We have never had a satisfactory explanation for the names associated with the Norse presence in north America. This makes the argument that these locations were on the Pacific instead. It even makes good sense. Take away the ice in summer and the known good conditions and it took about a month and one half to make the west coast and in plenty of time to settle in for the winter and stock up on salmon. Going back was the same story. There were villages all along these coasts as well and trade had to occur.
It was not much longer than the run down to Florida either. Thus extensive exploration, trade and raiding was possible and actual colonization through continuous intermarriage as well.
We add in the forced injection of the Greenland population in the middle of the fifteenth century and we have the foundation for the Algonquin group of langages.
The actual distribution of the group supports this. An injection of 4000 colonizers meant forceful invasion and forced intermarriage to access country knowledge. This quickly over ran the meager populations in the boreal forest and the dominant vikings subsumed all hunting bands.
The possibility of an earlier infusion during the Bronze Age cannot be dismissed either, but a vigorous Viking expansion appears the best solution here.
In the Pacific northwest this was not possible because there the populations were truly robust and would have simply absorbed any incursions.
About a thousand years ago a remarkable fleet of twenty-five oceangoing Viking ships set sail and departed from north-west Iceland. They carried a motley cargo of men, women, and children-perhaps five hundred persons in all-as well as cattle, sheep, and horses, in addition to provisions, hay, and weapons and tools commonly used in the Viking Age. Standing mournfully beneath the billowing sails, the voyagers saw their homeland slowly disappear below the horizon; mixed feelings of sadness and hope must have prevailed among one and all-for these were emigrants who were leaving Iceland for good and were heading for a completely new country. The country had already been named Greenland. This expedition set out in the year 986 (or possibly 985), and its leader was Eirik the Red. He had originally come to Iceland from Norway but had been declared an outlaw in his new country, whereupon he had sailed his ship westward across the open ocean in order to seek a land which other sailors had barely glimpsed. He became the actual discoverer of Greenland, and he spent three whole years exploring its south-western coasts. Following his return to Iceland he took the initiative in organizing this large expedition and assumed leadership of the pioneers who were to colonize the new land. He must indeed have been a remarkable man. The voyage was a hazardous one, through the drift-ice and the stormy seas along the coasts of Greenland. Fourteen ships arrived at last in the south-western part of the island; the rest were either shipwrecked or forced to turn back. The newcomers settled along strips of land in the shadow of the great inland glacier and prepared for a new life. They constructed their dwellings from stones and turf; the men fished, and hunted caribou and seals with bows and arrows or with harpoons, while the women tended the cattle and kept busy with spinning and weaving and other household chores. Two separate settlements came into being: the so-called Eastern Settlement (Eystribyggo) on the south-west coast of Greenland, and the Western Settlement (Vestribyggo) somewhat farther north. A community emerged, an independent republic was set up, and the population increased. This Greenlandic society existed for almost five hundred years-then the people completely vanished. Their fate has remained a mystery to this day. (Helge Instad, WESTWARD TO VINLAND: The Discovery of Pre-Columbian Norse House-sites in North America, (translated from Norwegian by Erik J. Friis) Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, 1969:15)
Around 1540 a German merchant ship, blown into these now inhospitable waters by gales, came cautiously up a Greenland fiord. Islands complicated it; on some, Eskimoes lived, and these the skipper, Jon, decided to ignore. He landed at last on an island heavy with the silence of solitude. Above the shore, however, he saw buildings, half-ruined but familiar, buildings like those he had seen often in Iceland: fish-sheds, drying houses for fish, dwellings for men. Before them, a man lay, the woollen hood on his head covering his features as he curled face-down in the dirt. Sealskin and woollen clothes covered him. A knife lay beside him, curved, the blade worn by years of use and sharpening. At the feet of these astonished sailors he rested there in the long inertia of the dead - they the last European visitors to Greenland's Viking colony, he the last Greenland Viking anyone would ever see. (Peter Brent, THE VIKING SAGA, Tinling, Prescott, 1975: 213)
Did the Greenland Vikings simply fade away, or was there more to their story and more to the Viking Sagas in addition? It would seem that there was far more. In fact sufficient evidence exists to suggest that the last Vikings triumphed over the hardships of the Northwest Passage, and that the legendary lands of the Viking Sagas - Helluland, Markland and Vinland - are located on the West Coast of North America, not the East. Helluland extending from Etolin Island in Alaska south past the Bella Coola region of British Columbia; the Queen Charlotte Islands more than meeting the technical requirements for Markland, with British Columbia's Duncan and the Cowichan Valley in the south-east corner of Vancouver Island providing the most logical technical fit for Vinland itself.
INTRODUCTION
I have adopted the view that writing for the Internet requires its own format--one that differs from books, journals and scientific papers because of its immediacy and its visual aspects. The immediacy arises naturally enough from the medium itself since the vast majority of internet papers are readable in situ on reception. But perhaps more importantly, even in their hypertext form the majority of internet papers are also searchable via the "Find" functions of most browsers (live links included), or more widely--where installed--though local computer versions of more powerful search engines. The latter considerations have some bearing on the present series of essays (and most previous essays for that matter), for rather than drastically summarizing the works of others I have let the writers basically speak for themselves. This is not from idleness, verbosity, or fear of misunderstanding, but rather to present their thoughts and observations in an unmodified and readily available form. For the same reason references also follow most quotations, thus aligned with each presentation and at the same time searchable under the author's name and subject under consideration. The intent throughout has been to keep the information level high, but still general with further technical details and material available via embedded links. In this sense the essays are a hybrid form somewhere between a survey and a technical paper. Intended for a wide audience, the format generally leans more towards the former than the latter. On a technical note, the immediacy and impact of graphical representations are useful for Internet presentations, but in the present case the number of detailed maps and figures has necessitated a small trade-off between quality of presentation and downloading speed. As in previous essays, the text is also condensed; once again the result is a relatively wide-ranging outline for general readers rather than a tight, academic treatment for specialists alone.
As far as documented sources are concerned, for the main part I have relied on readily available secondary material--in particular Helge Ingstad's WESTWARD TO VINLAND (1969) and James Robert Enterline's VIKING AMERICA (1972), even although their respective locations for Vinland differ markedly from my own. To have proceeded otherwise, however, would almost certainly have entailed a lengthy expansion beyond the present introductory treatment into what Theodore M. Andersson (1964:6) was wont to call (appropriately enough) "The perils and pitfalls of Islandica."
As for my background and interest in the Northwest Passage, it was my fortune and my lot to spend almost two decades in the Canadian Arctic and Sub-Arctic between 1962 and 1993. Mostly along the Northwest Passage itself, my work locations ranged from the Yukon coast to Cape Parry at the western entrance, various locations above the Arctic Circle in the Central and Eastern Arctic, both west and east coasts of Baffin Island, and also both sides of Hudson Bay. I was in fact at Cape Parry in 1969 when the "Manhattan" super-tanker came through the Passage, and at Cambridge Bay in the Central Arctic in 1984 when the "Lindblad Explorer" (the first luxury vessel to complete the transit) paid a short visit. Finally in 1992, a few miles further west, I witnessed the Soviet Icebreaker/Cruise ship "Kapitan Khlebnikov" passing through Dease Strait en route to Alaska. And "Final" it assuredly was, for the transit took place south of the Distant Early Warning Line, and thus for the "Cold Warriors" of this venerable system the "War" was indeed truly over.
Between lengthy stints in the Arctic I was also fortunate enough to attend University on a full-time basis, obtaining a B.A. from the University of Manitoba in 1973 and an interdisciplinary M.A.from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia in 1981. Here again my time in the Arctic served me well, for it ultimately supplied a topic for my thesis ("National Defence and Northern Development:The Establishment of the DEWline in the Canadian North"). The last mentioned are, however, minor qualifications and not necessary pre-requisites for the present subject itself. What does seem to be required, I would suggest, is practical acquaintance with not only the Pacific Northwest, but also the Arctic environment, and not least of all, an awareness of the seasonal round--the latter best understood by experiencing two arctic winters in succession (the first to know what it is like, and the second to know what is coming). One also needs to experience just how long, hard, dark and cold such winters really are, and how glorious (though all too short) are the summers; and likewise understand how tenuous life must have been for those who subsisted off the land, the sea and the ice. Here I would agree wholeheartedly with Fridtjof Nansen (In Northern Mists,1911, ii.107) that organized, concerted Inuit attacks on Greenland Vikings would have been highly unlikely. Life is simply too hard in such regions, the social units too thin, and in addition, it is also a fundamental insult to suggest that the Inuit ever harboured such a debased and warlike outlook. Nor, knowing the hardships and the severity of the living conditions in the Arctic, it is easy to accept without question the prevalent notion that "about a thousand years ago" Alaskan Inuit swept swiftly across the top of North America as far as Greenland, and in doing so, completely replaced the Dorset Culture. Here, no doubt, I follow the minority view of Canadian historian Tryggi J. Oleson (Early Voyage and Northern Approaches 1000-1632, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto,1963) and at present I am perhaps even further out on a limb in suggesting successful Viking transits of the Northwest Passage. But in doing so, it is at least based on a relatively widespread acquaintance with the region in question, its climate, and further experiences that includes daily weather observations and seasonal ice-reports, especially in the Dease Strait section of the Northwest Passage itself.
As for the feasibility of Viking transits, as it turns out (especially after the relatively ice-free voyage through the Northwest Passage by the St. Roche II in 2000) there is little that truly mitigates against it, while arguments can certainly be cited in support, even before the information-rich Pacific Northwest is reached.
Map 6c. Pacific Northwest First Nations (after Ashwell 1978
with additions and locations of special interest)
The premise itself is, of course, a difficult and complex one that embraces a wide number of disciplines. Nevertheless, as will be shown in the following series of essays, there is literally no place on Earth that meets the many requirement of Norse "Vinland" as well as the final choice suggested here, namely the Cowichan Valley in the southeast corner of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Lastly, although this is a stand-alone section that confines itself almost entirely to the period 800-1500 CE, it nevertheless remains a component of something far larger and more complex. This is partly why the suggestion that the Vikings voyaged through the Northwest Passage did not result from studying Viking Sagas, Ancient Maps or Runes, nor was it influenced by any previous research on the subject. Rather, the occurrence of complex symbols on a global basis appeared to require a reevaluation of early maritime exploration in general and a rethinking about the process of diffusion in particular, especially in the context of the Americas. The reevaluation itself did not commence with the Vikings either, nor initially was the Northwest Passage an early factor. In some respects this may be understandable, if only because of deeply entrenched negative viewpoints concerning Viking exploration in general. Even where it is granted that the Vikings reached the shores of North America it is usually a grudging and often largely minimized admission. Yet from the accepted time of the establishment of the Greenland Colony to that of the last Greenland Viking almost five hundred years had elapsed. Moreover, the Viking Sagas reputedly took place during the very earliest part of this same timespan, and even confined to the first few decades it is difficult to ascertain how far the Vikings may (or may not) have traveled. Furthermore, expanding the interval of activity over centuries -- two or three at least -- hardly negates the possibilities, if anything it extends them dramatically. Nor can the latter suggestion be immediately dismissed. It is generally accepted that the Sagas were written centuries after the "fact" and also, that contradictions and uncertainties exist concerning their contents. To which must also be added further complications that arise from the strong religious polarities already evident at the time of the Sagas themselves.
THE LOST VIKINGS
OF GREENLAND
Strictly speaking, the term "Viking" belongs to an earlier, more violent time than that associated with the mysterious demise of the Norse settlements in Greenland. Viking is retained here for simplicity and general continuity, but either way there can be little doubt that there is a mystery concerning the sudden departure of the Vikings from the Western Greenland Settlement; indeed Helge Ingstad makes this point clear in a summary of later voyages to Greenland and beyond:
Strictly speaking, the term "Viking" belongs to an earlier, more violent time than that associated with the mysterious demise of the Norse settlements in Greenland. Viking is retained here for simplicity and general continuity, but either way there can be little doubt that there is a mystery concerning the sudden departure of the Vikings from the Western Greenland Settlement; indeed Helge Ingstad makes this point clear in a summary of later voyages to Greenland and beyond:
The Annals of the learned Bishop Isle Odds-on for the year 1637, which are based on old sources, say about 1342: ' The inhabitants of Greenland voluntarily left the Christian faith and turned to the American people.' This sentence may refer to a Norse emigration to North America, and this is the opinion of the great Norwegian historian P. A. Munch. The Icelandic Annals for the year 1347 record the fate of the ship from Greenland that had been to Markland (Labrador) and was driven by storms to Iceland. Around the year 1350 the deputy bishop of Greenland, Ivar Bfirdarson, ' journeyed to the Western Settlement in order to drive out the 'Skraelings'. When he arrived he found the entire settlement deserted of people, and only ownerless horses and cattle. There is no mention of any traces of a struggle with the Eskimoes, and it is also obvious that the latter in such a case would have slaughtered the horses and the livestock for the sake of the meat. There seems little doubt that the people who lived in the Western Settlement had emigrated and had only left behind them the animals for which there was no room in the ships. But where did the people of the Western Settlement go? If their destination was Norway or Iceland, it is probable that their first stop would have been the Eastern Settlement. If so, the leader of the Church, Ivar Bfirdarson, and the rest of the people would have known about this exodus, and his own voyage northward to the Western Settlement would never have been undertaken. The most likely explanation is that the people of the Western Settlement emigrated to North America. For the year 1355 there is recorded an expedition which was quite extraordinary in many ways and which was initiated by Magnus Eiriksson, king of Norway and Sweden. He authorized Paul Knutsson of Onarheim to fit out an expedition to Greenland. This was only a few years after the ship mentioned above had come to Bergen from Markland (1347) and it is possible that it had a valuable cargo on board. But that is all the information we have about the Paul Knutsson expedition. We can only conjecture that its objectives may also have included a visit to the shores of North America. In 1516 the Norwegian archbishop Erik Valkendorf planned an expedition to Greenland, and for that purpose he took steps to collect information about conditions in that far-away land. In his notes we are told that there were black bear and marten in that country. A similar and quite independent piece of information appears in a work by Absalon Pedersen Beyers in 1567. He relates that in Greenland there were sable, marten, deer, and huge forests; but none of these are, in fact, found in Greenland, and the black bear is not even to be found in Norway. (Helge Ingstad, WESTWARD TO VINLAND, Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, 1969:94-95)
Here it becomes necessary to suggest that if uncertainties exist today they are more likely caused by prevailing images of blundering, plundering Vikings and a millennium of anti-Viking propaganda than anything else. In the same vein, in spite of the odd runic discovery (e.g., The Kensington Stone) that imply an infrequent, stumbling and bumbling presence in North America, it is suspected that Viking activities were not only more widespread on this continent, but also far more benevolent. It is further suggested that the Vikings did not come to change, tithe and terrify, but brought with them something more fundamental in terms of an unswerving world view that was increasingly at odds with Christianity. Thus if the Vikings did leave Greenland en masse it was at least in part because little choice remained if they were to maintain their fundamental freedoms and their own religious beliefs, as indeed outlined by Charles W. Moore in The Mystery of the Mandans(1998):
Eric Thorwaldsson, better known as "The Red," founded two separate colonies of expatriate Icelanders on Greenland's southwest coast in 986. The larger and more southerly, "Eastern," settlement eventually numbered some 3,000 souls (c. 1,100), while the "Western" settlement, 300 miles to the northwest in the region of present day Godthaab, never grew to more then 300-350 population. Lief Ericsson's introduction of Christianity to Greenland in 999 resulted in 16 churches eventually being built throughout the two settlements. The cathedral at Gardar was said to have been a fine edifice; its surviving foundation shows that it was 84' long and 60' wide. The bishop's residence, built after a resident bishop was appointed in 1112 ("Bishop of Greenland and Vinland in partibus infidelum"), was even larger than the cathedral. By 1340, nearly all of the Western Settlement's 190 farms had been expropriated by the Church in lieu of payments for indulgences, special masses for the departed, etc. The once free and independent Greenlanders were reduced to the status of serfs and tenant farmers on their own former holdings. In 1342 the Western Settlement apparently decided en masse to clear out for parts unknown An ancient account says:
"The inhabitants of Greenland fell voluntarily away from the true faith and the Christian religion, and after having given up all the good manners and true virtues, turned to the people of America ('ad Americae populos se converteunt' ) Some say that Greenland lies away near the western lands of the world."
At the time, Magnus Eriksson, a devout and zealous Christian, was king of Norway and Sweden. In 1347, King Magnus donated a large sum of money the Greenland Cathedral, and was less than enchanted when, a year later, a ship with 17 Greenlanders arrived in Bergen bearing news of the Western Settlement's disappearance. In 1354 Magnus commissioned Paul Knutson, a judge and member of the Royal Council, to mount an expedition to search for the fugitive Greenlanders and restore them to the true Christian faith. Knutson chose an elite cohort of men, Norse and Swedes, and set sail to the west in a knarr (royal trading vessel). Some speculate that Bishop Gislrikt of Bergen, an Englishman, may have recommended Nicholas of Lynn, an English Franciscan friar famous as an astronomer, to Knutson as a navigator. Surviving members of the Knutson expedition returned to England and Norway in 1363 or 1364 with Ivar Bardson, a priest from Greenland. Nicholas of Lynn presented himself to the kings of England and Norway with a written account of a voyage to the northern seas entitled Inventio Fortunata.
At which point it seems relevant to return to the question at hand, i.e., why the Greenland Vikings departed when they did, where they might have gone, and what they may have attempted to accomplish in doing so. But these are undoubtedly complex issues, for in essence there are three parts to the story--the first commencing around 1000 CE with the arrival of the Vikings on the west coast of Greenland and L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. The second concerns the intervening three hundred and fifty years or so of settlement, the end of which happens to coincide with the end of the Medieval Warm Period and the onset of the Little Ice Age, and the last from about 1350 CE (the time of disappearance of the Vikings from the Western Settlement) until the end of Norse occupation ca.1500 CE.
Figure 1b. The Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age and Northwest Passage.
(For more on Arctic Warming, its consequences, and 2002 transit of the Tall Ship Sedna IV, see
The ARCTIC MISSION Cyberdocumentary.)
GREENLAND: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
The deteriorating climate is now generally believed to have been the major factor responsible for the demise of the Greenland Vikings, but even so nagging questions remain. This confirmation of the effects of climate is the result of a recent interdisciplinary study that combined the specialities of anthropologists, archaeologists, botanists, chemists, glaciologists, entomologists, historians, paleo-ecologists, pathologists and physicists, some of whom had spent decades working on the problem. Condensed conclusions from the study were released in 1999 as the the second part of the SECRETS OF THE DEAD television documentary series. The segment in question -- Lost Vikings of Greenland -- was introduced as follows:
The writings of Ivar Barteson, an emissary from Norway, may provide some clues. He tells of traveling to the colony only to find its homesteads abandoned and wild farm animals wandering the streets. What had happened to the Vikings who had farmed this harsh land for nearly four hundred years? Excavations of bones from the cemeteries and clothing found preserved in permafrost hint that the settlers may have met a terrible end.. Pathological analysis of their remains shows that many Vikings suffered from middle ear disease, a sign of declining health. An overpopulation of young adult females in cemeteries points to a famine or plague in the community. But there are even more troubling signs of what led to the colony's demise. Butchered hunting dog remains suggest the settlers suffered from desperate hunger; fossilized flies show that many died at home. Now polar ice core samples and tooth enamel analysis have led some scientists to a startling new theory. Did this lost colony of Vikings succumb to a mini-Ice Age?
Towards the end of the program the study concluded:
From the stones, ice and meadows of Greenland the tragic story of the lost Vikings has finally come to light. Scientists have pieced together an amazing tale of failure. It seems the trigger for the Vikings' downfall was a deterioration of the climate. Ice core samples that the mini-ice age enveloped them, ultimately causing their crops to fail and their cattle to starve. In the cold the peoples' health began to falter. Malnourished and weakened by ear and upper respiratory infections, young women and children began to die. The bleak history investigators have constructed tells that in desperation Viking elders finally did try to follow the hunting and fishing techniques of the Inuit, but through ignorance or the dictates of an all-powerful Church, they learned too little too late...
Amplification on the last aspect was provided by anthropologist Thomas McGovern and historian Judith Jesche who explained further that:
We can easily see scenarios where the Church's interest in limiting contact between these two cultures and regulating strongly could have had a really chilling effect in terms of effective interaction and effective learning between these two different cultures. There certainly was a barrier maintained between them, it wasn't accidental, it had to have been maintained at some considerable trouble and expense on somebodies' part for a long time. (Thomas McGovern, City University of New York).
There is some evidence that the Church in Greenland held a very fierce grip on the people there in the 14th century. As well as collecting tithes from farms, the church also imposed an export tax, which may have lead to a decline in incomes from farming. We also know that many of the hunting rights in Greenland belonged to the Church, so although there was abundant whales, reindeer and polar bear, people could only hunt these creatures with the permission of the bishop. (Judith Jesche, Director of Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham)
These factors necessarily have a bearing on the crucial question of why the Greenland Vikings failed so completely to adapt to the changing climate, a situation that was perhaps exacerbated by the monopoly over the Greenland trade imposed by the Christian king of Norway after 1294 (i.e., trade confined to Norwegian ships manned by Norwegian crews.) But given that the Norse were supposedly Christianized centuries earlier and the Greenlanders were becoming increasingly more isolated, it is surprising to learn that Viking opposition to the Catholic church remained strong well into the twelfth century. In fact, even when the Greenlanders' own voyages eastward from Greenland underwent a period of decline, those into the Mediterranean were a different matter altogether, i.e., Viking voyages:
both westward by way of Russian rivers and the Black Sea, and eastward by way of the English Channel and the open Atlantic, were so common that, when the Catholic Norwegian King Sigurd, in the twelfth century, sailed with "sixty Viking ships splendidly built after the will of God" on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he encountered another large Viking fleet in the Strait of Gibraltar, which he had to fight to proceed with his own ships on his sacred mission. (Thor Heyerdahl, Epilogue to James Robert Enterline's VIKING AMERICA, Double Day, Garden City, 1972:173 )
An opposing fleet that large near Gibraltar could have come from anywhere, and moreover, given the location of the encounter, not necessarily from the Mediterranean or the Black Sea either. Thus there appears to have been continuing conflict between the old and the new, while surprising snippets of information like the above suggest that a few hidden factors may also have contributed to the eventual demise of the Greenland Vikings. All of which is difficult to embrace, let alone track down, again largely because we have only one side of the story from a self-absorbed Church that for centuries would brook neither opposition nor freedom of opinion. As for the Vikings themselves, they seem to have adopted a far more benevolent and adaptable attitude towards others--almost to the point of immersing themselves in whatever cultures they came in contact with. But perhaps this was part of the problem. One of the possibilities concerning the demise of the Greenland Vikings was that they had periodically come under attack from pirates and slavers. Here, as James Robert Enterline has suggested, there lies the darker possibility that such piracy, while not outrightly encouraged, was at least tacitly permitted, although here he differentiates between the populations of the Eastern and Western Greenland Settlements and what became of them. In fact he ends VIKING AMERICA as follows:
I think that at least the Eastern Settlement lost many inhabitants through the agency suggested by Nansen, Stefansson and Ingstad--piracy. As the early Renaissance gave way to more sinister eras and slavery again came to be fashionable, there was just as much demand for blond-haired slaves as black-faced ones. The only important qualifications of a potential slave beyond strength were that he be a non-Christian and have no strong national government to protect him. The many claims that the Greenlanders had drifted away from Christianity into heathendom may have given many a pirate courage to capture and sell them, and the population of the Eastern Settlement could soon have been consumed.
This process would have had no direct effect, however, on the dispersed people from the Western Settlement or any such from the Eastern. In accounting for the disappearance of these dispersed Norsemen, one must attempt to find out whether or not the simultaneous disappearance of the Thule/Inugsuk culture and the Norsemen is more than coincidental. Central to the question is, of course, the degree of interdependence and the degree of separateness that existed between the two cultures. The acquisition of this knowledge, naturally, will come only after much further field work and excavation. If only as a stimulus for further comment, I can conceive of three theoretically plausible outcomes: 1) that because the Norsemen had to share sea mammal hunting with the Eskimos to supplement an unhealthy all-caribou diet, when changes of whale populations caused difficulties for the Eskimos the Norsemen could no longer be sustained; or 2) that the Norsemen continued westward, eventually passing into the real Asia and ultimately back to Scandinavia; or 3) that the Norsemen became absorbed into the Eskimo race somewhere in the central Arctic and into the Indian race somewhere in the Great Lakes neighborhood.
The latter seems to me the more likely. In any case, the settlements themselves probably had no more European visitors, even pirates, after the 1500s. From that time on, all European interest in the Western Hemisphere was directed farther south, and from then on dispersal into hunting grounds of anyone remaining in the settlements would have been inevitable. And in a dispersed state they could not possibly hope to maintain their Norse identity. They became simply Americans. But the European movement to America which they had started has lived on. They deserve credit for it. (Closing paragraphs to James Robert Enterline's VIKING AMERICA, Double Day, Garden City 1972:1963-64)
As for the eventual demise of the Western Settlement in Greenland, a fourth option to the three offered above may now be added, i.e., that in addition to the Hudson Bay route into the interior of North America, some Greenland Vikings may have proceeded through the Northwest Passage to reach the Pacific Northwest and perhaps places far beyond. Certainly time appears to have been on their side while the imperatives to attempt such a voyage (or series of voyages) also appear to have been both strong and enduring. Nevertheless this remains a tenuous supposition at this stage. But while the Lost Vikings of Greenland study indicated that the climate was indeed a major factor in the disappearance of the Greenland Vikings, it also added that: "there are still some loose ends, some crucial questions the scientists cannot fully explain." In particular, the study called attention to the fact that although those who first investigated the abandonment or exodus from the Western Settlement: "found many skeletons in the graveyards, there were none in the Viking houses."
A number of possible explanations for this puzzling deficiency were advanced, including raids by both pirates and slavers, etc., but the anomaly has remained unexplained. The program finally closed with the following summation:
Scientists suspect that in the face of fierce adversity the last of the Viking colonists in Greenland opted to take refuge on warmer, more comfortable and friendlier shores. They may have tried to return to Norway, their ancestors' original homeland; they may even have struck out for America. But whatever their intended destination, they first had treacherous seas to cross. Whether the last of the Greenland Vikings drowned at sea, ventured all the way to the American continent or successfully returned to Norway, it is clear that their legacy here is one of failed adaptation. These Vikings depended on a social system that lacked flexibility--one that worked at a certain place at a certain time, but could not change. Instead of adapting and surviving the face of a deteriorating climate and an environment that no longer supported the population, it appears the Greenland Vikings succumbed to their own rigidity and disappeared from History.
Whether the final disappearance around 1500 CE was entirely the result of their own rigidity or a combination of factors beyond their control is not entirely clear, as the study takes pains to point out. But in any case, there is also the lengthy interval leading up to the disappearance starting from time of Eirik the Red around 1000 CE when the issue of religious freedom had perhaps already been hardened by the latter's outright rejection of Christianity. Not that there was much choice, given that "Convert of Die" were the only options available in Scandinavia, Iceland and shortly thereafter, Greenland itself. But there was one other option available (albeit a bold and drastic one) for those with the will, the way and the means-- to move to a new place beyond the controls and strictures of the Church itself. But was there something else in addition, for how strong were the Vikings' own convictions and beliefs, and how long had their opposition to Christianity endured? And, crucially, just how much of the information concerning the Vikings and their voyages to Iceland and Greenland have come down to us as the impartial truth, given that from about 1000 CE onwards the Church exerted a strong controlling influence over just about all subsequent written Viking history?
THE SAGAS AND
THEIR CONTENTS
This consideration unfortunately influences our understanding of the material provided in the Icelandic Sagas, especially Eirik the Red's Saga and the Greenlander's Saga, though even here there are differences between extant versions; see for example, the treatment by Gwyn Jones: Eirik the Red's Saga: The Norse Atlantic Saga: Being the Norse Voyages of Discovery and Settlement to Iceland, Greenland and America (the version of choice used here) and the shorter Modern History Sourcebook variant: The Discovery of North America by Leif Ericsson, c. 1000 from The Saga of Eric the Red, 1387. Moreover, given that the Sagas were written centuries after the "fact," even if those who recounted them were impartial Norse scholars, the transition from oral tradition to the written word could still have suffered in translation or have been subjected to later alterations. Then there remains a further possibility-- that those who recounted the Sagas were aware of the Church's hostility to the extent that they incorporated minor deflections and obfuscations of their own as a protective measure, including false trails designed to misdirect the Church for as long as possible. To which must be added the other side of the coin--that the Church itself fed in obfuscations of its own, especially perhaps, to divert attention away from the benevolent side of the matter. Thus distracting references to Christianity on one hand and descriptions of hostilities with the "Skraelings" on the other to imply that the Vikings had little real contact or made any real incursions into North America, even though they undoubtedly had the means, the motives and almost half a millennium to do so. But even here the reader should be forewarned that are further complications that exist concerning the traditional Viking lands (Helluland, Markland and Vinland) and these too need to be factored into the equation (see "The Greenland Duality" in Part III).
This consideration unfortunately influences our understanding of the material provided in the Icelandic Sagas, especially Eirik the Red's Saga and the Greenlander's Saga, though even here there are differences between extant versions; see for example, the treatment by Gwyn Jones: Eirik the Red's Saga: The Norse Atlantic Saga: Being the Norse Voyages of Discovery and Settlement to Iceland, Greenland and America (the version of choice used here) and the shorter Modern History Sourcebook variant: The Discovery of North America by Leif Ericsson, c. 1000 from The Saga of Eric the Red, 1387. Moreover, given that the Sagas were written centuries after the "fact," even if those who recounted them were impartial Norse scholars, the transition from oral tradition to the written word could still have suffered in translation or have been subjected to later alterations. Then there remains a further possibility-- that those who recounted the Sagas were aware of the Church's hostility to the extent that they incorporated minor deflections and obfuscations of their own as a protective measure, including false trails designed to misdirect the Church for as long as possible. To which must be added the other side of the coin--that the Church itself fed in obfuscations of its own, especially perhaps, to divert attention away from the benevolent side of the matter. Thus distracting references to Christianity on one hand and descriptions of hostilities with the "Skraelings" on the other to imply that the Vikings had little real contact or made any real incursions into North America, even though they undoubtedly had the means, the motives and almost half a millennium to do so. But even here the reader should be forewarned that are further complications that exist concerning the traditional Viking lands (Helluland, Markland and Vinland) and these too need to be factored into the equation (see "The Greenland Duality" in Part III).
Thus it unfortunately follows that it would be
unwise to take the Icelandic Sagas entirely at their face
value. Nor, for the same reason would it be wise to treat them as
error-free references when it comes to such matters as sailing
directions, exact times en route, or the location of
specific
buildings and sites
per se.
Accordingly, it appears necessary to use the information
in the Sagas with due caution, adopt a general approach, and apply as
many references as possible--the flora and fauna especially--to reduce
the long arm of coincidence until one ecological niche emerges as the
best
logical choice for the location of "Vinland." Moreover,
once the Pacific Northwest location for
Helluland has been gained, it
becomes a relatively
simply matter to continue south according to the information provided
in the Sagas to arrive next at Markland, and ultimately locate Vinland
itself in a remarkably warm and fertile ecological niche in the
southeast corner of Vancouver Island.
On another level and
from a different viewpoint
it is
likely that the Church would have already been antagonistic towards the
Vikings
because of past transgressions, let alone the unrepentant activities of
Vikings
it could neither control nor convert after 1000 CE. Then there is the
question
of the Vikings' themselves taking positive action in addition to simply
departing
for points unknown, i.e., the possible dissemination of their own
opposing
philosophy. Although this side of the matter suffers from uncertainties
as
well as the passage of time, we might still ask what the Greenland
Vikings
might have taken with them as an antidote and an inoculation against
the
self-serving dogmatism that was about to be unleashed on the "New"
world.
This depends to some extent on how the situation was perceived by the
Norse
themselves. Perhaps benevolent contact involving the exchange of
skills--necessary
knowledge of specific niches for themselves in exchange for such skills
as
improved techniques for working with cold copper, and/or additional
elements
of weaving where the resources were available and period of contact
lengthy
enough. A sensibly balanced relationship among sensible balanced
peoples,
with the choice to participate always that of the native peoples
themselves.
Thus partners, not conquerors, with mutual respect an integral
component
of the relationship. To which might have been added a strong reliance
on
verbal communications and symbols that reinforced rather than opposed
local
native wisdoms, and also their own genes--not that the matter was
necessarily
genetic per se -- but rather as a strengthening of the gene
pool which
at the same time might provide assistance for generations to come.
In such
circumstances it may well be difficult to
follow the trail left by the Vikings, especially in terms of recovered
artifacts and Viking settlements since their policy might well have
been more a matter of immersion than domination and not necessarily the
establishment of any permanent presence at that. But remaining with
those cultures that relied mostly on verbal communications some
indicators may still exist, such as the awareness of Pacific Northwest
Indians that: "SUN, source of life and suspended in the sky because
Raven put it there.... is the spirit of the center of the solar system."
(Joseph F. Wherry, The Totem Pole Indians, Funk & Wagnalls,
New York, 1964:88).
Here the widespread distribution of Raven and related stories are such
that
one might suggest that wherever they occur the Vikings themselves may
have
passed by. Certainly the mythology is found in both the Canadian Arctic
and the Pacific Northwest, and moreover, the spiral form itself is
often
associated with the Sun, and this too is found in the latter region,
though
not predominantly.
It is against this
background that the early
Norse voyages
to "Greenland" and "Vinland" around the end of the First Millennium
begin
to raise the suspicion that something more than mere settlement may
have
been involved. In particular, that even at this early date the
religious question
may have become acute enough for definite action on the part of Vikings
who
had neither reason nor wish to embrace the unwanted trammels of
Christianity.
Whither the Greenland Vikings then? Once having reached the west coast
of
Greenland, it would not have been that great a voyage to cross Baffin
Bay,
nor would it have been a major task to set up a settlement or two on
either
the northern coast of Labrador or Ungava Bay before moving
progressively
further west. Or on into Hudson Bay and the rivers that led into the
Interior.
Or on down the Eastern Seaboard to who knows where? And why not? They
had
two or three centuries in which to explore, fine ships, nothing to lose
and
nothing return to, while ahead lay the greatest adventure anyone could
hope
to encounter--truly the stuff of Sagas--if not the Last and Greatest of
them
all.
And also, perhaps, the last true diaspora....
And also, perhaps, the last true diaspora....
METHODOLOGY
The first three parts of The Last Viking necessarily deal with popular misconceptions that arise from prevailing images of plundering, blundering Vikings and attendant notions that neither they nor their ships could in any way have negotiated the Northwest Passage. But as far as the Canadian Arctic is concerned, once details concerning Vikings ships are understood it will be suggested here that "iron men in wooden ships" under oar and sail would in fact have been well suited to tackle the more tortuous coastal sections of the Northwest Passage. Even so there can be no discounting the difficulties or the hardships involved, nor is any attempt made here to diminish them. On the other hand, after due consideration and the inclusion of such technicalities as the "Medieval Warm Period" and isostatic/eustostatic changes in the Arctic regions (see Figure 2 below) there are no compelling reasons to reject either the possibility of Viking incursions deep into the Canadian Arctic Archipelago or their eventual triumph over the Northwest Passage itself.
The first three parts of The Last Viking necessarily deal with popular misconceptions that arise from prevailing images of plundering, blundering Vikings and attendant notions that neither they nor their ships could in any way have negotiated the Northwest Passage. But as far as the Canadian Arctic is concerned, once details concerning Vikings ships are understood it will be suggested here that "iron men in wooden ships" under oar and sail would in fact have been well suited to tackle the more tortuous coastal sections of the Northwest Passage. Even so there can be no discounting the difficulties or the hardships involved, nor is any attempt made here to diminish them. On the other hand, after due consideration and the inclusion of such technicalities as the "Medieval Warm Period" and isostatic/eustostatic changes in the Arctic regions (see Figure 2 below) there are no compelling reasons to reject either the possibility of Viking incursions deep into the Canadian Arctic Archipelago or their eventual triumph over the Northwest Passage itself.
Figure 2. Rising land; falling sea levels on Ellesmere Island.
In fact, the isostatic/eustostatic changes, the Medieval Warm Period, attested locations for Viking activities in the high Canadian Arctic and the shallow draughts of Vikings ships suggest that the Vikings may well have proceeded westward via the shortest and most direct routes via Jones and/or Lancaster Sounds. This suggestion is neither unreasonable nor doubtful; even in the present day critical parts of High Arctic passages have been found to be relatively ice-free during the summer months, as a voyage through the Northwest Passage by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police vessel the St. Roche II demonstrated in the year 2000:
An RCMP ship (the St. Roche II captained by Ken Burton) has crossed through the fabled Northwest Passage – an area that has stranded mariners of the past in its icy grip for years at a time – in just three weeks, going for days on end without seeing any ice at all.... The vessel’s oddly calm trip through one of marine history’s most feared routes has raised new questions about whether global warming is to blame for the changing climate in the Arctic.... the ship’s relatively flat bottom allowed it to travel through narrow ice-free areas as shallow as two metres that larger boats could not... ‘Essentially we didn’t see any ice at all, which I found startling and alarming,’ Burton said. ‘I didn’t in my wildest dreams expect to be able to navigate through ice-free waters.’ Burton and his crew expected to encounter more ice than they did, which put them ahead of schedule. With more time on their hands, they journeyed as far north as 75 degrees – about 200 kilometres further north than planned, and within 1,000 nautical miles of the north pole. ‘We were north of Resolute [ on one of Canada’s most northern islands ] and still sitting in an ice-free ocean.’ (Chad Skelton, “Northwest Passage voyage no longer an ice-filled ordeal,” The Vancouver Sun, September 11, 2000).
In the summer of 2000, (Ken) Burton gingerly nosed a 20-metre aluminum patrol boat into the heart of the Northwest Passage. Ice floes could crumple the boat like paper. Even the smallest iceberg, a growler, could rip apart its delicate hull. But there were no bergs. No growlers. No thin cakes of pancake ice. To his surprise, Burton found no ice at all. A mere 1,500 kilometres south of the North Pole, where previous explorers had faced sheets of punishing pack ice, desperation and finally death, Burton cruised past emerald lagoons and long sandy beaches. Crew members stripped and went swimming. Burton whipped through the passage, "not hurrying," in a mere 21 days. "We should not, by any measure, have been able to drive an aluminum boat through the Arctic," said Burton, still astonished and just slightly disappointed. "It was surreal."
It was also a glimpse of the future. For several summers now, v
ast stretches of the Northwest Passage have been free of ice, open to uneventful crossings by the flimsiest of boats. Climate experts now blandly predict what once was unimaginable: In 50 years or less, the passage will be free of ice throughout the summer, a prospect that could transform the region and attract a flotilla of cruise ships, oil supertankers and even U.S. warships. "It's something no one would have dreamed up for our lifetime," said Lawson Brigham, deputy director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and former captain of the U.S. Coast.
(Usha Lee McFarling, "Navigating ‘ Panama Canal North ’, " The Vancouver Sun, Jan 30, 2003, emphases supplied)
The location of the town of Resolute mentioned above? North of Lancaster Sound and also near the upper (Jones Sound) route shown on Map 2c below, which perhaps also serves to emphasize the significance of Viking activities further north on eastern Ellesmere Island -- the Bache and Knud Peninsula regions especially. Moreover, the continuing warming trends have already had a profound effect on the Northwest Passage, i.e., it was further reported that:
"In some years now, you can do the Northwest Passage almost in a rowboat," (said the Canadian Ice Services Lionel Hache.) ....To those who have been watching the passage, it seems only a matter of time before all manner of ships, from supertankers to sailboats, start transiting these once formidable waters. (Usha Lee McFarling, "Navigating ‘ Panama Canal North ’, " The Vancouver Sun, Jan 30, 2003, emphases supplied)At which point it is requisite to suggest that far from being incapable of handling the rigours of the Northwest Passage, under relatively ice-free conditions Viking ships may in fact have been inordinately well-suited to the task. Under such conditions the combination of extremely low draught, flexible construction, light weight, manouverability, the dual capability to proceed under sail or oars all favour the eventual (if not continual) transit of the Passage. As for the ships themselves, some of the more notable features shown below include not only the remarkably shallow draughts of Viking ships, but also the relatively large crews. The latter, in addition to their oarsmen duties would also be available for other labour-intensive tasks as required, including manouvering the ships over land, sea or ice, and also -- should the need arise -- inverting the hulls to provide temporary or semi-permanent shelters (a concept explored by Farley Mowatt in 1999; for further details see Part V: The Copper Canoe).
Table 1. Selected Viking Ships
Notes: Skuldelev Ship Data from The Viking Ship Museum; Roskilde Ship Data from Ove Långe's Ship Index.
Emphases suppplied for the largest known Viking Ship (Roskilde 6) and the two large Viking "Burial" ships, the
"Oseberg" and "Gokstaad." See the western location of the two large stone "longhouses" in Map 2c below; for
the dimensions of the latter and additional information see Part 5.
Returning to the possibility
of a relatively ice-free Passage, small expeditions comprising pairs of
Second Millennium Viking ships in the 40-60 foot range with 60 to
70 hardy crewmen between them would be most versatile. And, if
the Viking practice of adaptive cultural immersion
was also applied, such expeditions through the Central Arctic would
also become largely self-sustaining. Learning the requisite survival
skills here would be
doubly advantagerous in the present context, (especially wintering-over), as the Inuit-based techniques
applied by the likes of Dr. John Rae and Vilhjalmur Steffanson later
attested. Whereas those who embarked in
search of the Northwest Passage in over-staffed, over-burdened and
large,
cumbersome sailing ships were likely doomed to failure (if not outright
disaster) from the very start, even without additional complications
arising from the "Little Ice Age" and uncertaintities concerning the
Passage itself.
For the Vikings, however, there was the more favourable interval of the Medieval Warm Period--a window of opportunity that extended for perhaps two or three centuries, the starting point of which just happens to coincide with the time of the Sagas and the dates assigned to the remnants of some of the more notable Viking ships (see below)
For the Vikings, however, there was the more favourable interval of the Medieval Warm Period--a window of opportunity that extended for perhaps two or three centuries, the starting point of which just happens to coincide with the time of the Sagas and the dates assigned to the remnants of some of the more notable Viking ships (see below)
- Figure 1c. The
Medieval Warm Period and 11th Century Viking Ships
As for the associated
hardships of Arctic exploration and the transit of the Northwest
Passage itself, these cannot be dismissed, down-graded or
under-estimated. Then again, a voyage from Greenland to L'Anse aux
Meadows, Newfoundland (modern "Vinland" to some) could have been
accomplished in perhaps a week or less, and could hardly be considered
a particularly ardous
trip in any case. Whereas an exploratory voyage across the Arctic
Archipelago would likely be ardous, hazardous and also lengthy. How
hazardous and
how lengthy? Difficult to say, of course, but the reference above to a
voyage where only 14 ships out of 25 arrived at their destination seems
far more appropriate in this context than the few days necessary to
sail
from Iceland to Greenland, or reach Newfoundland from the latter. As does a reference in the
Sagas to a voyage that:
Not that any of this is simple or straightforward in any case, i.e., there are additional complications arising out of such things as the "Greenland Duality" for example; but returning to the Northwest Passage itself even now there are a surprisingly number of indicators of a Viking presence in both the Canadian High and Low Arctic regions as shown in Map 2c:
"made slow progress the whole summer through. Next sickness broke out in their company, and Orm died, as did Halldis his wife, and half their ship's company. A big sea got up, and they suffered great hardship and misery of all kinds, yet with it all reached Herjolfsnes in Greenland right at the start of winter. (Gwyn Jones, The Norse Atlantic Saga, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1964; emphases supplied)
Not that any of this is simple or straightforward in any case, i.e., there are additional complications arising out of such things as the "Greenland Duality" for example; but returning to the Northwest Passage itself even now there are a surprisingly number of indicators of a Viking presence in both the Canadian High and Low Arctic regions as shown in Map 2c:
Map 2c. The Northwest Passage, Viking Indicators, Stone Cairns, and Western Stone Longhouses
The Viking artifact locations
shown above are in fact from a map used in a recent television program
on Vinland and the Vikings entitled: "Leif Eriksson:The man who almost
changed the World." The map in question was introduced with the
following commentary:
The program next widened the Vinland question with an all-inclusive generalisation on one hand and a few vague locations on the east coasts of the Americas on the other:
The discovery of the site at L'Anse aux Meadows has not ended the debate for the location of Vinland. Viking artifacts have been found at a dozen or more sites throughout eastern Canada. The norse penny has been found as far south as Maine. The findings fit a pattern if we think of L'Anse aux Meadows as a jumping off place–a base for exploration, trade or hunting parties. They were not temporary landings. They were meant as a winter base where you could go exploring during the summer, and then return late in the fall to spend the winter here where you were safe, and then continue to Greenland the next summer. One reason they needed a base like this was that the sailing season even in the slightly warmer Eleventh Century was quite short when you have to start out from Greenland. So, if they had to go and come back to Greenland in one summer, they wouldn't have time to go much farther than that. (emphases supplied.)Even so, it is difficult to see how anyone could confuse the west coast of Hudson Bay with eastern Canada, nor for that matter, similarly confuse eastern Canada with locations in the High Arctic at or near the half-way point through the Northwest Passage. Needless to say, the last mentioned are precisely the kind of locations that one might reasonably expect from Viking activities in the region with respect to both the Northwest Passage and Greenland, but not necessarily with respect to L'Anse aux Meadows (except under special circumstances; again, see Part V: The Copper Canoe).
The program next widened the Vinland question with an all-inclusive generalisation on one hand and a few vague locations on the east coasts of the Americas on the other:
Vinland, then, is probably a lot of places–everywhere the Vikings explored. This hasn't stopped thousands of amateur and professional archaelogists from searching for other settlements. ... There are lots of theories placing Leif's lost Vinland in Maine, or New York, or Maryland or the Carolinas; some dissidents think he reached the Amazon. So far L'Anse aux Meadows is the only Viking settlement found.The last point is true enough, of course, but conventional wisdom notwithstanding, the possibilities arising from the "dozen or more sites throughout eastern Canada" referred to above suggest something quite different--specifically, the early half-completion of the major premise under discussion here, namely Viking transits via the High Arctic routes of the Northwest Passage itself.
METHODOLOGY II: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back
In so much as what is suggested here is as odds with most prevailing viewpoints it has proved necessary to examine why this situation should exist, especially in light of the considerable amount of material that seems to point to a lengthy and early Norse presence in the Americas. Included here (among other things) are widely distributed indicators in the Canadian Arctic, the Pacific Northwest, and to a relatable extent as discussed in Part 6, weaving in both the latter region and the American Southwest. To which may also be added further complications that may or may not owe their origins to the same mandate that was likely responsible for so much misdirection, the destruction of Non-Christian records and artefacts in the "New World" and obfuscations such as the "Greenland Duality" discussed in Part III. Closely related to the last subject are its effects on how the Greenland Trade may be perceived, the ways in which the Norse Sagas may be interpreted, and also the question of just how much knowledge was both held and lost during the interval under consideration ( 800 CE to 1500 CE ). This interval is based at the lower limit of the Viking Age ( 800-1100 CE ), the disappearance of the Greenland Vikings at the upper, and the times generally allotted to both the Greenland/Vinland Sagas and the establishment of the Viking settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland--both ca.1000 CE. The related timetable provided below is largely a reduced composite from Edward F.Gray's Leif Eriksson Discoverer of America A.D. 1003 (1929, 1972) and Tryggi J.Oleson's Early Voyages and Northern Approaches 1000-1632 (1963:202). The latter author also cautions that the chronology of the Vinland voyages is itself: "difficult to establish except with a margin of error of, in some cases, five to ten years. The dates assigned are thus often only approximate."
874-930
Iceland
settled by Norwegians (about 60 per cent.), Scots and Irish (about 30
per cent.), &c.
ca. 900 Gunnbjorn Ulfsson sights skerries off the east coast of Greenland.
982-985 Erik the Red explores Greenland.
ca. 985 Erik the Red colonizes Greenland and settles at Brattahlid.
ca. 986 Bjarni Herjulfsson sights new country.
999 Leif Eriksson starts from Greenland for Norway and meets Thorgunna in the Hebrides.
1000 Leif reaches Norway and embraces Christianity.
1000-1001 Leif buys Bjarni's ship and discovers Helluland, Markland, and Vinland.
1001 Leif returns from Norway. Christianity legally adopted in Iceland.
1004-1006 Leif's brother, Thorvaldr, sails to Vinland and is slain there.
1007 Leif's brother Thorsteinn attempts to reach Vinland; fails.Thorhall starts north for wine; meets westerly gales, driven to Ireland
1008 Return of Thorvald Expedition to Greenland. Thorstein's unsuccessful Expedition to recover Thorvald's body.
1009 Ships of Karlsefne and Bjarni Grimolfsson arrive at Brattahlid.
1010 Thorfinn Karlsefni sails to Vinland on a colonization venture. His son Snorri born in Vinland.
1011-1013 Thorfinn Karlsefni explores Vinland and neighbouring regions.
1014 Leif's half-sister Freydis joins Helgi and Finnbogi in an expedition to Vinland.
1015 Freydis slays the brothers and returns to Greenland.
1121 Bishop Eirkir Gnupsson sets out in search of Vinland and disappears.
1341? Ivar Baardson visits / finds the Western Greenland Settlement deserted.
ca. 900 Gunnbjorn Ulfsson sights skerries off the east coast of Greenland.
982-985 Erik the Red explores Greenland.
ca. 985 Erik the Red colonizes Greenland and settles at Brattahlid.
ca. 986 Bjarni Herjulfsson sights new country.
999 Leif Eriksson starts from Greenland for Norway and meets Thorgunna in the Hebrides.
1000 Leif reaches Norway and embraces Christianity.
1000-1001 Leif buys Bjarni's ship and discovers Helluland, Markland, and Vinland.
1001 Leif returns from Norway. Christianity legally adopted in Iceland.
1004-1006 Leif's brother, Thorvaldr, sails to Vinland and is slain there.
1007 Leif's brother Thorsteinn attempts to reach Vinland; fails.Thorhall starts north for wine; meets westerly gales, driven to Ireland
1008 Return of Thorvald Expedition to Greenland. Thorstein's unsuccessful Expedition to recover Thorvald's body.
1009 Ships of Karlsefne and Bjarni Grimolfsson arrive at Brattahlid.
1010 Thorfinn Karlsefni sails to Vinland on a colonization venture. His son Snorri born in Vinland.
1011-1013 Thorfinn Karlsefni explores Vinland and neighbouring regions.
1014 Leif's half-sister Freydis joins Helgi and Finnbogi in an expedition to Vinland.
1015 Freydis slays the brothers and returns to Greenland.
1121 Bishop Eirkir Gnupsson sets out in search of Vinland and disappears.
1341? Ivar Baardson visits / finds the Western Greenland Settlement deserted.
1342
The
inhabitants of the Western Settlement emigrate en masse to the Canadian
Arctic and continental America.1
1347 Greenlanders from/seeking Markland are driven to Iceland.
1347 Greenlanders from/seeking Markland are driven to Iceland.
ca.
1350 The
Western
Greenland
Settlement abandoned.
1540 The Last Greenland Viking [Brent 1975:213] 1. Source: Tryggi J. Oleson (1963:202)
1540 The Last Greenland Viking [Brent 1975:213] 1. Source: Tryggi J. Oleson (1963:202)
Although there is insufficient justification for extending Viking voyages to the Americas to as early as 600 CE, there seems little doubt that the period from 600 CE to 1500 CE was one that saw an incredible amount of change take place--not merely in North America alone, but also in both Central and South America in addition. In terms of Viking exploration we are presently limited to the an earliest date "around a thousand years ago"-- a phrase that occurs with surprising frequency in this and other contexts. Whether this too was a deliberate misdirection remains a question mark to be weighed against previously upheld notions that the Vikings never reached the New World at all. Not that this went unchallenged, even before the discovery of the Viking site at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. In fact, as James D. Keyser reported in Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau (Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver 1992:127):
Between 19I9 and 1927, a heated debate appeared in the pages of the Spokane Chronicle and Spokesman Review newspapers concerning the origin of Columbia Plateau rock art. No fewer than two dozen published articles expounded the views of Professor Oluf Opsjon, who argued vigorously that the carvings and paintings were runes documenting the exploration and colonization of the Plateau by Vikings at about A.D. 1000.
But what Keyser did not mention was Prof. Opsjon's 1920s hypotheses also included a voyage to the Pacific Northwest via the Arctic Ocean, thus unequivocally a Viking transit of the Northwest Passage itself (see: Isselstein, Karl H, "Old Norse Grave"; Fate, 62 May, 1955:117-120). More recently, in his 1995 publication Norwegians in the Northwest: Settlement in British Columbia 1858-1918 (Runestad, Victoria 1995:261-276) Eric Faa gave a comparison between Norway and British Columbia and in conclusion also provided a broad comparison between the Vikings and Northwest coast Indians.
In 1996 (though gaining little support at the time) Paul Demontigny further suggested Vancouver Island as the location of Vinland itself, the southwest side especially.
As
far as obfuscations and misdirections in the
past and present may be concerned, given the complexity of the issue
and its lengthy duration there do not appear to be any simple answers
to the situation beyond the obvious, that a great deal of effort
appears to
have been extended to maintain both the status quo and the
integral
myth of Christopher Columbus as the first "Discoverer" of America--all
part
and parcel of the same problem, it would seem. As for underlying
reasons, it would also seem that all too common elements of the human
condition--fear of the unknown, fear of the future, the ego and the
intellect, the place, position and perceived priorities of individuals
and nations in the general scheme of things--appear to be contributing
factors. And also the continuation of established ways and means to
obtain long-term security and the necessities of life--a situation
exacerbated in the days of Empire and Enlightenment by an unhealthy
focus on personal wants over common needs. In its simplest terms
growing pains and survival then? Hardly that, for there are ways and
there are means to achieve one's goals; the problem in the past appears
to have been that the ways and means were excessive to the point of
being major atrocities--largely carried out by a minority and often far
from controlling authorities to be sure. But then neither was what took
place always sufficiently condemned by those who accepted their share
of the profits and the gain.
Perhaps the situation in the past was best summed up by Arthur C.Clarke's observation in his fictional work: 3001: The Final Odyssey (Ballantine Books, New York, 1997:135) i.e., that with respect to organized religion: "For much of human prehistory, it may have been a necessary evil--but why was it so much more evil than necessary--and why did it survive when it was no longer necessary?" [see 3001, Chapter 19: "The Madness of Mankind."]
Perhaps the situation in the past was best summed up by Arthur C.Clarke's observation in his fictional work: 3001: The Final Odyssey (Ballantine Books, New York, 1997:135) i.e., that with respect to organized religion: "For much of human prehistory, it may have been a necessary evil--but why was it so much more evil than necessary--and why did it survive when it was no longer necessary?" [see 3001, Chapter 19: "The Madness of Mankind."]
METHODOLOGY III: Vikings and the Pacific Northwest
These complications and problems notwithstanding, in terms of the Pacific Northwest the present investigation of Norse incursions deals more with signs of benevolent contact than diffusion per se, and not on a massive scale at that. Nor in most cases is there any attempt to embrace origins; rather, the intention is to assess whether traces of a Viking presence exists by assembling a tool-kit and searching for evidence of its use, before, through and beyond the Northwest Passage. Here again there is no attempt to explain cultural traits in direct terms of Viking contact, the effect may well have been subtle and also transitory. Nevertheless, it appears that signs and traces do occur in the Pacific Northwest, and where researchers have meticulously recorded matters not readily explained in the expected cultural context, these too appear applicable. The impact of a Viking presence is also considered in terms of myths and legends; again not so much the origins per se, but rather the possible influence and modification of traditions already in place.
Finally, the
methodology applied in the last part
includes an examination of the flora and fauna mentioned in the Viking
Sagas from two separate but related viewpoints; firstly with respect to
ecological niches and secondly in terms of an acute observational
approach to
Nature. Applied to plants and trees the latter is also the resurfacing
of the ancient science of geobotanical prospecting - in this case
natural
indicators for the presence of copper in particular. Taken together,
the natural
science
and geobotanical components provide secondary and tertiary means of
identifying the precise location of Vinland. Thus when the Viking Sagas
speak of "Wild grapes", "self-sown wheat" and "maple" in this context
the location can be reduced to a small ecological niche in the Pacific
Northwest, namely the Cowichan Valley in the southeast
corner
of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Here Giant Wildrye
(Elymus cinerus; more specifically Creeping Giant Wildrye),
the Broad-leaved Maple (Acer macrophyllum) and
not
least of all Oregon Grape, specifically Tall
Mahonia(Mahonia
aquifolium) all flourish--in fact the latter (see below) "occasionally
reaches a height of 10 feet (near Duncan, Vancouver Island)." (Lewis J. Clark,1998:172).
Figure 3. " Vinland's " Tall Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium)
(Source:
PLANT TECHNOLOGY of the First Peoples
of British Columbia, Nancy J.Turner,
UBC Press, Vancouver 1998:148; included here with the permission of the University of British Columbia Press.)
UBC Press, Vancouver 1998:148; included here with the permission of the University of British Columbia Press.)
Specific
indicators such as these applied in
conjunction with the locations of Helluland (land of Flat Rocks) and
Markland (Land of Timber; also the location for "Wonder Beaches"
and bears), available geographical factors from the Icelandic Sagas
(wild
"grapes," bears, salmon, halibut, whales, coal, timber, wheat, copper,
sailing directions, capes, rivers, and the length of daylight at the
Winter Solstice) provide the overall basis for the precise location of
"Vinland" in the Cowichan Valley itself. For a view of this special
region
and the River
that runs through it, see the 2002 presentation by Great Canadian
Rivers.com.
Map 9. The Western Viking Lands: Helluland, Markland and Vinland
As for this
present-day "Vinland," modern wineries
are in fact already thriving in this special
ecological niche. And, as reported in a lengthy article on the subject
in an April 2003 issue of The Vancouver Sun
newspaper:
.... It's a success story that has tilled the way for a wine-making boom on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, where there now are 17 licensed wineries and a cidery, five more wineries in development and plans to double the number of hectares in production from about 105 to more than about 202 over the next few years, according to figures provided by the Vancouver Island Vintners Association (VIVA).
The majority of the wineries – 12 of the 23 – are located here, in the Cowichan Valley, while the rest are scattered from Saanich to Nanaimo to Saltspring Island.
(Lindsay Kines, “South island wine industry booms,” The Vancouver Sun, April 19, 2003, p. C1; emphases supplied; VIVA was subsequently replaced by the Wine Islands Vinters Association)
By 2011 the list of
wineries in the region had
expanded to 44,
described by writer John
Schreiner in an detailed article in the June 17, 2011 issue of the Vancouver Sun as follows:
Last summer I clocked 1,600 kilometres in 10 days of exploring British Columbia's other important wine region—Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
The surprise is how many wineries have opened since 1992, when Vigneti Zanatta near Duncan was the first winery to open on the island since Jordan & Ste-Michelle moved from Victoria to Surrey in 1978 [ and then closed ].
Today, the islands comprise two separate appellations with a total of 44 wineries plus several under development. That is more than there were in the Okanagan a decade ago. The largest number of wineries is in the Cowichan Valley, around Duncan. There are smaller clusters on the Saanich Peninsula, on Saltspring Island, on Hornby Island and around Courtenay; and individual producers elsewhere, in surprising locations like Port Alberni, Sooke and Quadra Island.
While some island wineries buy Okanagan grapes, many rely just on island vineyards to produce wines expressing the island terroir. The grape varieties best suited to cool growing conditions here, such as Ortega, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Zweigelt and Marechal Foch, produce wines distinctively different from those grown in the Okanagan. The whites are crisp and more aromatic while the reds are brighter and leaner.
Some of the winemakers believe they can take on any wine region. The goal of Andy Johnston, the owner of Averill Creek Winery at Duncan, is to make the best Pinot Noir in Canada. Several of his competitors believe they are giving him a run, though.
Sparkling wines, always the specialty at Zanatta, now are emerging as a major island wine category at such producers as Starling Lane, Rocky Creek and Venturi-Schulze. The only surprise is that it took most of the wineries the better part of two decades to recognize their Champagne potential. Church & State, after struggling to make table wine from its Saanich vineyard, has taken on a consultant to make superior sparkling wine.
There is more to the islands than grape wines. Two producers, Tugwell Creek and Middle Mountain, pioneered mead making. Merridale Estate Cidery, which has a destination restaurant, and Sea Cider make authentic apple ciders.
The signature fruit on the islands used by fruit wineries and many others is the blackberry. Cherry Point Estate Wines at Duncan pioneered blackberry port. No island wine tour is complete without tasting this rich, luscious berry wine.
(John Schreiner, “Islands have their own Flavour: Regional soil yields a distinctive product,”
The Vancouver Sun, Saturday June 17, 2011. Links added. See the Bibliography for John Schreiner's BC Coastal Wine Tour Guide (Whitecap Books, 2011) and additional works on British Columbia's flourishing Wine Industry. For the above locations see also the Wine Islands Vinters Association Google map of this region and its wineries)
Lastly, although
these papers concern the extraordinary efforts and
achievements of the last Vikings, no attempts are made here to assign
precedence or reinforce claims concerning the earliest "discovery" of
North America.
As the original peoples of this continent will tell you wearily enough, it was never lost or found; it was always here, and so were they, for thousands of years...
As the original peoples of this continent will tell you wearily enough, it was never lost or found; it was always here, and so were they, for thousands of years...
Lux e
tenebris ...
Part 1. Viking Press and
Viking
Ships
Part 2. West by Northwest
Part 3. Three Steps Back
Part 4. Symbols and Markers
Part 5. The Copper Canoe
Part 6. The Warp and the Weave
Part 7. Helluland, Markland
and
Vinland
Maps. Partial Map Listing.
Copyright © 1999. John N. Harris,
M.A.(CMNS). Last
Updated on August 19, 2011; Links updated on March 15, 2013..
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