Gone Medieval: The Origins of Greenland

Podcast: Gone Medieval
Host: Matt Lewis
Guest Experts: Dr. Eleanor Barraclough, Robert Ricks
Date: January 16, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of Gone Medieval explores the fascinating history of Norse Greenland: its origins, settlement, society, mysterious disappearance, and enduring cultural myth. Host Matt Lewis and guests Dr. Eleanor Barraclough and historian Robert Ricks dive into saga literature, archaeology, and enduring medieval legends to trace how Greenland became both a real Norse outpost and a lasting enigma of the North Atlantic world.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Saga Sources and the Enigmatic Leif Erikson

[04:35 - 09:23]

• Oral Tradition to Written Saga:
  Dr. Barraclough explains that most of what we know of Leif Erikson comes from two main Icelandic sagas: Grœnlendinga Saga (Saga of the Greenlanders) and Eiríks Saga rauða (Saga of Erik the Red).

  “The sagas come from these much longer oral traditions, these storytelling and genealogical traditions that are passed down the generations.”
  — Dr. Eleanor Barraclough (04:35)

• Tricky Evidence:
  Both sagas rely on oral lore, sometimes agreeing, sometimes diverging. Sorting fact from myth is “valuable but tricky.”

  "Just when you think you've got a handle on them, it's like, nah, I'm just going to pull that rug from underneath you… let's introduce a zombie or dragon."
  — Dr. Eleanor Barraclough (06:12)

• Leif's Character:
  The sagas depict Leif as strong, shrewd, promising—and notably, “very moderate in his behavior,” a valued quality. He moves to Greenland due to the exploits of his father, Erik the Red.

  “...he was tall, he was strong, he was impressive, he was shrewd... very moderate in his behavior. And that's important.”
  — Dr. Eleanor Barraclough (09:35)

2. Erik the Red and the Founding of Greenland

[10:18 - 15:25]

• Exile and Exploration:
  Erik the Red is outlawed from Norway and then Iceland for killings. Facing “lesser outlawry,” he is forced to leave for three years and decides to sail west from Iceland.

  "He decides to head west from Iceland… Greenland is sort of the Wild West."
  — Dr. Eleanor Barraclough (11:18)

• Settlement Logistics:
  The Norse settle in two regions on Greenland’s western coast, confusingly named the Eastern and Western Settlements, the eastern being further south.

  “The north settlement is on the west coast… two main areas they settle in… the eastern settlement, which is actually further south down the western coast…”
  — Dr. Eleanor Barraclough (12:19)

• Naming Greenland:
  Erik purportedly names it "Greenland" to attract settlers—a clever marketing trick, but the region did have “a lot of good farming lands” amidst “very, very long, very harsh” winters.

• Perilous Voyage:
  Of the 24 ships starting out, only about half reach Greenland, underlining the extreme difficulty of the trans-oceanic journey.

3. Norse Life in Greenland: Economy and Society

[15:59 - 21:21]

• The First Settlers:
  As Robert Ricks explains, the Norse were mainly farmers and “walrus hunters”—“land takers” utilizing technological advances in seafaring to reach Greenland.

• Economic Motives—The Walrus Ivory Trade:
  The "King's Mirror," a 13th-century Norwegian treatise, records three motives for going: fame/rivalry, curiosity, and most importantly, walrus hide and tusks. Walrus ivory became crucial for trading and was exported for high-value items (e.g., Lewis Chessmen, bishop's croziers).

  "Greenland became a trade dependent economy. They became commodity exporters. Many of the walrus tusks were made into ivory products..."
  — Robert Ricks (18:20)

• Settlement Location Confusion:
  The "Eastern" and "Western" settlements are both on the west coast; the “eastern” one is just more to the east than the other, causing centuries of confusion and myth about a lost settlement.

4. Myths, Legends, and The Lost Settlers

[21:21 - 26:04]

• The Eastern Settlement Legend:
  Myths persisted for centuries about lost Norse colonies on the east coast, fueled by difficulties in physically reaching the area due to ice.

• Enduring Belief:
  Missionaries and explorers in later eras were motivated by both the hope of rediscovering lost Christians and the potential for resources.

  “Hans Egede, the missionary who first suggested that Greenland should be recolonized, was interested in finding these colonists primarily because…the connection had been cut off before the Reformation. So… to reconvert the Norse settlers.”
  — Robert Ricks (22:00)

5. The Fateful Disappearance: End of Norse Greenland

[27:37 - 33:53]

• Timeline:
  The last record— a wedding— is from 1408, a ship leaves in 1410, and after that, the Norse vanish from the record.

  “The last information we have about Norse Greenland is a wedding which takes place in 1408…after that there's no communication…”
  — Robert Ricks (24:54)

• Competing Theories:
  Multiple (and not mutually exclusive) theories are discussed:

  • Climate Change: The Little Ice Age made farming increasingly hard, despite Norse adaptation to a marine diet.
  • Economic Collapse: The walrus ivory trade declined, especially after elephant ivory flooded the market post-1350.
  • Pirate Raids: Medieval stories—some from the 18th century—describe possible pirate kidnappings, but there’s no archaeological evidence.
  • Conflict with Inuit: Norse encounters with newly arrived Inuits sometimes turned hostile, per both Norse and Inuit accounts.
  • Perfect Storm: Likely, a combination: “the kind of perfect storm of calamities,” including global economic shifts (ivory trade), plague, declining support, and harsher climate.

  “Perhaps the real reason…is really the kind of perfect storm of calamities at this time, as it was a globalized economy. …[T]here’s a colder sort of chill…a number of factors may have convinced the people who were left that this may not be a good place to stay.”
  — Robert Ricks (32:38)

6. Archaeological Insights

[38:49 - 40:05]

• Eastern Settlement Ruins:
  Remains of about 500 farms in the eastern settlement and 100 in the western have been found.
• Material Evidence:
  Walrus debris is abundant in “waste mittens” (middens), showing the importance of hunting.
• Cultural Exchange:
  Norse and Inuit artifacts are found intermingled, but it's unclear whether this denotes trade, conflict, or both.

7. The Afterlife of Norse Greenland

[40:05 - 44:53]

• Enduring Mystery:
  The lost settlement becomes a northwestern Roanoke: a powerful symbol of vanished civilizations and the limits of human endurance.

  “The mystery in itself of simply these vanished settlers is in itself enough to carry that sort of mystery throughout time. But I think there's also a fundamental mystery about how civilizations collapse.”
  — Robert Ricks (40:29)

• Echoes in Literature:
  Myths lasted into the 20th century—adventure fiction, pseudo-scientific speculation, and popular imagination sustained the idea of survivors somewhere just out of reach.

8. Inuit Oral Memories

[44:53 - 48:18]

• Missionary Collections:
  Danish and German missionaries gathered Inuit oral legends in the 18th and 19th centuries; stories sometimes portray Inuit-Norse conflict and even genocidal violence.
  • Caution: These have been shaped as much by the expectations and questions of the collectors as by actual memory:

    “…when the colonists asked for stories of violence in the past, the Inuit responded by giving them stories that were traditional and could be Norse settlers or someone else. …they often would use terms like the Inuit confirmed that this was so and so.”
    — Robert Ricks (46:52)

• Value as Folklore:
  Inuit stories are invaluable as oral folklore but may offer little true historical insight into the Norse end.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “[The sagas] just. Just when you think you've got a handle on them, like, nah, I'm just going to pull that rug from underneath you and let's see, let's introduce a zombie or dragon.”
  — Dr. Eleanor Barraclough, on the challenge of using sagas as history (06:12)

• “He decides to head west from Iceland… Greenland is sort of the Wild West.”
  — Dr. Eleanor Barraclough on Erik the Red (11:18)

• “It's such an interesting sales trick to call it Greenland as a way to appeal to everyone who's living in Iceland. Because what sounds better than Iceland?”
  — Matt Lewis (19:28)

• “The last information we have about Norse Greenland is a wedding… in 1408… and after that there's no communication…”
  — Robert Ricks (24:54)

• “Perhaps the real reason…is really the kind of perfect storm of calamities at this time, as it was a globalized economy.”
  — Robert Ricks, on the disappearance of Norse Greenland (32:38)

• “I think there's also a fundamental mystery about how civilizations collapse… which in some ways also speak to the idea that our own civilization may end at some time…”
  — Robert Ricks (40:29)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Topic | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 04:35 | Sagas as main evidence of Leif Erikson and origins | | 09:35 | Sagas' depiction of Leif and the move to Greenland | | 10:18 | Erik the Red’s outlawry and motives for settlement | | 12:19 | Mapping the Norse settlements in Greenland | | 15:59 | Arrival, first settlers, and economic motives | | 18:20 | Walrus ivory trade and its role | | 21:21 | Myths about the “Eastern” settlement | | 24:54 | The last record of Norse Greenland | | 28:03 | Competing theories for the colony’s disappearance | | 32:38 | “Perfect storm” explanation for Norse disappearance | | 38:49 | Archaeological evidence—settlement, walrus trade | | 40:29 | The mythic afterlife—why the story lingers | | 44:53 | Inuit legends and the collection of oral history |

Episode Takeaways

• Norse Greenland’s history—beginning as an outlaw’s gamble, evolving into a trade outpost, and ultimately vanishing—is a story constructed from sagas, archaeology, and persistent legend.
• The Norse vanished due to a “perfect storm” of environmental, economic, and social factors—not a single cause.
• Even centuries after their disappearance, myths of “lost Vikings” fired the imagination of explorers, colonial missionaries, and writers.
• The saga of Norse Greenland reflects enduring questions about human adaptation, cultural encounters, survival, and the power of legend.

For Further Exploration

• Series on Norse mythology with Dr. Eleanor Barraclough (see show notes)
• Suggested reading: Robert Ricks’ recent book on the fate of Norse Greenland

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