THE TRADITIONS OF VINLAND

ABSTRACT

The study of the early Norse voyages to North America is a field of research characterized by controversy and conflicting, often irreconcilable, opinions and conclusions. These circumstances result from the fact that details of the voyages exist only in two Icelandic sagas which contradict each other on basic issues and internally are vague and contain nonhistorical passages. To date no alleged Norse relics have been validated as evidence of medieval Norse settlement or exploration in North America. Since the 1837 publication by Rafn of the literary evidence for the historicity of the voyages, hypotheses for the interpretation of the sagas, origin and authenticity of relics, schemes for the voyages, and identification of sites have been proposed and debated. In this article related arguments and interpretations are grouped into schools or traditions of thought, and a selected literature which illustrates the recurring controversies is topically reviewed. The topics are the character and interpretation of acceptable evidence, the route of the voyages, suggested identities of the sites, the vegetative characteristics of Vinland, the identity of the natives, and the relationship of the Norse voyages to later voyages to the New World.