“Why did you decide to live here in Greenland?” [Jack said].
“I wanted a new life,” Erik said. “People call us pirates. But I am a seafarer who searches for safe harbors where I can live with my family. I have found one here at the edge of the world. I named it Greenland.”
from Magic Tree House: Narwhal on a Sunny Night (#33)
written by Mary Pope Osborne
illustrated by Ag Ford
Random House/A Stepping Stone Book, 2020
In Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series, brother and sister, Jack and Annie, discover a magic tree house filled with books that take them on time-travel adventures while introducing young readers to people and places in world history.
In Narwhal on a Sunny Night, Jack and Annie are whisked off to Greenland where Leif Erikson helps them free a narwhal that had become trapped in a shallow pool as it tried to escape from an orca. During the course of the story, the kids also meet Leif’s father, Erik the Red.
Most knowledge of him comes from various medieval and Icelandic sagas written and performed long after his lifetime. So a grain or two of salt is advised.
Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red for his flowing red hair and beard, was born in Norway in about 950 CE. When Erik’s father, Thorvald, was exiled for murder in about 960 (a common punishment in that time), he traveled about 900 miles from Norway, across the Norwegian Sea, to settle his family, including young Erik, in northwestern Iceland.
All went well for the first 20 years. But in about 980, when Erik was about 30 years old, several of his servants accidentally triggered a landslide that crushed his neighbor’s house. In revenge, the owner’s kinsmen killed Erik’s servants.
Erik moved his family farther north.
Two years later, he was involved in a “massive brawl,” and killed two of his new neighbors’ sons. Erik was banished for manslaughter.
But Erik was finished with Iceland anyway. He knew of a large landmass about 1,000 miles due west and headed across the open ocean. The voyage was dangerous, but Erik the Red was was an expert navigator and his ship’s design was well suited to the danger.
And Erik the Red was a Viking. He named the land Greenland.
Vikings were known for sailing great distances. In (now extinct) Old Norse, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid.’ According to legend, the Vikings traveled from Scandinavia between 800 and 1066 to raid, plunder, and fight wars to acquire and control more land. (It was William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, who invaded England in 1066 and in a land grab, claimed the throne, changeding the course of British history.)
Vikings fought with longbows and arrows, swords, and axes. Since metal was expensive, many weapons, even axes and spears, were made of wood. They carried round wooden shields, but did not use much armor.
Berserkers were Viking warriors who went into battle wearing wolf or bear skins. Believing that Odin, their god of war, would protect them with superhuman powers, berserkers charged into battle fearlessly, wildly and out of control. It’s where our word berserk comes from.
Early Viking society was divided into three classes. Jarls were rich landowners and traders who protected and provided for their workers. In return, the workers heeded the call of their jarl when he called them to join him in raids and battles.
Karls made up the middle class of workers and artisans. Thralls were slaves. They did the work no one else wanted to do and said no on pain of death. Some were able to earn enough money to buy their freedom.
After many years, some jarls became rich and powerful enough to claim Kingships. Kings and Queens took over the rule-making and decision-making that had previously been worked out in community meetings called Things (no etymological connection to the English word).
Islandic sagas note that early Norseman had discovered Greenland long before Erik the Red. When his banishment expired in 985, he returned to Iceland to recruit people for his return to Greenland.
He assured them the land held great promise. Of the 25 ships that left with Erik, only 14 arrived in Greenland. The survivors established two settlements and according to biography.com,“Erik lived like a lord with his wife and four children” including Leif.
It is thought that both colonies survived for several hundred years, making Erik the first known successful and permanent settler of Greenland. The colonies died out around the time of Columbus.
Here’s a success story, though, from the BBC. The oldest parliament in the world was set up in 930 CE by Vikings. It is called the Althing and is currently functioning very nicely in Reykjavik, Iceland. But Iceland is mostly green, and should not be confused with Greenland.
Greenland, the world’s largest and mostly icy island, is part of the Realm of Denmark. Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 when it was redefined as a district of Denmark. Its economy is based on the Danish kroner, but has its own local government and sends two representatives to the Danish Parliament.
While Greenland’s economy is still heavily dependent on fishing, climate change is reducing its sustainability. Tourism is growing, but the government is looking to its natural resources: gold, natural gas, diamonds, lead, and zinc as sources of income through foreign investment.
But at what price?
Burt Bacharach and Hal David may have said it best through the voice of Dionne Warwick.
“There are corn fields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen Lord, if you want to know
What the world needs now is love sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone…”
I’m reading The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson (University Press of Kentucky, 2016). A saga told through several generations of Kentucky women living in a small, rural town, it’s a story that explores the many faces of mother-daughter relationships, a young girl's growing sense of her own sexuality, guilt, shame, mental illness, and oh yes, redemption. A little graphic, though, so choose knowingly.
-—Be curious! (and call your senators and representatives)
senate.gov
house.gov
download the 5 calls app or click 5calls.org
“I wanted a new life,” Erik said. “People call us pirates. But I am a seafarer who searches for safe harbors where I can live with my family. I have found one here at the edge of the world. I named it Greenland.”
from Magic Tree House: Narwhal on a Sunny Night (#33)
written by Mary Pope Osborne
illustrated by Ag Ford
Random House/A Stepping Stone Book, 2020
In Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series, brother and sister, Jack and Annie, discover a magic tree house filled with books that take them on time-travel adventures while introducing young readers to people and places in world history.
In Narwhal on a Sunny Night, Jack and Annie are whisked off to Greenland where Leif Erikson helps them free a narwhal that had become trapped in a shallow pool as it tried to escape from an orca. During the course of the story, the kids also meet Leif’s father, Erik the Red.
Most knowledge of him comes from various medieval and Icelandic sagas written and performed long after his lifetime. So a grain or two of salt is advised.
Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red for his flowing red hair and beard, was born in Norway in about 950 CE. When Erik’s father, Thorvald, was exiled for murder in about 960 (a common punishment in that time), he traveled about 900 miles from Norway, across the Norwegian Sea, to settle his family, including young Erik, in northwestern Iceland.
All went well for the first 20 years. But in about 980, when Erik was about 30 years old, several of his servants accidentally triggered a landslide that crushed his neighbor’s house. In revenge, the owner’s kinsmen killed Erik’s servants.
Erik moved his family farther north.
Two years later, he was involved in a “massive brawl,” and killed two of his new neighbors’ sons. Erik was banished for manslaughter.
But Erik was finished with Iceland anyway. He knew of a large landmass about 1,000 miles due west and headed across the open ocean. The voyage was dangerous, but Erik the Red was was an expert navigator and his ship’s design was well suited to the danger.
And Erik the Red was a Viking. He named the land Greenland.
Vikings were known for sailing great distances. In (now extinct) Old Norse, the word Viking translates to ‘a pirate raid.’ According to legend, the Vikings traveled from Scandinavia between 800 and 1066 to raid, plunder, and fight wars to acquire and control more land. (It was William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, who invaded England in 1066 and in a land grab, claimed the throne, changeding the course of British history.)
Vikings fought with longbows and arrows, swords, and axes. Since metal was expensive, many weapons, even axes and spears, were made of wood. They carried round wooden shields, but did not use much armor.
Berserkers were Viking warriors who went into battle wearing wolf or bear skins. Believing that Odin, their god of war, would protect them with superhuman powers, berserkers charged into battle fearlessly, wildly and out of control. It’s where our word berserk comes from.
Early Viking society was divided into three classes. Jarls were rich landowners and traders who protected and provided for their workers. In return, the workers heeded the call of their jarl when he called them to join him in raids and battles.
Karls made up the middle class of workers and artisans. Thralls were slaves. They did the work no one else wanted to do and said no on pain of death. Some were able to earn enough money to buy their freedom.
After many years, some jarls became rich and powerful enough to claim Kingships. Kings and Queens took over the rule-making and decision-making that had previously been worked out in community meetings called Things (no etymological connection to the English word).
Islandic sagas note that early Norseman had discovered Greenland long before Erik the Red. When his banishment expired in 985, he returned to Iceland to recruit people for his return to Greenland.
He assured them the land held great promise. Of the 25 ships that left with Erik, only 14 arrived in Greenland. The survivors established two settlements and according to biography.com,“Erik lived like a lord with his wife and four children” including Leif.
It is thought that both colonies survived for several hundred years, making Erik the first known successful and permanent settler of Greenland. The colonies died out around the time of Columbus.
Here’s a success story, though, from the BBC. The oldest parliament in the world was set up in 930 CE by Vikings. It is called the Althing and is currently functioning very nicely in Reykjavik, Iceland. But Iceland is mostly green, and should not be confused with Greenland.
Greenland, the world’s largest and mostly icy island, is part of the Realm of Denmark. Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 when it was redefined as a district of Denmark. Its economy is based on the Danish kroner, but has its own local government and sends two representatives to the Danish Parliament.
While Greenland’s economy is still heavily dependent on fishing, climate change is reducing its sustainability. Tourism is growing, but the government is looking to its natural resources: gold, natural gas, diamonds, lead, and zinc as sources of income through foreign investment.
But at what price?
Burt Bacharach and Hal David may have said it best through the voice of Dionne Warwick.
“There are corn fields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen Lord, if you want to know
What the world needs now is love sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone…”
I’m reading The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson (University Press of Kentucky, 2016). A saga told through several generations of Kentucky women living in a small, rural town, it’s a story that explores the many faces of mother-daughter relationships, a young girl's growing sense of her own sexuality, guilt, shame, mental illness, and oh yes, redemption. A little graphic, though, so choose knowingly.
-—Be curious! (and call your senators and representatives)
senate.gov
house.gov
download the 5 calls app or click 5calls.org
RSS Feed