This is mostly what we know.
In 2012 Canadian researchers identified possible signs of Norse outposts in Nanook at Tanfield Valley on Baffin Island, as well as on Nunguvik, Willows Island, and Avayalik.[38][39][40] Unusual fabric cordage found on Baffin Island in the 1980s and stored at the Canadian Museum of Civilization was identified in 1999 as possibly of Norse manufacture; that discovery led to more in-depth exploration of the Tanfield Valley archaeological site for points of contact between Norse Greenlanders and the indigenous Dorset people.[41][42]
The settlement of Greenland was quickly followed by the first European sighting of the North American continental mainland, a feat achieved by an Icelandic merchant called Bjarni Herjolfsson.
According to the Greenlandersâ Saga â which, with Erik the Redâs Saga, is our main literary source for the Viking discovery of America â Bjarni had returned home from a trip to Norway in 986 to find that his father had emigrated to Greenland with Erik the Red. Knowing nothing about Greenland, save that it was mountainous, treeless and had good pastures, Bjarni set off after his father and predictably soon got lost.
After several days of bad weather and poor visibility, Bjarni found himself off the coast of a densely forested, hilly land. This was obviously not Greenland so, without even landing, Bjarni sailed north and after two days sighted a flat, forested land. Once again he didnât land. After sailing north-east for another three days, Bjarni encountered a rocky, mountainous, glaciated land which he thought too barren to be Greenland. Putting the land astern, Bjarni sailed east and four days later arrived at the Norse settlement in Greenland.
Bjarniâs discoveries excited a lot of interest and, when he decided to give up trading, Erik the Redâs son Leif Eriksson bought his ship and set off on a follow-up expedition. This was around the time that Iceland converted to Christianity, that is c1000. Leif began by reversing Bjarniâs course. Sailing north-west, Leif came to a land of bare rock and glaciers which he called Helluland (âSlab Landâ). Turning south, Leif next came to a low forested land with white sand beaches which he decided to call Markland (âForest Landâ).
Sailing south-west for two days Leif discovered a land where the rivers teemed with salmon and grapes grew wild. This Leif called Vinland (âWine Landâ). The party built houses at a place afterwards called LeifsbuĂ°ir (âLeifâs boothsâ), where they spent a comfortable winter. âThe country seemed to them so kind that no winter fodder would be needed for livestock: there was never any frost all winter and the grass hardly withered at all.â
The winter days were much longer than they were in Greenland and âon the shortest day of the year, the sun was visible in the middle of the afternoon as well as at breakfast timeâ. Come the spring, Leif and his men cut a full load of timber â wood was always in short supply in Greenland â and set off home.
Leif made no contact with native peoples, that fatal first encounter took place during his brother Thorvaldâs follow-up expedition. Thorvaldâs death at the hands of Native Americans was not enough to deter at least two attempts by the Norse to settle in Vinland. The first, about two years after Thorvaldâs death, was led by Thorfinn Karlsefni, an Icelandic merchant, who took with him his wife Gudrid, 65 men, five women, and a variety of livestock.
The party spent an uneventful winter at LeifsbuĂ°ir, during which time Gudrid gave birth to a son, Snorri, the first European to be born in America. In the spring, the party had its first encounter with Native Americans, who turned up at LeifsbuĂ°ir to trade furs. The Norse called them âSkrĂŠlingsâ, perhaps meaning âscreamersâ. Coming from a Stone Age culture, the SkrĂŠlings were fascinated by the Norsemenâs iron weapons and tools but Karlsefni forbade his men to trade them.
Archaeological proof of a Norse presence in North America came to light in 1961 with the discovery of a settlement of turf longhouses and workshops at LâAnse aux Meadows at the northern tip of Newfoundland. The long house is the typical Norse dwelling but similar houses were also built by the Inuit and other Native American peoples.
What proved beyond doubt that this was a Norse settlement was the large number of metal artefacts discovered at the site, including wrought iron ship rivets and a typically Scandinavian bronze ring pin. Stone loom weights and a spindle whorl provided evidence for weaving at the site. As this was a female activity in Viking Scandinavia, this confirmed the saga accounts of women taking part in the Norse voyages of exploration. Radiocarbon dates from organic matter at the site show that it was occupied briefly, between 980 and 1020, which accords well with the saga traditions.
The environment around LâAnse aux Meadows bears little resemblance to the saga descriptions of Vinland. Winters there are severe and there are no wild grapes so it is unlikely to be LeifsbuĂ°ir. It is more likely that LâAnse aux Meadows was a base for expeditions further south. That such expeditions took place is proved by the presence of butternuts among food remains on the site. An American species of walnut, butternuts grow no further north than New Brunswick, 500 miles to the south.
