Vinland: Difference between revisions

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'''Vinland''' was the [[Norse]] name for a rich and verdant land beyond [[Greenland]]. Until the mid-[[20th Century]] it was generally dismissed as a fantasy. However, in 1960, the remains of a small Norse settlement was discovered in L'Anse Aux Meadows, [[Newfoundland]]. Archaeological evidence showed that the [[viking|Norsemen]] were driven out by a series of attacks by the local [[Native American|Native Americans]], likely the ancestors of the [[Beothuk]] first nation.
Pedantically, somewhere the Vikings said that they'd landed, beyond Greenland, where it was warm enough for vines to grow (hence the name -- unless we are talking 'Vin the Viking').


[[Leif Eriksson]]'s [[saga]] names these people the [[Skraeling]], roughly meaning "savages".
Generally nowadays reckoned to be a small area on the Atlantic coast of Canada, where one archaeological team say they have found traces of Viking-age settlement, of a Viking pattern, as opposed to indigenes.

=Vinland in the SCA=
This name was appropriated by the [[Barony of Skraeling Althing]] in the [[Kingdom of Ealdormere]]. An "althing" is a meeting or parliament, so it was thought that Skraeling Althing would be an appropriate name for the [[SCA]] group found in the modern city of Ottawa, Canada, the nation's capital and location of its national parliament.
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Latest revision as of 07:37, 7 January 2008

Vinland was the Norse name for a rich and verdant land beyond Greenland. Until the mid-20th Century it was generally dismissed as a fantasy. However, in 1960, the remains of a small Norse settlement was discovered in L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Archaeological evidence showed that the Norsemen were driven out by a series of attacks by the local Native Americans, likely the ancestors of the Beothuk first nation.

Leif Eriksson's saga names these people the Skraeling, roughly meaning "savages".

Vinland in the SCA

This name was appropriated by the Barony of Skraeling Althing in the Kingdom of Ealdormere. An "althing" is a meeting or parliament, so it was thought that Skraeling Althing would be an appropriate name for the SCA group found in the modern city of Ottawa, Canada, the nation's capital and location of its national parliament.