2nd November 2025 6th December 2025 By Victor Rouă In

The Legendary Vinland: Between Fact And Fiction

The Norse discovery of North America is well-known and quite well documented throughout the passage of time, initially recounted in the famous Icelandic sagas (whose authorship was and remains quasi-anonymous) written down during the High Middle Ages in Iceland (more specifically the Saga of the Greenlanders or Grænlendinga saga as well as the Saga of Erik the Red or Eiríks saga rauða). The Norse presence on North American soil overtakes Christopher Columbus by a margin of approximately 500 years which is quite commending, putting as such the European presence in North America centuries earlier than previously conventionally known. This informative article aims to shed a bit of light on the actual geographic location of the famed Vinland which has sometimes been the subject of various speculations over the centuries. But, before that, here’s a little important background information.

The dotted gray line on this particular map on my illuminated globe represents the route the Norse went through from southwestern Norway to reach the semi-legendary Vinland in North America in circa 1000 A.D./C.E. The dotted line ends in Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, more specifically on the northwestern corner of the island which is actually represented by the well-known archaeological site of L’Anse aux Meadows. Image source: personal photograph

Sailing westward

As the Norse expansion unfolded throughout both mainland and insular Europe during the tumultuous so-called Viking Age, a period of time pertaining to the Early Middle Ages, the Norwegian Vikings generally sailed westward (given the geographic position of Norway) while the Swedish Vikings mostly went eastward and the Danish Vikings conquered and settled Anglo-Saxon England. So it is that through the maritime resilience and the seafaring nature, the Norwegian Vikings established various outposts and colonies across the North Atlantic, stretching from the Faroe Islands to Iceland, Greenland, and even beyond to the semi-mythical Vinland situated somewhere in North America. The Norwegian Vikings also settled in Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Scotland.

Old literary sources (i.e. two Icelandic sagas)

The two principal old literary sources focusing on the Norse discovery of North America are the Saga of the Greenlanders (Grænlendinga saga) and the Saga of Erik the Red (Eiríks saga rauða). The Saga of the Greenlanders recounts the life and deeds of Norse explorer Leif Erikson as well as his voyages while the Saga of Erik the Red puts an emphasis on the Norse colonisation of what they called and knew as ‘Vinland’, revolving around Thorfinn Karlsefni as protagonist. These two sagas are conflicting to some extent as they have some narrative differences. Scholarly, the Greenlanders’ saga is considered more reliable than the saga of Erik the Red.

Faroese stamp issued in 1992 commemorating Leif Erikson’s voyage to Vinland. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Contact with the Skrælings (i.e. a Native American ethnic group)

Once there, the Norse interacted with a particular Native American ethnic group which they called ‘Skrælings‘ (a term still relatively disputed, but likely meaning ‘dried skin’, in reference to the skins or pelts worn by these Native Americans, very likely the Beothuk population of Newfoundland, Canada; otherwise, basically ‘barbarian’ in Old Norse). To this day, the term has survived in Icelandic and has a rather derogatory meaning. While initially peaceful by means of trade (exchanging, most notably, wool for furs), these interactions subsequently transcended into skirmishes, possibly leading to the vanishment of the Norse from North America, as they were outnumbered by the Skrælings (essentially still meaning ‘barbarian’).

But where is Vinland located, after all?

One important question still remains, namely where is this famed Vinland actually located, after all? It is known for certain that it is somewhere in North America, but where exactly? According to the standard historical narrative (which I also subscribe to), Vinland is situated on the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, eastern Canada (naturally facing the North Atlantic Ocean). However, as time passed by, competing other locations have been proposed and recorded in various maps and historical atlases, some more reliable than others. Regardless of the exact geographic location of Vinland, as per the sagas, it is known for certain that it was the last destination of the Norsemen in the New World (past Markland and Helluland, also situated along the coast of North America). However, it is also likely that Leif Erikson might have conducted other expeditions a little bit to the south of Vinland, yet not venturing too much into the North American mainland.

In Old Norse, Vinland means ‘land of wine’ as a reference to the grapes found there by the Norse (stemming from the term or word vín, naturally meaning wine). As an important lingustic side note, vin in Old Norse (written without the sharp accent on the i) can also mean meadow or plain. Therefore, Vinland can also mean meadow-land or grassland.

Small ship on display during a sunny summer day at the reconstructed archaeological site of L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The famous archaeological site of L’Anse aux Meadows is located in the northwest of the island of Newfoundland. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Throughout the 1960s, two Norwegian archaeologists, more specifically wife and husband Anne Stine and Helge Ingstad, unearthed the archaeological site of L’Anse aux Meadows (also referred to as L’Anse aux Méduse in French, i.e. jellyfish cave). To date, this is the only solidly confirm Norse site in North America. The couple unearthed remains of longhouses, a blacksmith’s workshop, and several iron artefacts dating back to the Viking Age. In 1968, L’Anse aux Meadows became a National Historic Site in Canada. 10 years later, in 1978, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nonetheless, some disagree regarding the fact that Vinland is actually the island of Newfoundland. As it can be seen below, several other maps actually claim that Vinland is situated significantly southward:

An alleged 15th century map (a Mappa Mundi type, i.e. map of the world) depicting the location of the legendary Vinland from the Icelandic sagas. Vinland is depicted as an island here and is located in the far northwest corner of the map. This map is widely considered a fake or a hoax and probably dates back to the 20th century only. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

On this map from the 32nd edition of the Swedish encyclopaedia Nordisk familjebok from 1921, Vinland is placed significantly southward in New Brunswick, Canada. In stark contrast, Newfoundland is just Markland. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

According to this map published in Histoire des peuples du nord, et des Danois et des Normands by Henry Wheaton, Newfoundland is Helluland and Vinland is located further south inland. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Lastly, some believe Vinland was actually situated on the Cape Code peninsula in Massachusetts, United States of America (USA). A notable proponent of this theory was Frederick J. Pohl who was a high school teacher in Brooklyn, New York City. Many within the archaeological community disagree with this claim.

Vinland in popular culture

Vinland was mentioned in a scenario of the reimagined historical campaign Battles of the Conquerors of The Conquerors expansion pack (originally released in 2000) of the famous, comercially-successful, and critically-acclaimed RTS (i.e. real-time strategy) video game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (initially released in 1999 and definitely one of the best and most popular video games on the Norsemen and the Viking Age if you’d ask me) which was developed by Ensemble Studios and issued by Microsoft. This reimagined historical scenario focuses on the saga (or story) of Erik the Red and has some interesting cinematics (both the intro one and the outro one after the scenario is completed and victory is achieved by the player). Below you can watch the cinematics of the aforementioned Age of Empires II: The Conquerors reimagined historical scenario (embedded via YouTube and uploaded there by the user KorPassionist):

Long story short (based on the cinematics above): Vinland was not a kind world to the Vikings (but, as a personal opinion here, nor were they to other peoples during the Viking Age so, in a certain manner, one could perceive this description of their clashes with the Skrælings as karma I presume). Another noteworthy observation is the fact that the North Atlantic Ocean is referred to as the ‘Sea of Worms’ in the cinematics above (a very dangerous huge area on the map which the player must not go through, otherwise his ships will submerge under its turbulent waves; well, in-game, truth be told and technically speaking, this is basically due to some triggers implemented in the scenario editor development stage, from my understanding). Last but not least, the introduction of this scenario still hits me deep, metaphorically speaking, naturally, and while I am by no means as brave or legendary as Erik the Red, I also have two slightly scarred fingers (from accidents, not fights). I also have other scars on both of my elbows, both of my knees, one on one of my palms, and one on my chest, once again stemming from accidents and not fights.

Additionally, there is also an anime TV series known as Vinland Saga inspired by the Vinland sagas.

Final thoughts

Regardless of the actual location of Vinland (which I, personally, still believe is Vinland, discovered by Vikings from Greenland), the Norse discovery and brief settlement of North America still continues to fascinate well into the 21st century, therefore highlighting the sailing skills and resilience of the Norsemen across the harsh waves of the North Atlantic Ocean many, many years before Columbus.

Special note: Please note the fact that I meant the Norse discovered North America from a European perspective. This vast continent was already long inhabited by many important Native American peoples, each with their own culture, history, spirituality, and traditions.

Thank you very much for your time, attention, and readership! It means a lot to me! All the best!

Documentation sources and external links:

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