MAS 2303
Vínland - Myth and Reality
Final Reading List
Introduction:
The Vinland Sagas. The Norse Discovery of America. Grænlendinga saga and Eirik’s saga.
Translated with an introduction by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson. Penguin Books
1965.
Essential:
Introduction Pp 7-43
36
pages
Grænlendinga saga Pp 49-72
23
pages
Eirik’s saga Pp 75-105
30
pages
Part A The Fortunate Isles and the Icelandic sagas:
Adam of Bremen. English Edition. Scholia on Vinland
Ári fróði: The book of Icelanders, See extracts in Lecture A2
Brendan - The voyage of saint Brendan: Journey to the Promised Land
Navigation Sancti Brendani Abbatis Translated with and introduction by John J. O’Meara.
Dolmen Texts 1. The Dolmen Press 1982
84 pages (small)
Bruun, Daniel 1918 The Icelandic Colonization of Greenland and the Finding of Víneland.
Copenhagen Pp 51-72 (The actual number of pages is only 14, as a number of indifferent
pictures have been removed from the Master copy)
Do also note that the translations from the Book of Icelanders are not very accurate, see
Lecture A2 for a better translation (and Norse standardized text)
14 pages
Halldórsson, Ólafur 2001: The Vinland Sagas. Pp 39-50 in: Andrew Wawn and Þórunn
Sigurðardóttir (ed.s): Approaches to Vínland. Sigurður Nordal Institute. Reykjavík
11 pages
Konstam, Angus
2005 Historical Atlas of the Viking World. Mercury Books, London.
Pp100-111 =
11
Nansen, Fridtjof
1911 In Northern Mists. Vol. I. New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company.
Essential:
Chapter V: The awakening of medieval knowledge.
King Alfred, Ottar, Adam of Bremen Vol. I Pp 168-202
34
Chapter IX: Wineland the good, the Fortunate Isles, and
the discovery of America Vol. I Pp 312-384
72
SUM 117
pages
pages
pages
pages
Þórláksson, Helgi 2001 The Vínland Sagas in Contemporary Light. Pp 63-77 in: Andrew
Wawn and Þórunn Sigurðardóttir (ed.s): Approaches to Vínland. Sigurður Nordal Institute.
Reykjavík
14
pages
Interesting:
Chapter IV The Early Middle Ages, Vol. I Pp 125-167
42
pages
Axel Anthon Bjørnbo, 1909. Essay: ”Adam of Bremen’s view of the North”. Referenced in
Nansen 1911 vol. I p. 201, see lit. list Vol. II., reproduced map vol. I P 186 See Lecture A1
O’Loughlin, Thomas
1999 ‘Distant Islands: The Topography of the Holiness in the Nauivatio Sancti Brendani’
in: Marion Glascoe (ed.): The Medieval Mystical Tradition: England, Ireland. Wales
(Woodbridge 1999), Pp 1-20.
O’Loughlin, Thomas
2000a Journeys on the Edges. The Celtic Tradition. Traditions of Christian Spirituality
Series. Orbis Books, New York.
Essential:
Introduction Pp 15-17
3
pages
Chapter 1. Is there a Celtic Spirituality? Pp 19-33
14
pages
Chapter 5. Journeys of Faith. Pp 80-98
19
pages
SUM
36
pages
Interesting:
Chapter 2. A Walk in Two Worlds
+ Chapter 3. Living on the Fringes Pp 34-63
30
pages
SUM
30
pages
Thomas O’Loughlin
2000b Celtic Theology. Humanity, World and God in Early Irish Writings. Continuum,
London & New York
Essential:
Barrind’s island in the Nauigatio Sancti Brendani Pp 193-196
4 pages
Interesting:
Chapter 10 (including Nauigatio above) Pp 185-202
17 pages
See also Sigurðsson, Gísli 2000 in section B below for a short version and discussion of
the Vinland sagas
Part B
Vikings in Canada
Ingstad, Anne Stine
1977 The Discovery of a Norse Settlement in America. Excavations at L’Anse aux
Meadows, Newfoundland 1961-1968. Universitetsforlaget (Norwegian University Press) Oslo
– Bergen – Tromsø
Introduction Pp 21-24
Newfoundland in Prehistoric Times
House A
Pp 131-167
Conclusion Pp 233-245
55 pages
The following papers are all in
William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by
Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the National
Museum of Natural History. 2000
Cox, Steven L. 2000 A Norse Penny from Maine. Pp 206-207 Odess, Daniel, Stephen Loring,
and William W. Fitzhugh 2000: Skraeling: First Peoples of Hellduland, Markland, and
Vinland. Pp 193-205 in: William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic
Saga. Published by Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in association
with the National Museum of Natural History.
2
pages
McNaughton, Douglas 2000. A World in Transition. Early Cartography of the North
Atlantic. Pp 257-269 in: William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic
Saga. Published by Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in association
with the National Museum of Natural History.
13 pages
Odess, Daniel, Stephen Loring, and William W. Fitzhugh 2000: Skraeling: First Peoples of
Hellduland, Markland, and Vinland. Pp 193-205 in: William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward
(ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and
London, in association with the National Museum of Natural History.
14
pages
Schledermann, Peter 2000: Introduction. A.D. 1000: East meets West. Pp 189-192 in:
William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by
Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the National
Museum of Natural History.
4
pages
Schmith, Kevin P. 2000 Who Lived at L’Anse aux Meadows? P 217 Odess, Daniel, Stephen
Loring, and William W. Fitzhugh 2000: Skraeling: First Peoples of Hellduland, Markland,
and Vinland. Pp 193-205 in: William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North
Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in
association with the National Museum of Natural History.
1
page
Schledermann, Peter 2000 Ellesmere. Vikings in the Far North. Pp 248-256 in: William W.
Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian
Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the National Museum of
Natural History.
9
pages
Seaver, Kirsten A. 2000 Unanswered Questions. Pp 270-279 in: William W. Fitzhugh &
Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian Institution Press.
Washington and London, in association with the National Museum of Natural History.
10
pages
Sigurðsson, Gísli 2000a An Introduction to the Vinland Sagas. Pp 218-224 in: William W.
Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian
Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the National Museum of
Natural History.
7 pages
Sigurðsson, Gísli 2000b The Quest for Vinland in Saga Scholarship. Pp 232-237 in: William
W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian
Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the National Museum of
Natural History.
5
pages
Odess, Daniel, Stephen Loring, and William W. Fitzhugh 2000: Skraeling: First Peoples of
Hellduland, Markland, and Vinland. Pp 193-205 in: William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward
(ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and
London, in association with the National Museum of Natural History.
13
pages
Sutherland, Patricia D. 2000 The Norse and native North Americans. Pp 238-247 in:
William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by
Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the National
Museum of Natural History.
9
pages
Wahlgren, Erik 1986 The Vikings and America. Thames & Hudson, London. Pages 121-167
47 pages
Wallace, Birgitta Linderoth 2000a The Viking Settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows. Pp 208216 Odess, Daniel, Stephen Loring, and William W. Fitzhugh 2000: Skraeling: First Peoples
of Helluland, Markland, and Vinland. Pp 193-205 in: William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I.
Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by Smithsonian Institution Press.
Washington and London, in association with the National Museum of Natural History.
9
pages
Wallace, Birgitta Linderoth 2000b An Archaeologist’s Interpretation of the Vinland Sagas
Pp 225-231 in: William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga.
Published by Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the
National Museum of Natural History.
11
pages
PART C THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF VINLAND
Björnsdóttir, Inga Dóra
1999 Leifr Eiríksson versus Christopher Columbus: The Use of Leifr Eiríksson in American
Political and Cultural Discourse. Pp 220-226 in: Andrew Wawn and Þórunn Sigurðardóttir
(ed.s): Approaches to Vínland. A Conference on the written and archaeological sources for
the Norse ettlements in the North-Atlantic region and exploration of America. The Nordic
House, Reykjavík 9-11 August 1999. Sigurður Nordal Institute. Reykjavík 7
pages
Blegen, Theodore C.
1968 The Kensington Rune Stone. New Light on and Old Riddle. Minnesota Historical
Society. St. Paul Pp 19-91
72
pages
Landsverk, O.G.
1969 Ancient Norse Messages on American Stones. Norseman Press, 1480 Millar Drive,
Glendale, California 91206. Sponsor: The Landsverk Foundation. Pp 6-20. 17 pages
McNaughton, Douglas
2000 A World in Transition. Early Cartography of the North Atlantic. Pp 257-269 in:
William W. Fitzhugh & Elisabeth I. Ward (ed.s): The North Atlantic Saga. Published by
Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London, in association with the National
Museum of Natural History.
13
pages
Seaver, Kirsten A.
2004 Maps, Myths and Men. The Story of the Vínland Map. Stanford University Press.
Stanford, California
Chapter 1
An American Place Named Vínland Pp 1-18
Chapter 5
A Star is Born
Pp 144-163
Chapter 8
The Vínland Map as a Narrative
Pp 256-296
---------------89
pages
Wahlgren, Erik 1986 The Vikings and America. Thames & Hudson, London. Pages 98-120
23
pages
Wolf, Kirsten
2001 The Recovery of Vínland in Western Icelandic Literature. Pp 207-219 in: Andrew
Wawn and Þórunn Sigurðardóttir (ed.s): Approaches to Vínland. A Conference on the written
and archaeological sources for the Norse ettlements in the North-Atlantic region and
exploration of America. The Nordic House, Reykjavík 9-11 August 1999. Sigurður Nordal
Institute. Reykjavík
13
pages
TOTAL
+
Resources for seminars and papers (extra)
859 pages
EXTRA RESOURCES FOR SEMINARS ETC:
Ingstad, Anne Stine 1977 The Discovery of a Norse Settlement in America. Excavations at
L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland 1961-1968. Universitetsforlaget (Norwegian University
Press) Oslo – Bergen – Tromsø
Interpretations of houses… Pages 167-232
66 pages
NB. The opening discussions of each house are kind of technical. Towards the end of each
section, and especially at the end of the whole sequence, there are lots of interesting
discussions of parallel house types, finds and sites in Greenland, Iceland and Norway, plus
general discussions of alternative interpretations (Amero-Indians, Basque whalers, etc).
Good place to pick points for seminars and exams.
Part 3 The Historiography of Vínland
Gwyn Jones: The Conquest of the North Atlantic
Sources:
The Vinland Sagas. The Norse Discovery of America. Grænlendinga saga and Eirik’s saga.
Translated with an introduction by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson. Penguin Books
1965.
Essential:
Notes on the translations Pp 45-46
Grænlendinga saga Pp 49-72
Eirik’s saga Pp 75-105
Interesting:
List of proper names Pp 106-118
2
23
30
pages
pages
pages
SUM
55
pages
12
pages
Reference works:
Holy Bible. Authorized King James Version. For instance Oxford University Press
Some key references:
Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had
formed.
Genesis 28:17
And he was afraid, and said, Howe dreadful is this place; and I know it not.
Revelations 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away; and there was no more sea.
Revelations 22:5
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the
Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.