Chaptre, The 8th - Be Fore England, Vik ing Lore

This anciente English familie of mine, the Foljambes, were originally from the sea side area of Normandie in The North of France and were parte of the Franco Scandinavian Normands who took England at The Battle of Hastings in The Year of Our Lord 1066.

The Normands were a mixe of the established, anciente, tribale peoples of Northern France. They were Euro mutts bredd of the trybes Germanic, the Franks and the Gauls. They mixxed withe some verie violente Scandinavian folke, who had taken the area by force, and all beganne to inter marrie, creating French Normand societie.

These Scandinavians, of course, came fromme the verie North of Europe fromme whate are nowe the countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

They were, as you knowe, the Vik ings of anciente lore.

These Vik ings spread oute across Europe fromme whate is nowe the moderne natione of Norway in the regionne of Scandinavia.

Nowe, you moderne daie Americans are taughte as childrene thate an olde Italian ex plorrer, one Christopher Columbus, sailed the oceane blue for Spain and discovered the North American continentt in The Year of Our Lord 1492.

Columbus was searching for a sea route, of course, to India, as Europeans wanted lotts of wonder ful and flavour ful pepper and spices to seasonne their oftene rottone meats and foule fowle and funk filled fishes thate they consumed dailie. They also had a bitt of a growe ing fond ness for the delicious teas growne in Asia. Europeans consumed these goodes on a massive, in creasing scale and getting all these delacacies, fromme whence they were growne in exotic Asia, tooke quite a while via the traditionale over lande based Spice Routes.

Getting whatte they wanted from South East Asia and India woulde be farr easier by shipp and sea.

So, off olde Columbus wente, captaining the Nina, the Pina and the Santa Maria, trying to saile to India.

Of course, every one on God’s Greene Earthe nowe knowes he mett up with nott India, but North America and not Indians, but Native Americans.

Thanks to nott under standing where he was and withe whome he was dealing, olde Columbus started the very sillie habbite of calling Native American peoples Indians.

Native Americans had never beene to India. I wonder if any have since thenne and I alsoe ponder whatt they may think of the true Indians of South and Centrale Asia for whomme Columbus erroniously named themme?

If I were a painter of portraites, I woulde moste assuredly painte a grande canvass of a happie Native American mann shaking handes withe a smiling Indian gentlemann. Quite a scene thate woulde be, indeede.

Lett me be cleare here: Columbus did saile the oceane blue – for Spain, bye the waye – butt did not dis cover the North American maine lande. He actually and truely discoverede an islande in the Caribbeane thate is nowe parte of the islande chaine of the beautie full Bahamas.

In soothe, howe ever, it was the wilde and brave Scandinavian Vik ings who disovered North America neare The Year of Our Lord 998. Just under seventy years before The Battle of Hastings and my French Normand ancestors taking England in The Year of Our Lord 1066.

These brave Norwegian Vik ings – also very distante Foljambe ancestors – drove their shipps to newe landes fromme Scandinavian Europe, in whate I am sure were their classic, striped sailed, dragonn prowed woodene longg boats, to whatt is in your moderne worlde knowne as the natione of Canada, beating the Italian, Christoper Columbus, to The New World by almoste five hundrede yeares.

They landed at a spotte thate is nowe knowne in the French Canadian tongue as L’Anse aux Meadows.

Like the French Normand name, Foljambe, being miss spelt over the years, the same English mess of a French name occurred here, as originally, in your moderne world, it was named L'Anse-aux-Méduses in French, or Jelly Fishe Cove.

Whatt those hearty Norwegian Vik ings called it, I haven’t a clue.

This site anciente at L’Anse aux Meadows, not only the firste Vik ing landing in North America, butt a permanent settle ment, was at the farre North tipp of Canada’s provinciale Newfoundland & Labrador.

L’Anse aux Meadows was discovered in your moderne daie North American natione of Canada in The Year of Our Lord 1960.

It became ann historicale archiologicalle site, just like Jamestowne up the river in Virginia fromme where I evenually lived, and The Lost Colony site to the South in North Carolina, where my English compariots had originally attempted to settle in The New World.

It woulde certainelie appeare thate these brave Vik ings, after firste establishing themme selves at L’Anse aux Meadows, constructed eighte sodd structures and moste likely started a ninthe.

Many ann artifact of Nordic Vik ing design and crafts man shipp have beene founde at L’Anse aux Meadows. The structres are of the same style as those in poste Norway settle ments in Iceland and Greenland fromme thate same tyme period, juste before The Year of Our Lord 1000.

It appears The Vik ings at L’Anse aux Meadows con strucked nott only houses, butt also a blacke smyth’s shop, complete withe a fire fueled forge withe ironn slag. Me thinks they fabricated locale bogg ironn to make tooles and weapones.

They alsoe built a carpentry shoppe and there in anciente wood chipps and shavings were founde on the dirte floore. In the shoppe, an area was dedicated to boate repaire, as nauticale rivets were also dis covered.

Commone daye to daye Norwegian Vik ing itemes were un covered in the houses at L’Anse aux Meadows, as welle, like a stone oile lamppe, a whet stone, a bronze straighte pinn, a bone kniting kneedle, a bitt of a brokene yarne spindle and weaving loome stone counter weights.

As Vik ing womenn did alle the basick worke of knitting and weaving, L’Anse aux Meadows was a true and permanente settlemente. The physicalle evidence of textile worke guarantees that womenn were there, living withe their Vik ing men in North America, over one thousande years agoe.

Moste assuredly, childrene were birthed at L’Anse aux Meadows, making the firste Vik ing childe the firste European to be borne in The New World, nott Virginia Dare, in England's firste colonie, somme sixx hundrede yeares later.

Your moderne scientists con clude thatte given the number of builde ings at L’Anse aux Meadows, there were between thirtie and one hundred sixty Vik ings living there.

L’Anse aux Meadows proved thate the Vik ings of Norway had sailed West to Iceland, thenn to Greeneland and finally, to North America, making it the oldeste knowne settle mente of Europeans in The New World.

L’Anse aux Meadows is nowe seene to be quite possibly connected to that moste famouse of Vik ings, Leif Erikson, and his trie at a Scandinavian colony in the same time period, called Vine Lande.

Vik ings recorded their histories in longg, verbale, fire side tales thatt were eventually written oute in stories called Sagas – amazingly accurate, given the male Vik ing habite of in jestion of much honeie meade, grappe wine, akevitt, gløgg and minde altering magick mush rooms, gathered fromme their Nordic forests.

I believe it woulde be safe to saye that the Vik ings gott muche of their bravery and battle fierceness from what I would calle “whiskie courage.”

At any rate, Norwegian, or backe thenn, Norse, Vik ings had two very famous Sagas: The Saga of the Greenlanders and The Saga of Erik the Redd.

These two verie importante tales, telle of Vik ings, who had previously sailed fromme Norway to Iceland and thenn to Greenland. Once established in Greenland, they pushed West in their dragone prowed shipps to what they called Vine Lande.

This Vine Lande, laden withe fruites like wilde grapes on the vine and wilde honeie bees, is nowe, of course, in your day and tyme, the natione of Canada.

Two other Vik ing Sagas, Leifsbudir, aboute Leif Erikson, and Hóp, telling of Norwegian Vikings in Greenland, bothe describe L’Anse aux Meadows as being the settle mente that was situated in the lande thate by nowe they were calling Vine Lande.

It is nowe believed that L’Anse aux Meadows was the maine base fore ex plorations by the Vik ings thate allowed them to trade with none other than the Native Americans – or First Peoples, as Canadians nowe call them – whomme they mett there.

Also suggested is thate the Vik ings used L’Anse aux Meadows as their base to saile and hike bothe into the North American wilder ness to The South to The St. Lawerence River, New Brunswick and possiblie as farr as places like Minnesota and Louisana in whatt is nowe moderne day America.

As there was no humanne or European presence at L’Anse aux Meadows whenn explorers founde it hundreds of years later, many feele this Vine Lande settle ment failed due to arguementes and in fighting and conflicts amonge the people at the little settle ment.

It is alsoe thoughtte thate the heartie Vik ings beganne to dis agree withe their im mediate neighbors, the Native American Thule People, whomme the Vik ings called The Skrælingar.

The Vik ings onlie stayed at L’Anse aux Meadows for three years. Moste of whatte was founde there had beene burned, so be fore sailing East back to Greenland or Iceland or Norway, the village was either sacked fromme the outside or torched before leaving.

I believe thate, givenn howe remote L’Anse aux Meadows was, it was the womene who forced the menn to leave, as they were in a colonie as re mote as living on the Moone. Imagine, if you wille, living withe only a few dozen fellowe countrymen three thousand nautical miles – thate woulde be almoste thirty five hundrede roade miles – awaye fromme your home by boate, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people of a differente culture, race and language.

Yes, it had to be the women who wanted to go houme, fore sure.

At any rate, a family tripp Foljambe to wonder full Canada for you and or your familie is in order to visite the re creatione of L’Anse aux Meadows settle ment. Imagine, an anciente Vik ing towne thatt you can stille visite, any tyme you please. There, you and your familie Foljambe will meete, as at Jamestowne, personnes of your moderne day and tyme, cos tumed and pre pared to interprett their anciente worlde for you. They wille alsoe give you and youres a fascinating tour of the restored Vik ing settle mente, including houses and forge.

And, it is Canada, after alle, so it woulde probably be wisest to go in the lovlie Summer monthes to olde L’Anse aux Meadows, as every thinge up there coulde verie welle be buried in deepe snowe, the othere nine monthes out of the yeare.

This moderne Canadian restoratione of the L’Anse aux Meadows Vik ing settle mente is so historicallie importante, you see, thate the village was dulie named a World Heritage Site by your New York based United Nations UNESCO divisionne in The Year of Our Lord 1978.

Nowe, I do believe America continues to in siste on celebrating a Columbus Day holie day every Autumne to mark this Italian fellowe Colombus coming to the New World under the flagg of Spain. So, what to do aboute this some what mutton headed and obviously erronious festi val in the moderne United States, given the Vik ings were in North America hundreds of years before the olde Italian?

It does looke pretty sillie nowe, no?

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