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— CH. 1 · ETYMOLOGICAL ORIGINS AND MEANINGS —

Vinland

~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
6 sections

  • Adam of Bremen wrote Descriptio insularum Aquilonis around 1075. He described an island called Winland where grapevines grew by themselves. The Latin text states that the vines produce the best wine. This account relies on information from King Svend Estridson of Denmark. Scholars have debated whether the Old Norse root vin means wine or pasture for centuries. Most early interpretations favored the wine theory due to Adam's explicit mention of grapes. Some manuscripts even include a gloss defining the term as terra vini, meaning land of wine. However, Sven Söderberg proposed in 1910 that the first syllable might be pronounced with a short vowel. This pronunciation would change the meaning to meadow or pasture. Valter Jansson accepted this pasture interpretation in his 1951 dissertation. Erik Wahlgren later rejected the pasture thesis entirely. He argued that the simple fact is that Soderberg's thesis is quite untenable. Kirsten Seaver also dismissed the notion that the first syllable was vin with a short vowel. She stated that we are left with the incontrovertible long-vowelled vin or wine. A runestone discovered near Norderhov, Norway before 1817 may contain a record of the name slightly predating Adam's writing. Sophus Bugge read part of the inscription as referring to Vinland around 1902. Magnus Olsen offered a different reading of the same sequence in 1951.

  • The Saga of Erik the Red describes Thorfinn Karlsefni leading a company of 160 men south from Greenland. They passed Helluland and Markland before reaching Hóp. The saga states that no snow fell during winter at this bountiful place. Bjarni Herjólfsson accidentally discovered the new land while traveling from Norway to visit his father in 986 CE. Leif Eriksson organized an expedition retracing Bjarni's route past flat stones and forests. Leif established a base where he found grapes and timber. He returned to Greenland with a shipload of timber and a boatload of grapes. Thorvald Eiriksson led a second expedition with about 30 men. They explored the west coast during one summer and the east coast during another. Thorvald died from an arrow-wound after encountering local inhabitants known as Skrælingjar. Gudrid married Thorfinn Karlsefni for a third major expedition taking livestock. They found a beached whale which sustained them until spring. Gudrid gave birth to a son named Snorri near Vinland. Freydis, daughter of Eric the Red, persuaded two Icelanders to join her expedition. She later ordered the killing of all the Icelanders including five women while they slept. The explorers returned to Greenland with hides and grapes. The Saga of the Greenlanders presents similar events but with different crew numbers. It claims Leif led a company of 35 while Thorvald had 30. Helgi and Finnbogi also commanded groups of 30 members each.

  • Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad discovered remains of a small Norse encampment in northern Newfoundland in 1960. Radiocarbon dating confirms the site's occupation was confined to a short period around 1000 CE. Wood from the site was shown to have been cut in 1021 using metal blades. Local Indigenous people did not possess such tools at that time. Archaeologists found butternuts at L'Anse aux Meadows indicating voyages into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. These nuts grow only as far north as northeastern New Brunswick. Birgitta Wallace identified butternut remains in the Norse stratum as the smoking gun linking the environment. The site has been hypothesized to be the camp Straumfjörð mentioned in the Saga of Erik the Red. Small pieces of jasper known as fire-strikers were found in and around the buildings. Two buildings contained only Icelandic jasper pieces while another held some from Greenland. A single piece from the east coast of Newfoundland was also recovered. UNESCO listed the site as a World Heritage Site in 1978. William A. Munn suggested in his 1914 book that explorers went ashore at Lancey Meadows. Sarah Parcak and Gregory Mumford examined Point Rosee on the southwest coast of Newfoundland in 2014. They found no evidence whatsoever for either a Norse presence or human activity prior to the historic period.

  • Erik Wahlgren examined the question in his book The Vikings and America published in 1986. He pointed out clearly that L'Anse aux Meadows cannot be the location of Vínland. The sagas describe both salmon in rivers and vínber growing freely which does not match the site. Wahlgren indicates a location in Maine or New Brunswick based on overlapping habitats. He hazards a guess that Leif Erikson camped at Passamaquoddy Bay. Thorvald Erikson was killed in the Bay of Fundy according to this theory. Sir Wilfred Grenfell wrote about the issue of the location of Vinland in early 20th century Newfoundland. Carl Christian Rafn interpreted specific times in the saga as equivalent to 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. This would put the base far south of Newfoundland. Rafn and other Danish scholars placed Kjalarnes at Cape Cod and Straumfjörð at Buzzards Bay. Jónas Kristjánsson suggested in 2012 that Straumfjörð refers to Sop's Arm, Newfoundland. No other fjord in Newfoundland was found to have an island at its mouth. Pall Bergthorsson proposed New York City as the location in 1997. Samuel Eliot Morison argued for the southern part of Newfoundland in 1971. Gustav Storm and Joseph Fischer both suggested Cape Breton earlier. Three butternuts were found at L'Anse aux Meadows which grows

  • only as far north as the St. Lawrence River.

    Sverrir Jakobsson notes there are no contemporary written records of journeys to Vinland before 1070. He points out contradictions between Eiriks saga rautha and Graenlandinga saga. Their textual history suggests they were composed independently of each other. Attempts to harmonize evidence with modern belief led to gaps in scholarship surrounding the sagas. Christopher Crocker contextualizes the search for Vinland as a form of colonial construction of history. Centering Norse expeditions play into the Vanishing Indian trope allowing continued centering of European narratives. Claims of Beothuck extinction supported by the Vinland narrative were used by British settlers to deny Mi'kmaq land claims. Anette Kolodny suggests attempts to situate Vinland in New England reflected decline in the region by 1850. The effort was an attempt to recapture glory for New England during those decades. The main resources people relied on included wheat berries wine and fish. The wheat context refers to sandwort not traditional wheat. Grapes mentioned are native North American grapes because Vitis vinifera existed in Europe. The Sagas specifically mention salmon larger than any seen before by explorers. They found trees covered with Vitis riparia south of L'Anse aux Meadows called vinviðir.

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Common questions

What did Adam of Bremen write about Vinland around 1075?

Adam of Bremen wrote Descriptio insularum Aquilonis describing an island called Winland where grapevines grew by themselves. The Latin text states that the vines produce the best wine and relies on information from King Svend Estridson of Denmark.

When was the Norse encampment at L'Anse aux Meadows discovered in Newfoundland?

Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad discovered remains of a small Norse encampment in northern Newfoundland in 1960. Radiocarbon dating confirms the site's occupation was confined to a short period around 1000 CE with wood cut in 1021 using metal blades.

Who organized the expedition that established a base where Leif Eriksson found grapes and timber?

Leif Eriksson organized an expedition retracing Bjarni Herjólfsson's route past flat stones and forests. He returned to Greenland with a shipload of timber and a boatload of grapes after establishing a base where he found grapes and timber.

Why does Erik Wahlgren argue that L'Anse aux Meadows cannot be the location of Vinland?

Erik Wahlgren examined the question in his book The Vikings and America published in 1986 and pointed out clearly that L'Anse aux Meadows cannot be the location of Vínland. The sagas describe both salmon in rivers and vínber growing freely which does not match the site.

What evidence links butternuts to Norse voyages into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence?

Archaeologists found butternuts at L'Anse aux Meadows indicating voyages into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence because these nuts grow only as far north as northeastern New Brunswick. Birgitta Wallace identified butternut remains in the Norse stratum as the smoking gun linking the environment.

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All sources

42 references cited across the entry

  1. 1webL'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
  2. 2bookPopular Controversies in World History: Investigating History's Intriguing QuestionsSteven L. Danver — ABC-CLIO — 2010
  3. 3bookCanada's Changing NorthWilliam C. Wonders — McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP — 2003
  4. 4bookThe Vinland SagasGisli Sigurdsson — Penguin — 2008
  5. 5webL'Anse aux MeadowsParks Canada — 2018
  6. 6webIs L'Anse aux Meadows Vinland?Parks Canada — 2003
  7. 7inlineSignificance of the discovery of butternut shells at L'Anse aux Meadows: Birgitta Wallace, "The Norse in Newfoundland: L'Anse aux Meadows and Vinland", The New Early Modern Newfoundland: Part 2 (2003)
  8. 8inlinePraeterea unam adhuc insulam recitavit a multis in eo repertam occeano, quae dicitur Winland, eo quod ibi vites sponte nascantur, vinum optimum ferentes. Some manuscripts have the gloss id est terra v
  9. 9bookThe Viking WorldBirgitta Wallace — Routledge — 2008
  10. 10bookThe Frozen EchoKirsten Seaver — Sanford University Press — 1996
  11. 11inline"Was Vinland in Newfoundland", Proceedings of the Eighth Viking Congress, Arhus. 24–31 August 1977, ed. Hans Bekker-Nielsen, Peter Foote, Olaf Olsen. Odense University Press. 1981.. See also Kirsten A
  12. 12inlineP. B. Taylor, "The Hønen runes: A survey", Neophilologus Volume 60, Issue 1 (January 1976), pp 1-7. See also: Text and translation of the copy Geirodden.com; C. Cavaleri (2008), "The Vínland Sagas as
  13. 13inlineVinland and Ultima Thule. John Th. Honti. Modern Language Notes Vol. 54, No. 3 (Mar., 1939), pp. 159-172 Jstor.org
  14. 14webWhere is Vinland?
  15. 15newsA monk in 14th-century Italy wrote about the Americas2021-09-25
  16. 16journalMore Vinland maps and textsMichael Livingston — March 2004
  17. 17inlinetranslations in: B.F. de Costa, Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen , Albany NY, Munsell, 1890
  18. 18webHistoria Norwegiae
  19. 19inlinechronicle entries translated in A.M. Reeves et al. The Norse Discovery of America (1906) via sacred-texts.com
  20. 20bookNorse America: The Story of a Founding MythGordon Campbell — Oxford University Press — 25 March 2021
  21. 21webA review of the book Isolated Islands in Medieval Nature, Culture and MindDolly Jørgensen — The Medieval Review — 2009-01-12
  22. 22bookThe Vikings and AmericaErik Wahlgren — Thomas and Hudson — 1986
  23. 23bookThe Romance of LabradorSir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell — Macmillan Publishers — 1934
  24. 24webThe Project Gutenberg eBook of Eirik The Red's Saga:, by The Rev. J. Sephton.
  25. 25inlineR. Cleasby & G. Vigfusson An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874) via the Germanic Lexicon Project
  26. 26bookLocation of Helluland, Markland, and Vinland from the Icelandic SagasWilliam A. Munn — Gazette Print — 1914
  27. 27inlineWhere is Vinland: L'Anse aux Meadows at canadianmysteries.ca
  28. 28newsGoodbye, Columbus: Vikings crossed the Atlantic 1,000 years agoWill Dunham — 2021-10-20
  29. 29magazineEverything Means Something in VikingBrian Regal — Center for Inquiry — November–December 2019
  30. 30bookVoyage de J. Cartier au CanadaJacques Cartier — 1863
  31. 31inlineCOSEWIC report on Juglans cinerea (butternut) in Canada
  32. 32journalVínland and Wishful Thinking: Medieval and Modern FantasiesSverrir Jakobsson — Winter 2012
  33. 33journalWhat We Talk about When We Talk about Vínland: History, Whiteness, Indigenous Erasure, and the Early Norse Presence in NewfoundlandChristopher Crocker — Spring–Autumn 2020
  34. 34bookIn Search of First Contact: The Vikings of Vinland, the Peoples of the Dawnland, and the Anglo-American Anxiety of DiscoveryAnette Kolodny — Duke University Press — May 29, 2012
  35. 35inlineEdmund S. Carpenter, "Norse Penny", New York (2003); See also the critical book review of Bruce Bourque's "Twelve Thousand Years: American Indians in Maine", published in "American Anthropologist" 104
  36. 36webEvidence of Viking Outpost Found in CanadaHeather Pringle — National Geographic Society — 19 Oct 2012
  37. 37webStrangers, Partners, Neighbors? Helluland Archaeology Project: Recent FindsCanadian Museum of History
  38. 38newsUpdate: Archaeologist thinks Codroy Valley may have once been visited by VikingsGary Kean — April 2, 2016
  39. 39newsDiscovery Could Rewrite History of Vikings in New WorldMark Strauss — March 31, 2016
  40. 40newsPoint Rosee, Codroy Valley, NL (ClBu-07) 2016 Test Excavations under Archaeological Investigation Permit #16.26Sarah Parcak et al. — geraldpennyassociates.com, 42 pages — November 8, 2017
  41. 41newsNo Viking presence in southern Newfoundland after all, American researcher findsHolly McKenzie-Sutter — The Canadian Press — May 31, 2018
  42. 42newsArcheological quest for Codroy Valley Vikings comes up short - Report filed with province states no Norse activity found at dig siteLindsay Bird — CBC — May 30, 2018