Vanished Settlers of Greenland

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Vanished Settlers of Greenland

In Search of a Legend and Its Legacy

Literary studies: general Cultural studies European history: the Vikings

Author: Robert W. Rix

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Language: English

Published by: Cambridge University Press

Published on: 6th July 2023

Format: LCP-protected ePub

ISBN: 9781009359467


Introduction

For four hundred years, Norse settlers battled to make southern Greenland a new, sustainable home. They strove against gales and winter cold, food shortages and in the end a shifting climate. The remnants they left behind speak of their determination to wrest an existence at the foot of this vast, icy and challenging wilderness. Yet finally, seemingly suddenly, they vanished; and their mysterious disappearance in the fifteenth century has posed a riddle to scholars ever since.

The Mystery

What happened to the lost Viking colonists? For centuries people assumed their descendants could still be living, so expeditions went to find them: to no avail.

The Story

Robert Rix tells the gripping story of the missing pioneers, placing their poignant history in the context of cultural discourse and imperial politics. Ranging across fiction, poetry, navigation, reception and tales of exploration, he expertly delves into one of the most contested questions in the annals of colonization.

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