Greenland, Vinland and the Vinland map - part 1

From: Inger E. Johansson (inger_e.johansson_at_telia.com)
Date: 03/22/05 

Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:10:05 +0000 (UTC)

ARCHAEOLOGY AND WRITTEN SOURCES.
PART 1 HISTORIANS, WRITERS AND EYEWITNESS
Some myths live longer than other. It seems as if there are those who
believes that if a lie is told long enough by as many as possible the
myth must be true. From a scientifically point of view it’s sad to hear
such mantra repeated over and over no matter which myth we are putting
up for discussion.

As scholars of History knows the translation,transcription of a Medieval
or Ancient document doesn’t tell the full truth about the past. It’s
essential to piece together as many sources for an event in the past as
possible but not only that, it’s also essential to have at least access
to a work dealing with as many versions, copies, of a now missing source
where the scholar who wrote the work present a good analyse why B3 and
C1 seems to go back to a B1 now missing if they aren’t copied directly
from the now missing origin etc.

Of course it would be fine had everyone had a chance studying the origin
or the MSS copies themselves. That’s not possible. Thus we have to do
the best we can. It’s not always possible to read a Medieval or an
Ancient text in origin language, let alone from the origin itself. No
trustworthy scholar can lean to other scholars work referring to this or
that scholar without having done at least an attempt to find out her- or
himself if the referred scholar used quotes and references in a way that
is the same as the origin source text admits. That’s not always the case
and many myths lives on due to one scholar leaning to an other instead
of reading, analysing and searching for correlating facts presented in
more sources than one..

In the Greenland, Vinland and Vinland maps questions too many myths
still walks around in latest scholarly works. Those works will be
discussed later on in article. Before I have chosen to take up some of
the Prime source material up to 1450 for the Greenlanders, Greenland,
Vinland but also for the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish History to be
discussed with new questions asked to ‘old’ knowledge.

One of these myths is the myth that there aren’t many contemporary
documents neither for the older nor the later Greenlandic History and
that the Icelandic Sagas and Annals are the best we have to tell about
this. That’s not true. In reality there are many contemporary sources
which can be used as Prime Sources for lot more than what they have been
thought to. What needs to be done is analysing each single source one by
one in the light of what the other contemporary sources might tell.

ADAM OF BREMEN
A good example of this is Adam of Bremen’s information about Vinland
from 1070’s. Written long before any of the Icelandic saga’s were
transcribed from oral traditions to written form. Adam of Bremen’s Gesta
Hammaburgensis Ecclesiæ Pontifieum (note 1). We know little or nothing
about Adam himself before he in 1068 arrives in Bremen. He must have
been well educated. Not only could he read and write Latin, from his
quotes and references in the work we know that he was familiar with many
of the older historians and chronicle writers, he uses them to add
information presented by eyewitnesses, documents he had access to in
Hamburg-Bremen, he also give geographic and religion-historic
information for Europe in his own time. Examples of historians and
chronicle writers Adam quote or refer to are: Cicero, Einhardt, Gregory
of Tour, Horace, Orosius, Venerable Bede and Virgil.

Adam was invited by Bishop Adalbert of Bremen and held the position as
Magister Scholarum at the Bremen See. Within the first years of his
arrival he travelled to meet the Danish King Svein Estridson. Svein
Estridson was the son of Estrid, sister to Canute of Denmark, and Jarl
Ulf. Estrid and Canute was born in the marriage of Svein Barkbeard and
Gunhild widow of Erik Segersäll who in that marriage had born Olof
Skötkonung. King Svein Estridson is the main source for Adam’s
information about Scandinavia, Greenland and Vinland.

SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY
Before Svein Estridson is discussed, I would like to present some
essential background information re. the political and historic
‘situation’ of Scandinavia in 11th century. While the earliest accounts
and documents dealing with Scandinavia goes back to 475 BC, if not far
back in history, we can’t say anything about when in time the
Scandinavian groups gathered together to form the countries we today
know as Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

When Tacitus(~55-120) in his work Germania wrote: "Suionum hinc
´civitates, ipso in Oceano, practer viros armaque classibus valent
........ quia subitas hostium incursus prohibet Oceanus.", we can’t be
sure if Tacitus refer to a ‘Sweden’-country’s inhabitants or ‘Svear’ a
group from mid Sweden. (Tacitus, Germania 44; Note 2).

It’s more likely that Ottar who met King Alfred and told him about a
voyage southward from Northern Norway and large groups of people spoke
of groups that might have called themselves Swedes, Norwegians and
Danes.

"Burgundan habbað þone (ilcan) sæs earm be westan him; Winedas; Sweon be
norþan; be eastan him sint Sermende, be suþan him Surfe. Sweon habbað be
suþan him þone sæs earm Osti; be eastan him Sermende, be norðan him ofer
þa westenne is Cwenland; be westannorðan him sindon Scridefinnas; be
westan Norðmenn"(King Alfred 1883 page 16, note 3)
and
"Weonoðland him wæs on steorbord on bæcbord him wæs Langaland Læland
Falster Sconeg, þas land eall hyrað to Denemearcan. Þonne Burgenda land
wæs us on bæcbord þa hybbað him sylf cyning. Þonne æfter Burgenda lande
wæron us þas land þa synd hatene ærest Blecingaeg Meore Eowland Gotland
on bæcbord, þas land hyrað to Sweon" (King Alfred 1980 page 16-17, note
4)

It’s essential to remember that todays three countries inhabitants in
8th and 9th century hardly were living in countries from a Modern point
of view. When the Icelandic Heimskringla, Islendingabook and the Sagas
speaks of Norway, Sweden and Denmark before 12th century they are
neither written in time of the events described nor in location. In
other words none of the Icelandic Sagas so often used by scholars for
information about Scandinavia and Greenland are written by a person who
has had first hand information or been an eyewitness himself to the
event. There are one exception and that is that Are Frode is said to
have heard what he tells about Greenland from an uncle who been sailing
with Eirik the Red. While this can be disputed from time perspective to
be true, it might well be correct. Never the less we can’t use anyone of
the Icelandic texts for reliable information about the Scandinavian
History up to Viking Age.(Note 5)

What we got is information from Annals, Chronicles and some of the first
Norwegian Diplomas. Due to the complex family situation of Scandinavia
and Russia some of our information can be gained from Russian Chronicles
as well as West European Annals and Chronicles. Svein Estridson
mentioned above was the son of Estrid, sister of King Canute. The two
later shared same mother Gunhild, from the Obodrites in Poland, with
Olof Skötkonung of Sweden. Olof Skötkonung had a daughter Ingegerd who
in her youth had been engaged to the Norwegian King Olav(the Holy) but
by her father had been given away to their distant relative Jaroslav of
Novgorod. Ingegerd is the Russian Saint Anna who’s life and living is
well documented in Russian sources. Her and Jaroslav’s children and
their grandchildren got married to Royal Houses in almost all parts of
12th-13th century Europe.

Looking at some of the houses where Swedish and Norwegian Varjags were
living in Staraja Ladoga in 9th to late 10th century and in Novgorod
during 11th century reveals an other type of ‘Scandinavian houses’ for
this period then the longhouses style.(Artsikhovsky 1967 page 6-12;
Nosov and others 1993 page 29ff;Note 5). A quick look show simularities
between the houses the Scandinavina Varjags and Rus lived in and the
Late Dorset houseruins found in Labrador Canada in the places where
Deslien marked Norse settlements on his maps.(Deslien 1544).

SVEIN ESTRIDSON
The validity of Adam’s words depend on the possibility for Svein
Estridson King of Denmark to have been able to present first hand
information about Greenland as well as about Vinland. How much knowledge
could Svein Estridson have had about those distant Norwegian landparts?
For this we must look into two of the rarely used sources texts before
analysing their background. First there is Historica Norvegiæ written in
1180’s by a monk in Bergen mostly identified as Thjodrik. Thjor*** is
known as the "Præsmonstafenser-Kannik rosolymam" who wrote ‘profectio
Danorum in Hierosolyman.(Langebeks Scirptores V 341-62). Around 1620
Kirshmann found and copied the origin text. On that as well as on the so
called Stephanius copy from 1640, also thought to be copied from the
origin text, there are notes linking the kannik with ‘Theodrici monachi
hist. De ant. Reg. Norw.’(Storm 1880, page V). 1200 is a bit late for a
text to be used as a Prime Source for information to King Svein’s life.

‘HELGANES’
"Variis deinde conflictationibus inter se agentes Magnus et Sveino plura
proelia gesserunt in diversis locis, quorum maxima ista fuerunt: apud
Helganes…" (Historia Norwegica, 1880 page 48, )
and
"oc andaþese Knutr fvrri, en Amgnus toc þa uiþ Danmore fvr vtan
gagnmæli. Þviat svner bartþu manna uoro i gislinginne. Enn þa er Sveinn
sunr Ulfs oc Astriþar systor Knúts rikia spurþi þetta i Englandi. Þa
aflaþi haun allauega hers er hann matti, en Magnus at moti oc funuse a
scipom uiþ nes þat er callat er Helganes oc heido bardaga oc flvþi
Sveinn til Vinlandz"(Agrip 57-58; Note 6)
Then there is Ivar Bardson’s words:
"Item øster lennger till isbergenn ligger en haffn som heder Fimbuder,
saa kallit forthi at vdj Sancti Oluffs tiid brød ther et skib, som
almindeligh røgt ganger end vdj dagh vdj Grønland, och paa det skiib
vaar Sancti Oluffs smaa suend, och hand drucknede ther med
andre…."(Bardarson Ivar, Finnur Jónsson’s edition 1930, page 21 line
5-13)

What we got is a possible indication for that there might have existed a
now lost source which say that Svein Estridson did go to Greenland and
Vinland. But wait a minuit. There is something in the words of Ivar
Bardson which together with the note about King Magnus which might help
us a bit further. There is a note about St Olav’s young son. King Magnus
was the son of St Olav. Olav Haraldson, also called Olav ‘den digre’ had
in his youth been engaged to Olof Skötkonung’s daughter Ingegerd. When
Ingegerd was given to Jaroslav of Novgorod, Olav Harldson instead
married Ingegerd’s sister Astrid. Contemporary sources say that Astrid
was the mother of Ulfhild and Magnus, but according to Snorre
Sturlason’s version of Olav den Heliges Saga(Snorre, chapter 1-4) Magnus
was an out of wedlock son. Magnus was born in 1024 and died in 1047.
Svein Estridson (born c. 1020 AD) son of Estrid who was younger sibling
to King Olof Skötkonung and Magnus mother Astrid, daughter to King Olof
Skötkonung were relatives. Svein’s father Ulf was killed on demands by
his uncle Canute in 1027.

>From 1027 Svein visited his cousin Anund Jacob who was King of Sweden.
Canute had earlier in 1020’s tried to win Norway. In 1026 Canute had
been defeated by an army of Norwegians under Olav Haraldson(the Holy)
and Anund Jacob, but in 1028 King Olav the Holy had to flee Norway after
an uproar by the Norwegian Noblemen. King Olav and his son Magnus moved
to Novgorod via Sweden. When King Olav returned to retake the Norwegian
thrown he left Magnus in the care of Ingegerd, Olav’s former fiancé
married to Jaroslav. With Swedes who helped him Olav unfortunately met
an army of Norwegian farmers, upper-classes and noblemen. He died in
Stickelstad 1030.

If it hadn’t been for Historia Norwegica, Agripa; Bardson’s ‘Det Gamle
Grønlands Beskrivelse, and the so called Traditionelle St Olav’s
Legenden, there mightn’t have been a possible proof for King Svein to be
a reliable source for the information Adam of Bremen gives regarding
Vinland.(Adam Second book chapter 26 line 197). Now it happens that both
these rather late sources, Thjor*** and Bardarson, also can be used
together with Norwegian Diplomas from 11th century to support Adam of
Bremen’s hints that King Svein had first hand knowledge of Greenland and
Vinland.(Adam forth book chapter 38-39).

Now there is one passage in Adam of Bremen’s book which it seem that
been forgotten. I have worked with this from the Swedish translation
made by Emanuel Svenberg.(Adam 4th book chapter 38-39 note 7). I will
give you the Swedish translation for that passage here(It’s in the
Vinland chapter):
"Om detta antecknade Martanus följande: ‘Efter en enda dags segling är
havet bortom Thule hårdfruset.’ Nordmännens vittbereste furste Harald
har nyligen erfarit detta. När han med sina skepp ville utforska det
nordliga havets utsträckning, höljdes inför hans ögon världens yttersta
gräns i töcken,…"

Quick translation from the Swedish edition: "About this Martanus wrote
as follows: ’After on single day’s sailing the sea beyond Thule frozen
hard.’ The Norwegian’s travelled King Harald saw this recently. When he
and his ships were to explore the Northern sea’s extence, this world’s
outher border was covered in fog,…"

Of course many who have read this haven’t reacted or they have thought
that the passage referred to the father of Olav the Holy, but it doesn’t
it refers to King Harald Hardrade. King Harald was married to a daughter
of Ingegärd/Anna, daughter of King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden, and
Jaroslav of Novgorod. He was halfbrother to Olav the Holy. Svein
Estridson on the other end had King Olof Skötkonung as an uncle and
spent most of his childhood and youth at the Swedish court of King
Olof’s son Anund Jacob. King Harald returned from Byzans via Novgorod to
claim half of Norway from King Magnus. This can be read about in many
east-European souces. At this time King Harald and Svein Estridson still
were friends. Earlier King Magnus and Svein had been best friends but
that didn’t last and it was Svein who had called on Harald from Byzans.
It was after a fight in Denmark Svein Estridson fled to Vinland. Thus
Svein had own knowledge as well as what he had been told by King Harald
Hardrade before they became enemies.

All this might seem out of place for archaeologists, but as many of you
know there have been artifacts from Greenland area found or at least
described in Byzans as well as in Egypt and China. The information above
give you the background why cargo was sent from Greenland via Bergen and
Novgorod eastward and southward. If you look closer at those artifacts
as well as the documents about them you will find that some definitely
must have an NA origin.I will return to that in part 3 of these
articles.

So what did King Svein tell Adam about Greenland and Vinland:
" Sunt autem plures aliae in occeano insulae, quarum non minima
Gronland, profundius in occeano sita contra montes Suediae vel Riphea
iuga. Ad quam ferunt insulam a littore Nortmannorum vela pandi quinque
aut septem diebus, quemadmodum ad Island. Homines ibi a salo cerulei;
unde et regio illa nomen accepit; qui similem Islanis vitam agunt,
excepto quod crudeliores sunt raptuque pyratico remigantibus infesti. Ad
eos etiam sermo est nuper christianitatem pervolasse.
Tercia est Halagland insula vicinior Nortmanniae Alii di***, Halagland
esse partem Nordmanniae postremam, quod sit proxima Scritefingis,
asperitate montium et frigoris inaccessibilis, magnitudine ceteris non
impar. Haec in estate circa solsticium per quatuordecim dies continuos
solem videt super terram et in hieme similiter per totidem dies sole
caret……. Praeterea unam adhuc insulam recitavit a multis in eo repertam
occeano, quae dicitur Winland, eo quod ibi vites sponte nascantur, vinum
optimum ferentes. Nam et fruges ibi non seminatas habundare, non
fabulosa opinione, sed certa comperimus relatione Danorum."(Note 8)

This wasn’t the earliest document where Vinland is mentioned, but it’s
important to have the background above before the cargo from Greenland’s
‘islands’ and what type of artifacts you can expect to find showing you
that the Norwegians where in many places outside LAM is mentioned. If
someone looks for wrong things it doesn’t matter if it’s in a library or
an excavation pit they are searching in.

NOTES AND COMMENTS
Note 1
Adam av Bremen, Historia ecclesiastica continens religionis propagatae
gesta, qvae a temporibus Caroli Magni, vsq[ue] ad Imp. Henricum IIII,
acciderant in ecclesia, non tam Bremensi, quàm vicina septentrionali
ferme vniversa, / scripta ante annos quingentos, à Adamo quodam, loci
istius canonico ; nunc recèns mendis vindicata, & `e tenebris in lucem
vocata studio & opera Andreae Severini Vellei. förlag/år: Hafniae
[kolofon:] Imprimebat Andreas Gutteruitz. Anno Salutis 1579. Impensis
Balthazari Kaus, bibliopolae Hafniensis M.D.LXXIX. 1579
One other edition used is:
Adami Bremensis gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiæ pontifieum: Codex
Havniensis Copenhagen, 1948
For the interpretation of what Adam of Bremen’s text actually say I
used: Adam av Bremen, Historien om Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar,
Stockholm 1984.

Note 2
Tacitus Publius Cornelius, Germania in "De vita Agricolae Rom. II Fasc.
I-II"
The edition I used for main parts of my valuation of Tacitus is Tacitus
Cornelius, Germania edited. Karl Büchner, Stuttgart 1985.
For comparing what the word ‘Suenos’ could have meant in 1st-2nd century
AD please compare 4.4 with 2.2. In the later look at ‘Marsons
Gambrivious Suebos Vandlios’ which in two of the known copies is written
‘Suenos’

Note 3
King Alfred´s Orosius, ed H. Sweet, London 1883
Ottar who told these to King Alfred was a Norwegian Kven from northern
Norway. The Kvens mentioned in older sources aren’t the same as the
Finno Urgic group who moved into northern Norway in late Medieval Age
who up to 650 AD had lived north of Moscow. As seen Ottar’s language
wasn’t Old-Finnish.

Note 4
the Old English Orosius ed Janet Bately Oxford 1980

Note 5
Artsikhovsky AV, The archeological Study of Novgorod, Novgorod the
Great, London 1967
Nosov Eugenie, Ribina Elena och Janin Valentin; Novgorod, i Vikingarnas
Rusland 1993
Two other works used during the study:
Kirpichnikov Anatoly och Nazarenko Vladimir, For tidens Staraja Ladoga,
i Vikingarnes Rusland - Staraja Ladoga og Novgorod, Roskilde 1993
Sedov VV, Srednevekovaja Ladoga, Leningrad Nauka 1985

Note 6
Many scholars link Helganes to the area of the Vandals, but

Note 7 Adam of Bremen, Historien of Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar,
Stockholm 1984

Note 8
Most of those who read the Latin text of Adam’s believe as the owner of
<http://homepages.tesco.net/~trochos/vinland/adam.htm> (14th March 2005)
that Adam has made a mistake and that it’s not Vinland and other North
American areas that Svein talked about.

© Inger E Johansson, Gothenburg 2005. 

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