in North America for three years before leaving, Icelandic tradition has always maintained they traveled further than Newfoundland. The sagas describe three distinct lands reached from Greenland: Helluland, Markland, and Vinland. We have always believed Vinland is North America.
Recent discoveries support these accounts. Icelandic archaeologist Elísabet Guðmundsdóttir examined over a thousand wood remnants from a church in the Greenland settlement. Her research confirms that Vikings sailed back and forth to North America for over three centuries to harvest timber. Although the settlement grew to approximately 10,000 inhabitants, conditions deteriorated around 1350 AD during the "Little Ice Age," which restricted the trade routes between Greenland, Iceland, and Norway.
These conditions made it almost impossible to live there and when visitors arrived shortly after 1400 AD, there was nobody. The settlement had been deserted, and nobody actually knows what happened to the people.
Fun facts:
Greenland has been known to be settled three times in the past. The first settlement disappeared around 2500 years ago when the glaciers started growing for real. The second group was the Vikings, who were present from 985 AD to 1400 AD, and the third group was the Inuits, who came from Canada around 1450 AD.
A statue of Leif Ericsson up on the hill Skólavörðuholt in Reykjavík was a gift from the American people on the one-millennia anniversary of the parliament in Iceland.
Vinland means the land of grapes, and there were never any grapes in Newfoundland. At the Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, nuts have been discovered, though they didn't grow there but they grow in New York, where you also find the grapes.
Comments