The Collapse of Norse Greenland The collapse of Norse Greenland has been widely disputed; did this society truly collapse, or rather did they choose to leave for a better life elsewhere? Many books have been written on this subject; from Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fair or Succeed to the corresponding Patricia McAnany and Norman Yoffee’s Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire. In Diamond’s Collapse, there are five main points of collapse that have to happen before a society will collapse. These points are: 1. Environmental damage, 2. Climate change, 3. Hostile neighbors, 4. Friendly neighbors, and 5. Society’s response to environmental damage. When comparing it to McAnany and Yoffee’s Questioning Collapse, they dispute how societies don’t collapse, in fact there is a resilience to the societies and that they adjust according to their environment and how their economy and personal life is going. In my essay, I will compare Diamond’s view of collapse against the resilience view of McAnany and Yoffee. Analyzing the Norse Collapse from Diamond’s view, the first factor that he examines is the environmental damage aspect. He states that “The Greenland Norse damaged their environment in at least three ways: by destroying the natural vegetation, by causing soil erosion, and by cutting turf” (Diamond, p.248). Diamond believes that when the Vikings arrived, they began burning woodlands to clear areas for their livestock, and cut many trees down for shelter and firewood. When the Greenlanders began raising animals such as cows, sheep and goats, the amount of fodder for the animals increased, which in turn increased the amount of farming they had to do to maint... ... middle of paper ... ...ught could be seen as arrogant, and had a condescending attitude as they thought the Inuit were “skraelings (a sick, weak person)” (McAnany and Yoffee, p. 56), all their encounters may not have been confrontational. They believe that their attitude simply could have come from a religious factor that it was the difference in being Christian compared to non-Christian. Though artifacts were scarcely found from the Norse in the Thule Inuit ruins and vice versa, the artifacts that were found could represent an encounter, but could as well have been from plundering abandoned homes. Also, when searching Norse settlements, no weapons were found, thus making them powerless against the Inuits if it had come down to a conflict between them. A scene on a small piece of bone did depict a battle, however it is important to note that it did not depict a Norseman against an Inuit.
This discovery was made by the Scandinavian explorer Hans Egede, 300 years ago when he went out in search of the lost Greenland colonies. Although Hans was unsuccessful at finding the lost colonies he did find the local Inuit. He recorded in his ship’s log his interaction with them. The ship’s log tells many oral stories from the Inuit people claiming that their Thule ancestors fought the Norse Vikings for their iron and ultimately killed them off. Hans Egede ship’s log also confirms that the Thule were great survivors and warriors, whilst being directly related to the modern day Inuit. Niobe Thompson concludes that the Thule odyssey ended in Greenland right when the Inuit odyssey began. Even though the Thule journey ended their traditions and ways of survival are still used in Inuit communities
When the Vikings landed they were not friendly. The Vikings killed 10 Indians while they were sleeping (Weiner 4). That did not bold well with the Indians that upset them immensely. The Vikings did not like that they were outnumbered by the Indians (Weiner 4). The Indians did not like the Vikings at all. The Vikings tried to make peace with the Native Americans, but the Native Americans did not accept it. The Indians wanted the Vikings gone. Norse colony tried to establish itself in Newfoundland according to the sages (Clarke 177). Thorwald died trying to make the same trip his brother Leif had done to get to Vinland and an arrow belonging to the Native Americans killed him. (Clarke 177). Thorwald had made a home and settled before he died. Even after his death his family had stayed for a short time. Then it had gotten too dangerous for the Vikings so they had to leave. Hostility from Native Americans made their period there short lived (Clarke 178). The Indians had driven the Vikings out of North America. The Vikings left and only came
Reasons attributing to the Viking’s success included their inability to be stopped by Western Europe and the fear that was installed into the residents of Western Europe. The viciousness of the attacks is clearly described in the Three Sources on the Ravages of the Northmen in Frankland, c. 843 – 912. The collection of these three texts describe various Viking attacks throughout Frankland, giving the reader a clear idea of the horror that the people of Frankland endured when attempting to resist the
"The origin and evolution of saga writing in Iceland are largely matters for speculation. A common pastime on Icelandic farms, from the 12th century down to modern times, was the reading aloud of stories to entertain the household, known as sagnaskemmtun ("saga entertainment"). It seems to have replaced the traditional art of storytelling" (Hermann Palsson, pg. 1). Njal's Saga uses Old Icelandic writing convention and historical data to give a fictional account of a generation's lifestyle and struggles.
The Norse “Metallic Ages,” so called because they date the time periods when the Norse people are recorded to have been working with metals such as copper, bronze, and iron. This Age also includes the Migration Period (the Age of Heroes), because it happened during the time of the Germanic Iron Age when there were great southerly migrations of the Nordic people.
The Christianization of the Norse took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. It was a gradual process that took considerable effort converting the Norse, as they did not wish to convert and in many cases conversion was by force. The traditional religion of the Norse people wasn't just a form of worship, it was apart of their culture and way of life. A belief system that was deeply rooted that made the concept of the original sin and other Christian beliefs just too hard for the Norse people to understand or believe.
For the purposes of this discussion we will focus on the lives of the Inuit. The Inuit are a group of people often mischaracterized as Eskimos. They lived in the area of central and northeastern Canada and Greenland. There has been much discussion of the orignination of this group of people but the most recognized theory is that they crossed from northern Asia across thin bridge of land over the Bering Strait sometime around 6000-2000 BC. Many people mistakenly think that the Inuit and Native Americans are one in the same. It seems that the Inuit most likely came from Asia more likely than the Native Americans. Although both probably came to the Americas through the Bering Strait. Biological, cultural and dialect differences show the different origin. Much of this theory is supported due to the close resemblance of the Inuit to the Mongoloid races of Eastern Asia. Because of the harsh land and climate of the Arctic, this area was probably one of the last regions to be inhabited making the Inuit on of the earth’s younger cultures.
1) From “Disorder and Destruction: The Annals of Xanten” (in the Week 12 Charlemagne source you used last week) and from the other sources you have read, what is your impression of the Norse? How are they described in the article? Please answer this question in your own words, but with quotations from the text to support your answer. The Vikings were ruthless people. A historian by the name of Sherma tells the story of the ruthlessness of the Vikings, “The mother of all churches,”. .
The Norse religion is the religion of the Norse people prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia. It may seem as though the religion’s influence has died out, but it still affects our culture today. The general mythology is well known, but the details, such as how the lore was passed down from generation to generation, is obscure.
... Religion in the Arctic region of Alaska have two major components, Shamanism and Anamism. The Inuit being strongly connected to land and environment, because of their hunting reflected onto their religion. The Shaman is a strong figure in the native tribes of the Arctic region of Alaska. Most of the time the Shaman is a he, but a female is also allowed. The Shaman acts as the doctor, the protector, and seen as the wise one. At the beginning of the twentieth century many missionaries came to spread Christianity to the natives. It was successful many native Alaskan groups especially the Inuit refer to themselves as Christians to this day.
The Viking community was a diverse group of people, from Kings, Jarls, and great warriors to poets and scholars. Extended famili...
Typically, the image of a Viking is a barbaric, bearded man plundering and destroying a neighboring village. This is actually the stereotypical viewpoint. In actuality, Vikings, have a very different image. For example, Vikings did not wear furry boots or furry armor, they did not have horned helmets, they invaded Britain, and they also were the first to discover America! They were also experts in nautical technology, crafts, trading, warfare and many other skills (Jonsson 1). With all of these traits, the Vikings seem like an unstoppable force in the European continent. But, who were the Vikings? The Vikings were actually venturesome seafarers. This means that they were travelers who were constantly exploring and looking for new areas of land. There roots can be traced all the way back to 6000 B.C. were nomadic men traveled in primitive crafts up the Denmark coast. Fast forward two millennia and these nomadic people have established permanent homes, but still using the boat for food and travel. As stated before, they were not just raiders, although they did do this frequently, but they were actually expert traders, trading all around the world. It wasn’t until around 793 A.D. that a Viking explosion took place in northern Europe (Jonsson 2). Raids began to take place on neighboring villages and their places of worship. To some this is the only type of knowledge they have about Vikings. However, their culture was something to be admired. Trading, religion, and everyday life are all important parts of a Viking culture.
Williams, Gareth. "Viking Religion." BBC History. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
The Inuits or “Kalaallit” are the native people of Greenland, they have lived there for almost one thousand years. Today Greenland’s population is around 55,000, 85 percent of whom are Inuit (Caulfield:1997,1). The national language is Greenlandic, which is an branch of Inupik, or Eskimo language. There are three dialects according to the region in which they are spoken, such as West Greenlandic, East Greenlandic and Polar-Eskimo. Hunting, along with fishing is fundamental to their livelihood. Today, the Inuits are highly dependent on traditional methods of obtaining food through hunting and fishing.
...ons about society and about the foundations of legitimate power (Morales, Yves). In the eyes of the Scandinavians, they had invented skiing as a modern sport and led a policy that was a mixture of both conservatism and nationalism, which turned out to come off as isolationism. The will to quest and conquer the polar extremes, as well as the inland glaciers of Greenland, has been a part of Scandinavian polar history, to such a degree that it can be termed a national characteristic (Goksøyr, Matti). In a recent book by Tor Bomann-Larsen, he cites Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson’s opening Evige sne as a representative of how Scandinavian national culture, as the country was developing into a nation state, was one in which snow, and therefore skiing, became a catalyzing factor that gave the Scandinavian nations their uniqueness, their purity, and their right to be independent.