The Vinland Sagas are two Icelandic texts written independently of each other in the early 13th century—The Saga of the Greenlanders (Grænlendinga Saga) and The Saga of Erik the Red (Eiríks Saga Rauða). The sagas were written down between 1220 and 1280 and describe events occurring around 970–1030.[1]
The Saga of Erik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders both contain different accounts of Norse voyages to Vinland. The name Vinland, meaning "Wineland," is attributed to the discovery of grapevines upon the arrival of Leif Eiriksson in North America. The Vinland Sagas represent the most complete information available regarding the Norse exploration of the Americas, although due to Iceland's oral tradition, they cannot be deemed completely historically accurate and include contradictory details. However, historians commonly believe these sources contain substantial evidence of Viking exploration of North America through the descriptions of topography, natural resources, and native culture. In comparing the events of both books, a realistic timeline can be created.[2][3]
The veracity of the Sagas was supported by the discovery and excavation of a Viking Age settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada. Research done in the early 1960s by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, identified an old Norse settlement located at what is now the L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada.[4]
Translations
English translations of both of the Vinland sagas can be found in the following works:
- Kunz, Keneva; Sigurdsson, Gisli, The Vinland Sagas, London: Penguin, 2008, ISBN 0-14-044776-8.
- Kunz, Keneva, The Sagas of the Icelanders, London: Penguin, 2005, ISBN 0-14-100003-1.
- Magnusson, Magnus; Palsson, Hermann, The Vinland Sagas, London: Penguin, 1973, ISBN 0-14-044154-9.
- Reeves, Arthur Middleton, The Finding of Wineland the Good: The History of the Icelandic Discovery of America, London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1890
See also
Notes
- ^ "Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on February 23, 2002. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ^ "Vinland Sagas". Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ^ Thayer Watkins. "The Vinland Sagas". San José State University. Economics Department. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ^ "L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada". Parks Canada. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
References
- Brown, Nancy Marie (2012) Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths (Palgrave Macmillan) ISBN 978-0-230-33884-5
- Haugen, Einar (2007) Voyages To Vinland – The First American Saga Newly Translated And Interpreted (Barzun Press) ISBN 978-1-4067-7499-3
- Hreinsson, Vidar (1997) The Complete Sagas of Icelanders (Leifur Eiriksson Publishing, Reykjavik, Iceland) ISBN 978-9979-9293-0-7
Further reading
- Grove, Jonathan. (2009) "The place of Greenland in medieval Icelandic saga narrative", in Norse Greenland: Selected Papers of the Hvalsey Conference 2008, Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 2, 30–51
- Jones, Gwyn (2001) A History of the Vikings (Oxford University Press) ISBN 978-0-19-280134-0
- Ingstad, Helge; Ingstad, Anne Stine (2001) The Viking Discovery of America: The Excavation of a Norse Settlement in L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland (Checkmark Books. New York) ISBN 0-8160-4716-2
- Magnusson, Magnus (1976)Viking, Hammer of the North (Putnam) Magnus Magnusson ISBN 978-0-399-11744-2
- Magnusson, Magnus (1979) Viking expansion westwards (Bodley Head archaeology Book Club Associates) ISBN 978-0-8098-3529-4
- Solar storm confirms Vikings settled in North America exactly 1,000 years ago, The Guardian, October 21, 2021
External links
- Vinland Sagas, National Museum of Natural History (archived website)
- Location of Vinland, Emuseum - Minnesota State University, Mankato (archived website)
- Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center (archived website)
