Carry On Icelandic: Culture [selections] (2004)
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Landafundir - Nordic Discoveries
Landafundir
Á seinni hluta 10. aldar héldu Íslendingar vestur um haf í landaleit. Eiríkur rauði fann þá land sem hann nefndi Grænland "og kvað menn það myndu fýsa þangað farar að landið ætti nafn gott" (Ari fróði, Íslendingabók). Samkvæmt Landnámu kannaði hann Grænland í þrjú ár en sneri þá aftur til Íslands. Sumarið eftir nam hann land á Grænlandi. 25 skip fylgdu honum af Íslandi til Grænlands en einungis 14 komust á leiðarenda. Hin týndust í hafi eða sneru við. Landnemarnir settust að á vesturströnd Grænlands og var þetta landnám framhald landnámsins á Íslandi. Siglingar til Grænlands lögðust af í byrjun 15. aldar og þegar landkönnuðir komu þangað tveimur öldum síðar fundu þeir aðeins hrundar bæjarústir. Sagnir Inúíta segja frá mönnum á stórum skipum er hafi rænt mörgu norrænu fólki. Þó eru afdrif meirihluta landnámsmannanna á Grænlandi mönnum enn ráðgáta.
Í L'Anse aux Meadows á Nýfundnalandi í Kanada fundust húsarústir norrænna manna; myndin sýnir endurgerðar byggingar þeirra. (At L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland in Canada were found ruins of a Nordic settlement; the picture shows their reconstructed houses).
Skömmu eftir landnámið á Grænlandi var Bjarni Herjólfsson á leið þangað en hraktist af leið og sá lönd á austurströnd Norður-Ameríku. Leifur Eiríksson, síðar nefndur Leifur heppni, fór í könnunarferð til þessara landa og nefndi þau Markland, Helluland og Vínland. Vínlandsferðir urðu ekki tilefni landnáms á meginlandi Ameríku en landkönnuðirnir reistu sér þar skála og komu sér fyrir á meðan þeir könnuðu landið.
Talið er víst að Helluland sé Baffinsland og Markland sé Labrador en fræðimenn greinir á um hvar Vínlands sé að leita. Nokkrir hafa bent á Nýja England sem líklegasta staðinn en þeirri skoðun hefur vaxið fylgi að Vínland sé á Nýfundnalandi eftir að rústir fundust í L'Anse-aux-Meadows á norðurodda Nýfundnalands sem þykja benda til vistar norrænna manna þar. Nokkrir hafa einnig bent á að St. Lawrence flói kæmi einnig til greina í þessu sambandi.
Sagt er frá ferðum norrænna manna til Grænlands og Vínlands í Grænlendinga sögu og Eiríks sögu rauða.
Nordic Discoveries
In the latter part of the tenth-century, the Icelanders made their way westwards by sea in search of land. There, Eríkur "rauði" (Erik the Red) found a country which he named Greenland, "and said that men would wish to go there if the land had a good name." (from Ari the Wise, Íslendingabók) According to Landnámabók (The Book of Settlements), he explored Greenland for three years but then returned to Iceland. The following summer he settled in Greenland. Although 25 ships left with him on the voyage from Iceland to Greenland, only 14 made it to the end of the journey. The others perished at sea or turned back. The settlers established themselves on Greenland's west coast, and the settlement was a continuation of the one in Iceland. Sailing to Greenland fell away at the beginning of the fifteenth century and when explorers arrived two centuries later they found only ruins. Inuit stories tell of men on large ships kidnapping many of the Nordic people. However, what the actual fate of the majority of the Greenland settlers was remains a mystery.
Shortly after the settlement of Greenland, Bjarni Herjólfsson was on his way there when he was driven off course and sighted land on the east coast of North America. Leifur Eríksson, later named Leifur "heppni" (the Lucky), undertook an expedition to these lands and named them Markland, Helluland, and Vínland (that is, Forest Land, Table Land, and Wine Land). The Vínland expeditions did not prove to be the basis of a settlement on the mainland of America, but the explorers did construct cabins for themselves and were settled there while they explored the country.
It is thought to be certain that Helluland is Baffinsland and that Markland is Labrador, but scholars are divided about what area Vínland refers to. Some have named New England as the most likely place, but support has grown for the view that Vínland is Newfoundland after ruins were found at L'Anse-aux-Meadows at the northern point of Newfoundland, Nordic remains which seem to point to a Nordic settlement there. Others still have pointed out that some place in St. Lawrence Bay could also be likely candidate.
The travels of the Nordic people to Greenland and Vínland is described in Grænlendinga saga (Saga of the Greenlanders) and Eiríks saga rauða (Saga of Erik the Red).
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