Essay on The Collapse of the Greenland Norse

In 1903 a miraculous discovery was made in western Norway.  Under a large mound on a small farm in the Vestford region, there was unearthed a massive Viking ship.  Its treasures and contents were so large they are still being studied today. The Oseberg ship burial, as it has come to be known, gives us important information on Norwegian Viking culture.   This essay will look at the history of its discovery, the ship itself,  its objects, the intriguing carvings, the intricate fabrics, and of course, the bodies .  By studying the Oseberg burial ship we can learn about burial practices, Norwegian Viking diets, Norwegian dress and decoration, shipbuilding practices, arts, and religion.

One country with an icecap as large as Sweden. Another country with the most active volcanic area in the world. These two nations may sound very different and yet they have a large quantity of similarities as well. The average population size for a country is 38.2 million people, and although the scale is offset by heavily overpopulated nations, there are also countries that greatly decrease the average. Two of these are Iceland and Greenland. Both are northern island nations with fierce, snowy climates, and neither is home to greater than 350,000 people with Greenland containing just over 55,000. By the names of these two countries, one may assume Iceland is a cold land covered in snow and ice. One may also assume that Greenland is home to the more verdant scenery than its counterpart; however, the entire population of Greenland is forced along the coastline due to the interior being too icy and cold to inhabit. If one moved to Iceland, they would be 88.7% less likely to see the coastline on a daily basis due to the interior of the country being warmer and more inhabitable. These two island nations have a great variety of similarities and differences with holidays, history, culture, and beliefs. This is largely due to their large blend of foreign influence which makes them such unique countries.

Coming from Scandinavian countries, predominantly Denmark and Norway, the Vikings began raiding the British Isles in the late 700s (James). The Vikings primarily targeted monasteries, because that is where most of the wealth was concentrated (Loughrey). These raids were very violent, people were killed, and the survivors were sold into slavery (Loughrey). These violent raids earned the Vikings the reputation of barbarians, much like the Mongols a few centuries later in Asia. After some time, once the Vikings exhausted most of the wealth in the monasteries, they turned their interest into settling the British Isles (James). By the late 9th century the Vikings had conquered most of England (James). However, even though these Viking kingdoms did not last very long, the Scandinavians who resided there stayed. These Scandinavians would go on to change the British Isles in many ways. Despite the violent and negative impacts of Viking raids on the British Isles, once the Vikings settled down, they had a significant and positive peaceful impact on the British Isles culturally, politically, and economically.

The Norse tale of Ragnarok presents an interesting example of apocalyptic literature by providing both an end and a unique beginning. The world which rises from the cosmic rubble seems to be essentially equivalent to that which the apocalypse destroyed, possessing the same creatures, features and Gods of times past. This considered, and by incorporating themes of time and fate, Snorri challenges the concepts of the past, present and future of Norse lore by providing a framework which allows for the potential reiteration of history. By reviewing The Prose Edda’s telling of the events surrounding Ragnarok, the relationship between fate, time and history provide a unique alternative to the standard eschatological timeline.

The strengths of the Vikings surely was the most significant factor in enabling them to be successful in terms of their strategies and tactics. Their strategies for example included the ‘Great Army’ which consisted of small forces therefore allowing them to use the element of surprise to their advantage and so raid completely undetected. They first gathered in East Anglia (866/7) and were skillfully able to live of this land by taking horses and supplies from the locals. The success of these Great Armies is clearly represented by their ability to destroy 3 kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. The Great Army was certainly key as it was believed to have been able to ‘dramatically change the political and demographic

It was a normal day in the castle of Goranson. All the townspeople were tending to their work when an explosion made a loud sound that ran throughout the castle. Townspeople stood there shocked as the castle stood in silence. After the seconds of silence another loud explosion shook the castle followed by arrows flying throughout the castle and vikings screaming as they charge in. Everyone ran to get to safety and the vikings never followed. They only had one mission, to get the king and destroy the castle. When all the noise had stopped and all the screams were silenced the townspeople went to look outside to see that the castle was all burnt down. One farmer had said “Quick find the king”. They all rushed into various buildings only to find the king was not there.

burn and pillage their way across civilized Europe. During this period much progress was achieved in terms of Scandinavian art and craftsmanship, marine technology, exploration, and the development of commerce. It seems the Vikings did as much trading as they did

The Vikings were a group of Scandinavian raiders that were around from about the 8th century to the 11th. They mainly attacked the British Islands , the Frankish empire, England, but they also plundered places such as the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa. Vikings did not always settle into the places that they found, for instance after exploring North America they left the place never to return again. Even so, after landing on Greenland they colonized themselves there, and ancestors of the Vikings still live there today. So now that you know a little about the history of the Vikings lets go into detail about the specifics of the Viking age. (Peter Sawyer, Oxford Ill. History of the Vikings p. 1-19)

The Inuit People The word Eskimo is not a proper Eskimo word. It means "eaters of raw meat" and was used by the Algonquin Indians of eastern Canada for their neighbours who wore animal-skin clothing and were ruthless hunters. The name became commonly employed by European explorers and now is generally used, even by them. Their own term for themselves is Inuit which means the "real people."

North America’s ostensible peace with the outside world could not avoid civil wars, as African people’s self-protection could not avoid European gory violent human plunder. In Africa, people were still live in a village community system with introverted self-governments. When colonists came, big kingdoms fragmented because the

Viking history and culture have been depicted in many movies, television series, and stories. Vikings are commonly known as barbarians that raid villages and intimidate others with huge ships with dragon heads, and horned helmets. This information is based on facts, but has been distorted and exaggerated over many years and tales. Viking history spans from the years 780 until 1100, which is the time span of the Viking raids. Not every Scandinavian was a Viking; Vikings were known as the men that conducted raids and bloody battles. The old definition of Viking was synonymous with the term pirate. The modern definition is relevant to the Scandinavian medieval culture, to include farming, crafting and trading.

Although Greenland and Australia are thousands of miles apart and very different in geography, they also have many similarities. In his book “Collapse”, Jared Diamond shows that both countries have the five factors that can contribute to a society’s collapse. Greenland’s Norse society already collapsed a long time ago, while Australia is still a First World country going strong. If some things there don’t change, the country’s living standard will go down and there could be major problems.

Clearly this famine was a historical, recorded event since there are also reports of a shortage of foodstuffs in Njal's Saga. "This was a time of great famine in Iceland, and all over the country people were going short of hay and food" (Njal's Saga, Ch. 47). So it is clear that Njal's Saga includes some factual information, yet still remains a fictional narrative.

In my essay I will talk about how the encounters between people, societies, cultures and material objects had an impact on early Globalization in the Viking age.

In Iceland, the volcano eruption is the inevitable problem that hard to predict when it will be happen or how severe it affects the society. Iceland locates on the mid Atlantic ridge where there are