HARMONY OF THE VINLAND VOYAGES: Vinland Without Hope

Robert Hodanko

sept 2014 · Robert Hodanko

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At the beginning of the High Middle Ages, Europe was recovering from the chaotic Early Middle Ages coupled with a period of colder climate. Learning, agriculture, trade, population, urbanization and state power were on the rise. Since the 870s, Iceland had been permanently settled by Norse emigrants from Europe. Around the year 985 or 986, a new wave of migration led by Eirik the Red arrived to Greenland from overpopulated Iceland. The same year Bjarni Herjolfsson was blown off his course to Greenland and sighted unknown lands in the west. About 15 years later began the most exciting chapter of European explorations and discoveries in the west, started by Leif Eiriksson's voyage and exploration of Vinland. Five centuries ahead of the Age of Discovery, Leif visited North America and left there a base which was used by explorers who followed. Their voyages and explorations were later vividly described in the Vinland Sagas. The fact that these first European explorers were able to find Leif's base in North America, without maps and tools for precise navigation, is striking. It is evidence that it was not difficult to find Vinland...

   The Vinland Sagas excited many of their readers. Likewise, seeming or real disharmony of their records puzzled them. When I read The Vinland Sagas for the first time several years ago, I was impressed by them but did not understand their message. When I read The Vinland Sagas for the second time in December 2013, I was impressed by them again, but this time I was determined to make greater effort to understand their message. I approached the Sagas as records capturing testimonies of Vinland voyages and explorations that were handed down for generations before they were written. When I encountered the bull episode recorded in the Sagas, I realized that it can be harmonized and explained. Likewise I came to the conclusion that all of the recorded Vinland voyages can be harmonized and explained. I read passages of the Sagas over and over, made notes of the information, and harmonized them. I was not writing book then. I simply wanted to understand where the Norsemen sailed, where they settled, and what places they visited. With The Vinland Sagas, Webster's Dictionary, maps, and my basic harmony of the Vinland voyages, on December 12, 2013, I identified a place for Leif's base in Vinland. The location seems to be in internal harmony with information in The Vinland Sagas as well as in external harmony with maps and information that I was able to find on the internet. Based on my notes, I wrote this book, which should be understood as a possible interpretation and explanation of The Vinland Sagas. I enjoyed writing this book, and I hope that you will enjoy reading it.

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    Robert Hodanko is a lawyer with a special interest in history who regularly deals with evidence and its interpreation.