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A review by steveatwaywords
The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America by Unknown
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
3.0
This book is a handy read of the "original" two Viking sagas which document Leif Erikson's white discovery of America around 1000 CE. Neither of the sagas was written during the time of the discovery (true of so much of our classical and medieval-era history!), but the hefty introduction to this work (nearly 50 pages) accounts for the verification of the documents, their own history and translation, and archaeological and other scientific evidence which leads us to support their veracity.
Here's the thing. This Penguin edition is from the mid-1960s, so the introduction is quite dated, and so much evidence in all these camps has been accumulated since then that I felt I was reading a fair amount of speculation for its day. (Later evidence has more fully supported the events, of course.)
The readings of the sagas themselves, then, are what I recommend, and each is brief and readable in a short sitting. They vary in details (and focus by their writers), and you can easily see the challenges they had in relating a valid history and developing a communal ethic vs merely relating a listenable tale. The saga, of course, had to accomplish all of these, so dividing fact from entertaining tale-telling is part of the challenge, though historical maps of the time also verify the events of the travel.
Its unfortunate that more recent writers have both further verified the story and also added a new level of conspiracy-theory to the explorations, some suggesting that the Vikings reached as far as Minnesota (please please don't ask or give them an ear).
Instead, then, if you come across this, read the sagas themselves, but before and afterwards, dig a bit into what we now know of their writing and veracity rather than read the outdated material here or sensationalized documentaries today!
Here's the thing. This Penguin edition is from the mid-1960s, so the introduction is quite dated, and so much evidence in all these camps has been accumulated since then that I felt I was reading a fair amount of speculation for its day. (Later evidence has more fully supported the events, of course.)
The readings of the sagas themselves, then, are what I recommend, and each is brief and readable in a short sitting. They vary in details (and focus by their writers), and you can easily see the challenges they had in relating a valid history and developing a communal ethic vs merely relating a listenable tale. The saga, of course, had to accomplish all of these, so dividing fact from entertaining tale-telling is part of the challenge, though historical maps of the time also verify the events of the travel.
Its unfortunate that more recent writers have both further verified the story and also added a new level of conspiracy-theory to the explorations, some suggesting that the Vikings reached as far as Minnesota (please please don't ask or give them an ear).
Instead, then, if you come across this, read the sagas themselves, but before and afterwards, dig a bit into what we now know of their writing and veracity rather than read the outdated material here or sensationalized documentaries today!