The Vikings in America (part 1).

Ruins of a viking settlement, at L´Anse-aux-Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada.
Photo: Carlb, 2002.

The presence of the vikings at North America remained in oblivion for several centuries. Despite of the references about the lands to the west of Greenland, in certain old writings and some Icelandic sagas, it seemed to only be a legend. Finally, their footprints appeared in 1961, when a viking settlement was discovered, to the north of Newfoundland.

Those bold sea people had a tendency to produce migratory waves, for many reasons. The first, without any question, was their steady increase in population. From time to time, groups of them had to depart in search of new horizons, when the resources began to be scarce. It might be compared with the bees behavior... sometimes, they leave their native hive, to found a new one, in any other place. As a consequence, the vikings began to feel the necessity to settle at some of the lands they "visited".

Viking expansion. Author: Max Naylor, adaptation by Rowanwindwhistler, 2014.
Lic. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

Hence, we might think that it was just another case of population displacement... something as old as mankind. It produced a sort of domino effect, when a massive migration of people induced the movement of others. The pacific inhabitants of some other lands often had to pay for the consequences. Sometimes they not only lost their home, but also their freedom.

Valkiries brings a dead warrior before Heimdall, in Valhalla.
By: Lorenz Frolich, 1906. Source: Viktor Rydberg, Teutonic Mythology, Vol II, 1906.

But it is clear that it was also something inherent to the norse spirit, even to their beliefs. The young men launched for adventures, in pursuit of riches, willing to conquer new territories. To them, the highest honor was to die at combat. This might explain their violent and brave behavior. From the 8th century they became sadly notorious, due to their raids and assaults in Northern Europe. Later, their area of influence extended to almost all that continent, specially at the more accesible lands. By that time, no place or town at the coasts or near the navigable rivers, was safe from the vikings. 

Viking ship. Photo: Uwe Kils, 2005. Lic. CC BY-SA 3.0

The vikings did not have a great knowledge or sophisticated instruments for navigation. But they had a fine instinct, to travel across the harsh septentrional seas. On board of their agile and resistent knarr and drakkars, many times they had to sail blindly in the middle of a thick fog, or fighting with the angry sea. Then, they  needed all their skills and experience... floating objects or pieces of wood, the seabirds flight, the color of the water, even a little brightness on the sky, helped them finding the way. Also, is very likely that they used domesticated crows, to check their proximity to the land.

They also had an easy, but effective orientation system. They did not get too far from the coast, trying to check the height of the northern star upon the horizon. When it was the same height as the place they were travelling for, they tried to keep that curse, along the rest of the trip. The measure of the shadow of the Sun at noon was also useful, for the same reason. Intuitively, they were using the geographic latitude, during their sailings. But, their methods of measurement were rudimentary. Besides, they depended on the weather conditions, to a great extent.

Iceland spar crystal, with birefringent properties,
Photo: ArniEin, 2010. Lic. CC BY-SA 3.0

Yet, some researchers maintain that the vikings might have used some mineral glasses. It allowed them to detect the Sun position, even on cloudy days. But there isn´t any agreement about this issue...

After all this, it should not be surprising that the norsemen, often could take a wrong way and got lost. Who knows how many of them, ended at the sea depths! But, due to their navigation system and intrepidity, they are considered between the greatest navigators in history... no question about it. Although they could get to remote places, by chance, most of them managed to return to the starting point. It was how they discovered a sea passage between Northern Europe and the unknown lands of the American continent.

Postcard of Kvivik, Faroe Islands, 1900. Source: http://www.psp-info.dk {{PD-US}}

By the year 861 of our era, a viking named Naddod, was sailing from Norway to the Faroe islands, northwest of Scotland. In the midst of that tough sea, the elements unleashed their anger. The vessel became a toy of the waves, and only a miracle saved them from sinking. The storm threw them to the coast of an unknown island; they named it, Snjoland. The news spread and two years later, a Swede seaman, Gardar Svafarson, explored it and spent the winter there. From then on, that place would be known as Iceland.

Iceland location. Author: Ninrouter, 2012.

However, the first settlement would be founded a few years later, in 874. Because of its relatively moderate weather (an effect of the Gulf Stream), was possible to subsist on agriculture, as well as fishing. It all led to the definitive establishment of a viking colony there. Soon, the island maintained a fluent commerce and communication with the Scandinavian peninsula. 

Thule island, on the Carta Marina, by Olaus Magnus, 1539.
Copy from the original, 1980. {{PD-US}}

Of course, the restless men of the north, would no stop in that place, which could well be the same Thule, from the ancient writings. We will never know how (probably for another storm), but in the year 920, a settler from Iceland, went very far to the west. He distinguished the rocky coast of what seemed to be a big island. After a quick look, he named the place as the Gunnjar reefs, and turned back to Iceland. Surely it became a favorite topic for the old seawolves, during many long winter nights. There had to pass more than half of a century, before someone else dared to sail there again.

By the year 986, a sinister man set sail from Iceland to that misterious big island: it would be named as Greenland... He was no more than a banished or fugitive by his crimes. But history had reserved a decent spot for him.

Leif Eriksson discovers North America, by Christian Krohg, 1893.
Source: National Gallery of Norway.

This story will continue on our next visit to the past. We will meet Erik the Red and his son, Leif Ericksson. Who were the first Europeans at the New World and why it was forgotten. As a consequence, they did not go down to history as the true discoverers of America... even though their undeniable presence several centuries before Colombus.

Summer in the Greenland coast, circa year 1000. Oil painting by Carl Rasmussen (1841-1893).
Photo: Bruun Rasmussen, 2011.