The wave of craft pubs that have swept through the capital has led to the fact that most of the openings of the "beer" party goes less and less. And really, what is there to see? New beer? All vendors are the same. Design? Edison light bulbs sticking out of water pipes, everyone is already tired to death. Nevertheless, the opening of the pub-restaurant "Erik Ryzhiy" on the Old Arbat caused a great stir. In my opinion, everyone who is somehow connected with beer came to the opening.
Beer restaurants have been located in this room since ancient times. Starting with "Schweik" in the 90s and ending with "Mug" recently. A little further, in the same house in Soviet times, there was a store that sold draft kvass all year round (it was a rarity) (and maybe beer, I didn’t pay attention to it then). So the place is “with traditions”.
The pub has two floors and a basement. On the first and second just a pub with snacks. There is a restaurant in the basement where waiters bring food. Music can also be played there, which by the way is not heard on the upper floors, which of course is a big plus. Some people like to play music and dance, and some people just sit and talk.
The most important thing is that on all three floors in the bars, beer is different! Keep this in mind. How many cranes - I do not know. I think about 45-50 total. Plus a bottle. Decent choice. First of all, of course, this is the assortment of One Ton and Velka Morava, the beer they brew and import. After all, it is these breweries that own the restaurant. Beer prices are average in Moscow and, of course, cheaper than on the Arbat in most establishments.
The main question is where to start, because. this beer was supposed to be the 1,000th check-in on untappd.com. Vasily Smirnov suggested - Odin's Tipple. Imperial stout from the Norwegian brewery Haand Bryggeriet.
Odin's Tipple(Norway, Drammen) - 11% alc. Vasily was right (Vasily will not advise bad things!). The most powerful and at the same time balanced thing! Strong aromas of roasted malt, chocolate and creosote. Moderate sweetness and dry aftertaste complemented again by bitter chocolate, willow bark and coffee. Definitely A+.
Then I wanted a domestic manufacturer.
Red Sonya(Russia, Zhukovsky) - 6.2% alc. Ginger IPA. Collaboration with Oleg Yedigarov. Mild but noticeable Christmas tree scent. A little bit of ginger in the taste, it burns a little. In the aftertaste, blackcurrant is superimposed on ginger. It is a berry, and not "cats pissed." Plus a mild but noticeable bitterness. Great balance of everything. With age, you begin to appreciate the balance, and not the perversion and extremeness of taste 🙂 I’ll also give it an “A +”, and let those who disagree name another, better ginger IPA 🙂
We tried One Ton, then switched to Velka Morava.
Anniversary Baltic Porter(Russia, Moscow) — 7.7% alc. And here is a bummer. Or drinking in the wrong sequence. It seemed quite watery for 20% density. Zhzhonka is not bad, but it is balanced by sweetness or bitterness. It seems that it is strongly fermented and there is no body left. Although the zhzhenka, I repeat, is not bad. Grade "C +", but it is necessary to try separately.
Towards the end we were treated to Urbock 23° in a new can (before it seemed to be only in bottles). It's not from the menu. Stepan Chunikin dragged.
Urbock 23°(Austria, Worchdorf) - 9.6% alc. This is what I understand doppelbock! Straight port wine or maltlikor. Aroma of dried fruits. Sweet, even sickly, but tasty. Alcohol is not felt at all. Caramel, lollipops, dried fruits and port wine in a barrel in the aftertaste. Grade "A"
Volodya "Nikshichko" with the largest Chinese shipowners
The end of the 10th century in history was marked not only by major military and political conflicts, but also by the colonization of Greenland by Scandinavian settlers. The "Green Country" owes its discovery to the Norwegian Eric the Red (950-1003), who went in search of new lands, as he was expelled from Iceland for his violent temper.
Eric Rauda (Redhead): family, first difficulties
Not much information has been preserved about the childhood and youth of the discoverer. It is known that Eric the Red was born in Norway, not far from Stavanger, on the Jerene farm. His bright sunny hair color did not go unnoticed, and soon the nickname Red was assigned to him. As a teenager, he and his family were forced to leave their homeland due to a blood quarrel between his father and neighbors. They sailed west and settled on the Hornstrandir peninsula. At this time, migration to Iceland had already ended, so they got far from the best the best lands on the rocky coast.
When Eric the Red matured, he tried to escape from poverty and constant need. After the death of his father, by hook or by crook he moves to the south of Iceland and marries a girl from a wealthy family in the Haukadal district. It seemed that things were going uphill: with his wife's dowry, Eric was able to purchase a plot and equip a farm. However, problems were not long in coming.
Hot blood
It should be noted that in fiction, Eric the Red, like other Vikings, has a somewhat ennobled image, but in fact his real life was a series of endless skirmishes, including bloodshed and robbery.
Barely having time to get married, the future navigator was involved in a feud with a neighbor whose estate was robbed by Eric's slaves. The conflict escalated when one of the relatives of the affected neighbor, unable to bear the resentment for the damage caused, killed Eric's people. But the young warrior did not remain in debt. He committed lynching and killed this relative and his friend. As a result of these actions, he was expelled from the Haukadal district.
After the verdict, leaving the estate in a big hurry, Eric the Red forgot to grab the carved ancestral pillars, which were a sacred value for every family. Thorgest (the owner of another nearby farm) appropriated someone else's property, which subsequently served as the beginning of new troubles.
Exile
The following winter, the young Viking wandered with his family through the islets of the Breidafjord region, enduring all the hardships of life as exiles. With the onset of spring, he decides to return to Haukadal to collect his family pillars and other property that he hastily left behind. But the dishonest neighbor categorically refused to give them away. Eric and his friends were forced to hide in the nearby forest, waiting for the time when he would go somewhere on business or to hunt. Having seized the moment, they made their way to the estate and returned the pillars, believing that the story would end there. However, in those harsh times, nothing was for nothing. An attempt to return their property turned into another bloodshed. Thorgest, discovering the disappearance of the pillars, rushed in pursuit of Eric. In the resulting brawl, he lost his sons and followers.
New deaths stirred eminent families. They forced the heads of the districts of Haukadal and Breidafjord to officially declare Erik Thorvaldson (Red) outlawed. Numerous supporters of Thorgest in the spring of 981 took military action against the restless Norwegian. As a result, despite the support and friends, Eric was proclaimed an exile for a period of three years.
Land search
Sources tell very little about the most epochal discovery of the Scandinavian navigator Eric the Red. It is known that, while executing the sentence, he says goodbye to his friends and decides to go in search of the land previously discovered by the Norwegian Gunnbjorn, when his ship was driven west by a storm. Taking the same course from the coast of Iceland, Eric moves between 65-66 ° north latitude, successfully using a fair wind. After four days of travel, he and his people were at east coast unknown land.
After a series of unsuccessful attempts to break through the ice to the shore, the sailors moved along coastline to the southwest. Contemplating the lifeless ice deserts and mountainous landscape, they approached the southern fjords, and from there through the strait headed for the western coast. Here the ice cover began to gradually recede. Weary travelers landed on a small island, where they spent the winter.
Expedition of 982
In the summer of 982, Eric the Red, with a small team, set off on a reconnaissance expedition and discovered a coast to the west, indented with many deep fjords. He enthusiastically marked the sites for future farms. Further (according to the modern Canadian prose writer F. Mowat), on some coastal peak, the discoverer noticed in westbound high mountains. It is noteworthy that on fine days beyond the Davis Strait it is quite possible to see the icy peaks of Baffin Island.
Having crossed the strait, the Vikings reached the Cumberland Peninsula, where they were able to explore the highlands of the entire east coast. There they spent most of the summer engaged in fishing: they hunted walruses, prepared fat, collected walrus bones and tusks of narwhals. In the future, it is the discovery of Vestr Obyugdir (“Western Desert Regions”) that will play a significant role in the difficult life of the Greenland colonists.
Southwest coast of Greenland
Based on sources, in the summer of 983, Eric the Red headed from the Arctic Circle to the north, where he discovered the island and Disko Bay, the Nugssuak and Svartenhoek peninsulas. He was able to get to Melville Bay (76 ° north latitude), thus examining another 1200 km west coast Greenland. This region filled with beauty impressed the Norwegian with an abundance of living creatures: polar bears, reindeer, arctic foxes, whales, walruses, eiders, gyrfalcons.
After persistent research, Eric found several suitable flat places in the southwest, relatively sheltered from the harsh winds of the north and having dense green vegetation in the summer. The created contrast between icy desert and this area was so impressive that the red-haired navigator called the coast "Green Land" (Greenland). Of course, this name did not correspond to a large island, in which only 15% of the territory is free from ice cover. Some chronicles claim that Eric intended to attract his compatriots with a beautiful word in order to persuade them to move. However beautiful name originally it was related only to the picturesque areas of the southwestern coast, and only in the 15th century it spread to the entire island.
The first settlers of the "Green Land"
At the end of the established period of exile, Eric the Red returned safely to Iceland (984) and began to convince the local Scandinavians to move to a "fertile paradise". It should be noted that in those days Iceland was full of discontented people, many of whom were emigrants of the last streams. Such families readily responded to the navigator's call to go to the "Green Land".
In June 985, according to the sagas of Erik the Red, 25 ships with settlers on board set sail from the coast of Iceland, but only 14 of them managed to reach South Greenland. Ships were caught in a terrible storm, and some part, unable to cope with the elements, drowned in the sea or was thrown back to Iceland by a storm.
On the western coast of the island in the previously noted fjords, Eric and his compatriots formed two settlements - Eastern and Western. The reliability of the chronicles is confirmed by the results of archaeological finds that were discovered at the site of the organization of the estate of Eric the Red (now Kassiarsuk).
Life in a harsh land
The colonists settled in a narrow strip along the sea; it was pointless for them to move deeper into the island. Under the leadership of Eric, they settled in new places, mainly engaged in fishing and hunting. Their lands also had excellent pastures for livestock brought from Iceland. AT summer season, when the settled weather favored travel, among the male population a call was made to hunt in Disko Bay, which is beyond the Arctic Circle.
The Greenlanders did not break ties with their homeland, because their life depended on this communication. They sent furs, blubber and walrus tusks there, and in return they received iron, fabrics, bread and timber. It was because of the last resource that great difficulties arose on the island. The forest was sorely lacking. It was available in abundance on Labrador, located near Greenland, but sailing for it in a harsh climate was almost impossible.
Family, faith and the last journey
The biography of Eric the Red does not give a detailed picture of his family life. There is an assumption that in marriage he had three sons and a daughter. The first-born Leif took over his father's craving for sea travel. He became the first Viking to visit the land of Vinland in North America, not far from what is now Newfoundland. Other sons also took an active part in various expeditions.
It is known that, having a difficult character, Eric often reproached his wife and his children for bringing a priest to the island, who managed to baptize most of the adult population. The navigator himself remained faithful to the pagan gods to the end, he treated Christianity with frank skepticism.
The last years of his life the discoverer of Greenland spent on the island. The sons called their father to sail, but shortly before the ship was sent, he fell off his horse and saw this as a bad sign. Without tempting fate, Erik Thorvaldson remained on land and died in the winter of 1003. Legends say that from all over the island people flocked to Cape Geriulva to pay him last honors. The funeral procession went down to the sea, and on the Viking ship the ashes of Eric the Red were burnt, he made his last journey.
(0950 )Erik the Red (950-1003), also known as: Eirik Rauda, Eirik the Red, Eirik Thorvaldson(other Scandinavian Eiríkr rauði Þorvaldsson) - Scandinavian navigator and discoverer who founded the first settlement in Greenland. The nickname "red" was due to the color of his hair and beard. Leif's father and Ericsson, the pre-Columbian discoverers of the Americas.
Biography [ | ]
Troubles due to violent temper continued in the new place. Around 980, Eirik was sentenced to a three-year exile from Iceland for two murders. In one case, he killed a neighbor who did not want to return a borrowed boat, in another, he avenged his slaves killed by another Viking.
Executing the sentence, Eirik decided to sail west and reach the land, which in clear weather can be seen from the tops of the mountains of western Iceland. She lay at a distance of 280 km from the Icelandic coast; according to the sagas, earlier in the 900s, the Norwegian Gunbjorn sailed there. Eirik sailed west in 982 with his family, servants and cattle. 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 (Kakortoq). During the three years of his exile, Eirik 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, Eirik the Red returned to Iceland in 986 and began to convince local residents move to new lands. He named the island Greenland (Norwegian Grønland), which literally means "Green Land". There is still controversy surrounding the appropriateness of this name. Some scientists believe that in those days the climate in these places was mild due to the medieval climatic optimum, and the coastal regions of the south-west of the island were indeed covered with dense grassy vegetation. Others believe that such a name was chosen for the "advertising" purpose - to attract more settlers to the island.
According to the sagas, Eirik the Red sailed from Iceland with 30 ships, of which only 14 with 350 settlers reached Greenland, and founded the first European settlement Eystribyggd on the island ( Eastern settlement). The evidence of the sagas is confirmed by the results of radiocarbon analysis of archaeological finds that were found at the site of the former Brattalid (now Kassiarsuk), the residence of Eirik the Red near modern Narssarssuak, and date back to about 1000.
Although Eirik himself retired, his sons continued their research. Around the year 1000, Leif Eriksson discovered the land he named Vinland - the territory of modern North America. Eirik's other sons, Thorvald and Thorstein, also made expeditions there.
Leif Eriksson also brought a priest from Norway who baptized Greenland. Unlike his wife and sons, Eirik never converted to Christianity and remained a pagan until the end of his life, and was skeptical of Christianity.
In popular culture[ | ]
In fiction[ | ]
- Eric the Red is one of the main characters in Kirsten A. Seaver's novel The Gudrid Saga.
- Eric the Red is a character in Charles Clancy's book The Saga of Leiva the Happy, America's Discoverer.
In cinema [ | ]
Feature Film[ | ]
Documentary film[ | ]
- Secrets of antiquity. Barbarians. Part 1. Vikings.
Eric the Red Torfin Karlsefni
Normans were called strong and courageous inhabitants of the coast of the winding deep fjords of Norway, the wooded valleys of Sweden, the low-lying plains of Denmark, fanned by the fresh sea wind. From time immemorial they have been accustomed to get their livelihood on the sea. The soil of their harsh, forested, foggy homeland was infertile, and they had long learned to build light, narrow ships adorned with a dragon's head, and bravely set sail on the open sea to fish, overseas trade, and plunder weaker neighbors.
Young people who did not find the use of their strength and courage in their homeland, people who committed a murder under a hot hand and were forced to flee from bloody revenge, courageous, freedom-loving fighters who did not put up with the oppression of the leaders, united in fighting squads and under the leadership of the king, the “sea king” , went to sea for prey and glory.
The stories of the successful Vikings, who returned home with ships loaded with booty, even more incited new campaigns. The Normans devastated and burned the cities and villages of France and Italy, robbed and killed the inhabitants.
Divided into many small and tiny duchies, principalities, counties, abbeys and baronies, torn apart by countless wars and quarrels, the European countries were helpless before the brave Norman pirates. Appearing in 795 on the shores of Ireland, the Normans, twenty years later, took possession of its northern, western and southern coasts and began to conquer the interior of the country. At the beginning of the 9th century, the Normans plundered and devastated Scotland and northern England, at the end of the X and the beginning of the XI century, the Normans took possession of almost all of England (there they were called "Dans").
In the 9th century, the Normans made their way along the rivers into the depths of Germany and France, robbed and burned German cities Cologne, Hamburg, Aachen, Trier and Worms, French cities Paris, Tours, Orleans, Troyes, Shanon and Dijon. At the end of the 9th century, the Normans had already captured northern France. After that, they went along the French coast to Spain, robbed the coast inhabited by the Moors near Seville and the coast of Morocco, and reached Italy.
If the Normans failed to take the city in battle, they resorted to cunning. So, when the Norman leader Hasting failed to storm the Italian city of Luna, the Normans announced to the besieged that Hasting had died and that before his death he asked to be buried in Luna Cathedral. A sad procession entered the besieged city, unarmed fighters carried the coffin of the leader. But during the funeral, the lid of the coffin suddenly fell back, Hasting got up from the coffin, killed the bishop with a blow of the sword and, having distributed the swords hidden in the coffin to his soldiers, began the massacre. The city was captured and plundered.
Other detachments of the Normans - the Varangians - through the mouth of the Neva, along the great path - "from the Varangians to the Greeks" - reached Byzantium, and there they became the bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors. The conquest of the Russian lands by the Normans (Varangians) and the reign of the Rurikovichs also belong to the VIII-X centuries. Some chronicles indicate that the Varangians were called to the kingdom by the Russians themselves, which is generally rather doubtful.
Part of the Normans headed northwest. Around the middle of the 9th century, the Normans discovered Iceland. The nature of this country, its fiords rich in fish, the peaks of the mountains covered with snow, green meadows very much reminded the Normans of their homeland. Colonists rushed to Iceland from Norway and from Ireland, then captured by the Normans.
In the 10th century, Eric, nicknamed Red, expelled from Norway for the murder, sailed to Iceland. But even in Iceland, the quarrelsome Viking quarreled with the colonists, and he was again driven away. Gathering a gang of brave men, Eric set off to look for new lands.
Eric the Red
After a dangerous and tiring voyage, the fugitives saw glaciers of uncharted land sparkling in the sun. Fanciful ice mountains floated in the blue sea, and there was a bird's hubbub in the air. Eric called the country he discovered the Green Country (hence the name Greenland).
Eric decided to settle in new country and transported people there from Iceland and Norway. in the fiords West Bank he founded two settlements. The Normans were engaged in fishing and hunting for seals, walruses and whales, birds, polar bears, reindeer and arctic foxes. The colonists did not break ties with their homeland and sold furs, walrus tusks and blubber there, and in exchange they received iron, timber, bread and fabrics.
Soon the Normans who settled in Greenland began to look for new, warmer and more fertile lands. In 999, the ship of the son of Erik the Red, Leif Eriksen, sailing from Norway back to Greenland, was caught in a storm. For a long time, the ship rushed in the fog along the cold, raging sea, with difficulty dodging collisions with white icebergs that suddenly emerged from the darkness. The storm was over, the sun dried up the clothes and warmed the chilled, exhausted sailors.
A wooded shore was visible in the distance. The ship approached him. Gentle hills covered with thickets of wild grapes ran down to the sea. Wild wheat grew on the southern slopes. Streams rang, rolling down from the high bank into the sea. It was America—now New England. So the Normans discovered the New World five hundred years before Columbus.
Returning to Greenland, Leif Eriksen showed branches of wild grapes and ears of wild wheat and spoke about Vinland - the Land of Grapes, where the climate is warm, there is a lot of game, where you can get the forest so necessary for the Greenland colonists.
Another Viking, Thorfinn Karlsefni, who came from Iceland to Greenland in 1002, became interested in Eriksen's stories. A year later, he organized an expedition on three ships to Vinland discovered by Leif.
Statue of Thorfinn Karlsefni by Einar Jonsson (1920) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
One hundred and sixty men went with him. Since the Normans expected to settle in new Western countries, they took with them everything that might be needed in a new place - even a few cows and bulls. The ships sailed along the coast of Greenland, past snow- and ice-covered rocks, past glaciers that slid into the sea, bird colonies and seal rookeries. Then the shores of Greenland disappeared into the haze of the sea. The ships went south to the open sea.
The sea was deserted. Only in the distance could be seen the fountains released by whales and, slightly swaying on the waves, majestic icebergs floated by.
Finally, the sailors saw a blue stripe on the horizon. It was the current Labrador. Highland was covered with huge flat slabs. Storms roared below. Sharp rocks jutted out above, and fragments of clouds clung to them. Sailors called this land Helluland - Land of Flat Stones.
But this was not the beautiful Vinland - the Land of Grapes, which Leif Eriksen talked about. We sailed further south. Two days later, a new land opened up before the travelers.
The indented coast was covered with a gloomy coniferous forest. Thorfinn called this land Markland - Woodland (now it is Newfoundland). Here the travelers stopped to rest. The hunters, armed with bows, spears and darts, went deep into the thicket and returned in the evening with rich prey - deer and elk.
The ships moved further south. The wind was getting warmer, blowing from the right, from the shore. Two days later they sailed to an open sandy shore. Stopped to rest again. When the sailors were collecting deadwood for a fire on the shore, they came across the ship's keel, half covered with sand. So they were not the first to visit this place. Probably, some European ship was wrecked here, and its crew, obviously, died. The Normans called this place Calames (Cape Kiel), now it is Cap Breton in present-day Canada.
For the winter, Thorfinn stopped at Teamfiord (the fjord of the Currents), sending one ship further south in search of the coveted Vinland. The ship returned with grapes and wild wheat—Vinland was not far away.
The wintering of 1003-1004 in Teamfjorden went well. It was warm in the wooden huts. There was a lot of game around.
Only in the spring did the game disappear, and then people had to starve. In the spring, one ship sailed to Vinland, but the wind carried it to the shores of Ireland. There the Normans were taken prisoner and made slaves.
Thorfinn later set sail on his own in search of Vinland. Sailed for a long time. For several days the Normans saw nothing but water. It was getting warmer and warmer. Finally, the shore appeared in the distance. The ships entered the mouth of the river, which flowed from the lake and flowed into the bay. It was Vinland. Deciduous forests rustled here, there were long-awaited grapes and wild wheat. On the shore of the lake, the Normans built huts and wintered there.
The second wintering in America (the winter of 1004-1005) was even more prosperous than the first. But one spring evening, a lot of leather canoes appeared on the lake. Natives sailed - short, strong, red-skinned people dressed in furs, whom the Normans called skelings. The Skelings began trading with the newcomers, but the bull breaking out of the fence frightened the natives so much that they hurriedly left the lake, fleeing from an unprecedented monster. Three weeks later they returned and, having quarreled over something with the Normans, attacked them. The Normans, protected by helmets and mail, armed with swords, prevailed, and the natives were repulsed. Nevertheless, the Normans returned north to Markland, where they spent the winter of 1005-1006 and from where they traveled south to Vinland. But when strife broke out among the colonists in the summer of 1006, Thorfinn decided to return to Greenland.
Thus ended the attempt of the Normans to colonize the American coast. The Normans subsequently went several times to Markland for the forest, but gradually the way to the west was forgotten. Only the ancient legends of Iceland and Greenland have preserved the memory of these campaigns. The "Saga of Eric the Red" tells about the exploits of the heroes who discovered Greenland and America.
Modern scholars consider it almost proven that the Normans, and in particular Karlsefni and his comrades, reached the present North Carolina. However, it is not possible to accurately establish the limits of their voyages, since their records are very short and poor in details. It was especially difficult for them to describe those areas where the banks were completely overgrown with forests and had few distinguishing features. In any case, the descriptions made by the Normans give a generally correct picture of the climate, topography, and harbors of the American coast.
We have information that the Normans even made a journey into the depths of America and that this journey was full of tragic adventures. In 1898, Swedish immigrant Olaf Oman was clearing a wooded area near Kensington, Minnesota (USA), and uprooted an aspen tree stump whose roots had entwined around the rough-hewn stone. An inscription was carved on the stone, but Oman could not read it. When the stone was cleaned, he saw that the inscription was in runic writing. Here is her translation by Hjalmar Holland:
“8 Goths and 22 Norwegians, on an exploratory journey from Vinland through the West, camped at two rocky islands a day's march north of this rock.
We left the camp and fished one day. When we returned, we found 10 people red with blood and dead. Save from evil. The next three lines, carved on the edge of the stone, read: (We) have 10 (persons) of our party by the sea to watch our ship 14 days from this island. Year 1362".
University of Minnesota professor Breda was the first to read the inscription on the stone and declared that it was a crudely executed forgery.
We talked a little about the stone and forgot about it. For nine years he served as a threshold in the barn of Oman.
Luckily, it was lying face down, and so they survived. The scientist Holland, who has carefully studied the inscriptions on the stone, resolutely defends their authenticity. Experienced foresters have established that when the aspen fell under the uprooting, she was seventy years old, therefore, the inscriptions on the stone were carved, at least until 1830. But at that time there could not have been people in Minnesota who would have had sufficient knowledge to carry out such a forgery.
And who needed it? Three geologists studied the carved signs and recognized them as very ancient.
Here is how Holland explains the history of the stone inscription found by Oman. The visit of the Normans to Vinland and Markland was not an accidental episode. The colony in Greenland continued to exist for some time, and the colonists sometimes brought timber from America. They entered into relations with the Indians, married Indian women and gradually moved away from Christianity. There is evidence that King Eriksen sent missionaries to Greenland in 1355 to re-convert the colonists to Christianity. However, having arrived in Greenland, the missionaries learned that some of the colonists had moved to Vinland; then they also swam there. First, they came to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, and then, following in the footsteps of their fellow tribesmen, they rounded Labrador, entered the Hudson Bay and, following its banks, swam to the mouth of the Nelson River. Here they left their ship and part of the people. The other part of the expedition went up the river, to the Lake of the Forest and to the Red River, that is, to the area close to the current Kensington.
Here, in order to honor the memory of their dead comrades and mark the most distant point of their journey, they made an inscription on a hewn stone.
In Greenland itself, life got worse and worse, the climate became more and more severe, ships sailed to Norway and Iceland less and less. The colonists suffered from scurvy and rickets. From Norway and Iceland, ships brought a terrible epidemic - the "black death" (plague). During the 15th century, the Norman population of Greenland almost completely died out, and in the 18th century, when the Norwegians and Danes again began to colonize Greenland, they, apart from abandoned cemeteries and ruins of dwellings, did not find any traces of the Normans there.
At the end of the 15th century, when Columbus visited Iceland, communication with Greenland, and even more so with America, had long been interrupted.
But among the Icelandic sailors, chronicler monks and old peasants, there were still legends about the voyages of their ancestors far to the west and about the beautiful Vineland - Vinland.
Eirik the Red is a famous Scandinavian navigator. He is considered the person who founded the first settlement in Greenland, as well as the discoverer. He got his nickname "red" for the distinctive color of his beard and hair. His son Leif was the first to set foot on the coast of America, and he is considered its main pre-Columbian discoverer.
Scandinavian biography
It is authentically known that Eirik the Red was born in Norway. At that time, a king by name ruled, and Thorvald Asvaldson was his own father. Torvald did not restrain his emotions well, so one day he decided to kill. For this crime, he and his family were expelled from the country. The Asvaldsons had to settle in Iceland.
But even in a new place, a violent temper prevented him from getting along with others. In addition, his son Eirik the Red also adopted excessive emotionality. Around 980, he himself was already sentenced to three years of exile for two murders. First, he took the life of a neighbor who did not give back a borrowed boat, and then avenged his slaves, who were killed by another Viking.
In obedience to the verdict, Eirik decided to sail west to reach the land, which was visible in clear weather from mountain peaks in the west of Iceland. As it turned out, she was about three hundred kilometers from the coast. Sagas have been preserved in Norwegian folklore, according to which, about a century ago, another famous Norwegian Viking, whose name was Gunbjorn, sailed there.
Eirik's Journey
Eirik Ryzhik set sail in 982. He took with him the whole family, as well as cattle and servants. At first, floating ice prevented him from landing for a long time. Therefore, he had to go around the island from the south and go ashore in the area of \u200b\u200bthe modern Greenlandic town of Qaqortoq. It was Greenland.
The hero of our article spent three years on the island without meeting a single person during this time. Although he repeatedly made attempts to find someone. He explored almost the entire coastline, even going on his boat to Disko Island, which is located northwest of the southern tip of Greenland.
In 986, his exile from Iceland expired. He returned and began to convince the locals to move to new lands. Now you know which island Eirik the Red discovered. Moreover, he also gave it a name. Literally translated from Norwegian, Greenland means "Green Land".
The debate about how appropriate this name is has not subsided so far. Some scientists put forward hypotheses based on the fact that in the Middle Ages the climate in these places was milder. Therefore, the coastal areas located in the southwest of the island could indeed be covered with dense green grassy vegetation. Others are convinced that such a name was some kind of publicity stunt by a Scandinavian navigator. Thus, he simply tried to attract as many settlers as possible.
If you believe the sagas that can be found in Norwegian folklore, 30 ships that sailed from Iceland set off on the path for the hero of our article. The fate of most of them was not as successful as Eric Thorvaldson himself. Only 14 ships reached the shore, on which there were 350 settlers. Together with him, Eirik founded the first settlement in Greenland. It was called the Eastern Settlement.
Archaeological finds subjected to radiocarbon analysis suggest that the residence of Eirik the Red himself was located not far from modern city Narssarsuaq. The discovered objects date back to around 1000.
Family of the discoverer
When Eirik himself had already retired, his sons continued his work. He infected them with a passion for exploration. As a result, it was (Eirik's son) who discovered Vinland around the year 1000. This is the area where today North America. Long-distance expeditions to another continent were also made by other sons of the hero of our article - Thorstein and Thorvald.
In addition, it is known that Leif Eriksson delivered a priest directly from Norway who baptized Greenland. But in the biography of Eirik the Red there is no mention of the fact that he converted to Christianity. Most likely, he remained a pagan, unlike his wife and sons. It was reported that he was extremely skeptical about the new religion of his fellow tribesmen.
Greenland
Today Greenland is the most big Island on the ground. The rights to it belong to Denmark, it is its autonomous unit.
It is known from the history of this island that before its discovery by the Vikings, Arctic peoples inhabited Greenland. But long before the arrival of the Norwegians, the island was finally empty. The ancestors of modern Inuit began to settle here only in the XIII century.
The Danes began to colonize it in the 18th century. Only during the Second World War did Greenland manage to separate from the Danish kingdom, drawing closer to Canada and the United States. But after the victory over fascism, the Danes again regained control of Greenland. The largest island on Earth was proclaimed an integral part of the kingdom.
In 1979, Greenland received wide autonomy. Now she even has her own football team, which plays in tournaments under the auspices of FIFA and UEFA.
Viking campaigns
In the Age of the Great geographical discoveries Eirik the Red became one of the first who was drawn to distant unexplored places.
In which it covered the IX-XI centuries, the Scandinavians actively traveled around different directions. They sailed to Ireland and to Rus'. Usually along the way they were engaged in hunting, trade and robberies. It is known that Iceland was discovered around 860, and a number of colonies were founded there. At the same time, the Vikings often sailed precisely to the West. Therefore, in modern science it is believed that they were the first of the Europeans to reach the shores of America. It was then that the first genetic contact with the indigenous inhabitants of North America took place.
First trip to America
It is believed that the Norwegian Viking Gunnbjorn was the first to reach the shores of Novaya Zemlya around the year 900. During the voyage, he lost his course, the travelers were saved only by the fact that they noticed Greenland on the horizon. This discovery inspired other of his fellow tribesmen to new expeditions and discoveries.
So Eirik the Red used the link to open new lands and expand horizons. The climate of Greenland, to which he sailed, was very harsh, but he still convinced some of his fellow tribesmen to go after him and establish a settlement in a new place almost from scratch.
Eirik's sons in America
Officially, the first of the Vikings to set foot on the American coast was Eirik's son named Leif. The land of the Valans, as Helluland was called, he visited around 1000. He also discovered Markland ("forest country"), Vinland ("wine country", presumably Newfoundland or New England). His expedition spent the whole winter there and then returned to Greenland.
His brother Thorwald founded the first Viking settlement in America in 1002. But they didn't last long there. Soon the Norwegians were attacked by local Indians, who were called Screlings. Thorvald was killed in battle, his companions returned home.
The descendants of Eirik the Red made two more attempts to colonize America. One of them involved his daughter-in-law named Gudrid. In America, she even managed to establish trade with the local Indians, but still did not stay long.
The daughter of Eirik Freydis took part in another voyage. She failed to establish contact with the Indians, the Vikings had to retreat. In total, the Norwegian settlement in Vinland lasted several decades.
Evidence of the discovery of America by the Vikings
It is interesting that the hypothesis about the discovery of America by the Vikings existed for many years, but it did not find clear evidence. Although a map of the northeast coast of America was found among the Norwegians, it was considered a fake. Only in 1960, the remains of a Norwegian settlement were discovered on the territory of Canadian Newfoundland.
