Who discovered Greenland. Environmental degradation

Who first discovered Greenland??? and got the best answer

Reply from Ђ@nyushka[guru]
The island was first discovered by the Icelandic sailor Gunbjorn around 875 (he did not go ashore).
In 982, an Icelander of Norwegian origin, Eirik Rauda (Red), made the first survey of the island and named it Greenland.
In 983, Norman (Icelandic) colonies were founded in southern Greenland and lasted until the 15th century. In the 11th century, the population of Greenland, including the indigenous Eskimos, adopted Christianity (in 1126 the first bishopric was founded in Greenland). From 1262 until the beginning of the 18th century, Greenland actually belonged to Norway. In 1721, the colonization of the island by Denmark began. In 1744, Denmark established a state monopoly (existed until 1950) on trade with Greenland. In 1814, with the dissolution of the Danish-Norwegian Union of 1380, Greenland remained with Denmark and until 1953 was its colony. In 1953, Greenland was declared part of the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. In April 1940, after the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany, the US government announced the extension of the Monroe Doctrine to Greenland. On April 9, 1941, the Danish envoy in Washington signed the so-called so-called agreement with the American government. agreement for the defense of Greenland (ratified by the Danish Rigsdag on May 16, 1945). The United States has begun creating military bases on Greenland. After Denmark joined NATO (April 4, 1949), a new agreement was signed between the Danish and American governments on April 27, 1951, under which Denmark and the United States jointly defend the island. In 1971, the United States had 2 military bases and other military facilities in Greenland.

Greenland (Grønland, literally “green country”) is an island in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, northeast of North America.
State of the Inuit people, autonomous territory Denmark.
Greenland is the largest island in the world. Area - 2,166,086 km². Population (2005, estimated) - 56,375 people.

Around 980, the Viking Erik Rauda (Red) was sentenced to three years of exile from Iceland for the murder of his neighbor [. He decided to sail west and reach a land that, in clear weather, can be seen from the mountaintops of western Iceland. It lay 280 km from the Icelandic coast; According to the sagas, the Norwegian Gunbjorn sailed there earlier in the 900s. Eric sailed west in 982 with his family, servants and livestock, but floating ice prevented him from landing; he was forced to go around the southern tip of the island and landed at a place near Julianshob (Qaqortoq). During his three years of exile, Eric did not meet a single person on the island, although during his travels along the coast he reached Disko Island, far northwest of the southern tip of Greenland.
At the end of his exile, Erik the Red returned to Iceland in 986 and began encouraging local Vikings to move to new lands. He named the island Greenland (Norwegian Grønland), which literally means “Green Land”. There is still ongoing debate about the appropriateness of this name; some believe that in those days the climate in these places, thanks to the medieval climatic optimum, was mild, and the coastal areas of the southwest of the island were indeed covered with dense grassy vegetation; others believe that the name was chosen for the sole purpose of attracting more settlers to the island.
Karl Lehmann
Connoisseur
(269)
Fascism was in Italy, Spain...

Reply from Elena Osinskaya (Pestova)[guru]
Vikings

Reply from User deleted[guru]
trust a professional!!

Reply from Albert[guru]
Actually I opened
But out of modesty I gave up the laurels... I don’t remember to whom! :))

Reply from Ўras Dorofeev[guru]
The island was first discovered by the Icelandic sailor Gunbjorn around 875 (did not go ashore)
In 982 AD, Icelander Erik Thorvaldson reached southwest coast Greenland. This stern and tough man, better known as Eric the Red, was sentenced to three years of exile in his homeland for murder. He decided to spend these three years exploring the western lands that Icelandic sailors had talked so much about.
Three years later he returned home and told his fellow tribesmen about his discovery. He wanted to arouse in his listeners the desire to go to this new land and therefore gave it an attractive name. Thorvaldson nicknamed the region he discovered “green” - Greenland!
The island belonged to Norway since 1386, after which it passed to Denmark. In 1979, the Danish parliament granted Greenland broad autonomy.
Also:
Archaeologists identify four Paleo-Eskimo cultures in Greenland that existed before the discovery of the island by the Vikings, but the dates of their existence are determined very roughly:
Saqqaq culture: 2500 BC e. - 800 BC e. in southern Greenland;
Independence I culture: 2400 BC e. - 1300 BC e. in northern Greenland;
Independence II culture: 800 BC e. - 1 BC e. mainly in northern Greenland;
Early Dorset culture, Dorset I: 700 BC e. - 200 N. e. in southern Greenland.
These crops were not unique to Greenland. As a rule, they arose and developed in the territories of Arctic Canada and Alaska long before their penetration into Greenland, and could persist in other places in the Arctic after their disappearance from the island.
After the decline of Dorset culture, the island remained uninhabited for centuries. The carriers of the Inuit Thule culture, the ancestors of the modern indigenous inhabitants of Greenland, began to penetrate the north of the island at the beginning of the 13th century.
The capital is Nuk (the old name is Gothob).
Most of Greenland's territory is hidden under ice cover, the thickness of which in some places reaches three kilometers. Only the most unpretentious plants and the strongest animals can survive on the border between land and ice. Winters in this region are harsh and last a very long time, and in summer the temperature rises very slightly, and the summer itself ends as soon as it begins.
Here and there, on small patches of land free of ice, you can find grass and some other low-growing plants, but for the most part, only stones covered with moss and lichens can be seen from under the ice.
Today, only about thirty-five thousand people live in Greenland, which is extremely small for such a vast territory. Most settled in the ice-free southwest west coast islands. Only two and a half thousand people live in the eastern part and a little more than six hundred people in the northern part.

Who first discovered Greenland??? and got the best answer

Greenland (Grønland, literally “green country”) is an island in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, northeast of North America.
State of the Inuit people, autonomous territory of Denmark.
Greenland is the largest island in the world. Area - 2,166,086 km². Population (2005, estimated) - 56,375 people.

Around 980, the Viking Erik Rauda (Red) was sentenced to three years of exile from Iceland for the murder of his neighbor [. He decided to sail west and reach a land that, in clear weather, can be seen from the mountaintops of western Iceland. It lay 280 km from the Icelandic coast; According to the sagas, the Norwegian Gunbjorn sailed there earlier in the 900s. Eric sailed west in 982 with his family, servants and livestock, but floating ice prevented him from landing; he was forced to go around the southern tip of the island and landed at a place near Julianshob (Qaqortoq). During his three years of exile, Eric did not meet a single person on the island, although during his travels along the coast he reached Disko Island, far northwest of the southern tip of Greenland.
At the end of his exile, Erik the Red returned to Iceland in 986 and began encouraging local Vikings to move to new lands. He named the island Greenland (Norwegian Grønland), which literally means “Green Land”. There is still ongoing debate about the appropriateness of this name; some believe that in those days the climate in these places, thanks to the medieval climatic optimum, was mild, and the coastal areas of the southwest of the island were indeed covered with dense grassy vegetation; others believe that the name was chosen for the sole purpose of attracting more settlers to the island.
Karl Lehmann
Connoisseur
(269)
Fascism was in Italy, Spain...

Reply from Elena Osinskaya (Pestova)[guru]
Vikings

Reply from User deleted[guru]
trust a professional!!

Reply from Albert[guru]
Actually I opened
But out of modesty I gave up the laurels... I don’t remember to whom! :))

Reply from Ўras Dorofeev[guru]
The island was first discovered by the Icelandic sailor Gunbjorn around 875 (did not go ashore)
In 982 AD, Icelander Erik Thorvaldson reached the southwestern coast of Greenland. This stern and tough man, better known as Eric the Red, was sentenced to three years of exile in his homeland for murder. He decided to spend these three years exploring the western lands that Icelandic sailors had talked so much about.
Three years later he returned home and told his fellow tribesmen about his discovery. He wanted to arouse in his listeners the desire to go to this new land and therefore gave it an attractive name. Thorvaldson nicknamed the region he discovered “green” - Greenland!
The island belonged to Norway since 1386, after which it passed to Denmark. In 1979, the Danish parliament granted Greenland broad autonomy.
Also:
Archaeologists identify four Paleo-Eskimo cultures in Greenland that existed before the discovery of the island by the Vikings, but the dates of their existence are determined very roughly:
Saqqaq culture: 2500 BC e. - 800 BC e. in southern Greenland;
Independence I culture: 2400 BC e. - 1300 BC e. in northern Greenland;
Independence II culture: 800 BC e. - 1 BC e. mainly in northern Greenland;
Early Dorset culture, Dorset I: 700 BC e. - 200 N. e. in southern Greenland.
These crops were not unique to Greenland. As a rule, they arose and developed in the territories of Arctic Canada and Alaska long before their penetration into Greenland, and could persist in other places in the Arctic after their disappearance from the island.
After the decline of Dorset culture, the island remained uninhabited for centuries. The carriers of the Inuit Thule culture, the ancestors of the modern indigenous inhabitants of Greenland, began to penetrate the north of the island at the beginning of the 13th century.
The capital is Nuk (the old name is Gothob).
Most of Greenland's territory is hidden under ice cover, the thickness of which in some places reaches three kilometers. Only the most unpretentious plants and the strongest animals can survive on the border between land and ice. Winters in this region are harsh and last a very long time, and in summer the temperature rises very slightly, and the summer itself ends as soon as it begins.
Here and there, on small patches of land free of ice, you can find grass and some other low-growing plants, but for the most part, only stones covered with moss and lichens can be seen from under the ice.
Today, only about thirty-five thousand people live in Greenland, which is extremely small for such a vast territory. Most settled on the ice-free southwestern coast of the island. Only two and a half thousand people live in the eastern part and a little more than six hundred people in the northern part.

Mysteries of history. Facts. Discoveries. People Zgurskaya Maria Pavlovna

Who discovered Greenland?

Who discovered Greenland?

At the turn of the 15th–16th centuries, the Portuguese sailors brothers Miguel and Gaspar Cortirial set out on three caravels in search of a northwestern route to Asia. One day they came across an island lying at the “intersection” of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. This is how Europeans discovered Greenland. second time. And in 1721, the colonization of this exotic piece of land began. The Scandinavians, though this time the Danes, were again reclaiming the lands that the Vikings had discovered long before them. Who owns the glory of the discoverer himself? big island in the world?

According to the sagas, it was the Norwegian Gunbjorn. Sometime between the 870s and 920s he sailed to Iceland, but a storm drove him west to the small islands off 65°30? With. w. 36° W d. Behind them there was high land covered with snow and ice, which the sailors could not approach due to heavy ice. Today highest point The Arctic, which is located in Greenland, is named after the brave sailor Mount Gunbjorn.

Around 980, a group of Icelanders, sailing west, spent the winter on skerries, which they mistook for the islands discovered by Gunbjorn. Returning to their homeland, Icelanders also talked about mainland beyond the skerries. And in the summer of 982, the fiery hair of Eric Thorvaldson, who went down in history under the nickname Eric the Red, was already looming on the local shores.

Eric was born in Norway, but his father, Torvald, and his family were expelled from there for murder. So Eric ended up in Iceland, but from there he had to go home: this time he was expelled for two murders. According to sources, Eric’s anger was justified: one of the victims was his neighbor, who did not return the boat he had borrowed. Eric committed his second crime out of revenge - he punished the Viking who killed his slaves. However, even the cruel laws of that time did not approve of lynching, and now the red-haired brawler had to spend three years in a foreign land. Eric did not lose heart: he decided to get to the mysterious land, which in clear weather was visible from mountain peaks western Iceland. Eric decided to try his luck: he bought a ship, gathered a group of friends and rushed towards adventure. He took his family and servants with him. Eric even loaded his cattle onto the ship. The island, most of which is now covered with ice, oddly enough, seemed suitable for life to the Vikings. The thickness of the ice cover reaches three kilometers in some places, and therefore only the most unpretentious plants and animals are able to survive at the border of land and ice. There is practically no summer in these parts - it ends before it even begins, and summer days in Greenland are not much warmer than winter ones. Why did Eric and his companions like this island so much? Why did it receive such an absurd name - “Green Land”? The fact is that at the end of the 10th century, the climate of Greenland was much milder than it is today, and, having rounded the southern tip of the island, the sailors landed near Julianehob (Qaqortoq), where the grass was green near the fjords and the air was filled with the aromas of flowers. There is, however, another version: some researchers believe that the name “Greenland” was primarily an advertisement - Eric wanted to attract as many settlers as possible here. However, the name that Eric gave to these lands initially applied only to the friendly corners of the southwestern coast and spread to the entire island only in the 15th century.

During the three years that Eric had to spend in Greenland without going out - this was the period of his exile - the settlers cultivated enough land to feed themselves and raised livestock. They hunted walruses, harvested fat, walrus ivory and narwhal tusks.

One day, as the legend tells, Eric climbed one of the coastal peaks and saw in the west high mountains. Modern researchers suggest that it was Baffin Island: on a clear day it can be seen across Davis Strait. According to the Canadian writer F. Mowat, Eric was the first to cross the strait and swim to Cumberland. He explored everything mountainous east coast this peninsula and entered Cumberland Bay.

In the summer of 983, Eric passed from the Northern Arctic Circle to the north, discovered Disko Bay, Disko Island, the Nugssuaq, Svartenhoek peninsulas, and, possibly, reached Melville Bay, at 76° north latitude. He explored another 1,200 km of the western coast of Greenland. The Viking was delighted by the abundance of animals and birds that could be hunted: polar bears, arctic foxes, reindeer, whales, narwhals, walruses, eiders and gyrfalcons. But there were also different types of fish.

After two years of searching, Eric looked at several places - flat, but well protected from cold winds. In 985 he returned to Iceland, not to stay there forever, but to recruit future colonists. There were many people willing - about 700 people. They went to sea on 25 ships, but a storm began and 11 of them sank. Only 400 brave men reached Greenland. They based on south coast The islands are the so-called Eastern Settlement. Within ten years, another settlement appeared - Western. It was built by new colonists who arrived later.

Eric the Red

Of course, the settlers had a hard time: the winters were very harsh. Nevertheless, the Viking colony in Greenland flourished. As archaeologists say, the number of colonists grew steadily and eventually reached a peak of three thousand people.

Viking settlements stretched along the fjords. It was not so easy to build a house on the island - large trees did not grow here. We had to make do with driftwood or turf. Scientists estimate that the construction of one of the large buildings took about a square kilometer of turf - just how much work did the Vikings put in while ripping it off! There were also stone buildings. To keep the building warm, the walls were made very thick - sometimes more than two meters.

Since the summer was very short, grains grew poorly, but the traditional Viking diet included bread and porridge. Grain was also added to stews - fish and meat. The meat of domestic animals - goats, sheep and cows - was highly valued. Cattle were slaughtered extremely rarely, content with milk. The settlers caught fish with nets and hunted seals and deer.

In the 14th century, a cold snap began in Greenland. Glaciers were creeping into the lands of the Vikings, gradually depriving them of pastures. Trade with Scandinavia, which brought considerable income to the colonists, fell into decline - the plague raged in Norway and Iceland. We had to adapt to new conditions: scientists claim that the Vikings were saved by the sea, namely seafood. Their share in the diet was now more than 80%.

Around 1350, all the inhabitants of the Western settlement disappeared somewhere - about 1000 people. This became known because a priest from Eastern settlement When he came to the neighbors, he did not find anyone. Only wild livestock wandered between the empty houses. He did not see the dead either - as if the Vikings had suddenly disappeared. There is still no solution. If the settlement had been attacked by pirates, the bodies of the dead would have remained. The same would have happened if the plague had reached the colonists. People could not move somewhere: no one would leave their belongings and animals.

The eastern settlement survived until the beginning of the 16th century. But in 1540, Icelandic sailors landing on the shores of Greenland did not find a single colonist. They found only the body of a man in a cloak with a hood. Who was this man? And where did the rest go? Historians believe that people sailed back to Iceland - after all, the climate became much colder, and there were no more opportunities to engage in farming and cattle breeding. According to Eskimo legends, the inhabitants of the Eastern settlement were attacked by pirates. Archaeological excavations in Greenland this version is not confirmed, but it is curious why the Eskimos were so interested in the fate of the Vikings?

At first the island seemed uninhabited to the Vikings. But was it so? The fact is that the first to “master” Greenland were not the Vikings, but the Eskimos. Scientists argue that the history of ancient Greenland is a history of repeated migrations of the Paleo-Eskimos. They sailed here from the Arctic islands of North America. The Paleo-Eskimos adapted to an extremely unfavorable climate and survived at the very edge of the range suitable for human existence. But even very small climate changes could destroy an insufficiently adapted culture.

Scientists identify four ancient Paleo-Eskimo cultures in Greenland, whose representatives lived on the island long before the appearance of the Vikings. These are the Saqqaq culture, the Independence I culture, the Independence II culture and the early Dorset culture. The last one disappeared later than all others; it existed until about 200 AD.

But who did the Vikings find in Greenland, if the last Eskimo left this land seven hundred years before their arrival? Researchers have different opinions. Some believe that they are still representatives of the Dorset culture. This culture (beginning of the 1st millennium BC - beginning of the 1st millennium AD) was discovered in 1925 on Cape Dorset (Baffin Island). It was distributed in the far northeast of Canada, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and western and northeastern Greenland. The Dorset tribes were hunters. Their prey included seals, walruses and reindeer.

Perhaps the Scandinavian colonists who arrived with Eric the Red were not the only inhabitants of the island. A new migration of the Eskimos - representatives of the late Dorset culture - supposedly took place shortly before their appearance. But the Eskimos settled in the far northwest of the island, a very long distance from the Viking settlements. Indeed, during excavations of sites of the Dorset culture, no items of Scandinavian production were found. However, there is indirect evidence of contact, so-called "exotic elements" that are not typical for this culture: screw carvings on bone tools and carvings of people with beards.

Another culture whose representatives the Vikings definitely encountered is called Thule. It existed between the 900s and 1700s on both banks

Bering Strait, Arctic coast and Canadian islands. Some researchers believe that Dorset and Thule were neighbors in Greenland for some time. This was between the 800s and 1200s, after which Thule was replaced by Dorset. The Thule tribes adapted well to local conditions; they were fed by hunting animals, both sea and land. In the central part of the American Arctic, the Tuleans built rounded dwellings from whale bones and stone, and rode dog sleds. The same Thule representatives who lived in the Bering Strait region lived in houses made of driftwood. Archaeologists find sinkers, stone lamps, knives, figurines of people, animals and waterfowl there. The Tuleans were mostly sedentary. They saved food supplies, and thanks to them they could survive the hungry winter months.

How did the Thule Eskimos get along with their Viking neighbors? There is no clear answer to this question. During excavations at Eskimo sites, archaeologists found many items of Norwegian work. But how did they get to the Thulians?

Due to the colder weather, the Eskimos migrated closer to the territories that belonged to the Vikings. A number of researchers believe that the Vikings not only met with the Eskimos, but even lived among them. But there are few supporters of this version. According to Eskimo legends, the Scandinavians were in conflict with the Tuleans. Sagas also tell about armed clashes with the Eskimos. It is possible that the Thulians interfered with the Vikings, displacing them from the hunting territories of the central part of the west coast.

Fragment of the Carta Marina map (XVI century). Thule is designated as Tile

Did these very different peoples trade with each other? Unknown. Things made by the Scandinavians could have reached the Thulians in another way: from the settlements left by the Vikings. Oddly enough, the colonists did not take advantage of the experience of their neighbors, whose clothing was more adapted to the conditions of the north, and did not even adopt individual elements of their costume. This surprises scientists, but the history of Greenland during the Viking times is generally full of mysteries, and who knows whether science will find the answer to them.

From the book Newest book facts. Volume 3 [Physics, chemistry and technology. History and archaeology. Miscellaneous] author

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On the western coast of the Caspian Sea, where the Caucasian spurs approach the sea quite closely, ancient Derbent lies on the coastal plains and hills. Today it is the second largest city in the Republic of Dagestan, after the capital Makhachkala, which lies 125 km to the north.

Derbent is one of the oldest cities not only in the Caucasus, but throughout Russia. Its history, according to archaeologists, dates back five thousand years - it was then, back in the Bronze Age, that a small settlement arose on this site, which later acquired city fortifications.

However, the documented emergence of Derbent as quite large city associated with the Persian king of the Sassanid dynasty - Yazdegerd II (reigned 435-57 AD), who erected it on the northern border of his possessions, on an elevated and strategically important place - between the mountains and the sea (which is reflected in the name itself : Iranian "derbend" means "mountain pass", or "mountain outpost").

About a century later, i.e. in the 6th century, during the reign of another king of the same dynasty (Khosrow I Anushirvan - ruled 531-579), a fortified Upper (Old) city was erected on the ruins of previous fortifications, the center of which is impregnable fortress Naryn-Kala. Two stone fortress walls were also erected (they were equipped with powerful towers and majestic entrance gates), which departed from the citadel and ran parallel to each other towards the sea. These walls, now only partially preserved, once reached the very shore, and even went into shallow water, thus enclosing not only the city itself, which seemed to be in a “wall” protected from the enemy, but also the harbor. In addition to the two main walls, there previously existed another fortress wall - Dag-Bary (Mountain Wall), 3 m thick and up to 10 m high, which extended from the southwestern corner of the citadel and went to the side Caucasus Mountains for as much as 40 km! (now the Mountain Wall is almost completely destroyed, only isolated fragments remain).

Subsequently, thanks to the beneficial geographical location, Derbent is turning into one of the largest and most developed medieval cities in the East. True, his story is full of drama: he finds himself at the epicenter of turbulent events, experiences many assaults and destruction, and experiences periods of prosperity and decline. In the 630s. Derbent is captured by the Khazars, from 652 it is part of the Arab Caliphate, in the 10th century. becomes the center of an independent emirate. Further, in 1071 the city was captured by the Seljuk Turks, in the 13th century. it was conquered by the Mongols in the period from the 16th to the beginning of the 18th centuries. Derbent is part of Iran. Since 1743 it has been the center of the Derbent Khanate, and in 1813 Derbent annexed Russia.

The Naryn-Kala citadel, which has been well preserved to this day, is limited by thick (2-4 m) and high (10-12 m) fortress walls, made of two rows of well-processed stone blocks filled with rubble and lime mortar. On its territory you can see the ruins of the palace of the Derbent Khan (2nd half of the 18th century), this is also a special underground structure - a “stone bag” (cellar or prison for the Khan’s prisoners), baths, and a guardhouse. The ruins of palace buildings from earlier periods (starting from ancient times) have also been preserved.

In the area adjacent to the citadel there is a typical Muslim medieval city with a network of narrow crooked streets, onto which open the blind facades of 1-2-story houses, with mosques, fountains, and baths. In this part of the city there are: the Juma Mosque complex, consisting of the mosque itself (VIII century), a madrasah (XV-XIX centuries) and 3 arched gates (XVII-XIX centuries), as well as the Kirkhlyar Mosque (XVII century). ), Minaret-mosque (XVIII century, partially rebuilt in the XIX century) with the only dilapidated minaret in Derbent (XIV century), Chertebe-mosque (XVII-XIX centuries), former Khan's mausoleum (late 18th century). Here you can also see special reservoirs for storing water - underground cisterns (XVII-XIX centuries), which for Derbent, like any other fortified city of those times, was of almost paramount importance. Water was supplied here from mountain springs - through numerous stone and ceramic water pipelines discovered during excavations.

From 1926 to Upper town valid local history museum, and in 1989 the state historical, architectural and art museum-reserve “Ancient Derbent” was organized.

Cultural criteria: iii, iv
Year of inclusion in the List world heritage: 2003

This site is on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website whc.unesco.org/en/list/1070

Opening of the sea route to the White Sea.

Discovery of Greenland and America.

Traveling to the White Sea was greatly facilitated by the fact that it was possible to stay along the coast all the time. However, storms often carried sailors into the open sea, and then they ended up with mysterious islands that cannot be accurately identified. From conversations with people who visited the White Sea, I got the impression that the descriptions of the Icelandic sagas, mainly the saga of Orvar-Odd, come closest to Solovki. But this is contradicted by the fact that the islands to which the Normans land lie not in the White Sea, but in the ocean, and the nearest anchorage from them is in Finnmark. From here it is clear that the Normans knew and visited, although perhaps against their will, driven by bad weather, the islands lying in the Arctic Ocean, Kolguev and, perhaps, New Earth. If such and such an island was subsequently assigned a nature characteristic of more south coast, then the error is quite understandable in the oral transmission of our sources.

Undoubtedly, the Normans' trips to the northwest presented much greater dangers, since in this direction there was no mainland coast along which it was possible to sail. We see how the Normans move west carefully, in separate stages, moving from island to island. Even before the settlement of Iceland, they established themselves in the Shetland, Orcadian and Ferean islands. At one time it seemed that this desire to the west would be limited to Iceland and would not go further. But stormy winds even here led travelers off the beaten path. In 920, a certain Gunbiorn was carried by a storm to the west and saw hitherto unknown islands. To our surprise, to this day we have not been able to find these islands on the map. Therefore Mogk thinks that these islands were completely destroyed volcanic eruptions. In any case, word has spread in Iceland that open ground in the west. Eirik the Red remembered her when he was expelled from Iceland for murder. He actually managed to open new country. For three years he explored it and finally decided to settle in it. For this purpose, he returned to Iceland to recruit comrades with him. He called the country Greenland, as it seems to me, in contrast to Iceland. If the homeland that rejected him was known as the “country of ice,” then how promising the name sounded - “green country!” This name suggested to him not only a certain feeling of revenge, but also a desire to attract as many comrades as possible with him. In addition, in some places along the Greenland coast, green pastures can actually be seen. This colonization of Greenland dates back to approximately 985 and was quite successful, so that, as far as we can now judge, the population of the Normans reached up to 5,000 souls.

In 999, Leif, son of Eirik the Red, makes his first journey from Greenland to Norway. On the way back, he wanders around the sea for a long time and finally lands on an unknown shore. Here three things strike him: grapevines, wild wheat and large maple trees. From all these rarities, he takes a sample with him and sails to the northeast, to Greenland. It is clear that the news of the new discovery excited everyone. But some kind of evil fate haunted further enterprises. Eirik the Red was preparing to set off on his own, but on the way to the ship he fell from his horse, broke his rib and injured his shoulder. In general, this trip was extremely unsuccessful: the travelers rushed around the sea for months and, having not achieved their goal, returned to Greenland tired. Among them was Leif's eldest brother, Thorstein; he died soon after this trip. But in 1002, two Icelandic ships arrive in Greenland. Thorfin, one of the visiting merchants, married Gudrida, Thorstein's widow. Probably only now did the Greenlanders tell them the secret of their discovery. And then a whole expedition of many ships is equipped. On their way they discover three countries: the first, due to the abundance of rocks, they call Helluland, the second, where they were amazed by the dense forests, Markland, and finally, Vinland hin goda = the land of grapes. It is highly likely that Helluland is Labrador, Markland is Newfoundland, and Vinland is Nova Scotia (or the area near New York). The Normans' attempt to settle in this latter country was unsuccessful. They were subjected to persistent attacks from the natives, and soon began to quarrel among themselves. Torfin reached Greenland safely, but another Icelandic ship was lost in the storm. This trip probably lasted more than three years: on the way, Gudrida gives birth to a son, who is already three years old when they return to their homeland. Up to 140 people took part in this expedition. But the outcome did not particularly encourage a repetition. It was too risky to swim in open water. Thus, of the 35 ships that sailed with Eirik the Red to Greenland, only 14 reached their new homeland. Such misfortunes sufficiently show us how dangerous such navigation was in unknown waters, without a compass, without a shore.

Apart from the saga of Eirik the Red, from which we draw all the news about the discovery of the North American coast by the Normans, only fragmentary references to these lands have reached us. There is a note that Bishop Eric went to look for Vinland in 1121, but whether he achieved his goal, or whether he actually returned home from this trip, we still don’t know. The latest indication of relations between the Normans and America dates back to 1347. Icelandic chronicles note that a Greenlandic ship on the way back from Markland was thrown into Iceland by a storm. However, the Normans are unlikely to have founded any colony in these parts. It is not only the complete silence of Norman sources that speaks against this assumption. From the lost colonies in Greenland, ruins remained, from which we can reconstruct both the place of residence of the Normans who settled here and the number of their households. IN North America no such traces were found. However, mysterious inscriptions were discovered on the rocks; At one time they were considered runic, but a more thorough study of them showed that these marks owe their origin to the Indians. It was also in vain that they turned to Mexican manuscripts, hoping to find in them news about the first discoverers of America or even the influence of Christianity brought here by the Normans. All these attempts were in vain, and we must be content with the conclusion that the Normans only occasionally visited the American shores, either for the purpose of fishing or for other products of the country.

Despite the fragility of relations, new discoveries left their traces in cartographic ideas. Let's return to the original meaning of Gandvik. The belief that the Arctic Ocean to the north of Europe is a large bay arose because the Normans, during their journeys from Norway, Finnmark or Biarmalland to the north, constantly encountered lands. Then the Greenlanders began exploring their country, its more northern parts and the inaccessible eastern shore. Finally they reached the island of Svalbardr, which Storm found it possible to identify with Spitsbergen. In this way, they began to think that only travel to the west was possible, otherwise there was land all around. After all, for a long time they thought that the Kara Sea was also inaccessible for navigation, and then again they believed that a little further Asia bends to the extreme north, until Nordenskiöld destroyed this legend. The question about the Northeast Passage (Nordostpassage) is actually just an account of the old misconception about Gandvik. Adam of Bremen did not know the way past the North Cape. Therefore, he has no idea about the northern coast of Norway, about Biarmaland and Gandvik. But he has the skeleton of a cartographic construction: Greenland is located opposite the Swedish (that is, Norwegian) or Riphean mountains. This means that the entrance to Gandvik was between Greenland and the North Cape. Saxon places north of Gandvik big desert without calling her by name. Neither its location nor its name are known; it is completely removed from human settlement, only wild and extraordinary animals are found there in abundance. Very few have visited these regions. We find more definite indications in the so-called Breve Chronicon, a manuscript of the 15th century, although the original probably dates back to the 13th century. The author of the chronicle tells such a case that ships heading from Iceland to Norway met a contrary wind and were carried into the sea located between Greenland and Biarmaland, and landed on the shore where people of incredible size live (that is, on Risaland) and on the land Amazons. Granland is separated from their region only by ice mountains. It is clear that since the author clearly understood the map of the European north, he could not place the Amazons near the Scandinavian Peninsula, as his predecessors, Tacitus, Adam of Bremen and others did. Therefore, he moved them to the north of Gandvik, where there were only giants, but , in general, they could still fit - monstra varia. Greenland, according to the author, lies opposite Biarmaland and is connected with it. So, all the polar lands, starting from Greenland and ending with Norway, form a continuous continental coast without interruption and form a semicircle, within which Gandvik is located.

Further in the same chronicle we find the definition of the far west. This is still the same Greenland - Viridis terra, which has thus acquired monstrous proportions. It is located near the African islands, where the waters of the world's oceans flow. Atlantic Ocean must somehow feed on the waters of the world's oceans. But closely related to this issue was the idea of American lands. While the Norman reckoned with America, the strait necessary for the confluence of the oceans could be placed either between Greenland and America or between America and Africa. Once America disappears from sight, there remains only one place for this strait between Greenland and Africa. This could have happened all the more easily since the Normans imagined America not as a large continent, but as a series large islands. Of these, the southernmost is Vinland, which was even considered connected with Africa. This idea of Vinland was spread to the rest of the “islands”, and in this way the famous “African islands” were created. They appeared as a memory of American lands, about which the author is extremely curious for us! - doesn't mention it at all. This means that the memory of their existence is still preserved, while the names have already been forgotten. But were they really forgotten?

In the interpolation of Orvar-Oddsagi, which, in any case, arose no later than the beginning of the 15th century, Odd's enmity with Ogmund is described. For a long time, Odd has to look for his enemy. Finally, he learns that Ogmund has retired to the desert - i Hellulands ubygdum. There he stopped in the Skuggi fjord. Last title actually means shadow, darkness, but is also used in the sense of a devil or a monster, a ghost, in general. According to this instruction, Odd travels to the “Greenland Sea” and searches for his enemy in the south and west along the coast. Odd sees no one except various monsters. Then Odd raises the sails again and only now reaches Helluland. The route described leaves no doubt that this country is located in America and corresponds to the lands that the Normans discovered in the 11th century.

Fisher's careful research revealed that Greenland was first mapped by the Danish scientists Claudius Clavus in the 15th century, but the American lands were ignored by him. So these Norman discoveries were never recorded by cartographers. However, some memories may have been passed down orally and then accidentally ended up on the map. One name on the maps of the 15th century convinces me of this. On one Catalan map there is a long rectangle with the designation illa verde and next to it round island- illa de brazil. On the map of 1507 and on others we find viridis insula. Obviously, illa verde and viridis insula are the same Greenland. But the carta marina has an island called Obrazill instead of Greenland. Then this name under different variants, such as: Brazir or Brezir, is repeated on maps of the 15th, 16th and even 17th centuries. On the map of 1367 we find the following postscript: novus cotus de Brazir. In 1498, the Spanish ambassador to the English court reported that residents of the city of Bristol began to equip expeditions to the unknown island of Brazil. Finally, after Columbus, there followed the discovery of the land to which the name Brazil has been associated until our days. Storm argued that the Spanish navigators generally understood Brazil as an area covered with rich forest. But then Brazil would answer to the Norman Markland, and mysterious island Brazil would be a direct memory of the discoveries of the 11th century. If Markland got on spanish maps called illa de brazil, then this is not surprising. On the one hand, relations with Markland were not completely interrupted until the middle of the 16th century, on the other, news of even the most remote parts of the north undoubtedly reached the south, as Fisher pointed out in a number of examples.

While the memory of Helluland was preserved in some sagas, and Markland was even listed on Spanish maps, Vinland disappeared without a trace from subsequent literature. But we can explain this oblivion of Vinland to ourselves. Anyone who has read ancient works and chronicles will understandably be struck by the strange spelling of Finland - Vinland. Even on maps we sometimes clearly see Vinland where we expect Finland. Already Rudbeck in his “Atlantis” notes this strange confusion: vocabulum Finlandiae provinciae ad regnum nostrum pertinentis pro quo apud Snorronem et in historia Regum non semel occurit Vinlandiae nomen. With such complete coincidence of names, the differentiation of both areas was maintained only for the time being. Once the idea of American Vinland began to fade, the European (or even Scandinavian) Vinland = Finland completely overshadowed the memory of the first region. Let us not forget that Vinland lay much further than other American localities known to the Normans; Let us remember that it was in Vinland that the Normans suffered from an attack by the Eskimos, and we will understand why relations with Vinland ceased first of all.

Despite the fact that the Norman discoveries did not completely disappear without a trace, lasting results in terms of familiarization with the globe were given only by the settlement of Greenland by the Normans. But a strange idea about Gandvik at one time prevented the correct drawing of Greenland on the map. Fischer, in appendices V and VI to his work, reproduces maps on which Greenland is drawn east of Iceland and north of the Scandinavian Peninsula. On other maps, Greenland is placed correctly - to the west of Iceland. But the first misconception, I think, should have caused an exaggerated idea of the size of Greenland. Another consequence of this mistake was the fact that the navigators mistook for the Greenland coast different lands that were located towards the north, but had nothing in common with Greenland. I noted these cases.