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I've been reading some of the Norse sagas and recently commentary was kicked around here that the native North Americans were somehow stupid or culturally bankrupt because they many were still hunter-gatherers when Europeans were sailing around the world.
I wanted to bring this up partially to further quash such a ridiculous idea and second for the sheer badassery of it.
The Norse sagas discuss at one point the discovery of a place called Vinland (So named because of the grape vines growing there, the Norse were not creative people when it came to names) and Vinland was inhabited (or at least visited) by a group of people the Norse refer to as "Skraelings". In modern Icelandic, "skraelingi" is used to refer to a foreigner the same way the Greeks and Romans used "barbarian". The root of "skraeling" being "skrae" which was the Old Norse word for "skin", the word itself meaning "skin wearers" in Old Norse. Interestingly enough, "skraeling" shows up in several other Nordic languages with the meaning of "weak" or "sickly". In any effect, it probably wasn't a flattering name.
The Norse did not stay on Vinland very long, Thorvald Eriksson (Brother of THE Lief Eriksson) led an expedition to Vinland that was attacked by people he refers to as skraelings. This attack forced Thorvald and his men to retreat and withdraw completely the next spring.
We do know that the Norse did settle parts of North America as far south as Maine but they didnt stay for long. We also know that they had some interaction with others that they referred to as skraelings but these interactions could often result in violence. The Norse spread as far East as the shores of the Black and Caspian seas as well as Italy and Sicily, but they didnt push into North America.
The Vikings expanded far and wide for a reason, they were proficient warriors and feared by the people they encountered. However they did not manage to expand into North America. I find it interesting that at least part of the reason they basically left North America to it's own devices was a population of people that didnt use any metal and wore no armor. The Vikings were, technologically speaking, light years ahead of any of the natives of North America at the time and the natives still drove them off on most occasions.
I wanted to bring this up partially to further quash such a ridiculous idea and second for the sheer badassery of it.
The Norse sagas discuss at one point the discovery of a place called Vinland (So named because of the grape vines growing there, the Norse were not creative people when it came to names) and Vinland was inhabited (or at least visited) by a group of people the Norse refer to as "Skraelings". In modern Icelandic, "skraelingi" is used to refer to a foreigner the same way the Greeks and Romans used "barbarian". The root of "skraeling" being "skrae" which was the Old Norse word for "skin", the word itself meaning "skin wearers" in Old Norse. Interestingly enough, "skraeling" shows up in several other Nordic languages with the meaning of "weak" or "sickly". In any effect, it probably wasn't a flattering name.
The Norse did not stay on Vinland very long, Thorvald Eriksson (Brother of THE Lief Eriksson) led an expedition to Vinland that was attacked by people he refers to as skraelings. This attack forced Thorvald and his men to retreat and withdraw completely the next spring.
We do know that the Norse did settle parts of North America as far south as Maine but they didnt stay for long. We also know that they had some interaction with others that they referred to as skraelings but these interactions could often result in violence. The Norse spread as far East as the shores of the Black and Caspian seas as well as Italy and Sicily, but they didnt push into North America.
The Vikings expanded far and wide for a reason, they were proficient warriors and feared by the people they encountered. However they did not manage to expand into North America. I find it interesting that at least part of the reason they basically left North America to it's own devices was a population of people that didnt use any metal and wore no armor. The Vikings were, technologically speaking, light years ahead of any of the natives of North America at the time and the natives still drove them off on most occasions.