Mystery Of The Vanished Settlers Of Greenland - What Happened To The Lost Viking Colonists?

[Judi Lynn]

July 22, 2023

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - In 985, Viking explorer Erik the Red led a group of Icelandic farmers to Greenland, where they established a settlement on the west coast. The Norse settlers strove through winter cold, food shortages, and, in the end, a shifting climate. The remnants these people left behind show they were determined to survive at the foot of this vast, icy, and challenging wilderness. Nevertheless, finally, seemingly suddenly, they vanished, and their mysterious disappearance in the fifteenth century has posed a riddle to scholars ever since.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the settlement existed for over 400 years, but the impact of the settlement lasted much longer. It is little recognized today that the hope of finding the descendants of the settlers dominated European and American perspectives on Greenland for centuries

In his new book The Vanished Settlers of Greenland: In Search of a Legend and Its Legacy, Associate Professor Robert Rix argues that the lost Norse settlement played a decisive role in Denmark’s efforts to colonise Greenland during the 18th century.

The Danish colonization of Greenland in the 18th century was partly driven by the desire to re-establish contact with early Norse settlers that vanished from the island during the 15th century. Legends about the Norsemen – and their wealth – circulated in Western culture and led to a race towards Greenland to find them, argues Robert Rix.

More:
https://www.ancientpages.com/2023/07/22/mystery-of-the-vanished-settlers-of-greenland/