Maybe Columbus was born in Espinosa de Henares in Castile, and was the son of Aldonza de Mendoza. She died in childbirth. She has two sons: Alfonso who was murdered at the age of five; and other Rodrigo de Mendoza, who is Christopher Columbus. Acc. to Alfonso Carlos Nunez.
But Columbus, as the navigator signed it, only in POIO, the town. In October 2024 historians said Columbus was from Balearic Islnad, Mallorca under the Aragon Kingdom, but he came from Valencia until 1391, then at Mallorca. 'Columbus was a Catalan and the son of a man from the Republic of Genoa and a Jewish woman from Valentia,' Albardaner told 'Al Jazeera', adding that his conclusions match those presented by the documentary - on 27 Oct 2024. Albardaner detailed how Columbus's claim that he had visited 'all the East and the West' before 1470 - contained in a letter written in 1501 - has been dismissed, especially by Italian scholars.
Ca 920/930: discovered Greenland, however, the Icelandic sagas suggest that earlier Norsemen discovered and attempted to settle it before him.
Tradition credits Gunnbjorn Ulfsson (also known as Gunnbjorn Ulf-Krakuson) with the first sighting of the land-mass. Nearly a century before Erik, strong winds had driven Gunnbjorn towards a set of islands between Iceland and Greenland, later named Gunnbjorn's skerries in his honor. He and his crew sighted islands (Gunnbjorn's skerries) lying close off the coast of Greenland, and reported this find but did not land.
Since Greenland is physically part of North America, separated from Ellesmere Island by only a narrow strait, this sighting could also have been the first European connection with North America. The exact date of this event is not recorded in the sagas. The sagas recount the Vikings' discovery of wild grapes, wheat, and maple trees, leading them to name the New Brunswick land 'Vinland' (land of wine). There in Miramichi, he and his crew built a small settlement, which was called Leifsbudir (Leif's Booths) by later visitors from Greenland. Leifsbudir, meaning 'Leif's houses,' and it served as a base for exploration until 1080s. Leif's brother, Thorvald, later led another expedition to Vinland, using Leifsbudir as a base for their explorations. The Vikings explored the surrounding area: Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island and south-east New Scotland, discovered wild grapes, jack pine, wheat. By 'History Extra' in 2017, "by the tale, Leif set off on an expedition to explore the mysterious western land, to be followed later by his brothers Thorvald and Thorstein, and his sister Freydis Eriksdottir, along with the Icelandic explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni. However, in the 'Eiriks saga rauda', Leif has a lesser role, simply spotting the coast of North America in much the same way as Bjarni (blown off course and lost while returning from Norway), and it's Thorfinn Karsefni who leads the main expedition to the area named in both books as Vinland. The 'Graenlendinga saga', written slightly earlier than the 'Eiriks saga rauda', to be the more reliable of the two accounts. Leif calls Labrador as Markland ('wood land'), but he doesn't dwell there long. Winter AD 1000/1001 at Vinland (Miramichi, not L'Anse aux Meadows). Pushed along by a northeasterly wind for two days, Leif from Labrador finally finds the sort of landscape in New Brunswick he's been looking for - fertile and full of food including grapes". This is clear that knowledge on New Brunswick was in L'Anse aux Meadows around 990-1000 / 970-1085. Before Leif, the son of Erick. In spring 1001, "Leif and his crew sail back to Greenland, carrying a precious cargo of grapes and wood. En route, they chance upon some shipwrecked Vikings, whom they save". The small settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows at the northernmost tip of Newfoundland (carbon dating estimate 990-1050 CE) was used before LEIF who knew the sailing route from Labrador to Miramichi in 1000 from unknown Vikings.
Various sources cite dates ranging from 876 to 932.
The first records of purposeful visits to Gunnbjorn's skerries were made by Snabjorn Galti around 978
and soon after by Erik the Red in 982 who also explored the main island of Greenland,
and soon established a settlement in 985 or 986. It was hot here. In winter minus 6, and in Summer up to 20 degrees Celsius in the valleys, much warmer than today. Beetroot and cabbage were grown, cattle and sheep were bred. There were plenty of trees on the coast brought by sea currents. Everywhere grew dwarf trees like large bushes.
In 2019 L'Anse aux Meadows - a 'model A' suggests Norse occupation began AD 910-1030 [around 970 AD], ended AD 1030-1145 [around 1085 AD].
'More than 150 14C dates have been obtained, of which 55 relate to the Norse occupation. However, the calibrated age ranges provided by these samples extend across and beyond the entire Viking Age (AD 793-1066). This is in contrast with the archaeological evidence and interpretations of the sagas'. Vikings from Iceland sailed to Newfoundland after about 930/960 AD. And they stopped using the L'Anse aux Meadows camp around 1060. The camp on the northern tip of Newfoundland has nothing to do with the Icelandic Sagas describing the journeys of one family to Vinland, i.e. to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, including the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward. The camp at L'Anse aux Meadows did not have to serve as a base for all the 'Vinland' expeditions. The first Vinland expedition in 1001 followed the route from southeastern Labrador to the south-east, precisely to Miramichi, but this was probably a route known between 990 and 1000. The sagas deal only with one Greenlandic-Icelandic-Norwegian family. Norway's contacts with Vinland lasted until the 1080s, as confirmed by a Norwegian coin from Maine, but probably brought this far by the American Indian trade from Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. The dating from L'Anse aux Meadows confirms the Norman monuments from the average years 930-1060. This is a similar situation to Columbus who only sailed again to Haiti / Antilla, known after all exactly after the period 1410/1424. Similarly, the Portuguese sailed to Labrador and Nova Scotia in the years 1495/1499-1520s, only repeating the expeditions from the Azores in the 1470s. The period 1018-1024 at L'Anse aux Meadows is not strongly marked by finds. But we have of course samples dated 1021 AD. The largest number of L'Anse aux Meadows excavations are from the Norman period in the years around 760-780, 840-890, 915, 930-940, 980-995, 982-984, 985-992, 993-996. A clear decline 997-999. An increase in 1001-1009. Again an increase in 1011-1020. The best dated monument - 1021. 'The results, on three different trees, converge on the same year is notable and unexpected. This coincidence strongly suggests Norse activity at L'Anse aux Meadows in ad 1021'. The decline in the dating of monuments drops sharply after 1070 and disappears altogether after 1150. The period 1010-1030 has only a very weak increase in the number of excavations. 'The remains of eight buildings constructed of sod over a wood frame, with over 800 Norse objects unearthed, including bronze, bone, and stone artifacts, and evidence of iron production'. 'Carbon analysis and artifacts dated the settlement to the period 990-1050 AD. Building remains emerged, typical of the communities in Norse' settlements.
The research in 2018-2019 30 meters outside L'Anse aux Meadows:
it suggests a potentially longer than assumed period of L'Anse aux Meadows use, Up to 195 years. "This does not imply a continuous occupation, which, given the shallow cultural deposits, seems unlikely. Rather, it indicates the possibility of sporadic Norse activity beyond the early 11th century!".
Around 960 AD until 1155 AD.
Assays on short-lived macrofossils (twigs) from Norse contexts dated on 920 AD - 970 AD either AD 895-1030;
or 968-1063 AD, suggesting an occupation centered on AD 1000, provided a shortened result of AD 986-1022. But before 1001 AD!
Birgitta Wallace [and others like Meghan Burchell and Bryn Tapper] PROVED that Leifsbudir = Miramichi; but L'Anse aux Meadows is not mentioned in Icelandic sagas.
"Of the beetles, 'S. metallica' is considered native to Greenland, where it has been found in Norse and Pre-Inuit contexts, while 'A. quadrata', never previously identified from Newfoundland, is common in the circumpolar north. If any of these species truly are introductions to Newfoundland, their arrival by the 13th century may have been via either Norse or indigenous trade or migration routes".
Over 100 ecofacts associated with the archaeological L'Anse aux Meadows heritage (wood and charcoal) were submitted for radiocarbon dating. Botanical analyses identified wood and nuts from the White Walnut (Juglans cinerea), an exotic species in Newfoundland that suggests wider-ranging Norse voyages to the south [Miramichi = Leifsbudir; and New Scotia = Hop / Hup].
"Assays from Norse contexts (56 assays) ranged from 420 AD, charred wood, to 1150 AD, wood. Icelandic saga literature, and references to Vinland in an ecclesiastical treatise from AD 1075, suggested L'Anse aux Meadows should date to ca AD 1000, something the radiocarbon data seemed to challenge".
Above data acc. to Paul M. Ledger, Linus Girdland-Flink, and Veronique Forbes.
In 2018, them trench, measuring 0.65 on 1.50 m, was located 30 m east of 'Ruin D'. The new cultural horizon was encountered between 35 and 45 cm and comprised finely laminated. Apparently trampled surfaces containing charcoal, wood debitage, and charred plant remains.
None of the structures are identifiable as animal shelters, nor is there faunal evidence for animal husbandry - the foundation of Norse subsistence in Greenland and Iceland.
Mainly indigenous occupations dated on 880-960 AD; Norse on 950-1120 AD.
Other examples include Acidota quadrata (Zetterstedt), a Holarctic species previously unrecorded in Newfoundland, and Simplocaria metallica (Sturm), a pill beetle considered adventive (nonnative) in Canada.
In 2019 a 'model A' suggests Norse occupation began AD 910-1030 [around 970 AD], ended AD 1030-1145 [around 1085 AD].
And endured for 0 to 195 years. Leif knew perfectly well the direction of sailing from Labrador to Miramchi, straight southwest. Thirty years before him the Vikings were farming at L'Anse aux Meadows. The starting dates are 970/986 according to research from 2018/2019. Leif sailed through the Gulf of St. Lawrence only in 1001.
Greater uncertainty surrounds indigenous occupations, where a start of AD 710-1130, and end of AD 1540-1815 in L'Anse aux Meadows.
Ca 985:
Erik's salesmanship of Greenland proved successful as after spending the winter in Iceland Erik returned to Greenland in the summer of 985 with a large number of colonists. However, out of 25 ships that left for Greenland, 11 were lost at sea; only 14 arrived. The Icelanders established two colonies on the southwest coast: the Eastern Settlement or Eystribyggd, in what is now Qaqortoq, and the Western Settlement, close to present-day Nuuk. Eventually, a Middle Settlement grew, but many suggest it formed part of the Western Settlement. The Eastern and Western Settlements, both established on the southwest coast, proved the only two areas suitable for farming. During the summers, when the weather was more favorable to travel, each settlement would send an army of men to hunt in Disko Bay above the Arctic Circle for food and other valuable commodities such as seals (used for rope), ivory from walrus tusks, and beached whales.
In 985 - colony in south Greenland. This is very warm period. At south Greenland we have cows, horses, grass field, sheep, many timbers at beaches. Wild small aples.
In 986/987 - first Vikings trip to east and south-east Labrador. Great wood country.
Ca 986:
The first voyage, of Bjarni Herjolfsson in about 985 A.D., was accidental and without a landfall. He was trying to sail from Iceland to join his father in Greenland, but was blown past Greenland, ending up in a lengthy detour along the Labrador coast, before reaching his Greenland destination. Bjarni Herjolfsson was an Icelandic man who is told in Granlendinga saga , and it says that he found 'Vinland' (or Markland / Labrador - like G. Cortereal in 1500; G. Cortereal again discovered in 1501, south-west Greenland and south-east Labrador; John Cabot in 1497 re-discovered north Newfounland = Tierra de los Bacallaos = Codfish Land; John Cabot in 1498 re-discovered Tierra de los Bretones / Land of the Bretons / Nova Scotia, and here was FAGUNDES in 1521), that is, he saw it with its thrones. A monument to him will soon be erected on Eyrarbakki, near the town of Drepstokk. Herjolfsson was likely the first European to sight the east coast of North America. While sailing from Iceland to Greenland in 986 CE, Herjolfsson sighted lands that were later determined to be Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland [rather he discovered only three parts of Labrador, but not Vinland]. Bjarni sailed from Eyrum (where Eyrarbakki was later built) and intended to find his father in Greenland. On his way there, he and his high-seats spot a land without mountains and covered with forests. The high seas wanted to fetch water, but Bjarni sailed on and found a land with a glacier, that is, Greenland. It was done. Bjarni says he thinks it won't be Greenland. They ask if he wants to sail to this land or not. "It is my plan to sail close to the land." And so they did, and they soon saw that the land was not mountainous and wooded, and there were small hills on the land, and they put the land on the port side and let the bow face the land. Then they sail two days before they see another land. They ask if Bjarni was still going to Greenland. He said that he did not intend this Greenland but the former "because glaciers are said to be very large in Greenland" They soon approached this land and saw that it was a flat land and wood grew. Then it took off for them. Then the nobles discussed that they thought it would be a good idea to take that land, but Bjarni doesn't want it. They thought they needed both wood and water. "That's why you are unsupplied," says Bjarni, but he was reprimanded by his superiors for that. He asked them to wind the sails and it was done, and they set out from the land and sailed into the sea for three days, and then they saw the third land. But that land was high and mountainous and had a glacier - Grenland.
Compare in Poland: established Bnin, 938/940 in Greater Poland at present.
Quetzalcoatl may be based on a historical person in 10th entury died in 947.
Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl lived in Tula. Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, or '1 Reed, Our Prince Plumed Serpent', was a holy man and patron of the post-classic Toltec city of Tollan which is now thought to be modern day Tula, situated in the state of Hidalgo, North of Mexico City. Prince One-Reed Precious Serpent born ca 895, died in 947, a figure appearing in 16th-century accounts of Nahua historical traditions, where he is identified as a ruler in the 10th century of the Toltecs, by Aztec tradition their predecessors who had political control of the Valley of Mexico and surrounding region several centuries before the Aztecs themselves settled there.
One version of the story is that he was born in the 10th century, during the year and day-sign "1 Acatl," correlated to date May 13 of the year 895, allegedly in what is now the town of Tepoztlan.
Tollan, Tolan, or Tolan is a name used for the capital cities of two empires of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica; first for Teotihuacan, and later for the Toltec capital, Tula, both in Mexico. The name has also been applied to the Postclassic Mexican settlement Cholula.
According to Toltec and Maya accounts, Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl lived in Tula for a while before a dispute with the warrior class over human sacrifice led to his departure. He headed east, eventually settling in Chichen Itza in 947.
The Mayan white bearded man called Quetzalcoatl, the feathered snake, god of goodness and wisdom. Others, too, spoke of the bearded white man.
The Incas, in Peru, called him Viracocha, while their neighbours the Aymara called him Hyustus / Chrystus. In Bolivia he was known as the "God of the Wind".
His disappearance and reappearance in the sky represented death and rebirth. They also believed him to be the god of learning, writing, books, and the calendar. In addition, he was the protector of craftspeople, such as goldsmiths. Quetzalcoatl sometimes became the god of wind, known as Ehecatl / Ezechiel.
Quetzalcoatl wandered down to the coast of the 'divine water' (the Atlantic Ocean) and then immolated himself on a pyre, emerging as the planet Venus. According to another version, he embarked upon a raft made of snakes and disappeared beyond the eastern horizon / Gulf of Mexico ie from around Veracruz sailed to Yucatan and Chichen Itza.
The myth of the return of Quetzalcoatl played an important role in the subsequent history of Mesoamerica. When Hernan Cortes and the conquistadors arrived in Mexico in 1517, the Aztec king Moctezuma II was convinced that the Spaniard was Quetzalcoatl, returning as he had promised to do.
Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god, was a white, bearded man who came from the east and descended to the Americas before the Spanish arrived. He was described as tall, fair-skinned, and fair-haired, wearing long robes and carrying a message of love. Historians from the 16th century recorded pre-Hispanic beliefs about Quetzalcoatl, including:
Bernardo de Sahagun: Wrote that Quetzalcoatl was worshipped in the past.
Diego Duran: Wrote that Quetzalcoatl was tall, dignified, and had long hair.
Bartolome de las Casas: Wrote that Quetzalcoatl was white, had a rounded beard, and came from the east.
Oral legends say that Quetzalcoatl gave humans many gifts, including: a calendar marking the days of the fifth sun, astronomy and mathematics. Quetzalcoatl also promised his people that he would return from the east one day, and the Aztecs waited for his coming. The cyclical return of Quetzalcoatl coincided with the arrival of Hernan Cortez in 1519, and some people believed that the Spaniards were the fulfillment of Quetzalcoatl's promise.
LEGENDS said that a bearded white man, with fair hair and blue eyes, brought super-knowledge to the Maya.
According to some sources, Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god, was a white, bearded man who came from the east and descended to the Americas before the Spanish arrived. He was described as tall, fair-skinned, and fair-haired, wearing long robes and carrying a message of love. Historians from the 16th century recorded pre-Hispanic beliefs about Quetzalcoatl.
They called him Quetzalcoatl, the feathered snake, god of goodness and wisdom. Others, too, spoke of the bearded white man. The Incas, in Peru, called him Viracocha, while their neighbours the Aymara called him Hyustus. In Bolivia he was known as the "God of the Wind".
Montezuma proclaimed Cortes was in fact Quetzalcoatl himself, come to fulfill the prophecy. He then graciously handed over the keys to his empire.
Mesoamerican peoples believed that Quetzalcoatl created the world when he fought with his brother Tezcatlipoca. They then split a monster into pieces, creating the earth and sky. To create mankind, Quetzalcoatl snuck into the underworld to trick the Lord and Lady and steal some of the bones they guarded. Quetzalcoatl, the God of the Aztecs. He was the Lord of Intelligence. He was described as a tall fair-skinned, fair-haired man, with a beard. It was told he wore long robes and his message was one of love.
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote that Viracocha was described as "a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an alb secured round the waist and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands." In one legend he had one son, Inti, and two daughters, Mama Killa and Pachamama.
The earliest depictions of the feathered serpent deity were fully zoomorphic, depicting the serpent as an actual snake, but already among the Classic Maya, images of the deity began acquiring human features, such as the beard (see the Borgia codex illustration) that he was sometimes depicted with.
Quetzalcoatl - could be known as Red Tezcatlipoca, the 'Flayed One' and associated with the gods Camaxtli and Xipe Totec (god of the Tlaxcaltecans) or as White Tezcatlipoca, the 'Plumed Serpent' or Quetzalcoatl, god of the Cholula.
Quetzalcoatlus, or simply Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec sky and creator god. The name is a combination of quetzalli, a brightly colored Mesoamerican bird, and coatl, which means serpent; it is therefore usually translated as "feathered serpent" or "plumed serpent".
The Aztecs feared that the end of the world would happen every 52 years, marking the completion of a Calendar Round cycle. To prevent this, they held a New Fire Ceremony, where they extinguished all fires and lit a new one, practicing blood sacrifice to appease the gods.
At Tollan, in what is now Tula, Hidalgo, the Toltec people prospered under Quetzalcoatl's reign; they developed trading partnerships across Mexico and Central America. However, according to legendary accounts, Quetzalcoatl was banished from Tula after committing transgressions while under the influence of a rival.
Gniezno, 940/941 at Winter.
In 954 - Hungarian in Bavaria and Svabia.
According to the Knytlingasaga and Fagrskinna, Jomsborg was built by the Danish king Harold Bluetooth (910-985/86) around 960/963. The Jomsvikinga Saga mentions Danish Viking Palnatoki as its founder. Palnatoke raised king Harald Bluetooth's son Sweyn Forkbeard and was a staunch supporter of the old pagan faith. Harald Bluetooth had allowed Christian missionaries from the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen missionary in Denmark and the king himself was baptized around 964 (December 964 ? - and he was probably the family of Dagome/Mieszko of 'Polanie', by the female branch; Dagome's male line came from Scotisch's Picts in 919 in the 'Polanie' area). The town of Wolin was first mentioned in 965, by Ibrahim ibn Jakub, who referred to the place as Viking's 'Weltaba'. Excavations were dated by dendrochronological method to the period from 965/966 to the middle of the 11th century. Ibrahim ibn Jaqub wrote in Arabic letters about this city. The transcription might be Weltaba, which corresponds to modern Polish Weltawa. The earliest evidence of fortifications dates to the first half of the 9th century. In the second half of the 9th century, there was a central fortified area and two suburbs. Around 896 AD a new port was constructed and the main part of the town acquired new, stronger fortifications, including a wooden palisade. Archaeologists believe that in the Early Middle Ages Wolin was a great trade emporium, spreading along the shore for four kilometres and rivalling in importance Birka and Hedeby. In 967, the island became controlled by Poland, under Duke Dagome / Mieszko I. Polish influences were not firm and they ended around 1007. Most records list as jarl of Jomsborg, Sigvald(i), a son of petty king Strut-Harald of then Danish Scania. Sigvald died before 1010. Jomsborg was destroyed in 1043 by Dano-Norwegian king Magnus the Good. A golden disc bearing the name of Harald Bluetooth and Jomsborg appeared in Sweden in autumn 2014, first presented by Swedish archaeologist Sven Rosborn. The inscription reads: Harald Gormsson king of Danes, Scania, Jomsborg, diocese of Aldinburg. It is claimed that the disc was a part of a Viking hoard found in 1841 in the Polish village Wiejkowo near the town of Wolin by Heinrich Boldt. Attributes to Jomsborg a location near Paprotno. Wiejkowo lies 6 km south-east of Wolin city at present. The territory became part of the emerging Polish state under its first ruler Mieszko I around 967. Recent archaeological excavations on Wolin Island, Poland, are yielding evidence that may confirm the existence of the legendary Viking stronghold of Jomsborg. Specifically, the excavations on Hangman's Hill, once believed to be a site of execution and human sacrifice, are uncovering charcoal fragments, pottery shards, and remnants of wooden structures dating back to the 10th century, potentially indicating a Viking military stronghold and a bustling settlement. Researchers from Aarhus and Wolin will carry out a major excavation in 2025-2027 in Wolin's Viking Age harbour. At the end of 2023, discovery showed the broadcast 'Lost Tomb of the Viking King' from excavations. In 963-973, Mieszko I paid tribute to the German emperor.
Christianity continues to spread north and east: in 965, king Harald Bluetooth of DENMARK and followed by Duke Mieszko and Poland's leading nobility and also Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of KYIV, regarded as the founder Christianity in Ukraine, and King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who sends missionaries to Iceland and Greenland, and 1008, King Olof Skotkonung of Sweden.
Ca 955 - Miesko / Dagome ruled in Gniezno (his father was Pict and ruled ca 930-955). In 965 - married catholic bohemian woman Dubrava. 966 - baptised in Ostrow Lednicki, Gniezno or Poznan.
In 905/906 - Czechia took the Wislanie country.
In 907 - Pressburg, Hungarien in Austria, Hungarian defeted Bavarian. Ca 920 - Czechia conquered the Silesia Lower.
In 919/922: established the first stronghold of Polanie in Grzybowo close to GIECZ. In 926 - Hungarien in Bavaria and Italy. Ostrow Lednicki, 930/940.
Poznan, 935/940.
In 919 in 'Polanie' country, in addition to the Vikings from southern Sweden and Denmark, there were also Picts from Scotland, where the Normans had plundered the coast. A noble warrior-Pict from eastern Scotland born ca 900, was the father of Dagome. He assumed leadership over the rest of Normans around 930 in 'Polanie' area.
This Vikings-Picts group maybe left the shores of Scotland on her way to Denmark in 917, and then they came to Wolin in 918 (Jomsburg / Jumna in Pomerania, where the Danes settled), conquered Grzybowo in 919.
Our Pict-viking b. ca 900, had a son Dagome / Mieszko / Burislaw. Dagome was born ca 930/935 and he probably came from mixed parents: above warrior-Pict and noble Norman woman of Denmark born ca 913 - maybe the younger sister/half-sister to Harald Bluetooth b. ca 911, because future marriages of the daughters of Dagome-Mieszko, the names THYRA, Dagome, and Normans warriors in the armed team of Mieszko and his son Boleslaw the Great and the introduction of Christianity in Denmark in 965 and in Poland in 966.
Young Dagome had one or two wifes (the first 'Santslaue oldest' ca 920; the second ca 956 - came from Denmark, b. ca 940) before Dubrava, ie ca 955-963.
The Picts were a mysterious people who inhabited northern and eastern Scotland during the early medieval period.
Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson / Gormsen, b. ca 911, died 987, was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod b. ca 893. Harald Bluetooth ruled as king of Denmark ca 958 until ca 986/987, the King of Norway in 974 until 985; named Harald Blatand d. November 987 in Jomsborg/Wolin.
Dagome b. ca 930/935, had three daughters with Thyra / GEIRA older b. ca 940, a Norman woman of Denmark; named daughters probably born ca 958-963.
The first was Geira younger,
then Astryda,
and the third was Zygfryda / Zygryda = Gunhilda / Torrada / Storrada / Swietoslawa.
Three daughters of Mestko / Mieszko / Dagome / Buryslaw / Burisleif, were with Geira older, the wife before 963. Mieszko I born ca 930/935, d. on 25 May 992 = Buryslaw, his wife Thyra / Geira. They had three daughters:
1. Geira younger married to Erik Tryggvason.
2. Astryda married Sigwald, earl of Jomsburg / Jumna in Pomerania, where the Danes settled in the second half of the 10th century.
3. SYGRYBA / STORRADA = Gunhilda / Swietoslawa (Proud) in Danish it sometimes appears as Gunhilda. Storrada means a person strong in words, proud; Sigryda received this Scandinavian nickname when she burned alive the king of Vestfold, Harald Grenske to warn other from proposing marriage to her. Sygryba / Storrada married Sweyn Forkbeard born 963, d. 1014, in 986 the King of Denmark.
Sweyn was the father of
King Harald II of Denmark,
King Cnut the Great,
and Queen Estrid Svendsdatter.
In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father, Harald Bluetooth, and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987 in Wolin.
Above Harald II was the youngest son of Sweyn Forkbeard and Gunhild of Wenden, and was regent while his father was fighting Ethelred the Unready in England. After his father's death, he was elected to the Danish throne in 1014.
Gunhilda of Wenden was a Polish princess, the daughter of Mieszko I of Poland according to Chronicles of Thietmar of Merserburg, Adam von Bremen and Acta Cnutonis regis princess and Danish Viking Age queen consort, the supposed spouse of King Sweyn I of Denmark (b. ca 963 - d. 1014). Sweyn is also said to have been married to Sigrid the Haughty. She is the Polish Swietoslawa.
Christianity in Denmark took hold more firmly in the 10th century, particularly after King Harald Bluetooth's baptism in 965.
The official conversion occurred during the reign of King Harald Bluetooth, who mounted the throne ca 958. According to Widukind of Corvey, a priest named Poppo convinced Harald to accept that "there is only one true God". Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod. Harald's rule as king of Norway following the assassination of King Harald Greycloak of Norway lasting for a few years in the 970s. His son Sweyn Forkbeard forcibly deposed him from his Danish throne before his death.
In one English source, the name of the sister of King Canute, therefore the daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard and 'Piast', was written as 'Santslaue' younger / 'Santslaue soror CNVTI regis nostri', which can be deciphered as Swietoslawa. Since the daughter had such a name, she probably inherited it, as is assumed, from her mother, Swietoslawa older. Maybe the name was inherited from her grandmother, the first pagan wife of Mieszko I / Dagome.
Between 980 and 984, 'Swietoslawa' older [17/21 years old] married to Eric the Victorious, the King of Sweden. Most likely, it was a political marriage, aimed against Denmark, which was to allow Mieszko to strengthen his power in Western Pomerania. The only known children from this marriage were Olof Skotkonung, later King of Sweden, and Holmfryda Eriksdotter. Swietoslawa older / Sigryda was widowed around 995. Olaf was already in full power. The queen led to the conclusion of a Swedish-Danish alliance against Norway, sealing it with her marriage to the king of Denmark and Norway, Swen Forkbeard, who had returned from exile. This marriage took place around 996. At least five children were born from this union, including two subsequent Danish kings: Harald II Svensson and Canute II the Great, and daughters: Estrida and Swietoslawa younger. When Swen expelled his wife around 1002, she took refuge with her brother, Boleslaw the Brave, in Poland. Swen became king of England in 1013. After the death of the Danish king Swen, their sons Harald and Canute came to Poland, asking their mother to return to Denmark. The last certain fact of her life is her return to Denmark in 1016. Canute's mother probably accompanied him during his reign in England.
Canute the Great (born 996/997, died 12 November 1035), the king of Denmark and Norway, had two sisters:
Estryda Margaret (born 995, died ca 1057/1073), the wife of earl Ulf Torgilsson,
and Swietoslawa younger, born ca 995/999, died after 1031, the wife of the Slavic prince Wyrtgeorn.
According to this historian the name Swietoslawa older could rather have been by her grandmother, and therefore the mother of Mieszko I.
Gunhilda, the daughter of Mieszko, was not the daughter of Dobrawa. An additional argument is the same name took granddaughter Gunhilda, who could have been named after her deceased grandmother. Sigryda / Storrada is identified by some historians with Gunhild / Gunhilda.
Ca 920/930: discovered Greenland, however, the Icelandic sagas suggest that earlier Norsemen discovered and attempted to settle it before him.
Tradition credits Gunnbjorn Ulfsson (also known as Gunnbjorn Ulf-Krakuson) with the first sighting of the land-mass. Nearly a century before Erik, strong winds had driven Gunnbjorn towards a set of islands between Iceland and Greenland, later named Gunnbjorn's skerries in his honor. He and his crew sighted islands (Gunnbjorn's skerries) lying close off the coast of Greenland, and reported this find but did not land.
Since Greenland is physically part of North America, separated from Ellesmere Island by only a narrow strait, this sighting could also have been the first European connection with North America. The exact date of this event is not recorded in the sagas.
Various sources cite dates ranging from 876 to 932.
The first records of purposeful visits to Gunnbjorn's skerries were made by Snabjorn Galti around 978
and soon after by Erik the Red in 982 who also explored the main island of Greenland,
and soon established a settlement in 985 or 986. It was hot here. In winter minus 6, and in Summer up to 20 degrees Celsius in the valleys, much warmer than today. Beetroot and cabbage were grown, cattle and sheep were bred. There were plenty of trees on the coast brought by sea currents. Everywhere grew dwarf trees like large bushes.
In 960-990: most warmer period in Middle Ages: hotter then now in 2024. Warm years: 920-1120.
In 982 and again in 985 - Vikings in Greenland.
Ca 982:
Erik Thorvaldsson (ca 950 - ca 1003), known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first European settlement in Greenland. Erik most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color of his hair and beard. Kinsmen of Eyjolf sought legal prosecution and Erik was later banished from Haukaladr for killing Eyjolf the Foul around the year 982. The dispute between Erik and Thorgest was later resolved at the Thorsnes Thing, where Erik and the men that sided with him were outlawed from Iceland for three years; many of these men would then join Erik on his expedition to Greenland.
Ca 985:
Erik's salesmanship of Greenland proved successful as after spending the winter in Iceland Erik returned to Greenland in the summer of 985 with a large number of colonists. However, out of 25 ships that left for Greenland, 11 were lost at sea; only 14 arrived. The Icelanders established two colonies on the southwest coast: the Eastern Settlement or Eystribyggd, in what is now Qaqortoq, and the Western Settlement, close to present-day Nuuk. Eventually, a Middle Settlement grew, but many suggest it formed part of the Western Settlement. The Eastern and Western Settlements, both established on the southwest coast, proved the only two areas suitable for farming. During the summers, when the weather was more favorable to travel, each settlement would send an army of men to hunt in Disko Bay above the Arctic Circle for food and other valuable commodities such as seals (used for rope), ivory from walrus tusks, and beached whales.
In 985 - colony in south Greenland. This is very warm period. At south Greenland we have cows, horses, grass field, sheep, many timbers at beaches. Wild small aples.
In 986/987 - first Vikings trip to east and south-east Labrador. Great wood country.
Ca 986:
The first voyage, of Bjarni Herjolfsson in about 985 A.D., was accidental and without a landfall. He was trying to sail from Iceland to join his father in Greenland, but was blown past Greenland, ending up in a lengthy detour along the Labrador coast, before reaching his Greenland destination. Bjarni Herjolfsson was an Icelandic man who is told in Granlendinga saga , and it says that he found 'Vinland' (or Markland / Labrador), that is, he saw it with its thrones. A monument to him will soon be erected on Eyrarbakki, near the town of Drepstokk. Herjolfsson was likely the first European to sight the east coast of North America. While sailing from Iceland to Greenland in 986 CE, Herjolfsson sighted lands that were later determined to be Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland [rather only three parts of Labrador]. Bjarni sailed from Eyrum (where Eyrarbakki was later built) and intended to find his father in Greenland. On his way there, he and his high-seats spot a land without mountains and covered with forests. The high seas wanted to fetch water, but Bjarni sailed on and found a land with a glacier, that is, Greenland. It was done. Bjarni says he thinks it won't be Greenland. They ask if he wants to sail to this land or not. "It is my plan to sail close to the land." And so they did, and they soon saw that the land was not mountainous and wooded, and there were small hills on the land, and they put the land on the port side and let the bow face the land. Then they sail two days before they see another land. They ask if Bjarni was still going to Greenland. He said that he did not intend this Greenland but the former "because glaciers are said to be very large in Greenland" They soon approached this land and saw that it was a flat land and wood grew. Then it took off for them. Then the nobles discussed that they thought it would be a good idea to take that land, but Bjarni doesn't want it. They thought they needed both wood and water. "That's why you are unsupplied," says Bjarni, but he was reprimanded by his superiors for that. He asked them to wind the sails and it was done, and they set out from the land and sailed into the sea for three days, and then they saw the third land. But that land was high and mountainous and had a glacier - Grenland.
Ca 995/1000.
Leif Heppenn is described in the Grelendinga saga as his trail runner, but he does land there. There is an inconsistency between the stories, because according to Eirik's story of the Reds, Leifur finds Vinland on his way from Scotland to Greenland. Leifur heppni Eiriksson (about 980 - about 1020) was an explorer who is said to have been the first European to come to North America. It is believed that Leifur was born around the year 980 in Iceland, the son of Erick the Red Torvaldsson and his wife Tjodhilda. He moved with his parents to Greenland at a young age, together with his brothers, Torvald and Torstein.
In Grenlendinga saga, it is told that Leifur bought Bjarn Herjolfsson's ship, which had previously strayed to North America, but never set foot on land.
1000/1002:
Around the year 1000, Leifur sailed from Greenland and first came to Helluland (probably Baffin island). He then sailed further south and now comes to a wooded country (Marklandi), probably Labrador. Finally, it is believed that he came to Newfoundland / rather St Lawrence bay and Island in this river. Leifur named it Vinland after he found grapes there / only Ile de Orleans close to Quebec or MIRAMICHI or Bathurst north to Miramichi.
In Winter 1000/1001 plague killed 25 % peoples at Greenland after LEIFUR departure.
In 2018 wrote:
'Hop', meaning 'tidal lagoon' ['laguna plywowa'], is a Viking temporary settlement in Guysborough in Nova Scotia [not in Miramichi]. Norse sagas informed on LEIF's place that supported the growth of wild grapes [Bay di Vin Beach], provided copious supplies of salmon [Miramichi River / Leifsbudir], and was home to a group of people who made canoes from animal hides. The remnants of butternut trees ['drzewo orzechowe'], which are native to Miramichi / LEIFSBUDIR in New Brunswick, have been found in excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows, alongside pieces of white elm ['wiaz bialy'], beech ['buk'], white ash ['bialy jesion'], and eastern hemlock ['cykuta' = 'pietrasznik plamisty'], which, again, can be found in New Brunswick, said Wallace.
The Viking camps and ports described in the two sagas are all four located southwest of Newfoundland. L'Anse aux Meadow is not described in any of the Icelandic sagas. Nor is there any Norman name. Straumfjord is subsequent the Basque port in southwestern Newfoundland. Hop / Hup the Viking camp is eastern Nova Scotia. The cape with the broken ship's keel is northeastern Cape Breton Island. Leifsbudir is Miramichi on the western shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. One-Foot Land is southern Prince Edward Island. The Vikings never sailed any further than the southeastern shore of Nova Scotia. They also never sailed into the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Their voyages in the years 1001-1080 included the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the tip of Nova Scotia, the western shore of Newfoundland, the northeastern shores of Newfoundland and of course the eastern and southeastern shores of Labrador - here they sailed to eastern Labrador until the 1340s, and probably also in the years 1360-1400.
L'Anse aux Meadows was using 20 - 100 years, for 70-90 peoples in 8 buildings with iron making, carpentry, smithing, boat repair. It would have taken 60 men of two months, or 90 men of one month and half to build of the structures of the settlement.
"The remains of eight buildings were located [L'Anse aux Meadows]. They are believed to have been constructed of sod placed over a wooden frame. Based on associated artifacts, the buildings were variously identified as dwellings or workshops. The largest dwelling measured 28.8 by 15.6 m (94.5 by 51 ft) and consisted of several rooms. Workshops were identified as an iron smithy containing a forge and iron slag, a carpentry workshop, which generated wood debris, and a specialized boat repair area containing worn rivets.
Besides those related to iron working, carpentry, and boat repair, other artifacts found at the site consisted of common everyday Norse items, including a stone oil lamp, a whetstone, a bronze fastening pin, a bone knitting needle, and part of a spindle.
The presence of the spindle and needle suggests that women were present as well as men.
Food remains included butternuts, which are significant because they do not grow naturally north of New Brunswick, and their presence probably indicates the Norse inhabitants travelled farther south to obtain them [Miramichi]. Archaeologists concluded that the site was inhabited by the Norse for a relatively short period of time."
Recent archaeological studies suggest that the L'Anse aux Meadows site is not Vinland itself but was within a land called Vinland that spread farther west-south from L'Anse aux Meadows, extending to the New Brunswick. The village at L'Anse aux Meadows served as an exploration base and winter camp for expeditions heading southward into the New Brunswick for butternut shells and a butternut burl found at L'Anse aux Meadows.
The settlements of Vinland mentioned in the Eric saga and the Greenlanders saga:
Leifsbudir (Leif Ericson) - close to Miramichi Bay [like Dr. Stuart C. Brown];
and Hop (Norse Greenlanders) - Nova Scotia, southern shore close to Guysborough.
A Viking settlement in Vinland was in New Brunswick. This is because the two Sagas focusing on Vinland narrate 5 settlements or camps south of Labrador, such as the repair station at 'Kjalarnes' (north tip of Cape Breton) and Leif's settlement at 'Leifsbudir' in 'Vinland' [Miramichi].
The camp at 'Vinland' was not at L'Anse aux Meadows. One reason is that the Sagas explain that the Vikings named Vinland after their discovery of grapes there. Wild grapes grow in New Brunswick. Archaeologists found butternuts and a butternut burl cut by a metal tool at the ruins of L'Anse aux Meadows, and the northeast range of butternuts is in New Brunswick.
Brattahlid = Eastern Settlement at modern Qassiarsuk at the south end of Greenland.
Vestribygd of farms east and inland from Nuuk on Greenland's west coast.
Bjarney / Bear Island, Vikings found a bear on this island off the southeast coast of Markland / Labrador Peninsula. This is probably Belle Isle.
Helluland / Flat Stone Land, with glaciers and foxes, with no grass in one area = Baffin Island.
Markland / Forest Land, a flat wooded land 2-3 days south of Baffin Island. It must be the Labrador Peninsula.
The First Land on Bjarni the son of Hierulf's long journey west and south from Iceland, was a wooded land [south-east Labrador] with small hills, then turned his boat so that the land was on its left, portside, then sailed 2 days [to the north] and saw Markland [east-central Labrador].
Irland hit mikla = Hvitramannaland / Ireland the Great / White Man's Land - a land west of Ireland and near Vinland = Ari Marsson found it by sailing 6 days west from Ireland. Ari would have arrived in Newfoundland, which is comparable in size to Ireland and on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
Kjalarnes / Keel Ness / Peninsula, northeastern Cape Breton Island. In the Greenlanders' Saga, the Vikings sail southwest from Markland = south-east Labrador's Peninsula, discover Vinland west of a northward cape, build Leifsbudir [Miramichi], and later sail back eastward [along Prince Edward Island to Cape Breton Island and then to western shore of Newfoundland]. On their trip back eastward, they break a ship's keel on a peninsula south of Markland [northern Cape Breton], and then camp there a long time to repair it. They name the Peninsula 'Kjalarnes' [northern tip of Cape Breton].
In Eric the Red's Saga, the Vikings sail southward from Markland [south Labrador] and find a peninsula with a keel, so they name the peninsula 'Kjalarnes' = Cape Breton.
Later, an eastward wind blew Vikings to the WEST [Prince Edward Island] but trying to sail north and west to Miramichi. From the north end of Cape Breton Island. They could see hills for 20 miles. In Eric the Red's Saga, the Vikings try to sail west from Kjalarnes [Cape Breton] to get to Leifsbudir [Miramichi], and the Vikings built Leifsbudir in the Greenlanders' Saga, so Leifsbudir in Eric the Red's Saga is east of Leifsbudir in the Greenlanders' Saga [but both settlements in the Miramichi Bay and Miramichi River].
Furdustrandir = Wonder Shores, these are long sandy shores to the east of Kjalarnes. Maybe around Channel-Port aux Basques at south-west Newfoundland.
Krossanes / Cross Ness / Point is across a fjord [the STRAIT between Cape Breton and Newfoundland] and east of Kjalarnes [northern Cape Breton], so it could be the south-west end on Newfoundland.
In the Greenlanders' Saga, the Vikings sail southwest from Markland = Labrador Peninsula and sight land, and come to an island, ness, river, and lake [Miramichi]. Archaeologists found butternuts at L'Anse aux Meadows, along with a butternut tree burl cut with a metal knife from Miramichi Bay. The river could be the Miramichi River, and the lake could be a bulky area of the Miramichi River around Beaubears Island at the river.
Straumfjord / Straumsfjordr / Current Fjord, is a fjord with very strong currents and an island at its mouth, and it's east and south of Kjalarnes [north-east tip of Cape Breton Island]. The Vikings make a settlement there and Gudrid gives birth to Snorri there. This is the strongest currents in eastern Canada around Cape Breton Island and Straumsfjordr is STRAIT among Newfounland and Cape Breton Island.
Hop = Tidal Pool Estuary, the Vikings reach it by sailing southward along the ocean coast from Staumsfjordr. The Vikings make a settlement there too, but eventually abandon it after a conflict with the Amerindians, who come in skin canoes. Hop (Norse Greenlanders) = Nova Scotia, south-east shore close to Guysborough. The cape where the Vikings let their cattle graze heavily after the Vikings abandon Hop. This cape [Cape Auguet] is between Hop and Straumsfjordr.
The One-Footer's Land - the Vikings sail west from Kjalarnes [from Cape Breton to Prince Edward Island] and arrived at the mouth of a westward flowing river [Charlottetown]. A one-footed Amerindian attacks them with a ball and they chase him north [from north to the south] to his mountainous home region. His home region's mountain range [north-east Nova Scotia] connects to Hop's mountain [eastern Nova Scotia], and Straumsfjordr / Straumfjord is midway between the One-footer's home [Prince Edward Island] and Hop [sail by sea around Cape Breton Island from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia = HOP / HUP].
The 'One-Footed' image could be an allusion to the Amerindian ball-tossing weapon.
The One-Footed land is located on Hillsborough Bay, an arm of Northumberland Strait, at the mouths of the Elliot (west), North, and Hillsborough rivers.
Jasper stones used for starting fires that were concluded to have been of Greenlandic origin have been found in the largest hall but the stones were taken from eastern Newfoundland.
Jasper stones was took from around Shoe Cove, the Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, just 7 km from La Scie.
Possible Norse hunting pits have been excavated near Sop's Arm. Watson Budden, a local resident, showed these in 1961 to Helge Ingstad, the archaeologist who investigated L'Anse aux Meadows, the only Viking settlement to be attested in North America, which is approximately 200 kilometres away. His nephew Kent Budden assembled a collection of suspected Norse artefacts in the area and displayed them in a Viking museum. Kevin McAleese, a curator of archaeology and ethnology at the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, led an investigation of the pits in 2010 and has said that no other cultures in the area are known to have use deadfalls to hunt, but doubts Budden's artefacts are Norse.
No farming was done at the L'Anse aux Meadows site.
New archaeological evidence in 2013 suggests Vikings, around 1,000 years ago, journeyed from L'Anse aux Meadows, their settlement in Newfoundland, to Notre Dame Bay, further south on the island. Chemical analysis of jasper fire starters found at L'Anse aux Meadows indicated the jasper originated in Notre Dame Bay. This discovery supports the possibility of contact between the Norse and the ancestral Beothuk people, who inhabited the Notre Dame Bay region at that time.
This fire starter would have been struck against steel, creating sparks and starting a fire. Over time it wore down and was discarded. Chemical analysis of two jasper fire starters unearthed at the site of L'Anse aux Meadows, suggests that the raw material to make them came from the Notre Dame Bay area of Newfoundland. 'This area of Notre Dame Bay is archaeologically the area of densest settlement on Newfoundland, at that time, of indigenous people, the ancestors of the Beothuk,' said Kevin Smith of Brown University. Smith thinks it's possible that the Norse and the ancestral Beothuk may have made contact when the Norse traveled from L'Anse aux Meadows. Other trips may have taken them to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where they may have obtained butternut seeds of Miramichi.
By Rachel Morgan, MA Medieval Archaeology:
Since Anne and Helge started digging, around 800 artifacts have emerged from L'Anse aux Meadows including
iron nails, a soapstone spindle whorl, and a bronze ringed pin.
The ringed pin was telling. The Vikings adopted ringed pins from Ireland. They used them to fasten clothing.
A spindle whorl, a bone needle, and a glass bead.
Excavations in the 1970s recovered wood fragments consistent with repairing ships as well.
The member of Leif's crew, Tyrkir the German, found grapes in a forest near their settlement [around Miramichi River]. Leif christened the place Vinland-Land of Wine.
Chemical analysis of two jasper fire starters ['podpalki jaspisowe' / gemstone] found at L'Anse aux Meadows showed that the artifacts came from the Notre Dame Bay region [330 km south to aux Meadows, on the east Newfoundland], raising questions about the connections of the Vikings in Newfoundland.
Three pieces of wood offered further insight into the history of L'Anse aux Meadows. The wood was made of fir and juniper ['jodla' and 'jalowiec']. The wood fragments had been cut with an iron blade and tossed into a pile of trash. Archaeologists found them centuries later. Studying the tree rings, scholars determined that the wood had been felled around approximately 1021 CE at the Miramichi shore / Bathurst.
The L'Anse aux Meadows archaeological excavation has determined that the Norse settlement at the site was active between approximately 990-1050 AD [1001-1040s]. This conclusion was reached through carbon dating of wood samples and artifacts found during excavations, including those conducted by Anne Stine Ingstad.
The northern limit of wild grapes in Canada, specifically the Vitis riparia species (riverbank or wild grape), extends into northeastern New Brunswick. The northern limit of wild grape growth in New Brunswick is generally considered to be near Dalhousie. While grapes are found as far north as the mouth of the Restigouche River, and even in some spots near Dalhousie. Wild Grape Vines are found in the warmer parts of New Brunswick, along riverbanks, along hedgerows and forestland. BUTTERNUT particularly in areas like Victoria County and the Saint John River Valley. Butternut trees are also found in the Upper Southwest Miramichi River valley.
Juglans cinerea, commonly known as butternut or white walnut - acc. to Wallace - and great rivers lead inland, among them the Miramichi, along which butternuts and wild grapes, Vitis riparia, grew in pre-contact times, in deciduous forests dominated by oak and maple. In north Newfounland excavators also found birch bark rolls ['kora brzozowa'] and fragments of rope made from twisted spruce roots ['korzenie swierka']. With one exception, the waste [at Newfoundland] consisted of local woods: balsam fir and northern pine, with some larch (tamarack), birch, and alder. The exception was a butternut burl, cut with a sharp knife. A few broken objects lay within the wood waste: a barrel lid, the floor plank for a small boat, an auger bow, a birchbark cup, treenails, and a few objects whose function has not been determined (A. E. Christensen).
The artifacts at the Newfoundland site are more specialized than those typical of family farm sites in Greenland or Iceland; the buildings have relatively large living areas, plenty of space for storage and specific work areas. The extensive living space would have served an unusually large concentration of people. The exposed location of the settlement, on the open sea of the Strait of Belle Isle, suggests that seafaring was the most important function of the settlement. The burl of butternut wood (cut with a sharp metal knife and then discarded) and three butternuts, recovered from the carpentry waste, prove that some of the Norse who overwintered at L'Anse aux Meadows had been farther south. Butternut or white walnut, 'Juglanscinerea', is a North American species of wood but is not indigenous to Newfoundland. Its northern limit lies about latitude 47 north degree, in the inner Miramichi region of north-eastern New Brunswick, along the Saint John River and in the St. Lawrence River valley, west of Baie St. Paul, Quebec (Adams, 2000). Finds of butternuts at L'Anse aux Meadows are significant and confirmed MIRAMICHI.
This debate can now be closed: the presence of butternut wood and nuts at L'Anse aux Meadows proves that the Norse did, in fact, visit areas where grapes grew wild. The sagas also speak of 'vinvid', or 'grape trees', which were felled and shipped back to Greenland as a prime cargo. This has puzzled many scholars, who have even pictured grapes on vines in vineyards and attempted to explain why the Norse would bring vines back to Greenland.
Erik's Saga mentions two Norse settlements in the New World:
STRAUMFJORD in the north;
and HOP located in the south.
Straumfjord was described as a year-round base camp;
while HOP was considered a summer camp where lumber [= timber / 'budulec'] and grapes were collected.
Straumfjord is almost certainly L'anse Aux Meadows due to the archaeology matching the descriptions in the Sagas. The settlement was used ca 1000 until ca 1040.
During the summers in Straumfjord [here ca 1001/1002 until 1040s], the Norse would explore the region by ship and boat. That ventured to the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence characterized by warmer waters and lots of hardwood forests with plenty of animals.
We are believe HOP was most likely located on the New Brunswick shore of the gulf Miramichi [here ca 1001/1002 until 1021].
At Greenland was only 2000 vikings in the 11th century and around 4500 in the 12th century. But hardwood was taken by Greenlanders to Greenland since around 1000/1002 until 1340s [Markland in Lake Melville - Sandwich Bay with long beach among named gulfs]. Southern Greenland was visited by Danish geographer in 1420s. In 1470s Greenland and Labrador were re-discovered by Azores sailors.
Hop was in the Miramichi-Chaleur Bay region.
New Brunswick is the northern limit of grapes, which are not native either to Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia. Archaeological evidence also suggests there would have been a strong stock of wild salmon in the region at the time. Butternut trees, which are native to New Brunswick, have been found in excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows, alongside pieces of white elm, beech, white ash, and eastern hemlock, which, again, can be found in New Brunswick. That area known as Vinland or Hop in the sagas, a settlement of Norse in Canada is likely in Miramichi, NB as it matches the saga description almost perfectly. From the saga description of Hop we know the following:
- wild wheat in low lying areas,
- wild grapes on the hills,
- salmon, BUTTERNUT;
- wooden palisade built around farm,
- on a hill,
- inland lake fed by a river with sandbar to ocean,
- across from large island (PEI),
- built houses above the lake on a hill, other huts near the shore,
- MAPLE tree;
- noticed natives in boats coming from south, so settlers are on north side,
- battled natives up river where they faced a cliff wall.
The evidence for Viking Age pole lathes is in their products: turned bowls and vessels, and the "turning cores" left when producing these items. A number of turned wood finds have been found in Anglo-Scandinavian contexts in the York excavations, ranging from wide-mouthed bowls to closed cups, most in various unidentified soft woods, others in field maple (Acer campestre) or oak (Arthur MacGregor, Anglo-Scandinavian Finds from Lloyd's Bank, Pavement, and Other Sites, pp. 145-147, 155).
Looking at just a few furniture finds from Dublin, this range of wood types can be plainly seen (James T. Lang, Viking Age Decorated Wood): Maple - 8945, a squared maple baulk that was originally part of the back or side of a chair, bench or rack. Looking at wooden remains from York (Carole A. Morris, Wood and Woodworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York): Maple - spouts and spigots for casks or buckets (p. 2258-2260); spoons (p. 2268).
The Viking Age wood-carvers possessed this knowledge as appears, for instance, from the fact that maple was used for the animal head posts with the finest details. Maple is the hardest of all the native Norwegian woods, and these minute, exquisite details could not have been cut in any softer material.
Another surviving chair consists of the back only, found in Lund, Sweden, and dated between 1000-1050 A.D. The cross-pieces are beech, while the remainder is maple wood. Inf. in 2018 - Furthermore, the landscape in the Miramichi-Chaleur bay area has changed, and any Viking site (or sites) could be paved over.
With the Miramichi River, you have salmon.
In 2019 - Viking expert certain Norse seafarers visited Miramichi, Chaleur Bay. The presence of foreign logs cut by European tools near a Viking. Butternut tree suggests Vikings 'went well beyond L'Anse aux Meadows,' amateur historian says Jordan Gill, CBC News in 2019.
The butternut tree is found along the lower St. John River Valley and was once quite bountiful before over-harvesting. This tree is found in New Brunswick, but not in Newfoundland. The presence of foreign logs cut by European tools near a Viking settlement makes Tim McLaughlin, secretary of the New Brunswick Historical Society, believe that Vikings harvested the logs in New Brunswick. Vinland is described as a paradise, with high tides and grapes and warmer than Greenland, which the Vikings also explored. "They found wild grapes, they found big trees, they experienced extremely high tides, they encountered a lot of wildlife a lot of salmon and different fish, whales and so forth," said McLaughlin.