The Vikings in America (part 2).

Chart of the Viking expansion. By Max Naylor. Derivative work from Rowanwindwhistler

The human hive story would happen again. That migratory wave, with its epicentre in Norway, kept spreading through other regions. Among them, was the volcanic and cold Iceland. As a result, in the first half of the 10th century, the useable lands began to be not enough to sustain the whole settlement. As time passed, the crisis worsened. In order to get away from the phantom of famine and overcrowding, the people had to look up to the western seas. 

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.