Last Vikings

Kirsten A. Seaver is an independent historian who has taught at the University of Stanford. She has also worked as a novelist and a translator and her work has been published extensively in both English and Norwegian. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London, her previous publications include 'Maps, Myths, and Men: The Story of the Vinland Map' and 'The Frozen Echo'.

• IntroductionChapter 1: No forwarding addressPhysical description of Greenland • The push westwards • Additional source material • Modern voices of gloom and doom. Chapter 2: Eirik the Red knew where to go Medieval geographical knowledge • Eirik the Red goes west • Norse navigation •A daring real estate venture • Dividing up a new land • Eirik the Red settles in •Establishing homes in the wilderness • Brattahlid then and now. Chapter 3: Forging a new homeland A new society takes shape • Putting food on the table • The role of domestic animals • Adapting to Greenland • Cows versus sheep and goats • Cultural distinctiveness •Fuel • Slaves and hired hands • Social structure • Voyages to the High Arctic •Missing resources. Chapter 4: Leif Eiriksson explores another new landNo game of chance • The men in charge • Reaching the other side • Life at L’Anse aux Meadows • Discovering Vínland grapes • Follow-up voyages • Encountering Vínland natives • The aftermath.Chapter 5: The fictional Norse in North America Prince Madoc of Wales • Earl Henry Sinclair of Orkney • The Westford stone • The Newport Tower • The Kensington Rune Stone • The Spirit Pond stones • The Vinland Map • Norumbega. Chapter 6: Who were the Skrælings? The spherical world picture • Monstrous races of the Far North • The West had finally met the East • Norse interaction with Arctic natives.Chapter 7: Relations with Church and CrownGeographical independence • Christianity reaches the Northwest Atlantic • Imported from The British Isles • Organized Christianity • Greenland becomes a diocese • Greenland priests • Royal pressure from Norway • The sea was still the highway • Small royal impact on Greenland • Tithes and taxes increase • Ívar Bárdarson’s mission • No more resident Gardar bishops • Did the Greenlanders lose their Christian faith? Chapter 8: Foreign tradeMarketable Greenland commodities • Walrus ivory kept its value • Early markets and trade routes • Consolidation of the European markets • The Hanseatic League • Norse Greenland and Norwegian trade legislation • The art of ‘drifting off.’ Chapter 9: Contact with IcelandDisease: an unwelcome travel companion • Norwegian politics in Iceland • End of the Icelandic commonwealth • Iceland under the new rule • Björn Einarsson ‘Jerusalem-Farer’ and his circle • Sigrid Björnsdaughter • The Black Death • Thorstein Olafsson plans his future • Leaving Greenland in 1410 • From Norway to Iceland • Another transfer of royal power. Chapter 10: The English in the North AtlanticEnglish focus on Iceland • King Eirik comes to power • Thorstein Olafsson’s circle and the English • Moving westwards • Where was Thorstein in 1419-1420? • Tantalizing archaeological evidence • In Iceland meanwhile – – • A further sea change • Sharpened conflict with the English • The English tighten their grip • Passing the generational torch • The English encounter a headwind.Chapter 11: Where did the Norse Greenlanders go?Papal laments • Other end game scenarios • Changes in animal husbandry • Choices • Greenland and the North Atlantic economy • John Cabot’s successors • The early cartographic record • Claudius Clavus • Larsen’s fantasy • Portuguese experience and the 1502 ‘Cantino’ map • English experience and the 1507/08 Ruysch map • João Fernandes, llavrador • João’s Bristol contacts • Tracing João Fernandes and Richard Warde.Chapter 12: Who went looking for them?Erik Valkendorf’s Greenland plans • Erik Valkendorf and Ívar Bárdarson • Ívar’s wider sphere of influence • The ‘new’ Greenland emerges • Misplaced, but not forgotten • Early post-Valkendorf attempts to reach the Norse • Concerted efforts by Christian IV • Claus Christoffersen Lyschander (1558-1624) • Changing priorities • Hans Egede (1686-17