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Download as PDF; Printable version; ... Norse colonization of North America (3 C, 28 P) Pages in category "Sagas of Icelanders"
Flateyjarbók is the largest medieval Icelandic manuscript, comprising 225 written and illustrated vellum leaves. It contains mostly sagas of the Norse kings as found in the Heimskringla, specifically the sagas about Olaf Tryggvason, St. Olaf, Sverre, Hákon the Old, Magnus the Good, and Harald Hardrada.
Although the idea of Norse voyages to, and a colony in, North America was discussed by Swiss scholar Paul Henri Mallet in his book Northern Antiquities (English translation 1770), [92] the sagas first gained widespread attention in 1837 when the Danish antiquarian Carl Christian Rafn revived the idea of a Viking presence in North America. [93]
Like the Saga of Erik the Red, it is one of the two main sources on the Norse colonization of North America. The saga recounts events that purportedly happened around 1000 [1] and is preserved only in the late 14th century Flateyjarbók manuscript. The Saga of the Greenlanders starts with Erik the Red, who leaves Norway and colonizes Greenland.
The Saga of Erik the Red, in Old Norse: Eiríks saga rauða (listen ⓘ), is an Icelandic saga on the Norse exploration of North America. The original saga is thought to have been written in the 13th century. It is preserved in somewhat different versions in two manuscripts: Hauksbók (14th century) and Skálholtsbók (15th century).
It was only recently (start of 20th century) that the tales of the voyages to North America (modern day Canada) were authenticated. [16] Most sagas of Icelanders take place in the period 930–1030, which is called söguöld (Age of the Sagas) in Icelandic history. The sagas of kings, bishops, contemporary sagas have their own time frame.
The name Vinland, meaning "Wineland," is attributed to the discovery of grapevines upon the arrival of Leif Eiriksson in North America. The Vinland Sagas represent the most complete information available regarding the Norse exploration of the Americas , although due to Iceland's oral tradition, they cannot be deemed completely historically ...
Bjarni is believed to have been the first European to see North America. The Grœnlendinga saga (Greenlanders Saga) tells that one year he sailed to Iceland to visit his parents as usual, only to find that his father had gone with Erik the Red to Greenland. So he took his crew and set off to find him.