Map of the Greenland-Vinland Voyage

Illustration

Emma Groeneveld
by Finn Bjørklid
published on 07 September 2018
Map of the Greenland-Vinland Voyage Download Full Size Image

Map showing the reconstructed route Norse Vikings sailed in the Vinland sagas on their way to Vinland (Newfoundland, Canada), where they founded a settlement at the site of L'Anse aux Meadows. The sagas describe the Vikings first coming across a stone-slab land they name Helluland, then a wooded area they name Markland, and finally a lush, green land they call Vinland ('Wine Land').

To explain the areas on the map:
- Brattahlid in Greenland is the estate of Erik the Red (whose son Leif Erikson sailed to Vinland arguably via a similar route to the one depicted here) in Norse Greenland's Eastern Settlement.
- Helleland refers to the Helluland mentioned in the Vinland sagas and probably corresponds with northern Labrador and/or Baffin Island.
- The Markland mentioned in the sagas is mirrored in the central forest belt of Labrador
- L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland is the saga-site of Leifsbúðir/Straumfjǫrðr.
- Vinland: It is generally thought that the Vinland from the sagas encompassed the whole area from the Strait of Belle Isle in Newfoundland to the Gulf of St Lawrence and its southern shores, perhaps stretching to Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

The journey from Greenland to the settlement in Vinland is more than 3000 km long and would likely have taken the Vikings a minimum of two weeks (and possibly even six weeks or longer) to complete, one-way.

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Cite This Work

APA Style

Bjørklid, F. (2018, September 07). Map of the Greenland-Vinland Voyage. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9190/map-of-the-greenland-vinland-voyage/

Chicago Style

Bjørklid, Finn. "Map of the Greenland-Vinland Voyage." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 07, 2018. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9190/map-of-the-greenland-vinland-voyage/.

MLA Style

Bjørklid, Finn. "Map of the Greenland-Vinland Voyage." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 07 Sep 2018. Web. 09 Oct 2024.

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