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About Leif Erikson CK_3_TH_HG_P091_145.QXD 4/11/05 10:56 AM Page 143 French equivalent of Norsemen, meaning “men from the north.” It is another term for the Vikings. The Normans settled, intermarried with the French, and soon began to speak French. In 1066 CE, William, Duke of Normandy (also known as William the Conqueror) and his Norman forces invaded England and seized control, estab- lishing what was to become the modern country of England. William was more French than Viking. Likewise, when other Normans moved into the Mediterranean and took over Sicily at about the same time, they, too, had lost most of their Viking heritage. Teaching Idea Eric the Red and Leif Ericson Make an overhead from Instructional Master 25, Viking Voyages West, to While the Vikings from Sweden and Denmark were looking south and east, help students visualize the stepping the Vikings from Norway were moving west. From the close-in islands like the stones the Vikings used in their Hebrides, they sailed farther out to the Orkney and Faroe Islands. From there exploration west and to understand they went to Iceland and farther west still to Greenland—and then North how far Leif Ericson and his crew America. traveled in a small boat across the By 870, the Vikings had reached Iceland. In Iceland, the Vikings found a land open seas. To give students an even that was virtually unpopulated and suited for agriculture. At this time, Norwegian greater appreciation of the small size monarchs were attempting to exert their power over the country, thus antagoniz- of longships, you may wish to mark ing many chiefs and others. These people were only too eager to move to Iceland. off the typical dimensions of a Viking In 930, they established a cooperative government, the world’s oldest functioning longship in a hallway or outside on a parliament. At that time, the land was forested and fertile, but human activity rap- soccer field or other open area. idly changed the environment. People cut down trees for lumber and to clear Longships typically ranged in length tracts of land. Their herds foraged on the grasses. The result was erosion. Today, from 45 to 80 feet long and were quite there are few trees and little good farmland in Iceland. narrow, often only about 8 to 15 feet In 982, Eric the Red was expelled from Iceland for murder. He sailed west wide. For example, a longship found and came to a huge island where he found a cold, bleak, rugged land, much of in Gokstad, Norway, in the late 1800s which was buried beneath deep fields of ice. He called it Greenland to entice set- was 78 feet long and only 17 feet tlers. Other Vikings followed him and settled along the coast. There, they built wide. large houses with thick walls of stone and turf to keep in the heat. The Viking set- tlements lasted into the 1300s or 1400s, but when English explorers redis- covered the island in the 1500s, they found no trace of the descendants of these first colonists. At some point they had disappeared, either dying out or mixing with the Eskimos who had also settled on the island. Stud y the belo w. Around 1000, Leif Ericson, Eric the Red’s son, sailed west from Then the quest Greenland. He found and explored three areas that he called Flat Rock Land, ions that follo Forest Land, and Vinland. He built a settlement in Vinland as a base for w. exploration of resources in the area. The group found grapes and unknown fruits and nuts. They also encountered local people who first traded and then fought with them. The Vikings stayed only a few seasons. The local people 1. In North America the Vikings were a constant threat, and the Vikings were too few in number to control the landed in 2. They also sailed west to Iceland and area. Their supply line was also 2,000 miles long. On his return trip to Purpose: To read and interpret a map featuring the westward voyage of the Greenland, Leif Ericson and his men rescued a shipwrecked Viking crew. Vikings Master 25 According to custom, Leif was awarded the rich cargo of the ship and was henceforth known as “Leif the Lucky.” Use Instructional Master 25. The exploits of Leif Ericson, as well as his father, Eric the Red, were captured in Norse sagas, long stories of heroic deeds. The Norse sagas were similar to the Roman Aeneid and the Greek Iliad and Odyssey in that they provided information about the beginnings of a group. In all cases, there is some truth to be found in History and Geography: World 143 CK_3_TH_HG_P091_145.QXD 4/11/05 10:56 AM Page 144 III. The Vikings the epics. However, other stories were invented to make the people feel proud of Teaching Idea their heritage. You may want to have students think For years, scholars argued over whether the sagas were true and if so, where about characteristics that describe Leif Ericson might have made landfall. In 1960, a Viking settlement was found at their personalities. You may want to L’Anse aux Meadows at the northern tip of Newfoundland. The settlement con- challenge them to come up with a sisted of large halls with workshops and smaller outbuildings. It seems to have name with alliteration like “Leif the held a population of 40 or 50, mostly men. The artifacts seem to prove the truth Lucky.” Give students a sentence strip of the sagas. Flat Rock Land was Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle, Forest Land to record their new names during their was the island of Labrador, and Vinland was this site in Newfoundland. Leif study of the Vikings and post them on Ericson had probably sailed as far as the mouth of the St. Lawrence and to what their desks (e.g., “Gina the Generous” today are the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. 44 or “Bob the Brave”). Review The Big Idea in Review Below are some additional ideas for ongoing assessment and review activities. These are not meant to constitute a comprehensive list. Teachers may also refer The Vikings’ expertise to the Pearson Learning/Core Knowledge History & Geography series for addition- as sailors and ship- al information and teaching ideas. builders enabled them • Make a geography connection by having students label Greenland, to become seafaring Newfoundland, and the Canadian mainland on a map. Students should be able to traders and explorers. make a connection to the Viking history from this section. • Make a language arts connection by reading the Norse myths included in Text Resources. Compare and contrast the Viking myths to the Roman myths. What are the similarities and differences? Have students write a paragraph comparing and contrasting one Norse myth to one Roman myth. Use the paragraph form of a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. • The Vikings were known for their shipbuilding. Make reproductions of the 1– outline of a Viking ship on pieces of 8 2'' x 11'' paper. Have students write out- lines on the ship of some of the facts they have learned about the Vikings, and post these on a bulletin board outside the classroom. • Make a class quilt to illustrate what students have learned about the Vikings. Give each student two or three 6" x 6" construction paper squares. On each square, have students write sentences about a Viking topic they studied and then illustrate the square. Collect the squares and tape them together to form a class quilt. Post the quilt in the classroom. • Give the class a choice of three project ideas: a story, a poem, or a letter. Have students choose one of these projects to show their understanding of the Viking civilization. For example, students could write a poem about a Viking settlement or write a letter pretending to be a Viking who is describing a difficult sea voyage. On the assigned day, provide time for students to share their projects. You may want to develop a rubric for each project so that students know what is expected in their final product. • You may also ask the following questions at the end of this section: 1. Where did the Vikings come from? They came from Scandinavia. 144 Grade 3 Handbook.
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