DOCSLIB.ORG

The Icelander Thor Finn Karlsefni

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Icelander Thor Finn Karlsefni TO M Y WI F E E L L E N WHO MADE POSSIBLE THE E$ I STE N C E OF THE S T AT UE O F THORFINN KARLSEFN I THROUGH HER BEQUEST TO THE FAIRMOUNT PARK ART ASSOCIATION CHRO N OL OGY A SHORT CHRONOLOGY or THORFINN K ARLSE F N I ’ Copied from Hawk s book. ho ne- a a a . Gat r Tr nsl ted by G M H rdy, was a man a Thord who Hofda There n med , lived in Hofdastrand . a F rid erda a in He m rried g , d ughter of - H ma and F rid e rda a of K a val Thori y of g , d ughter J r , hor wa a B K ing of the Irish . T d s son of BJorn yrdus va -Hr A sl eick of mor, son of Thor ld ygg, son of , son - - - B o ofR a uar a ec . Jorn Ir nside, son g Sh ggy Bre hes They - had a a Snorri. a R son c lled He m rried Thorhild ype, w h rd a daughter of Thord Gelli . Their son as T o a and had a a e Thorfinn K arl sefni Horsehe d he son c ll d , who at R e nisness Ska af ord as lived in the north y in g j , k l now a . c K ar sefni it is c lled Besides being of good sto , ’ a w hor nn . was a wealthy man . His mother s n me as T u was a and had a a He in the cruising tr de, good reput tion as a sailor . F O REWO RD The old theory of firc at wherever there was was flame - a a smoke, there very ptly is illustr tive of controversies regarding the discovery and settlement of continents . a a Thorfinn K arlsefni In the c se of the Icel nder, , this controversy is very prominent . Almost every historian who has written a history of has a the Western Hemisphere, stumbled over Norse man or an Icelander who in some way reached this Hemisphere . ’ a D is ci ler I nsul arum In Ad m of Bremen s Book , p ” A ual onis in 1 595 . q , published ’ In John Fiske s history called The Discovery of ” America . ’ In Professor William Hovgaard s romance of The ” Voyages of the Norsemen to America . And the definition given about Vinland in the latest edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica . “ c And, quite re ently, The Norse Discoveries of — ” a a a . Gathorne America The Vinel nd S g s, by G . M a H rdy, All mention Leif E ricsson and Thorfinn K arl sefni a as the earliest discoverers of Americ . t d es s e s be xac ca io The unset le qu tion e m to , the e t lo t n 1 FOREWORD i a r a a d . n where they l nde This, turn , re ches f om C pe Cod a and a a a to Long Isl nd Sound , n mes the l nd Vinl nd and a ca a v e u w Winel nd, be use gr pe in s were fo nd gro ing w the on the mainland . If these historians ould study ocean currents which Hovgaard and Hardy have done in a a a wa th a a r c su l y, ey would h ve found sort of Northe n Gulf Stream w—hich for ages drifted close to the Massa chusetts shore piling up driftwood which came from a a as nd the Arctic S ea. Sm ll bo ts such the Norsemen a Icelanders used were undoubtedly carried by this cur a as o and can rent, the s me the driftw od , we only con ecture a n j where they l nded , for nothi g is left to tell the ’ Thorfinn s a . t story , except in c se Providing the s ory of the Fletcher stone can be verified . The word settler had a Th rfi something to do with my choice, lso , for o nn did settle where he landed and remained some two years u a a . nor ntil driven out by s v ges Also , his child S ri was o n a born during his s jour in Americ , which undoubtedly was the first white child born in this country . — I have no misgivings over my choice quite to the a a i a contr ry , for every l test history of Amer c seems to horfinn K arl ni confirm the story of T sef . Thorfinn— a J u I chose for the sculptor of Ein r o sson , a native of Iceland . And he certainly has modelled a a — n typic l Viking being descended from the Viki gs . I hope my readers will agree with me that I have not erred in their conviction . THO RFI N N KAR LSEF N 1 Why THORFIN N K A RLSE F N I was chosen to represent The First Settler in the Western Hemisphere And the remarkable bequest made by my wife for Statuary Emblematical of the settlement of our great C o untrv . THE REQ U E ST . I give and bequeath to my husband all the residue and a a a and o a rem inder of my est te, re l pers n l , of every kind r a a and a t a for the te m of his n tur l life , f er his de th , I i and a a m give, dev se beque th the s me to the Com issioners a a of F irmount P rk , to spend the income thereof in the following manner . According to the official map issued by the Park a a a 2000 Commissioners , there is sp ce of Two Thous nd ( ) feet commencing from the Beacon Light or last boat n house to the Girard Avenue Bridge . O the edge of this ground bordered by the Schuylkill R iver is a stone bulk a t a head . On top of this emb nkmen it is my will to h ve d at a 1 00 a a erecte dist nces of one hundred ( ) feet p rt , on a a r a and a high gr nite pedest ls of unifo m sh pe size, st tu ar a a a y emblem tic of the History of Americ , r nging in time from the earliest settler of America to the present E ra a a d in a a , rr nge chronologic l order, the e rliest period 9 THORFINN KARL S E F N I at and i at the South end , going on to the present t me the North end $ w all a are a And hen the st tues in pl ce, the income to be spent in buying Statuary and Fountains to decorate the Park according to the judgm ent of the Commissioners . t n a a In get ing desig s for the St tues, it is my desire th t notices be in serted in the leading newspapers of the a n for and ff n a world, ski g designs , o eri g to p y expenses ’ n and a ofi er an for sendi g returning the s me, but not to y c a the c all spe i l premium , one hosen to receive the money ff o ered in the proposal . I nominate and appoint my husband Joseph B unford S amuel to be the Executor of this my last will and testa and l a ment Trustee for a l purposes n med herein . D CO ICIL . l i a and a and I , E len Ph llips S muel, revoke m ke null void my appointment of the Fairmount Park Commis and a n a sion to be Trustee of my Bequest , ppoint i ste d The Fairmount Park Art Association to receive and administer said Bequest in the manner described in the body of my will . THE ADJ U DICATION OF W I LL BY JU DGE GEST D ec . 9 1 91 4 . filed , The foregoing provisions of the will constituted h B unford a a a and Josep S muel test ment ry trustee, not a and merely life ten nt , consequently under the Act of 1 0 THORFINN KARLS E F N I M a 1 7 1 87 1 . 1 1 33 a Assembly of y , , Stew Purd , the leg cy in remainder to the Fairmount Park Art Association is a not legally taxable until the death of Mr . S muel $ he has however as Executor paid the Tax on the remainder n and a and n t i terest, the se led cou tersigned receip there for in the sum of w as produced to the Audit in tax 67 a t g Judge, being on $ fter the deduc ion of the life estate appraised at Counsel for the Fairmount Park Art Association ex ’ a a a i pressed his appreciation Of Mr . S muel s m gn n mous ” action in this as in other matters concerning the bequest . The usual commission p aid to executors was also omitted . 1 4 1 91 3 . November , Acceptance of the bequest by the Fairmount Park Art Association . R ES VE D a the a a OL , th t Bo rd of Trustees of the F ir mount Park Art Association has received with much m nifi en a a t u c t .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Teacher Sourcebook National History Day Is Very Pleased to Announce the Recent Unveiling of a New Digital Archive Called American Journeys
    American Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Journeys Exploration and Settlement: A Digital Library and Learning Center Teacher Sourcebook National History Day is very pleased to announce the recent unveiling of a new digital archive called American Journeys. This exciting collaborative project of National History Day and the Wisconsin Historical Society makes available on the World Wide Web more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration. The website makes it possible for students, teachers, and anyone else who loves American history to read the actual words and, in many cases, see electronic copies, of more than 150 original documents produced by explorers, Indians, missionaries, traders, and settlers as they lived through the founding moments of American history. American Journeys Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement: A Digital Library and Learning Center Teacher Sourcebook American Journeys Teacher Sourcebook Created by National History Day and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Made possible through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. American Journeys Project Director: Michael Edmonds Deputy Director, Library-Archives Division, Wisconsin Historical Society Compiled by: Laura Bullion University of Missouri Editor: Julie McCullough Senior Editor: Cathy Gorn, Ph.D. Executive Director, National History Day Designer: Elsie Grant © Copyright 2004 National History Day May be duplicated for educational purposes. Not for resale. Cover: View of the Port of Oonalaska. Louis Choris, Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, Plate XI (Alaska). Paris, 1822. (AJ-087) Table of Contents Table Introduction . 4 Part I: Resources for Teachers . 7 Language: What Did They Mean? The Problem of Archaic Words and Spellings .
    [Show full text]
  • October 1973, Vol
    THE WESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN October 1973, Vol. X, No. 1 1889 NORUMBEGA MEMORIAL TOWER 1973 RESTORATION (See Story on Page 2) June 20 July 9 July 30 August 14 ANNUAL MEETING JOSIAH SMITH TAVERN WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th 8:00 P.M. In keeping with tradition, brief reports of committees and officers will precede the recommendations of the Nominating Committee for three directors. The terms of Erlund Field, Edward W. Marshall, and Mrs. Arthur A. Nichols are expiring. Continuing for another year are Mrs. Marshall Dwinnell, Mrs. Stanley G. French, and Donald D. Douglass, and for two more years Brenton H. Dickson, 3rd, Mrs. Dudley B. Dumaine, Grant M. Palmer, Jr., and Harold G. Travis. At the conclusion of the business meeting, a program of home talent has been arranged that should be of interest to every member. The theme will be: SHEDDING NEW LIGHT ON WESTON’S PAST In preparation for the oncoming Bicentennial, a great deal of careful research has been done on Weston during the Revolutionary period. Messrs. Douglass, Gambrill, Lucas, and Travis will each touch briefly on some new facts about that era that have been un¬ covered. It is hoped that a large attendance will fill the Ball Room for this meeting. ANOTHER NOTEWORTHY RESTORATION IN WESTON Pictured on page 1 are four stages of the rebuilding of the famous Norsemen’s Tower which over¬ looks the winding Charles River off Norumbega Road in Weston. When he first took office as Metro¬ politan District Commissioner for the Commonwealth, we found Hon. John W. Sears most sympathetic to our plea for this restoration, but it took time and patience on the part of both of us while he worked out many problems of administration, priorities, and budget.
    [Show full text]
  • The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus Donald E
    Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research Volume 6 | Issue 1 Article 3 August 2016 The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus Donald E. Warden Oglethorpe University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ojur Part of the Canadian History Commons, European History Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Medieval History Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, and the Scandinavian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Warden, Donald E. (2016) "The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus," Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ojur/vol6/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus Cover Page Footnote I would like to thank my honors thesis committee: Dr. Michael Rulison, Dr. Kathleen Peters, and Dr. Nicholas Maher. I would also like to thank my friends and family who have supported me during my time at Oglethorpe. Moreover, I would like to thank my academic advisor, Dr. Karen Schmeichel, and the Director of the Honors Program, Dr. Sarah Terry. I could not have done any of this without you all. This article is available in Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ojur/vol6/iss1/3 Warden: Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Part I: Piecing Together the Puzzle Recent discoveries utilizing satellite technology from Sarah Parcak; archaeological sites from the 1960s, ancient, fantastical Sagas, and centuries of scholars thereafter each paint a picture of Norse-Indigenous contact and relations in North America prior to the Columbian Exchange.
    [Show full text]
  • L'anse Aux Meadows and Vinland Birgitta Wallace
    Document généré le 28 sept. 2021 23:53 Newfoundland Studies The Norse in Newfoundland: L'Anse aux Meadows and Vinland Birgitta Wallace Volume 19, numéro 1, spring 2003 URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/nflds19_1art02 Aller au sommaire du numéro Éditeur(s) Faculty of Arts, Memorial University ISSN 0823-1737 (imprimé) 1715-1430 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Wallace, B. (2003). The Norse in Newfoundland:: L'Anse aux Meadows and Vinland. Newfoundland Studies, 19(1), 5–43. All rights reserved © Memorial University, 2003 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l’Université de Montréal, l’Université Laval et l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. https://www.erudit.org/fr/ The Norse in Newfoundland: L’Anse aux Meadows and Vinland BIRGITTA WALLACE ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, the Old World and the New stood face to face in the Strait of Belle Isle. The landing of the Norse on the shores of North America was not the result of a sudden journey but the endpoint of a step-by-step expansion stretching over two centuries. This expansion began in southwestern Norway, where chieftains and minor kings jostled for power over a growing population. In such a competitive context, migration across the North Sea to the Scottish Isles and the Faeroes was an attractive alternative to staying home.
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Download Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas
    EIRIK THE RED AND OTHER ICELANDIC SAGAS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Gwyn Jones | 336 pages | 01 Apr 2009 | Oxford University Press | 9780199539154 | English | Oxford, United Kingdom Eirik The Red and Other Icelandic Sagas - Gwyn Jones - Oxford University Press No cover image. Read preview. Excerpt The word saga means 'a saw', 'something said', something recorded in words, and hence by easy extension a prose story or narrative. Read preview Overview. Glyde; M. Common types of primary sources include works of literature, historical documents, original philosophical writings, and religious texts. The Continuing Sagas of James A. We use cookies to deliver a better user experience and to show you ads based on your interests. By using our website, you agree to the use of cookies as described in our Privacy Policy. During this time, we have made some of our learning resources freely accessible. Our distribution centers are open and orders can be placed online. Do be advised that shipments may be delayed due to extra safety precautions implemented at our centers and delays with local shipping carriers. Request Examination Copy. About the Series: For over years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.
    [Show full text]
  • Location Helluland, Markland, and Wineland F Rrrrrr Icelandic Sagas
    W here W as W i nel and the G o o d ? r f r f i H IS has been a sou ce o myste y or a very long t me, and coming as it does into the very earliest history of the i k Amer can continent, there have been numerous boo s r written upon it in America , also in England , Ge many, France, Denmark and Norway . Those who have written on this subject are too numerous to mention , but a few of them are . Thomas Carlyle , Benjamin Franklin , Justin Winsor, David Grantz , John R r Harri sse r Foste , Henry , Washington Irving , and numerous othe s ! but - f those who have given practically a life time service , and le t the greatest r h works on this subject, are Carl Ch . Rafn , A t ur M . Reeves , Gustavus r . r r . Sto m , Joshua T Smith , and Nansen , the great No wegian explore About two hundred and fifty years ago attention was first called 1n modern time to the Icel andic literature about the discovery of America by the Norse i n “ r men . Joseph Fischer , his book Discou ses of the Norsemen in a w - k wr Americ , gives a list of three hundred and t enty two boo s itten by r eminent authorities on this subject, most of which have been w itten ’ since Rafn s comprehensive work m 18 3 7 . The best known authorities agree that practically all the information has that is likely to be obtained on this subject come to light, and the translation and explanations of the old Saga manuscripts have been de ciphered in a manner that leaves very little room for further enquiry on this subject .
    [Show full text]
  • Eben Norton Horsford, the Northmen, and the Founding of Massachusetts RICHARD R
    Eben Norton Horsford, the Northmen, and the Founding of Massachusetts RICHARD R. JOHN The West is preparing to add its fables to those of the East. The valleys of the Ganges, the Nile, and the Rhine having yielded their crop, it remains to be seen what the valleys of the Amazon, the Plate, the Orinoco, the St. Lawrence, and the Mississippi will produce. Perchance, when, in the course of ages, American liberty has become a fiction of the past — as it is to some extent a fiction of the present — the poets of the world will be inspired by American mythology. —Henry David Thoreau, "Walking" On a grassy knoll overlooking the Charles River near Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one can find a commemorative stone tablet with a curious inscription. Here once stood a house of Leif Erikson's, or so we are told. The inscription is so authoritative, and the tablet itself so sim- ilar to the myriad historical markers in the immediate vicinity, that it has doubtless been taken at face value by many of the Eben Norton Horsford countless passersby who have paused to make it out. After all, so many famous people have lived in Cambridge at one time 117 118 Richard R. John Eben Norton Horsford 119 or another that it would hardly seem remarkable if Leif Erik- The Erikson tablet, it turns out, was the work of neither son had, too. Yet those with at least a passing acquaintance a crank nor a fraud. Rather, it was the gift of Eben Norton with the byways of early American history are bound to find Horsford (1818-93), an industrial entrepreneur and one- this inscription more than a little odd.
    [Show full text]
  • Leif Erikson Month/Day/Year Iceland My Ship Axe Throwing and Exploring University Norway in 981 A.D
    Leif Erikson Month/Day/Year Iceland My ship Axe Throwing and Exploring University Norway in 981 A.D. Thorgunna Explorer Edit My Profile People you may know Sven Svensonwald 9,439 mutual Erik The Red has poked What’s on your mind? Info Boxes Yo Viking! Check out Leif Erikson this boss war axe, Just set foot upon this newfound land. I’ll call it Vinland due to the many grapes. perfect for swinging or throwing. 987 A.D. Like Comment Share Married to Thorgunna !!!Erik The Redlikes Rollo of Normandy How you gon’ top that Dora?! Info Boxes Friends (15,482) 987 A.D. Like Need to clean that Charlemagne luscious Viking beard of yours? Old Spice’ll do the job! Leif Erikson Converted to Christianity! Off to Greenland to convert the settlers Harald Hardrada 1000 A.D. Like Comment Share Erik The Redlikes Ivar The Boneless Thorfinn Karlsefni Is there even anything green in Greenland? 1001 A.D. Like Leif Erikson Month/Day/Year Iceland My ship Axe Throwing and Exploring University Norway in 981 A.D. Thorgunna Explorer Edit My Profile People you may know Pope Gregory VII 10, 453 mutual Erik The Red has poked What’s on your mind? Info Boxes Yo Viking! Check out Leif Erikson this boss war axe, My son was just born! He already has a beard perfect for swinging or throwing. 997 A.D. Like Comment Share Married to Harald Hardrada and 18,573 people like Thorgunna this. Erik The Red As a gift would he prefer an axe or spear? Info Boxes Friends (15,482) 987 A.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Falling Into Vínland Newfoundland Hunting Pitfalls at the Edge of the Viking World
    Acta Archaeologica vol. 83, 2012, pp 145-177 Copyright 2012 Printed in Denmark • All rights reserved ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA ISSN 0065-101X (print) ISSN 1600-0390 (online) FALLING INTO VÍNLAND NEWFOUNDLAND HUNTING PITFALLS AT THE EDGE OF THE VIKING WORLD Jónas Kristjánsson, Bjarni F. Einarsson, Kristján Jónasson, Kevin McAleese & Þór Hjaltalín ABSTRACT. Two interwoven topics are dealt with, fi rst- could be Sop’s Arm in White Bay on the North coast of ly a new interpretation of the Icelandic Sagas and histor- Newfoundland. The system of pitfalls that was surveyed ical written sources on the Viking age voyages to North and excavated is close to Sop’s Arm. The pitfalls form an America, leading to a theory on the location of Vínland, 82 metre long system that lies in an almost straight line. and secondly an archaeological survey of deer hunting Individual pits are now 1.5–2.3 metres deep and 7–10 pitfalls in Newfoundland, which were possibly dug by the metres long. Two pitfalls were excavated by taking a sec- Nordic voyagers a millenium ago. According WR the theory tion into them. Attempted radiocarbon dating of soil from of the article, Vínland is the modern day Newfoundland, two pitfalls was inconclusive. Considerable soil thicken- and the Straumfjord of the sagas, where Thorfi nn Karl- ing of 55–110 centimetres since the pitfall construction sefni and Gudríd Thorbjarnardóttir attempted settlement was observed. 1. INTRODUCTION Several written sources dating from the 11th, 12th and One of the authors of the article, Kevin McAleese is 13th centuries tell about the discovery of North America only responsible for Aboriginal and non-Norse settlement by Icelanders and Greenlanders around the year 1000 AD.
    [Show full text]
  • Lesson Plan 1
    The Children of Eric the Red Explore the West: The Norsemen Encounter Indigenous People of North America Suggested Grades: 9-12 n fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” “IWhat American child—or adult, if the truth be told—doesn’t mentally invoke this little rhyme to remember the year when Christopher Columbus left Spain, sailed across the Atlantic, and landed on the shores of what would come to be called “The New World” or “America?” We have no similar memory aid to help recall the earlier “Norsemen” or “Viking” explorers who journeyed across the ocean from Norway to Iceland, then to Greenland, and eventually to an area in North America that they named “Vinland” (“Wineland”). They explored and even settled briefly in North America nearly five hundred years before Columbus’s 1492 journey. While neither Columbus nor the Vikings discovered America — both North and Lesson Plan 1 South America had been inhabited for more than ten thousand years when Columbus arrived — it is fitting to credit the Vikings as the first Europeans to reach the American continents within recorded history. Background: The Vikings in North Greenland built a village at what is now America, and their Documents called L’Anse aux Meadows in north- ern Newfoundland. We know little about the Vikings who came to North America approximately one thou- • The first documentary evidence of sand years ago. Nor do we know much about Norse contact with lands west of the details of their experiences as explor- Greenland is a brief mention written ers and settlers here.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Introduction Vinland on the brain: remembering the Norse 1 Vinland on the brain: remembering the Norse Tim William Machan In 1875 the Victorian scholar-adventurer Richard Burton, reflect- ing on a century of English engagement with Iceland and its natural wonders, observed that the ‘travellers of the early century saw scenes of thrilling horror, of majestic grandeur, and of heavenly beauty, where our more critical, perhaps more cultivated, taste finds very humble features’. For in their enthusiasm, early visitors like Ebenezer Henderson, George Mackenzie, and Henry Holland had created a dilemma for those who followed: to embrace their predecessors’ calculated zeal and possibly reproduce its extrava- gances, or to effect a more measured response and hazard the criti- cism and even rejection of their own peers. ‘They had “Iceland on the Brain”’, Burton continues, ‘and they were wise in their genera- tion: honours and popularity await the man who ever praises, the thorough partisan who never blames’.1 Iceland on the Brain – an evocative phrase that describes an experience transformative if also ominous. It calls to mind an external force that, whether desired or not, imposes itself on an individual’s character and thought processes. And, in fact, it is not an inapt way to describe what Britons and other European visitors experienced in Iceland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Buoyed by the first wave of romantic musings like Bishop Percy’s Five Pieces of Runic Poetry and Thomas Gray’s ‘The Descent of Odin’, early travellers witnessed a spectacular but menacing land- scape of volcanoes and glaciers, vistas unlike any to be found in Great Britain.
    [Show full text]
  • The Norse Discovery of America
    SPECIAL ARTICLE THE NORSE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA Iver A. Langmoen, M.D., In the late 8th century, the stage for Viking expansion was set by commercial Ph.D. expansion in northwest Europe, the pressure of an increasing population in limited Section of Neurosurgery, territorial reserves, and the development of the Viking ships. The Norsemen traveled Department of Neurosurgery Ullevål University Hospital, extensively over the oceans, south to the Holy Land, and north to the White Sea and Oslo, Norway settled over a wide area from Sicily to Greenland. Historical sources, including the reports by Adam of Bremen and the Icelandic Sagas, describe several expeditions from Reprint requests: Greenland to Vinland (somewhere along the east coast of North America) in approx- Iver A. Langmoen, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Neurosurgery, imately AD 1000 and later. Historians have arrived at highly different conclusions with Ullevål University Hospital, respect to the location of Vinland (from Labrador to Georgia), but, in 1960, the N-0407 Oslo, Norway. Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad localized ancient house sites on L’Ans aux Mead- Email: [email protected] ows, a small fishing village on the Northern beaches of Newfoundland. From 1961 to Received, June 10, 2004. 1969, Ingstad and his wife, Anne Stine (an archaeologist), led several archaeological Accepted, August 27, 2004. expeditions that revealed Viking turf houses with room for approximately 100 people. They also excavated a smithy, outdoor cooking pits, boathouses, a bathhouse, and enclosures for cattle, in addition to several Viking artifacts. The finds were 14C dated to AD 990 Ϯ 30. The present report reviews historical and archaeological evidence indicating the sites to which the Vikings traveled and attempted to settle in the new world.
    [Show full text]