Greenland
When Erik returned to Iceland he spoke of a land to the west that was rich in natural resources and sheltered within its fjords, this was, of course, Greenland. There is a myth that Erik gave it that name to attract eager settlers and disguise the fact that it was little more than a glorified ice berg, this is false. Ice core samples and pollen preserved from 950 AD actually indicate that southern Greenland was relatively temperate. Accounts even suggest that it was heavily wooded.
Ivory sculptures of Viking Berserkers, made in Norway circa 1150
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Above are the ruins of Hvalsey Church, one of fourteen parish establishments in the Eastern Settlement
Erik set sail for the new land with twenty five ships, of these only fourteen arrived. Regardless, a thriving colony of four thousand soon sprung up. Men flocked to Greenland in search of land, and walrus ivory. Walrus ivory was in high demand in Europe before the crusades, and become the largest export of both the Greenland and Iceland colonies. It was usually used for the creation of jewelry and sculptures. |
The Norse weren't the only humans inhabiting the island, however. There was also a great population of Thule Inuits that lived further north in the frozen land unsuited for the European lifestyle. They would occasionally stumble into Norse settlements, usually emaciated and poorly fed. This lead to the Europeans labeling them with the slur Skraelingar, or weaklings, in English. It was not uncommon for the two peoples to clash. Ultimately as Greenland froze over, and the Norse ran out of farmland the Thule finished off the starving Europeans in one of history's finest examples of the need to treat your neighbors kindly.