1261-1500







Greenland, 960-1261



Greenland is said to have been discovered in the 10th century by Viking sailors from Iceland; in 986, ERIC THE RED, fleeing from Iceland, settled on Greenland's western coast, establishing a Viking settlement colony consisting of three village settlements, that was to last into the late 15th century.
The Greenland Vikings, finding a lack of essential raw materials such as timber on their island, ventured further south; the GREENLAND SAGA reports on their discoveries (LEIF ERICSSON) and attempted settlement, excavated at L'ANSE-AUX-MEADOWS on the northern tip of Newfoundland. However, this settlement was of short duration.
Greenland was christianized (under pressure from Norway) and a bishopric was established with seat in GARDAR in the central settlement (c.1125). In 1261 the island community accepted Norwegian sovereignty; at that time the population of Greenland Vikings was about 3,000.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Biography of Leif Ericsson, from The Viking Network
Dale MacKenzie Brown, The Fate of the Greenland Vikings
The Norse History of Greenland 982-1500 , timetable from Greenland Guide The Vikings in Greenland, by William Bakken
DOCUMENTS Greenland Saga, from Project Runeberg, in Icelandic


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 8th 2004

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