Facts and Notes
- Key People: Leif Ericksson, Thorfinn and Gudrid, and Erik Upsi.
- Part of: Age of Exploration, Settlement of the Americas.
- Significance: Vinland is important to American History because of its role in the Age of Exploration.
Location
The Norse settled the territory in the modern-day Maritime Provinces of Canada.
- They arrived around the year 1000 AD.
- They established a settlement there.
- This was the first European outpost in the Western Hemisphere.
Leif Eriksson
Around the year 1000 AD, Norse explorers, including Leif Eriksson and later Thorfinn Karlsefni, attempted voyages from Greenland to Vinland, naming new lands, briefly trying to establish a colony, and inspiring later expeditions such as Bishop Erik Upsi’s, whose fate remains unknown.
- A Norse saga, written approximately 200 years later, described events around the year 1000.
- Leif Eriksson, son of Norse explorer Erik the Red, sailed from Greenland to lands farther west.
Eriksson named three places:
- Helluland (“Slab-Land”)
- Markland (“Forest Land”)
- Vinland (“Wineland”)
Thorfinn and Gudrid
Thorfinn Thordsson Karlsefni and his wife, Gudrid, traveled to Vinland to try to start a colony. They had a baby during their expedition. Within a year, they returned to Greenland and later moved to Norway, then permanently to Iceland.
Erik Upsi
In the late 12th Century, the Norse bishop Erik Upsi sailed to Vinland. No record exists of what happened to Erik Upsi’s expedition.
Archaeological Evidence
In the late 20th Century, archaeologists worked at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland.
- They found evidence of an 11th-century Norse settlement.
- The site was probably Vinland.
- Some researchers believe the location of Markland was present-day Labrador.
Vinland and L’Anse aux Meadows
In Norse Sagas, Vinland is depicted as a land with forests, abundant game, and ample pasture.
- The sagas indicate it was a 12-day journey from Greenland, southwest to Vinland.
- Historians believe the site corresponds to the legendary “Fjord of Currents,” or Vinland, described in the Saga of Erik the Red.
- The Norsemen lacked the resources to establish lasting settlements in Vinland and clashed with the local inhabitants.
Lexicon
The following terms and definitions related to Vinland are relevant to the study and understanding of its significance to American History.
Greenland — Greenland, the world’s largest island, was first settled by the Paleo-Inuit People. The first Norse settlers arrived when Erik the Red explored its southwest coast in 892 after having been banished from Iceland for manslaughter. He returned to Greenland with colonists in 895. During the Middle Ages, the Norse Colonies grew, but they declined in the 14th Century due to isolation and the lack of trade. European exploration resumed in the late 16th Century when English navigators mapped parts of the island while searching for the Northwest Passage. This contributed to the early exploration of North America and territorial claims of European nations along the Atlantic Coast.
Iceland — A North Atlantic island settled by Norse explorers in 874, and later ruled by Norway and then Denmark. Its history includes the creation of the Althing, a legislative assembly, the spread of Christianity, periods of foreign control, and environmental challenges such as epidemics and soil erosion.
L’Anse aux Meadows — Discovered in 1960, it is the earliest documented European settlement in North America, predating Christopher Columbus by 500 years. Located on Newfoundland’s northern tip, the Norse site included sod houses and a blacksmith’s workshop. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.
Norsemen and Vikings — Norsemen were Scandinavian people who explored and settled parts of the North Atlantic, including the British Isles, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and small parts of North America. They were skilled in shipbuilding and navigation, and they sustained their communities through fishing, hunting, and trade. Their exploits were recorded in lengthy “sagas” that detailed the exploits of the “Vikings,” pirates, explorers, and conquerors who spread the Norse culture and Christianity and clashed with native peoples in the New World. One of their settlements, L’Anse aux Meadows, is the earliest documented European settlement in North America.
