Last night the temps went down into the
30s. They were saying it was to go to
freezing and frost warnings. Being in a
room we didn’t really notice. Even in the
van we can stay toasty with the little electric heater or if all else fails the
heavy sleeping bag. When I first looked
out the window “Apollo” was in the slip and the cars were lined up to board.
We headed north with the destination of
L’anse-au-Meadows. There are two things
we want to see there. 1: The Lanse-au-Meadows National Historic Site and 2:
Norstead; a Viking Village and Port of Trade.
As the Viking Trail heads north again we
follow along a rocky coast line. When we
reached Flowers Cove we could see the old Flowers Cove Lighthouse on a rocky
island. In the background Port Amour
Light glistened in the sun and was quite visible even though it’s about 20
miles away.
We notice that the mountains were so far
east we could no longer see them.
We continued northeast until the small
village of Eddies Cove where the road took a sweeping turn to the east and
started up a gentle rise. Soon the
terrain had changed drastically. It was
as flat as a board. There was square
mile after square mile of rubble rock.
Along the way were warning signs for caribou and moose but none in
sight.
As we continued inland hills showed up on
the horizon. We found the straightest
stretch of road we have seen in weeks. Then the road turned northeast again
and it became Ride ‘em Cowboy… When you
weren’t missing pot holes you were bouncing like a yoyo. I think probably the richest guy in these
parts is the Monroe Shock Absorber man!
But the scenery made up for the rough ride. We arrived at L’anse-au-Meadows just after
lunchtime.
Our first stop was the L'Anse-au-Meadows National Historic Site. In 1960 the building foundations of a
Norsemen village was found and excavated.
Now there are recreated buildings close to the excavations the same size
and shape of the originals and designated by the artifacts found in each one.
 |
The Large Hall
Houses the high ranking and
serves as working areas |
 |
| Chieftain's Quarters |
 |
| Great room in Large Hall |
 |
| Weaving Loom |
 |
| Tools of the day |
 |
Articles of the Chieftain and
his Second in Command |
 |
These sod walls have an
"R value" of 100.
Cool in summer and warm in winter |
 |
Great room also served as sleeping
quarters of lesser ranking. |
 |
| Iron smelting and blacksmithing. |
 |
| Huts were housing for lower ranking |
 |
At Bonnies wedding (real life) the
wedding party wore Norse clothing. |
Paul, who portrayed a laborer (My apologies Paul, I have no picture. I was so wrapped up in the information you were sharing I forgot to take a picture) and Bonnie, who would have been a high ranking wife, were the living history
characters and shared a wealth of knowledge about the Norsemen and the local
area.
The term Viking was the lingo of the day for Norsemen who were searching
for new territory or resources. It’s kind of like we would describe the wife
going shopping at the mall on Christmas Eve. (Well, except Norsewomen didn’t
accompany the scouting expeditions…So technically there was no lady Vikings until
Minnesota started a football team...But I digress) However some of the highest ranking may have brought along their wives to serve as housemaids.
Of course the name Viking
brings an image of fearless barbaric warriors but the truth is they were better
in battle because they were larger than their European counterparts. The average Norseman were robust men who
stood around six feet tall compared to the English, French and Spanish of the
1500s who were around five feet. (Ponce
de Leon was only four feet eleven inches and was considered tall for his
time. He was also the tallest man on his ship.) After The Europeans got their butts whooped over and over, some excuse
had to be made why… We were attacked by
men with horns growing out of the side of their helmets, carrying heavy
swords who were ruthless savages... made for good stories to explain their losses. But the truth be told…Only the wealthiest
carried swords. And most of the Norsemen
were laborers. Most would fight a
scrimmage with whatever was at hand.
Weapons most likely came down to the axes used to chop wood or poles of
wood sharped into pikes. Keep in mind
people back then were not as civilized as we would like to think we are today.
Ok why were they here? It basically all came down to economics. Doesn’t just about everything? Norseman living in Iceland and Greenland came looking for
iron ore, timber, fishing, furs and whatever a new land could offer. These commodities would then be taken back to
their homes. It’s believed that this site
was only occupied about 10 years until better pickings were found to the south. This was not colonization but business.
Only about a half mile further down the
road is Norstead and the Norse ship Snorri.
The Snorri was built in 1996 and shipped to Greenland to be sailed
home. The first attempt had to be
aborted due to a rudder failure, but she successfully made the second one
bringing her nine Norsemen crew back to L’ans-au-Meadows in 87 days.
 |
| Snorri |
 |
| Chieftain's Hall |
 |
| The Chieftain and Wife |
 |
| Inside the Church |
 |
| Wool on the hoof |
 |
| Spinning wool by hand |
We settled in for the night at the Viking
RV Camp in Quirpon and did the first cooking on the camp stove since we left
Nova Scotia.
 |
| Viking Moonrise |
As the Viking Trail heads north again we
follow along a rocky coast line. When we
reached Flowers Cove we could see the old Flowers Cove Lighthouse on a rocky
island. In the background Port Amour
Light glistened in the sun and was quite visible even though it’s about 20
miles away.
We continued northeast until the small
village of Eddies Cove where the road took a sweeping turn to the east and
started up a gentle rise. Soon the
terrain had changed drastically. It was
as flat as a board. There was square
mile after square mile of rubble rock.
Along the way were warning signs for caribou and moose but none in
sight.
As we continued inland hills showed up on
the horizon. We found the straightest
stretch of road we have seen in weeks. Then the road turned northeast again
and it became Ride ‘em Cowboy… When you
weren’t missing pot holes you were bouncing like a yoyo. I think probably the richest guy in these
parts is the Monroe Shock Absorber man!
But the scenery made up for the rough ride. We arrived at L’anse-au-Meadows just after
lunchtime. 
Our first stop was the L'Anse-au-Meadows National Historic Site. In 1960 the building foundations of a
Norsemen village was found and excavated.
Now there are recreated buildings close to the excavations the same size
and shape of the originals and designated by the artifacts found in each one.
Of course the name Viking
brings an image of fearless barbaric warriors but the truth is they were better
in battle because they were larger than their European counterparts. The average Norseman were robust men who
stood around six feet tall compared to the English, French and Spanish of the
1500s who were around five feet. (Ponce
de Leon was only four feet eleven inches and was considered tall for his
time. He was also the tallest man on his ship.) After The Europeans got their butts whooped over and over, some excuse
had to be made why… We were attacked by
men with horns growing out of the side of their helmets, carrying heavy
swords who were ruthless savages... made for good stories to explain their losses. But the truth be told…Only the wealthiest
carried swords. And most of the Norsemen
were laborers. Most would fight a
scrimmage with whatever was at hand.
Weapons most likely came down to the axes used to chop wood or poles of
wood sharped into pikes. Keep in mind
people back then were not as civilized as we would like to think we are today.
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