Decoding the Saga Evidence
The sagas are the main source to solve the mystery of Vinland but they have to be read critically and carefully. These are not eye-witness accounts but stories passed from mouth to mouth until they were written down over 200 years after they occurred. Remember also that these are translations of the original texts. This means that one can be misled if one reaches conclusions based on a particular word or term, since the Old Norse word may have a different shade of meaning that is lost in translation. You must also try to put yourself in 11thcentury Norse shoes. The world view of the Vinland voyagers was different from yours, and what seems sensible and reasonable to you may not have been so to them. You will have to consider aspects such as navigation, the role of individuals in the society they lived, the type of comfort they needed and the types of climate they could handle. What was it like to navigate solely dependent on wind and weather? What was it like to live in a society without clocks and precision instruments? How did you tell the time and how accurately could you do it? How were decisions made as to where to go and what to do? How long could anyone endure conditions aboard a ship in a tent-like shelter on the open sea? What type of weather and temperatures would seem ideal to a traveller from the North?
The saga clues used to find the location of Vinland include the following:
Chapters in Books
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Markland in] The Sags of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Unnamed Area between Hóp and Straumfjord in] Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
The Landscapes in Each Region and Their Relationship to Each Other
Chapters in Books
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Helluland in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Helluland in] Eirik the Red's Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Markland in] Eirik the Red's Saga , The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Kjalarnes (Keel Point) and Furdustrandir (Marvel Beaches)] in Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Unnamed Area North of Vinland in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Vinland (Land of Wine) in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Straumsey and Straumsfjord in] Eirik the Red's Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Hóp (Tidal Estuary Lagoon) in] Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Unnamed Area West of Vinland in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
The Types of Buildings Constructed by the Vinland Voyagers
Chapters in Books
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Buildings Constructed by the Vinland Voyagers in] Eirik the Red's Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Buildings Constructed by the Vinland Voyagers in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
Specific Natural Resources
Chapters in Books
- Keneva Kunz, trans, [Natural Resources in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Natural Resources Mentioned in] Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
The Activities in the Various regions
Chapters in Books
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [The Activities in the Various Regions] Eirik the Red's Saga , The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [The Activities in the Various Regions] The Saga of the Greenlanders , The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
The Aboriginal People Encountered by the Norse
Chapters in Books
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Aboriginal Peoples Encountered in Markland] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Aboriginal Peoples Encountered in Markland] Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Aboriginal Peoples Encountered in Vinland] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Aboriginal Peoples Encountered in Vinland] Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Aboriginal Peoples Encounter in Area Bewteen Hóp and Straumfjord] in Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [Aboriginal Peoples Encountered in Area West of Vinland] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
Miscellaneous
Winter Solstice and Climate
Chapters in Books
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [The Saga’s Account of Sunrise and Sunset on Winter Solstice and Climate in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
- Keneva Kunz, trans., [The Saga’s Account of Climate in] Eirik the Red’s Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000