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I: A battle between Vikings and Skraelings

As well as colonising both Iceland and Greenland the Vikings also discovered America, which they called Vinland, in about 986, some 500 years before Columbus. At the beginning of the 11th century they - established short-lived colonies in Newfoundland—at L'Anse aux Meadows—and, probably, in Labrador. Although evidence is sketchy, it would seem that occasional expeditions from Greenland continued thereafter until at least the 14th century, apparently for timber, which was in extremely short supply in Greenland; indeed, the Vikings actually called one part of Vinland by the name Markland ('Forestland'), and this is usually identified with the coast of Labrador.

The principal reason for the failure of their attempts at permanent settlement was clearly the hostility of the Skraelings ('Wretches' or 'Screechers'), as the sagas call the Indians and Eskimoes alike. Eirik's Saga records how, after a skirmish with them in which two Norsemen and four Skraelings were killed, the leader of one expedition realised 'that although the land was excellent they could never live there in safety or freedom from fear, because of the native in­habitants. So they made ready to leave the place and return home.' From the sagas we know that these Skraelings were dark-skinned, with 'untidy, coarse hair', large eyes and broad cheeks; they were armed with slings, and quartzite- and flint-headed spears and arrows; were dressed in skins; and attacked the Viking ships with flotillas of skin canoes. Anthropologists have tentatively identified them with the extinct Micmac or Beothuk Indians, related to the Algonquins. The Skraelings re­sponsible for the eventual extinction of the Greenland settlements were Eskimoes rather than Indians.

J: Late Vikings

These three figures bear witness to the gradual evolution of Scandinavian military equipment in the course of the 12th century, which brought it into line with that now employed throughout mainland Europe. J1 is a Hebridean, from the Lewis chess pieces of c.1175; J2 is a Norwegian, from the Baldishol tapestry of c.1180; and J3 is an Icelander, from the carved wooden doors of Valthjofsstadir Church, c.1200. It can be seen that conventional long 'kite' shields had by now replaced the old traditional round type; and that mail armour was in general use amongst the new knightly warrior caste that had begun to evolve under Western influence. Nevertheless, more often than not, sea-battles were still fought from longships in the time-honoured fashion, and land-battles were still fought on foot by close-packed men armed with sword, axe and spear as in earlier times. Indeed, in the sagas, which were first being set down in writing at about this time, there is absolutely no difference between de­scriptions of battles fought in the 10th century and those fought in the 12th. Scandinavian warriors may now have dressed like knights, and Chris­tianity may have done something to reduce their savagery; but at heart they were still undeniably Vikings.



Further reading

There is a vast quantity of books generally available covering every aspect of Viking history, society and art. The following brief listing is restricted to those which the author found to be of the greatest value during the course of his research:


1. Bertil Almgren (Ed), The Viking, 1975;

2. Holger Arbman, The Vikings, 1961;

3. Ian Atkinson, The Viking Ships, 1980;

4. Johannes Brondsted, The Vikings, 1971;

5. P. B. du Chaillu (Trans), The Viking Age, 1889;

6. Frank R. Donovan, The Vikings, 1970;

7. R. T. Farrell (Ed), The Vikings, 1982;

8. G. N. Garmonsway (Trans), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1975;

9. Michael Gibson, The Vikings, 1972;

10. Helge Ingstad, Westward to Vinland, 1974;

11. Gwyn Jones, A History of the Vikings, 1968;

12. T. D. Kendrick, A History of the Vikings, 1968;

13. Ole Klindt-Jensen, The World of the Vikings, 1970;

14. Samuel Laing (Trans), Heimskringia (3 volumes), 1961—1964;

15. H. R. Loyn, The Vikings in Britain, 1977;

16. Magnus Magnusson, Viking Expansion Westwards, 1979;

17. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson (Trans), Njal's Saga, 1971, and The Vinland Sagas: The Morse Discovery of America, 1965;

18. Eric Oxen-stierna, The Norsemen, 1966;

19. P. H. Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings, 1971;

20. Jacqueline Simpson, Everyday Life in the Viking Age, 1967;

21. J. H. Todd (Trans), The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, 1867;

22. D. M. Wilson, The Vikings and their Origins, 1971;

23. D. M. Wilson and P. G. Foote, The Viking Achievement, 1970;

24. Michael Wood, In Search of the Dark Ages, 1981.

 


[1] The living victim had a number of ribs chopped away from his spine, and his lungs pulled out through these massive wounds, to lie pulsing on his back like red wings until he died


Date: 2015-12-11; view: 786


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