Late in the tenth century, the Norse Vikings embarked on a voyage of no return. Leaving Iceland first for Greenland, from there they sailed onwards to North America, setting foot on its shores five hundred years before Columbus' first journeys of discovery. But by about AD 1500 their settlements were abandoned and the Norse Greenlanders and their explorations of the New World receded into the realms of myth. What happened between these momentous events? How did the Vikings really live - and die - and why have so many myths and legends grown up around this mysterious people of the sea? Drawing on her deep knowledge of the culture and history of the region as well as the most up-to-date evidence from archaeology, medieval history and the evocative Sagas, Seaver weaves together a compelling and authoritative history. Alongside their spectacular achievements and discoveries, she also vividly evokes the last Vikings' daily lives and explains why their apparent departure in 1500 was not quite such a dramatic schism in the historical record as is often assumed.
This compelling history of a people living at the fringes of the known world offers an illuminating entry into the world of the Norse Greenlanders which will captivate all who have ever wondered about the fate of the Vikings and will stand as the definitive work for years to come.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Introduction
Chapter 1: No forwarding address
Physical description of Greenland . The push westwards . Additional source
material . Modern voices of gloom and doom.
Chapter 2: Eirik the Red knew where to go
Medieval geographical knowledge . Eirik the Red goes west . Norse navigation .
A daring real estate venture . Dividing up a new land . Eirik the Red settles in .
Establishing homes in the wilderness . Brattahlid then and now.
Chapter 3: Forging a new homeland
A new society takes shape . Putting food on the table . The role of domestic
animals . Adapting to Greenland . Cows versus sheep and goats . Cultural
distinctiveness .
Fuel . Slaves and hired hands . Social structure . Voyages to the High Arctic .
Missing resources.
Chapter 4: Leif Eiriksson explores another new land
No game of chance . The men in charge . Reaching the other side . Life at
L'Anse aux Meadows . Discovering Vínland grapes . Follow-up voyages .
Encountering Vínland natives . The aftermath.
Chapter 5: The fictional Norse in North America
Prince Madoc of Wales . Earl Henry Sinclair of Orkney . The Westford stone .
The Newport Tower . The Kensington Rune Stone . The Spirit Pond stones .
The Vinland Map . Norumbega.
Chapter 6: Who were the Skrælings?
The spherical world picture . Monstrous races of the Far North . The West had
finally met the East . Norse interaction with Arctic natives.
Chapter 7: Relations with Church and Crown
Geographical independence . Christianity reaches the Northwest Atlantic .
Imported from The British Isles . Organized Christianity . Greenland becomes a
diocese . Greenland priests . Royal pressure from Norway . The sea was still
the highway . Small royal impact on Greenland . Tithes and taxes increase . Ívar
Bárdarson's mission . No more resident Gardar bishops . Did the Greenlanders
lose their Christian faith?
Chapter 8: Foreign trade
Marketable Greenland commodities . Walrus ivory kept its value . Early markets
and trade routes . Consolidation of the European markets . The Hanseatic
League . Norse Greenland and Norwegian trade legislation . The art of 'drifting
off.'
Chapter 9: Contact with Iceland
Disease: an unwelcome travel companion . Norwegian politics in Iceland . End
of the Icelandic commonwealth . Iceland under the new rule . Björn Einarsson
'Jerusalem-Farer' and his circle . Sigrid Björnsdaughter . The Black Death .
Thorstein Olafsson plans his future . Leaving Greenland in 1410 . From
Norway to Iceland . Another transfer of royal power.
Chapter 10: The English in the North Atlantic
English focus on Iceland . King Eirik comes to power . Thorstein Olafsson's
circle and the English . Moving westwards . Where was Thorstein in 1419-
1420? . Tantalizing archaeological evidence . In Iceland meanwhile - - . A
further sea change . Sharpened conflict with the English . The English tighten
their grip . Passing the generational torch . The English encounter a headwind.
Chapter 11: Where did the Norse Greenlanders go?
Papal laments . Other end game scenarios . Changes in animal husbandry .
Choices . Greenland and the North Atlantic economy . John Cabot's successors
. The early cartographic record . Claudius Clavus . Larsen's fantasy .
Portuguese experience and the 1502 'Cantino' map . English experience and the
1507/08 Ruysch map . João Fernandes, llavrador . João's Bristol contacts .
Tracing João Fernandes and Richard Warde.
Chapter 12: Who went looking for them?
Erik Valkendorf's Greenland plans . Erik Valkendorf and Ívar Bárdarson .
Ívar's wider sphere of influence . The 'new' Greenland emerges . Misplaced,
but not forgotten . Early post-Valkendorf attempts to reach the Norse .
Concerted efforts by Christian IV . Claus Christoffersen Lyschander (1558-
1624) . Changing priorities . Hans Egede (1686-17
