The Cold Counsel: The Women in Old Norse Literature and Myth (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) by Sarah M. Anderson & Karen Swenson

Author:Sarah M. Anderson & Karen Swenson
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781134821457
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2013-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

4. Vínland

The experiment in Greenland was repeated in Víland. The same problems occurred, hut the experience was telescoped, lasting only a single generation. As in the other phases under scrutiny, the Norse exploration of the New World began as a chance discovery by a single skipper thrown off course because of bad weather. It was followed by expeditions aimed at exploration that consisted only of men who brought "weapons and provisions" (vápn ok vistir), but did not intend to stay. These, in turn, were followed by efforts at colonization, as livestock, tools, and women were stowed on the small ships. It is unimportant whether it was Bjarni or leifr who accidentally discovered America. In the first case, Leifr subsequently took on the task of exploration and built houses in the New World.86 If Leifr was the accidental discoverer, the task of exploration was handled by his two brothers, Þorvaldr and Þorsteinn. The two accounts agree that Þorvaldr died from a wound inflicted by an Indian, and that Þorsteinn failed to reach the New World.

The true colonization started with Þorfinnr karlsefni. Arriving in Greenland with two ships and a large crew, his original intentions may have been trade, but after his marriage to Guðríðr his thoughts turned toward permanent settlement. The prospects in the New World seemed more promising than in Greenland. Guðríðr encouraged him to go, suggesting that she also was willing to start afresh in a new place. According to Er, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, the illegitimate daughter of the famous Greenland discoverer, participated in Karlsefni's expedition, the only successful colonization experiment in Vínland according to this account. Among the four completed voyages to the New World mentioned in Gr, it is the last, here led by Freydís, that concerns me at this point. According to both versions of this (or these) expedition(s), women other than Guðríðr and Freydís were included.87 One source mentions sixty men and five women (Gr, IF 4.7:261) and the other one hundred and sixty people in all but without specifying gender (Er, ÍF 4,8:222, 423). In Freydis's case, each of the two ships was to include thirty men and an unspecified number of women (Gr, IF 4.8:264). The colonists brought "livestock of all kinds, for they intended to make a permanent settlement there if possible" (Gr, IF 4.7:261).

Despite good intentions, expectations did not turn out well. One problem was misunderstandings with the natives. On a previous exploration, the Norse had already killed several natives. Nevertheless, there is little doubt about the Indians' initial friendly attitude during the colonization phase. Wanting to trade furs, they hoped for weapons in return, but they were willing to settle for milk and red cloth.88 Friendly exchanges continued despite the natives fear of the Norsemen's large animals, in particular a bellowing ox. When the Norse killed a native, relations turned hostile, eventually providing reason for the return home to Greenland,

More importantly, however, by provoking hostilities and by not remaining long enough to resolve them, the Norse precluded sexual and reproductive contacts

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