The Story of the Vikings in North America

The Viking Sagas tell of fantastical tales of voyages beyond Iceland and Greenland to lands further west that they named Helluland, Markland and Vinland. The Norse (Vikings) liked what they found and established settlements to either use as bases to explore the region further and or to gather resources for shipment east to Greenland and Iceland. It didn’t take long before the Norse encountered people who already lived there. The first encounters between the native inhabitants and the Norse quickly turned violent and eventually culminated into full blown conflict between the two groups. This resistance from the Native Americans eventually compelled the Norse to abandon their North American settlements. For centuries afterward, these accounts written in the 14th century in Iceland were considered legendary tall tales, but in 1960 archaeological evidence of a Norse (Viking) in North America was discovered on the northern tip of what today is Newfoundland, Canada. This site became known as L’anse aux Meadows and finally lent the Viking Sagas a measure of historicity. In the decades that followed further research charted the movements of the Norse throughout the region of the St. Lawrence Bay. Recent research has even pinned an exact irrefutable date of Norse occupation of the L’anse aux Meadows site. However, many questions still remain to be answered with sufficient evidence such as whether the Norse actually made contact with Native Americans and what the purpose of their settlement at L’anse aux Meadows was. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Credits: “Meditative Sunset“ by Brian Angulo/Canyons of Light (Bangulo Music) Track plays at (00:00) and at (14:05) All other music from the YouTube Audio Library ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sources: Contact between Native North Americans and the Medieval Norse: A Review of the Evidence Author(s): Robert McGhee Source: American Antiquity , Jan., 1984, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Jan., 1984), pp. 4-26 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: L’Anse aux Meadows, Leif Eriksson’s Home in VinlandAuthor(s): Birgitta Wallace Source: Journal of the North Atlantic , Special Volume 2: Norse Greenland - Selected Papers from the Hvalsey Conference 2008 (2009), pp. 114-125 Published by: Eagle Hill Institute Stable URL: Sagas, swords and Skraelings Author(s): Brian Burfield Source: Medieval Warfare , 2013, Vol. 3, No. 1, IN THIS ISSUE: The Hundred Years War in Spain (2013), pp. 47-52 Published by: Karwansaray BV Stable URL: The Norse in Newfoundland: L’Anse aux Meadows and Vinland BIRGITTA WALLACE