During the 10th Century, a group of Vikings landed on Greenland and in time developed settlements there. About 400 years later they vanished from the island. No one outside of Greenland even knew that they were gone until 1721 when some missionaries arrived at the sites and found only the ruins of their settlements. Their disappearance has led to a number of theories of what happened, as little direct evidence has been discovered.
Valiant Sailors: The Vikings, or Norsemen, were very courageous sailors during the period of time that they had settlements in Greenland. Their traveling by sea without reference to land was done without the benefit of a compass or direct knowledge of latitudes. In the early years they were more prone towards pillaging and plundering other civilizations and returning to their home territory in Norway. The range of their explorations reached faraway places such as North Africa, and perhaps South America. The pirating and violent activity gave way to settlements in many places throughout Northern Europe including Britain, Northern France, Iceland, and Greenland. Settlements this far away from their home bases in Norway mandated the development of the more sedentary activities of farming and ranching in addition to hunting. As the settlements grew, so did trade with the homeland and other locations.
Greenland Settlements: The first known settlement in Greenland was made by none other than Erik the Red, who had been temporarily banished from Iceland after a feud that led to two deaths. Greenland is mostly ice that’s found in the middle of the island, but the shoreline along some of the fiords provided a sizable amount of usable land that could be adapted to domestic purposes. Farming, ranching, housing, churches, and community areas were built primarily in two major settlements: the Eastern Settlement located on the southern tip of the island, and Western Settlement up the western coast about 240 miles. Erik the Red is credited as having attached the name “Greenland” to the vast island and its few settlements, presumably to attract more settlers to that forlorn place with its very cold climate. We know that farming and ranching was done for sustenance, but the Vikings were also good hunters and capable traders. A large market for the ivory in walrus tusks sprang up in Europe and was serviced by the Greenlander Norsemen. It is believed that their population in Greenland reached a peak of 2,000 by the year 1,200 CE.
What then happened to them?
Shifting Climate: Climate change is something that makes the news in this day and age roughly one thousand years later. Evidence has emerged that shows how the earth’s climates have gone from cold to warm to cold and back to warm again over the last two millennia. During the decline and fall of the Roman Empire (about 200 – 600 CE) many peoples in Germanic or Nordic tribes in Europe began to migrate south—probably for numerous specific reasons that may be tied back to cooling temperatures and climates. During the Crusades of the 11th to the 13th centuries many stories emerged about how hot the climate was in the Holy Land. In the 16th to 18th centuries the Thames River in London routinely froze over. And now in the 21st century we have all around us global warming. Could it be that there is some scientific explanation for these changes in climate? There is some evidence that the Greenland settlers faced ever increasing severe winters up until their disappearance during a period that came to be known as the “Little Ice Age” in the 14th and 15th centuries. Sea ice would surely have impacted their ability to navigate back and forth to Norway and other settlements. However, the indigenous Dorset and Thule cultures managed to survive the colder weather and grow during the same years of the declining Greenland settlements.
Collapse of the Walrus Ivory Market: Another theory has it that the ivory trade with Europe dried up when European markets began to import and trade African elephant ivory, which proved to be of higher quality. The rapid decline from prosperity to poverty during this period prompted the Pope to exempt the Greenland settlements from their annual tithe.
Dwindling Support From Scandinavia: During the Mid 1300’s, Europe endured the bubonic plague pandemic. Most countries (Norway in particular) suffered large losses of population during this time that inevitably had a negative impact on their respective economies. It led to a reduction of contact between the Scandinavian countries and the Greenland settlements. This further narrowed the scope of trade, and perhaps caused some emigration from the Greenland settlements to other more hospitable locations.
Conflict With Indigenous Peoples: Greenland was also being settled by the Thule and Dorset cultures mostly from the west in Canada during this same period as the Vikings. The Dorset peoples were on the decline and the culture was ultimately absorbed by the Thule. The resulting population evolved into what became the Inuit, who still live in the area to this day. There was substantial trade that transpired between the Norse and the Thule as noted by the amount of iron goods and products that were discovered in areas where the cultures came together. The iron goods were likely traded for walrus hides and tusks during the banner years of the ivory trade. There was undoubtedly some form of conflict however minor in scope that occurred, but by and large the two groups traded with each other and got along. There is no evidence anywhere that a major war with the Thule took place that resulted in the Viking settlements being wiped out. There were, however, a series of raids by European profiteers (or pirates) that resulted in some of the settlements being damaged or abandoned, and Viking settlers killed.
Cumulative Environment Damage: More recently, research has unearthed a theory that the Greenland settlements faced persistent drought, perhaps from retreating ice sheets, that would have destroyed most of the grain production needed for the livestock and for bread. A study of the settlers eating habits showed that as time went on, they consumed more seafood mainly in the form of seal meat. This could be a consequence of the decline of grain production and the disappearance of livestock. Other recent research points to a rise in the sea level of up to ten feet in the fiords. Such an increase would have meant flooding in the fields that formerly were used for farming.
Conclusions: The disappearance of the Norse Greenland settlements probably came as a consequence of several or maybe all of the above theories working together. But the overarching force could well have been the failure of the Norse culture to fully adapt to the increasing cold climate and either perishing or emigrating back to northern Europe.
Sources: History.com, Why Did the Vikings Disappear From Greenland? Jesse Greenspan, April 19, 2023.
World History Encyclopedia, Viking Age Greenland, Emma Groeneveld, April 3, 2018.
Wikipedia, Vikings.
Dave,
How refreshing to read such a well written article.
From time-to-time throughout all these years since high school, most of the names and places mentioned rang with familiarity. Your writing refreshes and reorders my spotty memory in a most delightful way.
Thank you.
Thanks for the kind comment Jimmy.