Of America? a Medieval Map of the World, Which Century When One of Tbe ·Two Main It Is C1aimed " Records in Grapbic Form Greenlalíd Settlements Was Abandoned

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Of America? a Medieval Map of the World, Which Century When One of Tbe ·Two Main It Is C1aimed 11 Only·· NOfSe Map of America? A medieval map of the world, which century when one of tbe ·two main it is c1aimed " records in grapbic form Greenlalíd settlements was abandoned. the only do¡;umented pre-Columbian dis­ Tbe last .recotrded tr.affic between covery of America" is inc1uded in a lceland and GreenLand was be,tween volume published on borh sides of tbe 1406 and 1410, amd in 'spite of archaeo­ Atlantic todav*. lt is also said to be the logical and other ev'¡dence of occasional only known éxample of medieval Norse contact, Mr. Ske1JtJon holds that by the cartography. mididfte of tbe fi,jiteenrth cen,tury "the The map was in a cali-bound volume detaüed ~'now!edge ,acaumulated by tbe abo containing a previously unknown Norsemen ,about t:he Jiands in t:he west account of Friar Jonn de Plano Carpini's bad .passed out of European ooulSCiolUS­ mission to the Mongols in 1245-47 (The lless ". Tartar Relation) acquired eight year~ It would be misleadring to tJhink of the ago from a private collection in Europe medieval Norseme.n s'ai1ing 'lInder con­ by MI. Laurence Witten, an antiquarian ditions similar to those of t'Orlay. CLima­ bookseller of New Haven. Connecticut. tologists were agreed tihat f,or tbe period When it was fi:rst examined by Mr. between A.D. 950 ,allid 1200 tÍlhere was Thomas E. M'arston, Cu~atÜ'f M'edie­ clea1' eviÍdence oí greater warmtb in lce­ oi Green~and. v'a,l Renais.s'ance LiteratllJre lat Yale, and land land But a deteáol1a­ Mr. AJeX'ander O. Yietor, Our,ator of triJan set [ni during tlhe tlhifiteCnltih century. Maips, Y'ale Unive~si!ty Libr131ry, vhey Mr. Skelton considers tbe outline of could not be sure Itbe map was authen­ G reenland in tbe Vinland Map lo be so tk. As MIL Mar,;ton writes: "Both accurate that it can only be tbe result of map and manuscript were slightly fi rst-hand knowledge' gained by sailing along the coasts before ice made this wormed, but tbe wo'rm holes were not impossible. The apparent precisio'n of tbe on thesame positions in the two parts. nor~hern .. Even mo.re discoTIcerting was the fact coastline malees bim wonder whetber rhe cartographer added a tbeore­ that the map bore the unex,pJ.ained tical north coast, or if in tact conditions words: 'Delineation of the first part, aUowed medieval Norsemen to antici­ the second pal't Qand) tbe third pa,rt o,f pate Peary's circumnavigation of tbe Speculum (mirror) '." Greenland. Early in 1958 Mr. Marston hap­ pened to order a manascript of part -BY WORD OF MOUTH by>t'tn:;rhtrte~ oí a o,rle e eta¡ e rawing of the west Dorninican friar Yincent of Beauwüs, coasts of Greenland leads tbe author to Which he bad noticed rn the catalogue oí believe tbat the original ,outline was a Loudon booksdler. This was the traced before tbe abandonment of the Speculum Historiale (Min'or ot'History). westem settlement in the first balf of tbe f('lurteenth century. WORMHOLE EVIDENC~ But w'hy should a cbal't be made? lf, Afier its arrival in New Haven, Mr. as a11 the evidence suggests, tbe Norse­ Witten discovered that the manuscript men sailed by astronomical observation, Nevertheles~, matcbed tbe map and the account of the tbey did not need maps. given their ability to work out tbeir visit to tbe Mongols. "Tbe hand was northitig by tJhe 'stars, "we are entitled the same, the watermarks of the paper to ma,ke tbe furtber inference tbat vhey were the same; and the worm boles could determine ·tbe 'approximate lati­ sbowed tbat the map had been at tbe tude of conspicuous coastal features'·. front of the volume and The Tartar To tbe west of Greenland is shown Relation at the back." Vinlanda lnsula. As the Norse voyages The mund-tnip of 8,000 miles from to Y'¡nland, He11uland, and Markland, Lyons to the court of tbe Mongols made variously identified as parts of wbat is by Carpini at tbe bidding of Pope now Newfoundland, or the Canadian lnnocent IV tbree years ajjter the and American mainlands, were over 100 Mongol tidal waveswept back from years before the writing of lcelandic Europe is already known from tbe history began in tbe twelfth century, it friar's own accounts. The Tartar is pointed out that this outline must be Relation. the Latin manuscript of which tJbe result of transmission by word of is repmduced, witb the text edited and moutb. "In the circumstances we oould transIated by MI. George D. Painter, expect from such a map no more than a Assistant Keeper of Printed Books in the general indication of the ooasts in ques­ Britisb Museum, c~mplements Carpini's tion and of tbeir' most con8picuous own version. features," But the prime interest inevitably shifts The Yinland Map la180 carries state­ from the section of the map illustrating ments that c:haUen.ge traditional versions tbe Carpini mission to the outlines of of tbe Norse disoovery of Arnetica. The Greenland and Vinland, tbe name be­ fourteentb-century Tale oi 'the Greel/­ lieved to have been given by Leif Erics­ landers gives tlhe credit to Bjarni Her­ son at the opening of the eleventh jolis<son; the Saga oi Eirik the Red -century to a land wbere vines grew some­ awards the bonour to Leif Ericsson. where west of GreenJand. According to tlhe Vinland Map, Bjarni (no other name is given) and Leif Eiriks­ Mos:t of tibe Vin'1and rnap, says Mr. son disco.vered Yinland togetber. How­ R. A. Skelton, who is superintendent of ever, Mr. Skehon po'¡nts out, the two t)le Map Room at the British' Museum, ac,counts may thave become merged in has stron affini'e with a circula rl of:!"'b «:v.'Ion_' :U""","~~""":I1 _ Dorcinoi;~~' f,;i~r 'Vin~~~t~f'B~;~';,~¡~, 1he detaHed drawing oí the west coasts of GreenIand leads the author to WlhicJ1lhe fiad noticOO in the catalogue oí believe that the original outline was a London bo,okse11er. This was the traced before the abandonment of the Speculum Historiale (Mirror of History)o western settlement in the first half oI the f"urteenth century. WORMHOLE---- EVIDENCE But why should a "ha!"t be made? lf, After its arrival in New Haven, Mr. as a11 tihe evidence suggests, the Norse­ Witten discovered that the manuscript men sailed by astronomical observation, matched the map and the account of the they did not need maps. Nevertheless, given their abi'lity to work out their visit to the Mongols. "The hand. was northing by the stars, "we are entidOO the same, the watermarks of the paper to ma,ke the further inference that t'hey were the same; and the worm holes could determine the ,approximate lati­ showed that the map had been at the tude of conspieuons coastal features ". front of the volJme and The Tartar To the west of Greenland is shown Relation at the backo" Vinlanda lnsulao As the Norse voyages . The round-tni,p of 8,000 miles from to V~n1and, Helluland, and Markland, Lyons to tihe court of the Mongols made variously identified as parts of what is by Carpini at the bidding of Pope now Newfoundland, or the Canadian Innocent IV three years a:fiter the and American mainlands, were over 100 Mongol tidal wave swept back from years before the writing of !celandic Eumpe . is already known from the history began in the twelfth century, it friar's own accountso The Tartar is pointed out that this outline must be Relation. t'he Latin manuscript of which Vhe result of transrmssion by word of is reproduced, with the text edited and moutho "In the circumstances we oouId translated by MI. George Do Painter, expect from suoh a map no more than a Assistant Keeper of Printed Books in the general indication of the coasts in ques­ British Museum, complements Carpini's tion and of their' most conspicuous own version. features." . But the prime ifiterest inevitably slúfts The Vinland Map lalso car'ries ¡¡tate­ from the section of the map illustrating ments tobat dhaUenge traditional versious the Carpini mission to the outlines oi of the N OIse discovery of America. The Greenla,nd and Virul:and, fue name be­ fourteenth-eentury Tale 01 'the Green­ lievOO to have been given by Leif Erics­ landers gives tlhe credit to BJami Her­ son at the opening of the ellfventh jolfsson; the Saga 01 Eirik the Red , century to a land where vines grew some­ awards the honour to Leif Ericsson. where west of Greenland. Aocording to the Vinland Map, Bjarni (no other name is given) and Leif Eiriks­ Mo,S!t of the Vin'1and map, says Mr. son disc'o.vered Vinland together. How­ R. Ao SkeIton, who is superintendent of ever, MI. Skehon polÍnts out, the two 1Jle Map Room at the British' Museum, aocounts may have become mergOO in has strong affinities with a circular world othe map's version. map in the 1436 atlas of Andrea Bianco Marciil-n~- • • • o • • le -"'---'B*Sl:;E AS' SOURCE 1­ at Velllceo Both, tor example, place . .0 Mount Sinai and Basra in Africa The prov1s~onal concluslOn reached 13 o . o that the map 1S based on two prototypes, . Whatever the ongm of the common that for the Old World presumably forms ,anderrof:S, Wlheuher the C3:rto­ dating from the late fourteenth or early grapher. of the Vmland Map took them fifthteenth century, while the Atlantic from Blanco or fr,?ffi a c,?mmon proto­ parrt may date from the thirteenth Qr type.
Recommended publications
  • Evidence That the Vinland Map Is Medieval
    Anal. Chem. 2003, 75, 6745-6747 Correspondence Evidence That the Vinland Map Is Medieval Jacqueline S. Olin Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 The Vinland Map has been proposed to date to the mid- Also in 2002, the paper by Brown and Clark2 reported on the fifteenth century and is significant in showing the north analysis of the ink of the map. On the basis of their analyses, Atlantic area of what is now North America about 50 years they claimed that the map is a forgery. Did a forger use a before the voyages of Columbus. It has been confirmed parchment for the Vinland Map that existed but which was blank by radiocarbon dating that the map was drawn on a in the fifteenth century? It is this possibility that disallows using fifteenth century parchment; however, controversy regard- the date of the parchment as conclusive proof that the map is ing the ink of the map has persisted. Analytical studies authentic. The information needed to prove that the Vinland Map of the ink of the map have been interpreted to show that is medieval rests with the ink used to draw it. the map is a twentieth century forgery because of the presence of carbon and anatase in the ink. However, IMPORTANCE OF REFERENCE TO HISTORICAL LITERATURE IN INTERPRETATION OF carbon is known to have been added to medieval iron ANALYTICAL DATA FROM THE VINLAND MAP INK gallotannate inks, and the presence of anatase in a It is the interpretation of the analytical data obtained on the medieval ink can be explained by examining the process ink that has aroused much of the controversy surrounding the of making medieval inks.
    [Show full text]
  • CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS' AMERICANLAWYER: Michael A.Musmanno and the Vinland Map
    CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS' AMERICANLAWYER: Michael A.Musmanno and the Vinland Map CliffTuttle UNIVERSITYPress chose the day before Columbus Day, 1965, to announce publication ofThe Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation and touch offa firestorm. 1 News- papers around the world ran front page stories. The book, said the papers, proved that Columbus was some 500YALEyears late inthe discovery sweepstakes. Many articles also reported predictable "reactions" from shocked Italian-Americans. So itwas that Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael A.Musm- anno firstlearned ofthe Vinland Map. United Press International wire service telephoned him at home inPittsburgh, looking for reaction to Yale's news release about the book. Pennsylvania Supreme Court inPittsburgh also knew where to for a Columbus Justice Michael A. Musmanno, Reporters go Day Musmanno was as passionate an admirer, advocate and a Pittsburgh son of Italian story.Justice him, Genoan's parents, spent a lifetime promoter ofthe great explorer as ever lived. For the life-long defending the fame of Italy's struggle and triumph was a lasting personal inspiration. October newspaper Christopher Columbus. stories annually attributed the discovery of America to some newpre- Opposite, Musmanno inspects Columbian, and the stories always annoyed Musmanno. This news infuriat- the "Vinland Map"in 1965 ed him. shortly after release of a book Musmanno was a senior jurist withan international reputation. Several which contained it.The book years earlier he had sat on the world's center stage as the chief prosecution provided alleged proof that witness against Nazi AdolfEichmann. He was a colorful personality who Vikings discovered North had been inthe public eye for over four decades.
    [Show full text]
  • Annette Kolodny in Search of First Contact
    In Search of First Contact The Vikings of Vinland, the Peoples of the Dawnland, and the Anglo-American Anxiety of Discovery Annette Kolodny In Search of First Contact The Vikings of Vinland, the Peoples of the Dawnland, and the Anglo- American Anxiety of Discovery ✴ Annette Kolodny Duke university Press Durham anD LonDon 2012 © 2012 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ♾ Designed by C. H. Westmoreland Typeset in Chaparral Pro by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. With DeeP Love anD enDLess gratituDe, this book is DeDicateD to my truest teachers, Past anD Present: Sarah Katz Rivkind and David Rivkind, doting grandparents who believed I could do no wrong Esther Rivkind Kolodny, my loving mother who did her best Blanche Gladstone, P.S. 139, Brooklyn, New York Harriet Knight Felder, Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, New York Lillian Fischer Schlissel, Brooklyn College, New York Odd Nordland, University of Oslo, Norway Odd- Erik Bjarre, Oslo, Norway Stanley E. Fish, University of California, Berkeley Norman S. Grabo, University of California, Berkeley Mark Schorer, University of California, Berkeley Henry Nash Smith, University of California, Berkeley Dorothee Finkelstein, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut C. Hugh Holman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Per Seyersted and Brita Lindberg Seyersted, University of Oslo, Norway Gary Lindberg, University of New Hampshire, Durham Patricia Clark Smith, Mi´kmaq, University of New Mexico Arnie Neptune, Penobscot Nation elder and leader of ceremonies Wayne Newell, Passamaquoddy elder and educator James G.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume 13 Number 011 Norse Settlement of North America
    Volume 13 Number 011 Norse Settlement of North America - I Lead: Before Columbus, before Jamestown, before Vespucci, before Cabot, there was Leif Ericson and his Norse companions. They made the connection, completing the circle, old world to the new. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts Content: Wanderlust is an impulse as old as humanity. The desire to settle in a single place, build villages and cities, plant crops and then defend them is a relatively recent phenomenon. From earliest of times humans were wanderers, two-legged predators following the migration trails of the beasts that provided food and clothing essential to sustain life. At some point in dimmest memory, perhaps 10,000 years ago, clans and tribal groups spilled out of central Asia across the Bering Sea or perhaps a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska into North and South America and the Caribbean Islands. There they prospered, increased in population, and developed complex societies. There appears to have been little or no contact between them and the old world they had left behind until 1000 years into the common or Christian era. Across the bitter waters of the North Atlantic came a hearty race of Norsemen, ethnic ancestors of today’s Scandinavians: Danes, Norwegians, Swedes. They are known in fearful, popular parlance as Vikings, the Norse word for pirate. Their trading and raiding expeditions into England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and Russia established their reputation as fearsome warriors, canny merchants, and restless explorers. Sometime around 965 Erik Thorvaldsson, Erik the Red, settled in for a troublesome stay in Iceland.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of the Beinecke Library in Driving Research
    一橋大学社会科学古典資料センター年報39(2019) © 一橋大学社会科学古典資料センター Acquisition, Collaboration, Teaching: The Role of the Beinecke Library in Driving Research RAYMOND Clemens For the best part of its history, the Beinecke Library, founded in 1963, concentrated on acquiring significant materials that would expand the frontier of human knowledge. It has also made it possible for scholars to locate those materials by providing exemplary finding aids such as catalogs, inventories and other bibliographic tools. At the turn of the twenty-first century, under the direction of Frank Turner, and then following his passing under E.C. Schroeder, the library repositioned itself as more than a repository of useful material for scholarship. Instead, the Beinecke sought to actively engage scholars, students, and the general public through exhibits and classroom teaching and by harnessing the power of some of the new digital technologies. The relationships among people and organizations such as libraries and universities fuel the vitality that gives the Beinecke a palpable sense of energy apparent to anyone who has visited or worked there. This essay will delineate the library’s history and discuss the new programs that make the Beinecke such a unique institution. The Beinecke Library opened in 1963 and celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2013. The anniversary provided an opportunity to look back at the library’s founding and transformation through its relatively short history. Even those who have little knowledge about the Beinecke as an institution might still recognize
    [Show full text]
  • The Vinland Map
    TheThe VinlandVinland Map:Map: RealReal oror Fake?Fake? Rebecca Amata Shannon Chisholm Anne Huntington Julie Kirk ImportanceImportance • If Real… • If fake… – Proves the Vikings were – Get rich quick scheme in Greenland and North – Lots of money has been America as early as the poured into the 11th Century investigation – Could have been used – A very good forgery by by Christopher a skilled craftsman Columbus to persuade Isabella and Ferdinand to pay for his voyage HowHow thethe MapMap BecameBecame FamousFamous • Ferrajoli – Italian Book Dealer – La Seo, Saragossa Beinecke Library • Witten – Original Purchaser • Mellon – Donated to Yale University Yale University Library La Seo Cathedral TheThe VinlandVinland SagaSaga • 1956 • 1974 – Purchased by Whitten and – Walter McCrone’s testing sold to Mellon on the ink proves the map • 1965 to be a fake – British National Museum • 1996 Curators and Yale – Yale sponsors a conference University Librarians on the map publish The Vinland Map and – The second edition of The the Tartar Relation Vinland Map and the Tartar – Decide that the map is real Relation is published – The map is once again declared real The Vinland Saga, Continued • 2001 – Claimed the map is a fake • 2002 – Testing on the parchment prove that the parchment is from 1440s • 2003 – Analysis of Medieval ink making methods TheThe VinlandVinland MapMap ConferenceConference • Questioned the presenter of the map, Laurence C. Witten • Scholars from all different universities and interests came to the conference • They raised a lot of questions
    [Show full text]
  • The Sources of the Vinlandmap’
    Commentary THE SOURCES OF THE VINLANDMAP’ Einar Haugen2 HE DISCOVERY and publication of a new pre-Columbian map of the world, Ton which appears for the first and only time an outline of the Norsemen’s Vinland, was one of the sensations of 1965. It was issued under the most im- pressive of auspices, in a handsome volume published by the Yale University Press, withcontributions by outstanding scholars from the Yale University Library and the British Museum (Skelton, Marston and Painter 1965). Coming on the heels of announcements of the finding of Norse artifacts in the soil of North America by Helge Ingstad (1965), it stimulated a vigorous discussion by reviewers of the whole problem of the Norse exploration of the New World in the Middle Ages. In spite of the eight years spent by the authors of The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation and the searching analysis they have given to the manuscript and its contents, the main problem of how such a map could have been drawn in southern Europe in 1440 and why it should have been drawn at all is still unsolved. Unless other documents turn up which will throw light on its origin, we are obliged to judge it on its internal evidence and the way it fits into the known picture of the world at that period. The extreme secrecy in which the researches of Messrs. Skelton, Marston and Painter were conducted apparently prevented them from seeking the aid of other medievalists, even those whose competence could have been useful tothem in relation to the Scandinavian sources (see Haugen 1966 for specific references).
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance and Reformation, 1976-77
    Myths, Facts, and Debates: Qiristopher Columbus and the New Worid before 1492 James W. Cortada r Christopher Columbus had long attracted the interest of scholars before mass publication of biographies in the past several generations caught the imaginations of the public at large. Yet his life remains controversial. Historians continue to argue about their findings because within the past thirty years research has modified much received opinion, particularly touch- ing the question whether or not Columbus knew of the existence of the New World before sailing to it in 1492. Historians are closer to the answer than ever before, but as with other points of contention, the known facts are confusing. One is usually taught that Columbus learned as a sailor and navigator that the world was round and, therefore, to afford Europe a cheaper way to reach Asia, sailors proposed to sail westward across the Atlantic into unknown waters. Columbus approached Ferdinand and Isabel with a proposal to do just that at their expense, and after seven long years, they agreed. This interpretation, leading one to believe that Columbus blandly ignored the project's ob- stacles, risks and dangers, has now been largely discredited by researchers who showed that Columbus had done much preparatory work before his famous voyage, and probably knew more about the New World than the records could ever show. For instance, those who have studied his contract for the first voyage of 1492, cite a passage which stated Columbus would receive privileges and rights "for what he has dis- covered in the ocean seas,"' words that sparked disagreement among linguists, historians, lawyers, and interested non-specialists.
    [Show full text]
  • America's Story Vol. 1
    America's Story One - interior 1st.indd 1 1/16/17 11:42 AM First printing: February 2017 Image Credits Sixth printing: October 2020 All images are public domain (PD- US, PD-Art, and LOC), except for: Copyright © 2017 by Angela O'Dell and Master Books®. All rights reserved. No part Science Photo Library - 22BL, 23B of this book may be reproduced, copied, Shutterstock - 5, 6, 10, 11, 12TL, 12C, broadcast, stored, or shared in any form 12B, 13TL, 13TR, 14R, 15, 18T, 21, 26T, 26B, 34R, 35, 51T, 51B, 53, 54R, whatsoever without written permission 55, 59, 61, 62BL, 64L, 64R, 71, 74L, from the publisher, except in the case of 74R, 75R, 76B, 84L, 84R, 94l, 94R, Author: Angela O’Dell brief quotations in articles and reviews. For 101B, 102T, 102BR, 103TR, 104R, Master Books Creative Team: 105, 109B, 114L, 115, 117B, 119T, information write: 119B, 120, 123BR, 124R, 125, 135, Editor: Shirley Rash Master Books®, P.O. Box 726, 144L, 147T, 154L, 154R, 155, 157B, Green Forest, AR 72638 160, 164R, 165, 166, 167T, 169T, Design: Diana Bogardus 170T, 174R, 175, 176B, 182TR, 184R, ® Cover Design: Diana Bogardus Master Books is a division of the 185, 195, 196T, 196B, 199, 201B, New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc. 204R, 208, 211B, 214R, 215, 224R, Copy Editors: 225, 230B, 246R, 247, 249C, 249B, Judy Lewis 250T, 251BR, 252T, 254TR, 254BR, ISBN: 978-0-89051-979-0 255, 258, 264B, 266, 267T, 269, 274R, Willow Meek 275, 276, 279T, 279B, 282B ISBN: 978-1-61458-583-1 (digital) Curriculum Review: SuperStock- front cover Library of Congress Number: 201795874 Kristen Pratt Wikimedia Commons: Images from Laura Welch Wikimedia Commons are used under Diana Bogardus Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations the CC0 1.0, CC BY-SA 2.0 DE, CC- BY-SA-3.0 license or the GNU Free are from the New King James Version of the Documentation License, Version 1.3.
    [Show full text]
  • Virginia Viking October 2019
    October 2019 Volume 42 No. 16 VIRGINIA VIKING SONS OF NORWAY HAMPTON ROADS LODGE NO. 3-522 President: Leonard Zingarelli Vice President: Mike Solhaug Secretary: June Cooper Treasurer: Ragnhild Zingler The President’s Corner October 17, 2019 Membership Meeting at Bayside Your lodge has a number of fun events planned. At the conclusion Presbyterian Church at 7:30 pm. of each membership lodge meeting, a program is scheduled that The program is “Myths &Legends has us sharing our Norwegian culture and heritage. These of Trolls” by Deanna Rumney. programs are very informative and fun. Take a look at our Schedule November 1, 2019 of Events to find out what exactly is being presented at each lodge Bazaar Set Up at Francis Asbury meeting. United Methodist Church At 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm We celebrated Leiv Eiriksson Day at his statue at the entrance to the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News on 9 October. This is an exact reproduction of the “original” November 2, 2019 statue that was presented to the people of Iceland as a gift from the people of the Bazaar at Francis United States in 1930 on the occasion of the 1000th year celebration of the establishment of the Icelandic parliament. Iceland is where Leiv Eiriksson was born. Asbury United His father was “Erik the Red” from Norway. We had a good turnout of our lodge Methodist Church at members and the Icelandic group for both the ceremony and lunch. 9 October was 9:00 am to 3:00 pm officially selected as Leiv Eiriksson Day back in 1964 based on the first organized voyage of Norwegian immigrants to arrive in America way back in 1825.
    [Show full text]
  • The Vinland Sagas: a Military Historical Analysis of Exploration, Trade and Conflict in the New World Jared Lister
    The Vinland Sagas: A Military Historical Analysis of Exploration, Trade and Conflict in the New World Jared Lister Dr. Armann Jakobsson (Supervisor) Medieval Icelandic Studies/Viking and Medieval Norse Studies The University of Iceland Reykjavik, Iceland May 14, 2015 Lister I Acknowledgements Without the support of certain individuals in my life I would have never been able to complete this thesis, let alone come to Iceland to pursue my dreams. First and foremost I have to thank my parents, Susie and Brian Lister, without your loving support over the years I would not have been able to have the confidence to continue on with my dreams. Secondly are my loving Grandparents, Leila and Donnie Levison and Dewitt and Ann Lister, who have always been there for me and have listened to my historical explanations of almost anything I could think of from the time I was six years old; also I want to thank you for your spiritual help over the years. I appreciate, and love, you for it. Thirdly I want to thank my Crandall University professors Dr. Keith Bodner and Dr. Barry Smith who have given me great knowledge, gave me the chance to prove myself in Graduate school and who have also taught me many lessons which I will never forget. Also I would like to thank the VMN/MIS faculty from the University of Iceland, without you accepting me into the program and giving me the chance to prove myself I would have never been able to follow my dream. Dr. Torfi, Dr. Viðar and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation, by R.A. Skelton, T.E
    REVIEWS 279 THE VINLAND MAP AND THE TAR- times in history, even if their expansive- TARRELATION. By R. A. SKELTON,ness was caused by populationpressure T. E. MARSTONAND G. D. PAINTER.New on a frail homeland or by religious or Haven:Yale University Press, 1965. capitalisticpersecution. Scandinavia (Distributed in Canada by McGill Uni- held the field from the ninthto the versity Press). 11% x 9 inches. 291 twelfth century; Italy, Spain and Portu- pages.Maps. $20.00. gal fromthe fourteenth to thesixteenth. The publication of this impressive Britain and Francelater; the United volume, compiled by scholars from Yale States and Russia today. Why quarrel University and the British Museum, is therefore, with the established facts that certainly a noteworthy occasion for his- at certain periods in history nation X torians: it comprises a new account of was tops but is not necessarily so today Papal Legate Carpini’s journey to East or in any given previous century? Asia together with the earliest map that The authors of this volume have es- shows part of North America. tablished through a wealth of carefully It brings into focus the incredible examinedevidence that the Relation gullibility of the mediaeval travellers to and the Map were produced in about the Mongol capitalwith their tales of 1440 somewhere in theupper Rhineland unipeds and shaggy-dog husbands, and area, and done by the same scribe. the Vinlandmap, though unique as such, givesus no new arctic information that was not already in the literature- GREENLAND in fact does not try to identify some of the difficult points of the sagas.
    [Show full text]