The Europeans Come to North America 4

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Figure 4.4 viking explorations. Vikings explored North America around 1000 CE.Thorvald the LucklessThorvald, Leif’s brother, did return toVinland, however. Thorvald arrived withsupplies and 30 men who were determinedto build a colony there. They wereimpressed with the pastures, the trees,the fish, and the wild fruit.The SagasMuch of what we know about Norse explorationand settlement comes from the Sagas. These arestories that were passed on from generation togeneration. At first, the stories were told orally.Later, the stories were written down. For manyyears, no one knew if the stories were true.However, archaeologists have found things thatcan be read about in the Sagas. Some of the Sagasare actually fun to read. In one, we learn that Leif’smother-in-law was named “Thorbjorg the shipchested.”We also find out that Leif’s father andgrandfather spent time in exile for murder.They also found out that the land wasalready inhabited. In the first recordedencounter with Aboriginal peoples ofLabrador, the Norse stumbled across ninemen sleeping under boats. They killed eightof them, but one escaped and returned withothers to fight the intruders. Thorvald waswounded and died as a result of this skirmish.Those who survived returned to Greenland.The Vinland settlementIn about 1012, a group of approximately160 Greenlanders sailed to Vinland toestablish a permanent colony there.Although they traded with Aboriginalpeoples, the two groups sometimes foughtand even killed each other. After a while,the Norse decided to leave Vinland andreturn to their homeland.The Europeans Come to North America 55
L’Anse aux MeadowsFor a long time, scholars believed that the Norsehad built a settlement in the place we now callNewfoundland. Many other people, however,thought this was just a story. Then, in 1960,archaeologists uncovered an ancient Norsesettlement in Newfoundland. This settlement iscalled L’Anse aux Meadows. It proved, for the firsttime, that Vikings had crossed the Atlantic Oceanand landed in North America around 1000 ce,500 years before any other Europeans would try.Is L’Anse aux Meadows the land that Leif namedVinland? No one knows for sure, although thereare several theories.Theory 1: The vin in Vinland refers to wine, orgrapes. Since no one has ever grown grapes asfar north as Newfoundland and Labrador, Vinlandmust be located in a yet-to-be-discovered placefarther south.Theory 2: L’Anse aux Meadows is Vinland.Vin refers to pastures, of which Newfoundlandand Labrador have plenty.Theory 3: Vin does refer to wine,or grapes. The Norse thoughtthe wild berries growing inabundance in the area, suchFigure 4.5 Artifacts such as these brooches and cloakpin have allowed historians to identify where the Norseexplorers landed in the New World.as crowberries, partridgeberries, and blueberries,would make good wine.Theory 4: Like father, like son? Greenland wasnamed by Leif Ericsson’s father, Eric the Red, eventhough it was treeless, cold, and wintry. He thoughtthat more people would come to live there if theland sounded like it was a warm and fertile place.Perhaps Leif Ericsson named L’Anse aux Meadows“Vinland” because he thought people would settlethere if they believed the place was warm enoughto grow grapes.Figure 4.6 Today, the historic site of L’Anse aux Meadows features buildings reconstructed to look like those from 1000 CE.Archaeologists have concluded that early Norse settlers lived in sod houses like those in the picture above.56 People and Stories of Canada to 1867 • Chapter 4
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