In the Scandinavian sagas, there is a mention of the distant fertile land of Vinland, which is located southwest of Greenland. Historians see Newfoundland in the description of this region, and in the Vikings - the first Europeans who discovered America.
Who discovered America?
The discoverer of America was far from Columbus and not even Leif Erickson, who called one of the parts of the New World Vinland. The first European to see the coast of the New Continent was a Scandinavian merchant named Bjarni Herjulfsson. According to the Greenlandic Saga, Bjarni sailed from Iceland towards Greenland in 985 to see his father, from the first generation of colonialists. But his ship went off course in a violent storm. Since Bjarni had never been to Greenland before, having lost direction, he swam at random.
A few days later, they swam to land with low hills. Continuing their voyage, after two days they saw the island. The coast was flat and covered with forests, which, according to Bjarni, was completely different from Greenland. Historians believe that according to the description it could be the eastern coast of America.
It was late summer, and Bjarni decided not to spend the winter in unfamiliar land with a small crew. He did not go ashore and headed back to Greenland. Finally arriving, after a long wandering at his destination, he told his story to the discoverer of Greenland, Eric the Red and his son Leif Erickson, who would become the first Vikings to enter American soil, and named it Vinlad.
From Greenland to America
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Of course, Leif and his crew were driven by more than a sense of adventure. Greenland is known to be a country poor in resources, and life there did not seem like paradise. The unknown lands covered with forests must have seemed promising to the exiles from Iceland. Without thinking twice, Leif assembled a crew of 35 and sailed from the coast, presumably on a small wooden ship of the Knorr type.
The first land they saw was completely rocky, with mountains in the depths. Leif gave her the name Helluland ("land of boulders"). Today, scientists tend to see Baffin's land in her description. The next shore, found by the travelers, was more hospitable: "it was a flat land covered with forest and with long sandy beaches along the coast." It was named Markland ("boundary land"), presumably the Labrador Peninsula, or its southern part. Subsequently, this land was used for the extraction of timber, which is so poor in Greenland.
From there the mariners sailed to the South, and kept this course for a long time, until they reached the shores of fertile lands, which were so rich that "the cattle did not need additional feeding in winter, and where there was practically no cold weather." The new territories were completely covered with rivers and lakes, where there was no shortage of fish, especially salmon. Days and nights, unlike Iceland and Greenland, lasted the same time. Here they decided to stay for the winter, founding two settlements: the northern one - Straumfjörðr, and the southern one Hóp. The newly discovered land was named Vinland.
Fairyland Vinland
Today, despite the fact that traces of medieval Scandinavian settlements are found in many places along the east coast of North America, the location of Vinland remains a mystery to scientists to this day, as, in general, and the etymology of the name. The most famous decoding of the name "Vinland" was suggested by the medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen, in his book "Descriptio insularum Aquilonis", he argued that the name comes from a huge number of wild-growing grapes. The only catch is that there were no grapes in possible places of settlement, which could be located in the territories from Newfoundland to Naragansett Bay, due to climatic conditions.
True, historians have their own explanations for this. Firstly, the events described refer to the medieval warm period (X-XV centuries), when the water temperature was one degree higher, and therefore there was the possibility of cultivating grapes even in northern latitudes. It is also assumed that the discoverers called gooseberries and blueberries grapes, from which they later made wine. Secondly, the theory of misinterpretation is not excluded, which says that the word "vin" in the title was misinterpreted, and that in fact, "Vinland" comes from the Old Norse word with the short "i" vin meaning meadow or pasture. In that case, L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland would be perfect for the description.
Another "all explaining version" says that Vinland could be located south of the found archaeological settlements of the Scandinavians, where grapes really grow, but this place has not yet been found. And, finally, proceeding from the principle "an apple is not far from an apple tree", it is assumed that Leif Erickson, following the example of his father, who called Greenland a "Green Country", in order to attract settlers there, also deliberately exaggerated the prospects of new lands to encourage them. visits by other colonialists.
At the moment, the most reliable is the location of Vinland in Newfoundland, in the already mentioned place of L'Anse aux Meadows, where a Viking settlement of the 11th century was discovered in 1960. According to preliminary estimates, 50-100 people lived in Newfoundland, who did not stay here for a long time and left the island after a few years.
Winlada Map Riddle
Just three years before the sensational archaeological discovery, a private collector offered Yale University a purported 15th-century medieval map based on an earlier but lost 13th-century manuscript. On a piece of parchment, in addition to the images of Africa, Asia and Europe, which are standard on early maps, the shores of North America, its two straits, Iceland, Greenland and Vinland were inscribed, with the promising inscription “VinilandaInsulaaByarnorepertaetleiphosociis”, which means “Vinland Island, discovered by the satellites Bjarni and Leife ". Hence the promising title of the manuscript - "Map of Vinland".
In addition to numerous interesting facts, the date of the discovery made by the Scandinavians was indicated on the map - 999, which is 493 years ahead of the Great Geographical Discovery of Columbus.
As a result, after two years of doubts, the card was bought by university graduate Paul Mellon, who attracted the staff of the British Museum to study it. But, neither the chemical analysis of the ink, nor the numerous other scientific tests that were carried out with the card, could not prove its authenticity or fake.
Experts - doctors Rene Larsen and Jacqueline Olin, who have studied the document for more than 5 years, referring to the composition of ink characteristic of the medieval era, as well as to the presence of traces of long-term storage in the manuscript, believe that the text is genuine. The British amateur historian John Paul Floyd disagrees with them, who called the map a fake, due to the too detailed coastline of Greenland, which, in his opinion, was not so well known at the time of the alleged creation of the Vinland map. The outcome of this dispute over the authenticity of the document, which could shed light on Vinland's enigma, is still unclear. As well as the question remains open, where, in fact, on the territory of North America was located this mysterious land, which was chosen by the Vikings, who discovered the New World long before Columbus.