VINLAND

VINLAND refers to the southernmost region on the Atlantic coast of North America visited and named by Norse voyagers about a.d. 1000. Sagas and archaeological findings suggest this European contact with North America was part of the Norse westward movement across the Atlantic from the islands of Orkney, Shetland, and Faroe (a.d. 780–800) to Iceland (a.d. 870) and Greenland (a.d. 985–986). The first sighting is attributed to the Icelander Bjarni Herjulfsson about 986 and the first landing a few years later to Leif Eriksson (called Leif the Lucky), son of Erik the Red. The first attempt at colonization was made by an Islandic trader, Thorfinn Karlsefni. The settlement lasted approximately three years and was abandoned; it is hypothesized that this was prompted by native opposition. Other written evidence for Vinland settlement can be attributed to a German cleric, Adam of Bremen (c. 1076) as well as to the "Islandic Annals," which mention voyages to or from America in 1121 and 1347. The pre-Columbian Norse discovery and seaborne connection over a period of 400 years, remarkable achievements though they were, had little influence on subsequent American and Canadian history.

Nordic sagas, stories passed down orally through several generations, were often altered and enriched before they were written down. Two sagas, "The Greenlanders' Saga" and "Erik the Red's Saga," both dating from the 1200s, describe the Viking voyages, sailing directions, latitude, topography, flora, fauna, and the indigenous population. Additionally, these sagas tell of three lands west or southwest of Greenland named Holluland (Flatstoneland), Markland (Woodland), and Vinland (Wineland). The most northerly, Helluland, an area of glaciers, mountains, and rock, is commonly identified as the area from the Torngat Mountains to Baffin Island. There has been increasing acceptance of Markland as the large area around Hamilton Inlet in central Labrador. Vinland, so named for the grapes found growing abundantly in the area, is thought to be the region beginning in northern Newfoundland and extending to the south an indeterminate distance.

Archaeological evidence supporting the stories of Norse arrival in North America was found by a Norwegian archaeologist, Helge Ingstad, and his wife, Anne Stine, in the 1960s. The discovery of a Viking settlement, L'Anse aux Meadows (Meadow Cove) at Epaves Bay in Newfoundland contributed artifacts in the form of eight sod-walled structures, iron nail pieces, a soapstone spindle whorl, and a bronze-ringed pin.

The "Vinland Map" (perhaps dating to 1440) housed at the Beinecke Library at Yale University depicts Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, a large, relatively accurate Greenland, and a larger island to the southwest labeled "Island of Vinland." Since its discovery in 1957, the map has prompted debate over its authenticity. By 2002 chemical and historical analyses had not yet verified the map's integrity. Although many experts today question the validity of the "Vinland Map" and whether the Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows was actually Vinland, it is widely accepted that the Norse were the first Europeans to reach North America around a.d. 1000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jones, Gwyn. A History of the Vikings. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

GwynJones

Janet S.Smith

See alsoNew England ; Norsemen in America .

Vinland, unknown region on the eastern coast of North America, possibly part of the Canadian maritime provinces, which is described in several Norse sagas. It was reached by the Norse explorer Leif Eriksson (fl. 11th century), the son of Erik the Red, who set out from Greenland in about the year ad 1000 to search for a coastline which had been reported some years earlier. It was, apparently, thickly wooded, and the Norse settlers colonizing Greenland, made possible by climate change, needed timber. Eriksson landed first on what could have been Baffin Island and on sailing south found a more hospitable place which he named Markland—a land of forests—which was possibly Labrador. He continued to sail south until he reached what seems, from the sagas, to be Nova Scotia or the northern coast of Newfoundland. However, Eriksson's description of the coastline has been the cause of much speculation, for he noted that ‘wild grapes’ grew there which is why he named the area Vinland. Since it was impossible for grapes to grow so far north some historians have suggested that Eriksson must have travelled further south, but it has also been suggested that what he described as grapes were in fact berries, possibly cranberries. According to the Norse sagas, further expeditions to colonize the area were undertaken but were unsuccessful.

Excavations on the northern tip of Newfoundland (L'Anse aux Meadows) in the 1960s, spurred by the fact that Vinland could also be interpreted as meaning ‘grassland’, conclusively proved that Norsemen had reached the island around ad 1000. Of particular interest was that butternuts, and pieces of carved butternut wood, were found on the site, and though grapes could never have grown in Newfoundland they do grow further south where butternuts can be found. As further confirmation of the presence of Norsemen in North America, a species of soft-shelled clam (Mya arenaria), identical to one that grows in low-salinity waters in North American estuaries, has been found in 12th-century Viking excavations in Denmark.

What is known as the Vinland map was published in 1965. Owned by Yale University it was valued at $20 million (£13 million) and was supposed to date from about 1440. Its publication aroused tremendous controversy, and in 1973 it was declared a fake by the chemical analyst Walter McCrone. In 2002 his judgement was confirmed by chemists at University College London, who agreed with him that the map was drawn with synthetic ink that was not available until 1923. See also exploration by sea.

Vinland Region of North America settled (c.1003) by Vikings from Greenland led by Leif Ericsson. The existence of land w of Greenland had been reported a few years earlier. Leif stayed for one season only, but at least two other expeditions settled there briefly. Vinland was soon abandoned, apparently because of the hostility of local people.