The norse settlements at Greenland

[Savage]

The norse settlements at Greenland

"It happens in Greenland...that all that is taken there from other countries is costly there, because the country lies so far from other countries that people rarely travel there. Every item, with which they might help the country, they must buy from other countries, both iron and all the timber with which they build houses. People export these goods from there: goatskins, ox-hides, sealskins and the rope...more here;
http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage...greenland.html


The sudden disappearance of this civilisation has for long been a mystery, but late researc has stated that it probably was a few extreme cold winters on a row, and no summers between.

The lifestock froze to death, and for those that survived, there were little to feed on. The wild game suffered also, so there must have been stride with the inuites about the little that still was available.

more;
http://www.europhysicsnews.com/full/.../article1.html

But what we know, is that the population during this 400 years rised to a number about 5000. These were explorers of nature, and also of need, and they had to know their domain well.

When we know that sailing form Norway to Iceland at best could take a week or two, often longer, sometimes shorter time, and sailing from Iceland to Greenland can be done in 2-3 days if good bearing and finding the streams. From Greenland it is again done to sail in 2-3 days if lucky, to reach the coast called Helland.

We also know that all imported goods from the olde world was very expensive on Greenland, specially timber. I do not believe for a second that these brave pioners keept on paying bloodprice for a such basic good, when they could puchase all they wanted just just a few days of sailing south.

They did not only sit there for 400 years, but according to their nature, they probably knew every inch of their local coasts, and the coasts and islands within reach must have been explored and well known to them. One reason that there is little documented on this, may be the need to keep traderoutes secret from competitors.

But just a little logic. They knew Vinland and the way there for 400 years, does it sound logic that these never again visited Vinland after the Norse colonization at New Foundland collapsed? When they needed the goods, and it was as close as Iceland?

According to norse mentality, it is very hard to believe that they should not have visited Vinland as often as they needed its goods.

[Savage]

Norsemen at Havøy?

Helge Ingstad, the man that documented the norse settlements in Vinland, did in no way have an easy match on his great work. For many years, before he found the remains at L'Anse aux Meadows' at New Foundland, he was not taken too seriously by many.

Everybody knows that when shooting at something at distance, on have to aim higher than the target to compense for the gravitation and inertia. So let us in that spirit draw the lines a little bit longer, and speculate...

The Northwesternpassage are as we know it today, blocked with ice. But that changes form century to century, and scientologist have reported that the ice is melting so rapidly now, that regular shiproutes will be actual through it within few years. This will herold manifold changes, in tradepatterns, prices, and on the monetary value of the surrounding areas. Also the real value of the land will rise, it will be possible for plants to grow, where there were only ice before.

Also the ice of Greenland is melting, and that opens for taking out natural resources like oil, gas and minerals. Denmark and Canada are aware of this, and have the latest years enforced their claims. The Danes may sit back and relax and just watch the ice melting. It is calculated that this will reveal unthinkable treasures of oil and minerals. Norway may be rich today, but that will probably look quite modest related to what the danes may experience in 50-100 years from now . If I had money for long term investments, I would consider to buy land at Greenland for my heirs.

But back to the Northwestern passage, it have not always been icy. We know that the climate in periods the latest 1000 years has been warmer than today.
The passage may have been open, also during the 400 years of norse population on Greenland. If so, there is a fair chance that norsemen sailed through the passage, and continued south along the coast of Alaska. This is not exactly scientific, but in that case, it is not impossible that they may have drifted off into the Pacific ocean. And if so, it is not impossible that they even reached Hawaii....

…“After drifting 90 days and nights south of the the strait, they reached a island with a volcano in the middle. Sweet fruits was growing wild everywhere, and the climate was very hot and wet. Thore was the first to set his foot on this unbelieveable island, and he called it Havøy, because it was an island in the ocean.(Hav=sea, øy=island) later twisted to Hawaii.”

Another possibility,
“ After their journey to Vinland after more timber, they set the course northwards again. The timber was needed more than ever, cause the latest winters had been the coldest in mans memory. But as they sailed north, they found that the sea many places had frozen to ice, and made it impossible for them to return to Greenland. They decided then to sail south again and make a camp for the winter, and then return and try again next spring. They sailed as far south that no norseman ever had been, the sea got warmer, and new and strange birds, animals and plants occurred...”

It may be they liked it a lot, and did not bother to force through the ice again?
But this is of course speculations, for the time.

History are quite similar to icebergs, we can see a little bit of it, but the most of it remains unknown to us. There are so much more that we do not know, than we think we know. Helge Ingstad knew that, believed in himself, dedicated his time and efforts, and became one of the greatest explorers.

This salute goes to Helge!

The winter 1979 I joined the Alta-aksjonen, a civil disobedience demonstration to hinder our socialist government to destroy a landscape. The temperature was down to -35, it was late November. I had the pleasure to share tent with the great Helge Ingstad, and we had long and interesting discussions on his great work. He was very openminded, and we also had some discussions on the question if he had been incarnated earlier, as one of them that visited Vinland those days....

[Marulus]

The Norsemen of Greenland were still mentioned in some documents issued by the pope Alexander VI (end of 15th century), if I recollect it well. It was their last mention.