Norse settlements in Greenland were established after 986 CE by settlers coming from Iceland. The settlers, known as ( in Icelandic and not to be confused with modern Greenlanders), were the first Europeans to explore and temporarily settle North America. They appear to have developed their own dialect of Old Norse, now called Greenlandic Norse, not to be confused with the Eskaleut Greenlandic language. The Thule people, ancestors of modern Greenlandic Inuit, began migrating into Greenland around 1200 CE, bringing advanced Arctic maritime technologies that allowed them to thrive in the environment and eventually becoming the dominant population by 1300 CE. The Norse settlements existed for about half a millennium before they were abandoned for reasons that are still not entirely clear.
Despite their disappearance, Denmark–Norway, apparently believing the Norse settlements had still survived, continued to claim sovereignty over Greenland despite the lack of contact with the Norse. In 1721, Denmark–Norway sent a missionary expedition to Greenland, with the intent to reinstate Christianity among descendants of the Norse settlers; however, no Norse were found, and the missionaries instead baptized the Inuit inhabitants.
Historical record The sources on the settlement of Greenland are sparse. The main sources are the Íslendingabók by the scholar Ari Thorgilsson, the Landnámabók (the land seizure book) by an unknown author, but probably written with Ari's involvement, the anonymous Grænlendinga saga (Saga of the Greenlanders) and the also anonymous Saga of Erik the Red. But there is also information about the inhabitants of Greenland in other works; these are: the Flóamanna saga (Story of the People of Flói), the Einars þáttr Sokkasonar (Story of Einar Sokkason), the Króka-Refs saga (Story of Fox the Cunning), a more novelistic tale from the 14th century, the Fóstbrœðra saga (The Story of the Oath Brothers), the story of Olaf Tryggvason in the Heimskringla, the Konungs skuggsjá, and Adam of Bremen.
Individual messages can also be found in the Icelandic annals, which are reproduced in translation below. Geographical notes about Greenland (Gripla, Landabók and others) remain unmentioned here. Three Inuit stories about the Norsemen have been passed down in oral tradition. They were recorded in the 19th century and published by Hinrich Johannes Rink under the title Eskimoiske Eventyr og Sagn in Copenhagen 1866–1871. Even though these stories are very legendary and fairytale-like, they still represent the only evidence of the memory of Inuit on this topic. From the 14th century, the most important source is the description of Greenland by Ívarr Bárðarson, who stayed there for several years. The Skarðárannáll by Björn Jónsson á Skarðsá also enjoys a high reputation, although some dating errors can be found in later additions. Written sources can be confusing, for example, it is not possible to determine whether a date is 1406, 1456 or 1460.
There are no sources written in Greenland itself. There is no Greenlandic collection of laws, no chronicles, no annals of any kind. This absence is particularly noticeable after 1300, when few sagas were written, and accounts of earlier events are unreliable.
Original documents have varying credibility. Adam praises the Danish king Sven Estridson for his scholarship and confesses that he learned many important facts for his book,Adam III, 54. but his description of Greenlanders, whom he describes as "pale green like the sea," from which Greenland gets its name,Adam III, 37. is obviously fabulous. The news found in Rimbert's Vita Ansgarii that Pope Gregory IV had also appointed Ansgar of Bremen legate for GreenlandVita Anskarii 13. and that Pope Nicholas I had commissioned him to proselytize in Greenland,Vita Anskarii 23. is considered a later, false insertion. However, Adam's news that Archbishop Adalbert had ordained the first bishop Ísleifur Gissurarson for Iceland and also for Greenland is sound. Some accounts are derivative because they have been obviously taken from other sources. Other texts are obviously fictitious, but their embedding in Greenlandic society can accurately reflect the conditions there as a background.
Ari Thorgilsson writes in his Íslendingabók that he got his information from his uncle, who had a good memory and who spoke to someone in Greenland who had sailed to Greenland with Erik the Red.Íslendingabók Kap. 6.
Archaeology has now produced results that can be used to check individual reports.
Discovery of Greenland
The Viking expansion in the Early Middle Ages had its roots in two main social characteristics. The inheritance law in force among the Nordic peoples at the time favoured the firstborn son. When new arable and pastureland in Scandinavia could no longer be developed due to the relatively dense settlement, the only alternative left to those born later was to build up their own property outside the established structures. This was promoted by the high value that personal daring, willingness to take risks and physical resilience had in the local society. With advances in shipbuilding around the 8th century, the tools became available to travel to the edge of the known world and found settlements there.
The springboard for the settlement of Greenland was the settlement of Iceland. According to current estimates, 50,000 to 60,000 people lived in Iceland in the 10th century. A stable social structure had been established and good land was in legally secure ownership. This stable distribution of land, several years of bad harvests and a famine provided the setting to look for new settlement areas in the 970s.
Around 900, the seafarer Gunnbjörn Ulfsson was on a voyage from Norway to Iceland and his ship drifted towards a western coast, probably in the area of today's Cape Farewell (Cape Farvel) on the southern tip of Greenland. He had sighted icebergs, skerries and a desolate, inhumane landscape and therefore did not go ashore.
Erik the Red acquired the Haukadalr farm on the Icelandic Breiðafjörður (Breidafjord; near today's Búðardalur in northwest Iceland) through marriage. The Althing sent him into exile for three years for having committed murder. The Landnámabók reports that in 982 he sailed west from the Snæfellsnes peninsula with the outlaws Þorbjörn (Thorbjörn), Eyjólfr (Eyjolf) and Styrr (Styr) to find Gunnbjörn Ulfsson's land. He reached the Greenland coast at "Miðjökull" (Midjökul; probably today's Amassalik in East Greenland), then sailed south and rounded Cape Farvel to find suitable land for settlement. He spent his first winter on an island off the south coast. According to the Íslendingabók, he found traces of settlement there, which probably came from the Neo-Thule culture (skrælingjar).
The following spring, Erik sailed further north and entered a large fjord that was named Eiriksfjord (Eriksfjord, and now Tunulliarfik Fjord) after him. At the end of the fjord, at a latitude of around 61°, he founded his farm Brattahlíð (Brattahlid) in the most climatically favourable area of Greenland. First he built a rectangular wooden hall. From there he undertook several exploratory trips that took him beyond the Arctic Circle to what is now Disko Bay. The following year he sailed back to Iceland.
He managed to win over approximately 700 people by convincing them that they would find lush pastures and the best conditions for settlement in "Green land", as he called the newly discovered land. The chosen name was euphemistic, but probably not entirely unrealistic. Warming has also been proven elsewhere during this period and is called the "Medieval Warm Period".
The group departed Iceland with 25 ships, of which, according to the description in the land acquisition book, 14 reached the Greenland coast. The farms built by the first settlers on the Eriksfjord formed the core of the Eastern Settlement.
Settlement and consolidation of society
Icelandic sources suggest that at least three more fleets carrying settlers reached Greenland in the following 14 years. The Western Settlement was built about north of the Eastern Settlement, but it always had to exist under less favourable conditions. By 1000, practically all climatically feasible areas of Greenland were populated.
The Norse settled in three separate locations in south-western Greenland: the larger Eastern Settlement, the smaller Western Settlement, and the still smaller Middle Settlement, around Ivittuut, (often considered part of the Eastern one). Estimates put the combined population of the settlements at their height between 2,000 and 10,000, with recent estimatesN. Lynnerup, in trending toward the lower figure. Archaeologists have identified the ruins of approximately 620 farms: 500 in the Eastern Settlement, 95 in the Western Settlement, and 20 in the Middle Settlement.
It is very likely that Erik the Red held a leadership position in the early days of the colony. In contrast to Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, Greenland was never politically organised as a coherent state. There is no evidence of an official leadership personality for the subsequent period. But the chief in Brattahlíð (Brattahlid) can be said to have a special influence due to its central location and tradition. Since the 14th century, Brattahlíð provided the Lögsögumaður, the speaker of the law; it is not certain whether he performed the same function as in Iceland.
Although according to tradition Erik the Red was not a Christian, the colony was soon Christianized. However, the Íslendingabók and the Grænlendinga saga (Saga of the Greenlanders) unanimously report that at the first settlement Herjulf Bårdsson (Herjolf), a companion of Erik, had a Christian from the Hebrides on board. According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Erik's son Leifr (Leif Erikson) brought Christianity to Greenland around 1000. The Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (Story of Olaf Tryggvason) reports the same thing in the Heimskringla. According to this report, he already had a priest with him. The Grœnlendinga saga did not mention him, but the fact that the wife of Erik the Red, Þjódhild Jorundsdottir, (Thorhild, after the baptism Þjóðhildr – Thjodhild) had a small church built some distance from the court makes the very early presence of a priest appear credible. Apart from a few small amulets, there is no archaeological evidence of the practice of pagan rituals.
Christian churches and chapels have been excavated on numerous farms, including the Church of Brattahlíð, to which the Grœnlendinga saga's account of the little church of Thjodhild fits exactly. These churches were built by the respective landlord, and he was therefore – initially – also entitled to the taxes payable by the parish. Until the 11th century, Greenland was under the Archdiocese of Bremen. The Grœnlendinga saga reports that in 1118 the colony sent Einarr Sokkason to Norway to persuade King Sigurðr Jórsalafari (Sigurd the Jerusalem Rider) to assign Greenland its own bishop. The first Greenlandic bishop was Arnaldr from 1126, whose presumed remains were unearthed under the floor of the church of Garðar (other assumptions go to Bishop Jón Smyrill, died 1209). Several other bishops followed, for whose support significant benefices were set up. Around 1350 the church owned the largest farm and around two thirds of the best pasture land.
The last Greenlandic bishop died in 1378. A successor was also appointed for him, but he refused to give up the relatively comfortable living conditions in Norway and travel to inhospitable Greenland. He was represented there by a vicar. He and his successors did not forgo the Greenlanders' Church tithe.