Dr. Eleanor Barraclough

Basically, those sagas, from what we know of the sagas, he's got to have died somewhere between 1018 and 1025. And that's purely because in one of them, he's there in Greenland and in the next, it's his son and there's no sign of him. So he's probably gone.

Basically, those sagas, from what we know of the sagas, he's got to have died somewhere between 1018 and 1025. And that's purely because in one of them, he's there in Greenland and in the next, it's his son and there's no sign of him. So he's probably gone.

Yeah, it looks like it.

Yeah, it looks like it.

There we go. Let's stick with that one. Yeah.

There we go. Let's stick with that one. Yeah.

We're not in the right period of history to be really specific.

We're not in the right period of history to be really specific.

Well, so this is quite interesting because the first English speaking settlers of the US and Canada want to emphasise their English roots. And we know that Columbus landing on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola takes hold as sort of an alternative origin myth for the US after the War of Independence, particularly. But Columbus also has never actually set foot in North America. Yeah.

Well, so this is quite interesting because the first English speaking settlers of the US and Canada want to emphasise their English roots. And we know that Columbus landing on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola takes hold as sort of an alternative origin myth for the US after the War of Independence, particularly. But Columbus also has never actually set foot in North America. Yeah.

So then the story of Leif Erikson gets really popular in the 19th century. And part of that is because Protestant US citizens, they're not, Columbus is a little bit too Catholic for them. So what seems to be happening is Viking gets conflated with the idea of Anglo-Saxons. It implies a sort of ancestral link to modern white Americans. So it's this sort of

So then the story of Leif Erikson gets really popular in the 19th century. And part of that is because Protestant US citizens, they're not, Columbus is a little bit too Catholic for them. So what seems to be happening is Viking gets conflated with the idea of Anglo-Saxons. It implies a sort of ancestral link to modern white Americans. So it's this sort of

quite uncomfortable racial myth of white Anglo-Saxon colonisers bringing civilisation to indigenous populations around the globe. You know, it's the classic story.

quite uncomfortable racial myth of white Anglo-Saxon colonisers bringing civilisation to indigenous populations around the globe. You know, it's the classic story.

We do have that. And basically the Vinland Saga has directed these archaeologists straight to it. So in the 1960s, archaeologists started working on a site in Lancer Meadows in Newfoundland in Canada. And they found the remains of several Norse-style buildings. So it looks like there's some that people can live in temporarily. It looks like there's workshops where people can sort of learn things.

We do have that. And basically the Vinland Saga has directed these archaeologists straight to it. So in the 1960s, archaeologists started working on a site in Lancer Meadows in Newfoundland in Canada. And they found the remains of several Norse-style buildings. So it looks like there's some that people can live in temporarily. It looks like there's workshops where people can sort of learn things.

What area is that? It's the tip of Newfoundland.

What area is that? It's the tip of Newfoundland.

Yeah, it's right by the water. This is temporary. So you can tell no one's really living there permanently because, yeah, essentially you'd expect to see more rubbish. You'd expect to see some graves, all the rest of it. You don't have that. So it looks like what they're doing is essentially using it as a stopping off point, mending their ships, overwintering, and then they can go further south.

Yeah, it's right by the water. This is temporary. So you can tell no one's really living there permanently because, yeah, essentially you'd expect to see more rubbish. You'd expect to see some graves, all the rest of it. You don't have that. So it looks like what they're doing is essentially using it as a stopping off point, mending their ships, overwintering, and then they can go further south.