Knight of the week

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Step 5 The Knight

If he got through all of that, he was knighted or "dubbed". Before a squire was dubbed, he did lots of things in preparation. First, he prayed all night. He prayed without sleeping or eating. When morning came, he would take a nice, warm bath.  Then the almost knighted squire would put on a white tunic. The tunic was white because white is the color of peace. He put on a red hooded robe to show the blood that he may have to spill as a knight. And lastly black boots or shoes to show that he was mortal.  He knelt before his lord. Then his lord would slap him with his hand or the flat of the sword. As his lord was doing that, his lord would say, "I dub thee Sir Knight." Then the new knight would receive his sword, lance, and golden spurs.


Each of the weapons had a good meaning. The lance had a saying. It was said, "As fear of the lance drives back the unarmed, so the knight drives back the enemies of the church." As for the sword, it was said that, "The two edges of the sword show that the knight serves God and the people." Then the knight was free to roam. He usually rode off on quests of adventure. He either stopped by the road and challenged any knight that passed by or he did battle for a damsel in need. After many long years of training and learning the skills of combat and chivalry required of a Knight during the Middle Ages the steps to Knighthood were completed and symbolized in the order of Knighthood ceremony. The culmination of the ceremony was when a knight was dubbed and the words "Arise, Sir Knight" were uttered. This final part of the ceremony would have been knighted by a local knight, or if they were very lucky, by a greater noble or even the king. The ceremony marked the final steps to knighthood made by a Medieval Squire.

 All knights, like all people from all walks of life in the Middle Ages, had to behave in a certain way. This way was called the Code of Chivalry. The code said that all knights had to be brave in battle. They had to keep their promises.

For the ritual on the knighting ceremony please see:
•   ModernChivalry.org »
•   Main »
•   The Round Table »
•   The Knighting of Sir John

(To be continued)

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[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Once knighted, there were 4 choices, to serve under a knight’s Banner as a Knight Bachelor, to be a Knight Errant, to be a Household Knight, or to be a member of a Knightly Order:

Household Knights

Ministerials or Household knights were servant-knights who were the direct vassals of some greater lord. Household knights were similar to the old Germanic war band or hearth troop, and lived with their lord at which ever castle or manor he happened to be residing. Their upkeep was paid for by him, and in return the knights were employed on various duties, such as forming a bodyguard wherever he went, escort duty, carrying messages and, most importantly, forming the nucleus of his troops in battle. This group was called the familia and their relationship with their lord was often close. Equally, the king also had his familia regis, made up of bannerettes, knights bachelor and troopers. It formed the main body of men in an English army, men who could be detailed for special duties such as escorting workmen or provisions.

Knight-Errant

A knight-errant is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective errant (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric virtues, either in knightly duels (pas d'armes) or in some other pursuit of courtly love. A knight-errant typically performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit. In more sublimated forms of knight-errantry, pure metaphysical idealism rather than romantic inspiration motivated the knight-errant (as in the case of Sir Galahad).

Orders of Knighthood

For Example:                      The Order of the Teutonic Knights

It was during the Crusades that Orders of Knights came into being. One such Order was that of the Teutonic Knights. Formed at the end of the 12th century in Acre, in the Levant, the medieval Order played an important role in Outremer, controlling the port tolls of Acre. After Christian forces were defeated in the Middle East, the Order moved to Transylvania in 1211 to help defend the South-Eastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Kipchaks. The Knights were expelled by force of arms by King Andrew II of Hungary in 1225, after allegedly attempting to place themselves under Papal instead of the original Hungarian sovereignty.

In 1230, following the Golden Bull of Rimini, Grand Master Hermann von Salza and Duke Konrad I of Masovia launched the Prussian Crusade, a joint invasion of Prussia intended to Christianize the Baltic Old Prussians. The Teutonic Knights had a strong economic base, hired mercenaries from throughout Europe to augment their feudal levies, and became a naval power in the Baltic Sea. In 1410, a Polish-Lithuanian army decisively defeated the Order and broke its military power at the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg).

Ranks within the Order are:
The Hochmeister (Grandmaster) was the highest officer of the order. Hermann von Salza served as the fourth Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (1209 to 1239).

The GroĂźkomtur (Magnus Commendator), the deputy of the Grandmaster
The order was divided in three national chapters, Prussia, Livland and the territory of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The highest officer of each chapter was the Landmeister (country master).
Because the properties of the order within the rule of the Deutschmeister did not form a cohesive territory but were spread over the whole empire and parts of Europe, there was an additional regional structure, the bailiwick.

Komtur
The smallest administrative unit of the order was the Kommende. It was ruled by a Komtur, who had all administrative rights and controlled the Vogteien (district of a reeve) and Zehnthöfe (tithe collectors) within his rule. In the commandry, all kinds of brothers lived together in a monastic way.

Kuno (Konrad, Kunz) von Liechtenstein (A relative of Ulrich von Liechtenstein)-  He came to Prussia from Franconia and Swabia. (born in 1360 died. in 1410) - and was the Grand Commander of the Order of the Teutonic Knights from 1404.  He was killed in the Battle of Grunwald . In 1404 he was appointed by Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen Grand Commander, so was one of the five GroĂźgebietiger of the Order. He served as Deputy Grand Master.  This important office he was also elected in 1407 under the Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen confirmed.

In the battle of Tannenberg Kuno von Lichtenstein commanded the right wing of the religious army, and thus the majority of Western European "guests" of the Order under the banner of St. George .  Among those were to Duke Konrad VII "Old White" from Oels and Casimir, younger son of the Duke Swantibor III. of Pomerania-Stettin , with their train.  After the death of the Grand Master, he tried to claim the battlefield.  As a result of the enclosure through superior Polish-Lithuanian forces his wing was cut off and the Grand Commander was killed.

Kuno was descended from the family of the Frankish Lichtenstein .  The exact date of his birth, and entry into the Teutonic Order is not known.  Kuno is first mentioned as a religious Vogt of Samland during 1389 until 1392 From 1392 to 1396 he served as Commander of Ragnit . The leadership of this far east located Commandery was given the permanent Lithuanian threat this administration in general ensured only by specially qualified knights.  To 1402 Kuno was then Commander of Mewe . 

Kuno von Lichtenstein was known by his contemporaries as one of the most skilled swordsman of the known world.

(To be continued)

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Knight Bachelor

The rank of Knight Bachelor is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organized Orders of Chivalry. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight (the rank existed during the 13th century reign of King Henry III), but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of the various orders. In battle, that knight carries a pennant either triangular or with a swallow tail. He was part of a monarchs army.

The Medieval Army

Armies were counted by lances.

LANCE: (6 men) each "lance" composed of six mounted men—a Knight Bachelor (heavy armoured horseman), a more lightly armed fellow combatant (coutillier), a page (a non-combatant) and three mounted archers meant as infantry support. The archers were intended to ride to battle and dismount to shoot with their bows, and did so until late in the fifteenth century. A knight was, in general, in command only of his own lance. A knight of the lowest order; he was permitted to display only a pennon. A Lance was usually led and raised by a knight in the service of his liege, yet it is not uncommon in certain periods to have a less privileged man, such as a serjeants. (Knight-Serjeant - A knight of lesser rank…serjeants who were men who had trained as knights but could not afford the costs associated with the title. Serjeants could fight either as heavy to light cavalry… The serjeant class were deemed to be worth half of a knight' in military value.

Bannière:
Ten lances (60 men) create a "bannière" (Banner) commanded by a knight banneret; the knight Banneret was entitled to display his arms on a square banner. When a knight rose to the rank of knight banneret, the point of his pennon was cut off to turn it into a banner. This ceremony was called faire de pennon bannière.

Company:
Knight commanders were in charge of a company of knights (50 Lances – 300 men.)  This commander could be called a Captain.

Regiment:
A Regiment – several companies (2,100 men – 350 Lances) is commanded by a Lord Knight Commander.

Army:
An Army of 2 or 3 of these regiments (6,300 men – 1,270 Lances) were under the commander (a noble such as a Count) of the battle. A noble was entitled to fly his standard, the length of which corresponded to his rank. A “standard” has a shape that is an elongated and tapered pennon shape, usually terminating in two rounded ends or swallow-tailed ends, but on occasion a single rounded end its size varied with the owner’s rank.

Rank                           Standard Length
The Sovereign                   21 feet
Dukes                                20 feet
Marquises                         18 feet
Earls (Count)                    16 feet
Viscounts                          15 feet
Baron                                13 feet
Baronets                           12 feet
Knights                             10 feet

Knight Baronet

A baronet (traditional abbreviation Bart), is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy. A baronetcy is the only hereditary honor which is not a peerage. A baronet is styled "Sir" like a knight but the baronetage, as a class, rank above the knightage. The earliest mention of baronets was in the Battle of Battenberg in 1321 where baronets took part, along with barons and knights. Unlike knighthoods—which apply to an individual only—a baronetcy is hereditary. A baronetcy is not a peerage, so baronets, like knights, are commoners as opposed to noblemen. All Baronetcies are distinguished by having a territorial designation.

Baronets may command troops of knights or men at arms, though many do not. The largest force a baronet would tend to command would be 10 knights and 50 men at arms.  Baronets who attended powerful lords may be dubbed their liege’s Lord Marshal, and be placed in charge of huge numbers of troops that their lord commands.

Baronets have the privilege to bear in a canton of their coat of arms, or in a whole escutcheon, the arms of Ulster, viz. “in a field argent, a sinister hand, gules.”  The Baronet was entitled to a standard of 12 feet in length.

(To be continued)

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

While most concentrate on the stereotype knights, one must remember that the Vikings, in their own way, were knights.

THE VIKINGS

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INTRODUCTION:

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There are a lot of misconceptions of the Vikings. One is that they were an aggressive warrior group. This is not true. There were Vikings who conducted raids, but most were explorers and settlers. A romanticized picture of Vikings as noble savages began to take root in the 18th century, and this developed and became widely propagated during the 19th-century Viking revival. The received views of the Vikings as violent brutes or intrepid adventurers owe much to the modern Viking myth that had taken shape by the early 20th century.

The Vikings (from Old Norse víkingr) were seafaring north Germanic people who raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries. Their explorations were tremendous…discovering America 500 years before Columbus, exploring the Mediterranean Sea, they made their way to Constantinople, sailed up Russia's rivers and became the first rulers of the Kievan Russian state and even sailed as far as the Orient, bringing back items from there and establishing trade routes between the two cultures. They discovered Greenland, Iceland and established settlements in both of them. They also established settlements in Northern England and many other places. Vikings travelled up the Ob to the Irtysh River and followed the Irtysh to it's source in the Altai Mountains. At that point, they were only 150 miles from the Uighur empire of Kara Khitai on the Silk Road to China. The Vikings even traded with the Muslims and even people farther east. The Vikings would follow the Dnieper River to the Caspian Sea and goods like furs for other things. The trade routes may very well become a refuge for the non-Christian Norse, merging with Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Evenki, Turkic and Tengrist Mongols in a syncretic stew of a new civilization.

Another misconception is that the Vikings wore horned helmets. While they did wear these, they never wore them in battle, fearing the horns on the helmets would make fighting difficult. Mostly they were worn in ceremonies.

Dragons held a special place with the Vikings. Longships were called dragonships by enemies such as the English because they had carved heads of dragons mounted on their bow. The dragon head was to scare away enemies. It also had a magical function: It would provide protection for ships and crew – and it was simply to frighten away sea monsters and to ward off evil spirits both on land and sea. The Icelandic law code Grágás says that the dragon head should be taken off the ship when the Vikings returned to their homestead, not to intimidate the spirits of their native land. Viking shields and other items were of a dragon motive as well. It is important to remember that most people of the Viking age were very superstitious by our standards.

(To be continued)

[Timothy]

Sir John, I am new to the forum and have been reading the material that you and other have posted.  Your posts on the
"Knight of the Week" are great. i am still  reading and enjoying them a great deal.

As to the best movie "The Lion In Winter" Sir William Marshal is portrayed by Nigel Stock. He is shown in the beginning rounding up King Henry's three sons and Queen Eleanor . I think he is seen in a few other scenes.

Again great series on the knights.

Tim

[Timothy]

By the way, a movie called "Robin Hood" starring Russell Crowe fairly follows the actual story of Sir Robert's time at the end, with King Richard and sets the stage for Robin "Hood." Sir William Marshal is also portrayed in the movie.

I was going to say, your history seemed like it was taken directly from the movie- that the movie tried to tie in historicity w/the legend of Robin Hood is very cool to me.  Thanks for sharing!

Ironclad was an excellent movie in my book, altho I do not think Thomas Marshal, if he ever existed, was any relation to William...he could've been son to another Marshal (maybe of France).

Not sure who Thomas Marshal was supposed to be but he was not a son of William Marshal. William Marshal had six daughters and five sons. The sons were William, Richard, Gilbert, Anselm and Walter. William Marshal's living descendants are all descendants of his daughters, Margaret, Sybil, Eve, Maud, Isabel, and  Joane .  Four of Sir William's sons had no children. His son Gilbert had one illegitimate daughter Isabel. The lack descendants of his sons is said to be the result of a curse placed on him my an Irish prelate. 

Tim

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Sir Timothy,

Thank you for your enthusiasm. I enjoy doing research online on the various subjects. And welcome to the group.

I am, with great respect,
Your most obedient servant,

Sir John

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

The Vikings (continued)

They also developed a writing system based on runes. The Viking peoples could read and write and used a non-standardized alphabet, called runor, built upon sound values. 

Another difference was that the Vikings didn’t wear armor as such, although they did wear helmets and carried shields.

Their favorite weapons were the sword and battle-axe. This was unlike the normal battle axe as it had a long point that hung down from the main part of the axe head. (Called a bearded battle axe.) The head was often decorated.

The dress of the Vikings was also different. Their clothes normally had a lot of fur to keep them warm, as they originated in a cold climate.

The last photo is of : "JĂłhann Hárfagri de GrjĂłtbjǫrg- gren, Somairhleson, viĂ° klæn Neacal"..."John Fairhair of Felsenbau (RocksBurrow), son of Samuel, of the Clan Nicol"...

Since I can only post 4 pictures, this will be continued in my following post.......

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

continued.......

THE VIKINGS IN NORTERN ENGLAND:

The first Vikings arrived in Orkney in 793 AD. The Vikings saw the Orkneys as an ideal base for their swashbuckling expeditions around the North Sea. In general none of the native Britains or English were able in any significant way, to stop the Northmen whatsoever. They appeared unbeatable, even when outnumbered. These Vikings made the islands the headquarters of their pirate expeditions carried out against Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland. 

But they made too many raids against their homeland, and in 875, a force led by Harold HĂĄrfagre ("Fair Hair") and Earl Rognvald of Møre in West Norway came to Orkney to put down the Viking "sea pirates" who had attacked Norway from bases in Orkney and Shetland. Harald set up the area as a “County” of Norway, ruled by a Jarl (Earl.) He made a grant of Orkney and other territory to Earl Rognvald, but he transferred these lands to his brother, Sigurd (SigurĂ°r). Finally the Vikings began to settle more than invade. Within a few generations Orkney was a distinctly Norse earldom. Sigurd (SigurĂ°r) the Mighty ruled Orkney as the first Jarl or Earl (ruled circa 875–892.)   His son, Nikolaus (Nicholas or Nicail), was a follower of King Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, 1093-1103.

The islands were ruled by a succession of Norwegian 'jarls' or Counts until 1231. The Scots seemed to have something in common with the Vikings and after a while intermarriages, both common and noble, with established clans took place in north Scotland. To this day you can find Scottish Clans with direct Viking (Norse) descent. Clan Gunn in the North, Clan MacDonald of the Isles and Clan MacLeod (pronounced Mac-loud), in the west mainland and Isles, along with other Clans (such as McNichol, MacQueen and MacAulay) are of Norse-Scot origin. The sigil of the Orkney Earls was the famous Raven Banner. The banner was first created for SigurĂ°r Hlodvisson. The Norwegian crown exercised royal authority over the Orkneys in the 13th century. By the end of the 13th century, the fact that Orkney was a part of Norway and fell under Norwegian jurisdiction is without question. To this day you can find Scottish Clans with direct Viking (Norse) descent. Clan Gunn in the North, Clan MacDonald of the Isles and Clan MacLeod (pronounced Mac-loud), in the west mainland and Isles, along with other Clans (such as McNichol, MacQueen and MacAulay) are of Norse-Scot origin. They even spoke both Norwegian and Gaelic for several centuries in the Western Isles.

(To be continued)

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

The Vikings (continued)

THE NICOLS OF ORKNEY:

It is agreed that the name MacNicaills is of Norse origin. It is known also that the MacNicaills formed the larger part of two Viking bands which ravaged the East coast of England in the Tenth century and established colonies from which have sprung the English houses of Nichol and Nicholson in Northumberland and Cumberland. With the rule of the Scottish Kings and their gradual overlordship of the Islands, coincident with the recession of the Viking power and assimilation of the Vikings into the populations of Ireland, Scotland and England the MacNicaills became a Scottish clan. The MacNeacails are of Scandinavian origin, and their ancestors likely belonged to the House of Ivar, a medieval Norse dynasty that had great power in the British Isles and Scandinavia. The Dynasty of Ivar, were a royal and imperial Norse dynasty whose members ruled much of Northern England, the Irish Sea region, the Kingdom of Dublin and the western coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides, from the mid 9th century. In the 15th century takes the earlier ancestry of the MacNeacails back to the Viking princes of 10th century Dublin. The Clan chose for its symbol (on their shield) and later as their badge, a hawk's head erased Gules.

Haakon IV, the last Norse king to attempt an invasion of Scotland, sent a war party to Scotland under Anders Nicolassen: (Nico Andersdatter Lassen) (his Chief Baron and foster brother and Legend has it that King Haakon relied heavily on Nicolassen for his bravery and battle knowledge and was one of the main reasons he managed to create such an expansive empire.), and tradition says that he settled in Scotland after the Viking defeat at the Battle of Largs in 1263 and the Treaty of Perth in 1266. When King Haakon of Norway was defeated in the Battle of Largs, the result was that the Western Isles were ceded to the Kingdom of Scotland. On the treaty that was signed was the signature of Andrew NICOLASSEN . Nicolassen's decision after that to settle in Scotland is believed to be the start of the Nicolson (son of Nichol) legacy.

From this time until 1475 the Clan is known in Scottish history as the MacNicols and the families, are variously called MacNicol, Nichols and Nicholson. The MacNicols are of mixed high Norse and Celtic descent. They even spoke both Norwegian and Gaelic for several centuries!! Tradition has always maintained that the family once were Vikings who ruled the Orkney Isles. There is a tradition that NICHOLSON is not really an Anglicization of the Gaelic name 'MacNEACAIL' or 'MacNICOL', but that the reverse is true: 'MacNicol" is really a gaelicisation of the Norse "NICOLASSEN."  Some elements of the name Nicolson are thought to derive from the Norse personal name Olsen and "Nic" - the Gaelic for "son of Nicholas” a very common medieval name Nicholas, a name popular in Scandinavia. MacNeacail (Scottish Gaelic) is anglicized as MacNicol, Nicholson/Nicolson and literally means “Son of Nicol.” The name McNichol comes from the Viking settlers of ancient Scotland. (The name was used in a variety of spellings: Nicholls, Nichols, Nickols, Nickolls, Nicolls, Niccols, Nicholes, Nickoles and Nickels, McNichol, MacNichol, Nicholson, MacNicol) Today many members of Clan MacNeacail bear the surname Nicolson (and variations). This is because in the late 17th century members of the clan began to Anglicise their Gaelic name (Modern Scottish Gaelic: MacNeacail) to Nicolson. The surname Nicolson means "son of Nicol". The personal name Nicol is a diminutive of Nicholas, derived from the Greek Νικόλαος meaning "victory people".

In 1314, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, defeated Edward II of England at the Battle of Bannockburn. Soon after he sent an army commanded by his brother Edward Bruce, High King of Ireland, to help the Irish fight the Anglo-Normans. In September 1315 he besieged Carrickfergus Castle and burned the town. Attempts to bring food to the castle failed and by April, 1316 the starving English garrison were forced to eat animal hides. It was even rumored that they ate 8 Scottish prisoners.

In September, 1316, MacNicols and his 200 spearmen came to the aid of Edward Bruce, and turned the tide of the battle and the castle finally surrendered, resulting in the first Irish independence from England. The MacNicols Spearmen are credited with saving the Bruce's crown. This same MacNicols captured four or five of their (English) ships by a strategem and utterly deprived the men of their lives.

                                  due to the use of only 4 images, this is continued on the next page.......

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

                               .................continued from last page.

The Nicolsons of Lasswade were established in Midlothian for many generations and a knighthood was conferred in the 17th century.

Scorrybreac is the land that the clan occupied for 800 years, and was seat of the Clan MacNeacail chief until 1826.

Today members of Clan MacNeacail may show allegiance to their clan and chief by wearing a Scottish crest badge. This badge contains the chief's heraldic crest and heraldic motto.

During the 19th century the Clan was badly affected by the Highland Clearances in which many of the clansfolk were forced to emigrate from Scotland.

(As a side note, my great-grandmother was Mary Nicols, whose family emigrated from Scotland to Ireland and finally to England. Her son migrated to the US.)

(The last picture is me as a Nicols spearman.)

(To be continued)

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Lief Erickson and the Discovery of America

Erik Thorvaldsson (Old Norse: Eirīkr Ăžōrvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003), known as Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eirīkr hinn rauĂ°i), is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, he therefore also appears, patronymically, as Erik Thorvaldsson (EirĂ­kr Ăžorvaldsson). The appellation "the Red" most likely refers to his hair color. Leif Ericson, the famous Icelandic explorer, was Erik's son.

Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson; Icelandic: Leifur Eiríksson; Norwegian: Leiv Eiriksson c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse explorer regarded as the first European to land in North America (excluding Greenland), nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada.

Leif was the son of Erik the Red, an explorer from Western Norway and his wife Thjodhild, and the grandson of Thorvald Asvaldsson. Though Leif's birthplace is not accounted for in the sagas, it is likely he was born in Iceland, where his parents met—probably somewhere in Breiðafjörður, and possibly at the farm Haukadal where Thjodhild's family is said to have been based. Leif had two brothers, Thorstein and Thorvald, and a sister, Freydís.


Thorvald Asvaldsson was banished from Norway for manslaughter and went into exile in Iceland accompanied by young Erik. When Erik was himself banished from Iceland, he travelled further west to an area he named Greenland, where he established the first permanent settlement in 986. Tyrker, one of Erik's thralls, had been specially trusted to keep in charge of Erik's children, as Leif later referred to him as his "foster father".

In 1000, Leif was asked to captain his first voyage. This was to bring gifts to King Olaf in Norway. Many preparations were made and Leif was very excited. Leif took along a crew of 14 and his crew travelled from Greenland to Norway. Blown off course to the Hebrides and staying for much of the summer, he arrived in Norway and became a hirdman of King Olaf Tryggvason. The king was so impressed with Leif that he invited Leif to stay in Norway. Leif decided there was no reason to rush back home to Greenland, so he accepted the offer. While in Norway, he marveled at all the wonderful things and rested in the lap of luxury.

One day, while playing chess with Leif, King Olaf told him of how he used to also worship the gods Leif did. He also told him of how a plague had struck Norway and how many people had died. Then he told Leif of how he turned away from those gods and began to worship the living Christ. He was baptized along with thousands of Norwegians, and then the plague stopped. Leif, not being very faithful to the Viking gods, became very interested in Christianity. He finally agreed to be baptized and accept this new faith. On his return voyage, he brought along a priest to spread the Christian faith to Greenland.

The Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, both thought to have been written around 1200, contain different accounts of the voyages to Vinland. According to the Saga of Erik the Red, Leif apparently saw Vinland for the first time after being blown off course on his way to introduce Christianity to Greenland. There he found "self-sown wheat fields and grapevines". He next rescued two men who were shipwrecked in this country, and went back to Greenland (and Christianized the people there). Consequently, if this is to be trusted, Bjarni HerjĂłlfsson was the first European to see America beyond Greenland, and the two unnamed shipwrecked men were the first people known to Europeans to have made landfall there.

According to a literal interpretation of Einar Haugen's translation of the two sagas in the book Voyages To Vinland, Leif was not the first European to discover America, nor the first to make landfall there: he had heard the story of merchant Bjarni HerjĂłlfsson who claimed to have sighted land to the west of Greenland after having been blown off course. Bjarni reportedly never made landfall there, however.

(To be continued)

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Leif Ericsson (continued)

The story and inspires Leif Ericsson to organize an expedition, which retraces in reverse the route Bjarni had followed. In 1001, Leif then approached Bjarni, purchased his ship, gathered a crew of thirty-five men, and mounted an expedition towards the land Bjarni had described. His father Erik was set to join him, but dropped out after he fell from his horse on his way to set sail, an incident he interpreted as a bad omen. Using the routes, landmarks, currents, rocks, and winds that Bjarni had described to him, Leif sailed some 1,800 miles to the New World with a crew of 35—sailing the same knarr Bjarni had used to make the voyage.  Leif followed Bjarni's route in reverse and landed first in a rocky and desolate place he named Helluland (Flat-Rock Land; possibly Baffin Island). He described Helluland as "level and wooded, with broad white beaches wherever they went and a gently sloping shoreline." After venturing further by sea, he landed the second time in a forested place he named Markland (Forest Land; possibly Labrador).

Finally, after two more days at sea, he landed in a place he named Vinland (Often translated Wineland but more correctly "Land with great grass fields"). There, he and his crew built a small settlement which was called LeifsbĂşdir (Leif's Booths) by later visitors from Greenland. Leif wintered in 1001 probably near Cape Bauld on the northern tip of Newfoundland, where one day his German foster father Tyrker was found drunk, on what the saga describes as "wine-berries." Squashberries, gooseberries, and cranberries all grew wild in the area. There are varying explanations for Leif apparently describing fermented berries as "wine."

After the houses were built, Leif sent out an exploration group to explore the land. After one of these expeditions the men had found grapes on this land. Leif ordered his men to load grapes and timber onto the boat, and then they settled in for the winter. But the winter here was very peculiar. No frost came to the grasses. They also noticed that the days and nights were of more equal length here.

(to be continued)

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Leif Ericsson  (continued)

When spring came and the men were ready to go, Leif gave this land a name, Vinland, which either means Wineland or Pastureland. We now know Leif's Vinland to be L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. Leif returned to Greenland in the spring with a cargo of grapes and timber. On the return voyage, he rescued an Icelandic castaway and his crew, earning him the nickname "Leif the Lucky". Leif spent another winter at "Leifsbúðir" without conflict, and finally sailed back to Brattahlíð in Greenland. Surprisingly, few people ever returned to Vinland, only Leif's sister and a small group of settlers who were killed by Indians. Because of this, Europe remained almost totally in the dark about the discovery of this new world. The only references to it are in the Norse sagas where most of the information concerning Leif Erikson is recorded.

Leif was described as a wise, considerate, and strong man of striking appearance. During his stay in the Hebrides, he fell in love with noblewoman Thorgunna who gave birth to their son Thorgils. Thorgils was later sent to Leif in Greenland, but he did not become popular. After his first trip to Vinland, he returned to the family estate of Brattahlíð in Greenland, and started preaching Christianity to the Greenlanders. His father Erik reacted coldly to the suggestion that he should abandon his religion, while his mother Thjodhild quickly became a Christian and built a church called Thjodhild's Church. Leif is last mentioned alive in 1019, and by 1025 he had passed on his chieftaincy of Eiriksfjord to another son, Thorkell. Nothing is mentioned about his death in the sagas—he probably died in Greenland some time between these dates. Nothing further is known about his family beyond the succession of Thorkell as chieftain.

Leif's successful expedition in Vinland encouraged other Norsemen to also make the journey. In 1004, Leif's brother Thorvald Ericson sailed with a crew of 30 men to Newfoundland and spent the following winter at Leif's camp. The first apparent contact between the Norse and the indigenous people, so-called skrælingjar, was made by his brother Thorvald. In the spring, Thorvald attacked nine of the local people who were sleeping under three skin-covered canoes. The ninth victim escaped and soon came back to the Norse camp with a force. Thorvald was killed by an arrow that succeeded in passing through the barricade. Although brief hostilities ensued, the Norse explorers stayed another winter and left the following spring. Subsequently another of Leif's brothers, Thorstein, sailed to the New World to retrieve his dead brother's body, but he only stayed for one summer.

Settlements in continental North America aimed to exploit natural resources such as furs and in particular lumber, which was in short supply in Greenland. It is unclear why the short-term settlements did not become permanent, though it was in part because of hostile relations with the indigenous peoples, referred to as Skrælings by the Norse. Nevertheless, it appears that sporadic voyages to Markland for forages, timber, and trade with the locals could have lasted as long as 400 years.

(to be continued)

[Sir John of Felsenbau]

Leif Ericsson  (continued)

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In the end there were no permanent Norse settlements in Vinland, although sporadic voyages at least to Markland for forages, timber and trade possibly lasted for centuries. The casual tone of references to these areas may suggest that their discovery was not seen as particularly significant by contemporaries, or that it was assumed to be public knowledge, or both. It has been suggested that the knowledge of Vinland might have been maintained in European seaports in the 15th century, and that Christopher Columbus, who claimed in a letter to have visited Iceland in 1477, could have heard stories of it.

Stories of Leif's journey to North America had a profound effect on the identity and self-perception of later Nordic Americans and Nordic immigrants to the United States. The first statue of Leif was erected in Boston in 1887, as many believed that Vinland could have been located at Cape Cod.

In 1960 archaeological evidence of the only known Norse settlement in North America was found at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland. This proved conclusively the Vikings' pre-Columbian discovery of North America.

INTERESTING VIKING FACTS

The drinking toast: SKOLL:
At the end of the battle, Viking warriors would decapitate the king or leader of the tribe/army they had just vanquished and that night would drink from his skull--spelled skoll--as a sign of respect for the fallen opponent. In battle, Vikings would urge each other forward by yelling "SKOLL" to one another. By doing so, they were telling each other to keep it up so they could drink from the skull of the Vanquished that night. Vikings drank out of skulls (not recently killed or extracted skulls, of course, but cleaned and carved-out skulls. They used wax to fill in the nose and eye and ear holes) At Viking victory celebrations, they drank draughts of their enemies’ blood out of drinking vessels fashioned from human skulls. The toast “Skoll!” is derived from this custom. "May we always drink from the skulls of our enemies! – Skoll!”

Know why Russia is so-named?
Yep, you guessed it, it was the Vikings! The name “Russia” is derivative of the word “Rus,” meaning Red. Many used this word as a name for the Norsemen, as their ruddy and blonde hair left quite an impression on many people of non-European descent. Because of early Norse travel deep into what would become Russia, their “name” came to be used to describe the land there.

Vikings are the cleanest people of the Ancient/Medieval world:
You may think of Vikings as dirty, Meade-swilling murderers, and while they may have been those latter two sometimes, they were actually about the cleanest people of the Ancient/Medieval world. Excavations of most every major Viking settlement reveal not only combs, but also tweezers, razors, mirrors, and various grooming “products” that were essentially primitive soaps. The Vikings bathed at least once a week, both for ritual and hygiene, and many likely washed themselves daily, which may seem expected these days, but come on, this was a while back, things were different!

(to be continued)