Two Viking Settlements in Greenland

The foundation of a Viking church at Brattahlid Greenland, abandoned in the 15th century.

We visited the sites of two different Viking settlements in Greenland: the farms of Eric the Red and of his good friend Thorkell Farserk, both founded in the 10th century. A Viking farmstead was a large enterprise. The main structure was a long-house where many people lived and worked. There were outbuildings for keeping the animals, and a big farm also had its own church, and a banqueting hall for gatherings with other local farmers. These smaller farmers nearby were tenants of the large farms, and would come from the surrounding area to attend church services or celebrations. Their recognized ruler was the king of Norway: the settlers functioned as a colony. The farms were dependent on ships from Norway for essential building materials, new residents, and other materials. Inuit natives of Greenland may have had contact or trade with the Norse settlers, but the evidence of this isn't clear.

Hvalsey Farm

The church.

The banqueting hall.

Hvalsey was a wealthy farm founded in 985. It belonged to the close friend and drinking buddy of Eric the Red, named Þorkell Farserkur (Thorkell Farserk). Thorkell came to Greenland after his neighbors in Iceland threw him out because he was so violent. Eric was also a violent man! The famous Icelandic sagas, written quite a bit later, describe the character traits and the accomplishments of these men and also of the remarkable women who were involved in the heroic Viking voyages. The archaeological remains at these sites confirm the literary descriptions. 

Farmers at Hvalsey continued to produce food and wool, which was spun and woven into cloth, a major export from the Viking colonies. The settlement lasted for around 400 years. By the early 1400s, the climate became cooler and drier. Crops like barley that had grown in earlier centuries (and made beer possible) no longer were viable. Sheep could survive but not goats or pigs, and few cows. It became more difficult to grow hay to feed the animals over the long winters. Economic and political conditions also changed, affecting trade with Norway and Iceland. 

One imagines the sad end of the descendants of the family that had once been prosperous, and had had tenant farmers in the area who came to their farm for worship and for banqueting, struggling to survive. The last recorded contact with Hvalsey is the record of a boatload of Icelanders, who were stranded there for four years because of ice in the sea. They sailed on when it became possible, but nothing was ever again heard from the farm.

Lecturer Hafsteinn Sæmundsson telling us the history of this church.

The last recorded event in Viking Greenland was a marriage between two of the Icelanders from the stranded boat. This event was celebrated in the church of Hvalsey in 1408, and the marriage certificate still exists in an archive in Denmark.

A reconstruction of Hvalsey Farm as depicted on one of the information placards on site.

Brattahlid Farm

Another day, we went ashore at the very beautiful site of another famous farm: Brattahlid. Today the site, far into a fjord and away from the sea, includes a working farm and a small modern settlement including a school and other buildings, along with reconstructions of the Viking farm. The original farm of on the site belonged to Eric the Red, who arrived here in 985. The foundations of several farm buildings stand here, along with the reconstructions of a long house and a small chapel. Eric himself was faithful to Thor and other Norse gods, but his wife Tjoldhilde became a Christian and built the chapel. Eric may have converted to Christianity on his death bed.

Tjoldhilde's very small church at Brattahlid Farm.

The Long-House, made from sod and some wood,
which would have been brought from Norway.

The door into the long-house.

Inside, it's dark and would have been very crowded
with many people on the sleeping platforms and work areas.

A fireplace in the long-house.

The loom for weaving the wool: of critical economic importance for local use and for trade.

The sod walls were very thick, as shown at
this entrance/exit to the long-house.

Farming goes on at the location today,
with sheep grazing on the rough hills as they did in Viking times.

In the course of our voyage on the Explorer, we learned a good deal about the history of the Viking era from Hafsteinn Sæmundsson, the onboard guest speaker. At the end of this era, the climate was growing colder and dryer, and many other factors also contributed to the disappearance of the Viking settlements. Archaeological explorations are still seeking these causes. The whole story involves many more locations than just these two farms that we visited, and much more about the Vikings' dependence on seal and walrus hunting and other activities besides farming.

Location of Viking settlements in Greenland (source).

Brattahlid farm is also in the Eastern Settlement.

Greenland may be the most difficult environments where we strange humans have ever settled. Almost the entire land mass is covered with the Greenland Ice Sheet and glaciers and icebergs are visible from almost any site where the Norsemen farmed or where the Inuit have their homes. According to the "Book of the Icelanders," one of the sagas, Eric the Red chose the name Greenland "because he said people would be more inclined to go there if it had a nice name."

I may write another post about the Vikings' lives in Greenland after reading more about this mysterious era. One particularly useful article is "Why did Greenland's Vikings Disappear?" by Eli Kintisch. I'm also rereading the book The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown, which I read and reviewed a few years ago  (See: A Viking Hearth in Iceland, Greenland, and Vineland.)

Blog post and photos © 2022 mae sander