The main purpose of this paper is to examine how the Westviking were influenced by winter, snow and cold in their day-to-day life as they were making progress in the West.
The Case of the Greenlandic Assembly Sites
September 8, 2014 By
In the early 20th century, scholars identified two possible Greenlandic assembly sites at Brattahalíð and Garðar respectively. Later scholars, with one exception, have neither refuted nor corroborated this, and research on this topic has therefore not significantly moved forward in the last 100 years. In this article, the two proposed assembly sites are examined in the light of recent research.
Greenland Norse Knowledge of the North Atlantic
August 10, 2014 By
What did the Norse know about climate, and what was the role of driftwood in their lives?
Climatic Change and the North Atlantic Seaways During the Norse Expansion
June 24, 2014 By
In order to appreciate how the Norse expansion might have been influenced by climatic fluctuations it is necessary to consider in outline the mechanisms which control weather and climate in the North Atlantic area at the present day, and which also obtained in the past.
Navegación y embarcaciones en la época vikinga: diferentes fuentes para su estudio (Shipping and navigation in the Viking Age: different sources for study)
June 4, 2014 By
This article (in Spanish) is about Viking shipping and navigation.
Seals and Sea Ice in Medieval Greenland
May 5, 2014 By
With a view to placing such developments in the context of changes in the past, the focus of this paper is an interdisciplinary study of the interaction of different seal species in Arctic/North Atlantic regions with sea ice, and, more specifically, the implications for the Norse settlements in Greenland in medieval times.
Island Words, Island Worlds: The Origins and Meanings of Words for ‘Islands’ in North-West Europe
May 5, 2014 By
This paper proposes the notion that words mirror ideas, perspectives and world- views. Etymologies and meanings of general words for ‘islands’ in a number of languages in North and West Europe are then discussed.
From Asset in War to Asset in Diplomacy: Orkney in the Medieval Realm of Norway
May 5, 2014 By
This paper looks at how Orkney figured in Norwegian royal strategies in the west and presents key examples which show its transition from a tool of war to a forum for peace.
Norse cultural reaction to climate change during the little ice age and their societal collapse in Greenland
April 12, 2014 By
This study aims to understand the adaptations of the Norse Greenlanders to climate change in their new home.
Towards a first chronology for the middle settlement of Norse Greenland
March 30, 2014 By
The so-called Middle Settlement (Mellembygden) of Norse/Viking Greenland has received far less attention than either of its larger Eastern and Western counterparts.
Arctic encounters between Norse and Natives
March 3, 2014 By
Contact between the Norse and Native peoples in Canada’s Arctic was more extensive and earlier than first believed, according to recent archaeological evidence.
On the windy edge of nothing: Vikings in the North Atlantic World
December 29, 2013 By
With a focus upon the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, Kevin Edwards will present a select narrative of past and recent writings, archaeological enquiry and scientific research concerning the Norse settlement of the North Atlantic.
In the footsteps of the Norsemen
December 18, 2013 By
It was a land with plenty of opportunities when the Viking Erik the Red settled in Greenland over 1000 years ago.
Tooth-tool Use and Yarn Production in Norse Greenland
December 8, 2013 By
During a dental study of medieval Norse skeletons from Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, a distinct pattern of wear was observed on twenty-two anterior teeth of twelve Greenlanders.
North America’s First Contact: Norse-Inuit Relations
November 18, 2013 By
The interaction between the Norse and Inuit was sparse, at times hostile, and could have possibly doomed the Greenland colonies to extinction.
The Lost Western Settlement of Greenland, 1342
April 19, 2013 By
In the early 1340s, something was amiss in the Western Norse Settlement in Greenland.
The Place of Greenland In Medieval Icelandic Saga Narrative
January 23, 2013 By
This paper explores the accounts of Norse Greenland in the medieval Icelandic sagas, looking past the Vínland sagas to examine ways in which Greenlandic settings are employed in the ‘post-classical’ saga-tradition and other texts.
Greenland’s Viking settlers gorged on seals
December 17, 2012 By
A Danish-Canadian research team has demonstrated the Norse society did not die out due to an inability to adapt to the Greenlandic diet: an isotopic analysis of their bones shows they ate plenty of seals.
An island archaeological approach to the Viking colonization of the North Atlantic
October 28, 2012 By
The present paper is a brief exploration of the application of methods commonly used in the archaeological study of the Pacific and Mediterranean islands to the expansion of the Vikings across the North Atlantic during the ninth to eleventh centuries AD.
Early Religious Practice in Norse Greenland
October 17, 2012 By
How many Icelanders were Christian at the time of Greenland’s settlement? Were there any pagans? Did Greenland ever officially convert to Christianity and, if so, when?
Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns
June 25, 2012 By
A practical guide to making your own Norse Viking garment!
The World West of Iceland in Medieval Icelandic Oral Tradition
May 18, 2012 By
The Greenland of the sagas was a unique and at times strange place, lying somewhere on the boundary between the known, familiar Norse world, and an unfamiliar, exotic sphere beyond.
Vikings not alone when they crossed the North Atlantic – mice hitched a ride too
March 20, 2012 By
New research has revealed that when the Vikings sailed across the North Atlantic to places like Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland, they brought with them the common house mouse.
Furs, Fish and Ivory – Medieval Norsemen at the Arctic Fringe
July 22, 2011 By
Furs, Fish and Ivory – Medieval Norsemen at the Arctic Fringe By Christian Keller Journal of the North Atlantic, Vol. 3 (2010) Abstract: Why did the Norse Icelanders colonize Greenland in the late tenth century A.D., and why did they explore the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland? Was it a desperate search for farmland at […]
Greenland Norse Knowledge of the North Atlantic Environment
July 2, 2011 By
The aim is to document and discuss Norse knowledge of oceanographic phenomena including tides, non-tidal ocean currents, surface water properties, and sea ice.
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