
Descendants of Newfoundland’s “extinct” Beothuk Live on in Iceland (2011) - aminok
http://blogs.canoe.com/parker/news/descendants-of-newfoundlands-extinct-beothuk-live-on-in-iceland/
======
whybroke
Somewhat off topic but about the section describing the viking arrival in
Greenland and North America, it's astounding the impact on history that a tiny
number of people taking big risks can have.

~~~
t05ter
Can you elaborate on what impact they had? The vikings reaching North America
early is pretty neat, but doesn't seem to have changed the course of history
much. Their colonies West of Greenland were pretty much failures, as they were
systematically unable to compete with natives for resources. They were
eventually pushed back east by skirmishes with the Thule and harsh,
underprovisioned winters.

~~~
aminok
There's some evidence that Christopher Columbus ventured to the New World
based on Norsemen knowledge of Vinland that had reached the Catholic Church.

Catholic historian mentioning Vinland:

[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-of-
Bremen#ref19170...](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-of-
Bremen#ref191702)

There is some evidence Columbus visited Iceland in 1477 where there would have
been more knowledge of the North American territories.

~~~
dalke
There were many stories about islands or land to the west.

Saint Brendan’s Isle would have been on many maps in Columbus's time, with
Irish legends about it. Some of the other phantom islands from that era
include Hy-Brasil, the Isle of Mam, Royllo, Satanazes, and Antillia.

While there may have been some influence from the Norse sagas, I think
Antillia played a much larger role in his decision making. Quoting
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antillia#Medieval_beliefs_and_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antillia#Medieval_beliefs_and_the_Age_of_Discovery)
:

> under the Spanish flag of Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus set
> out on his historic journey to Asia, citing the island as the perfect
> halfway house by the authority of Paul Toscanelli.[45] Columbus had
> supposedly gained charts and descriptions from a Spanish navigator, who had
> "sojourned... and died also" at Columbus's home in Madeira, after having
> made landfall on Antillia.[46]

I am not saying that there could not have been influence from the Norse sagas,
only that other (incorrect) geographical descriptions appear to have had a
stronger and more documented influence on his decision.

~~~
aminok
That's fascinating, thanks for the link. Just to provide a little more support
for the admittedly weaker argument I made earlier: the knowledge of the lands
discovered by the Norse was extensively recorded by Catholic priests, and
their works were read for centuries in Europe.

[https://books.google.ca/books?id=SaXuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR8&lpg=PR8...](https://books.google.ca/books?id=SaXuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR8&lpg=PR8&dq=vinland+catholic+book&source=bl&ots=V5L0qUwcMa&sig=BfsvBlmFWd6xn-4dL8PP9xcpcRY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEytrAg77PAhUPzGMKHZKxAEwQ6AEIIzAE#v=onepage&q&f=false)

and Christopher Columbus, as a literate Catholic, could conveivably have had
access to this knowledge. The Catholic Church may very well have had an
interest in these lands as potential places to spread its faith to. The Church
even had a bishop in the Norse colonies in Finland.

But yes, clearly the legends you mention were much more prominent in the
public consciousness of the time.

~~~
aminok
That should be: in the Norse colonies in Greenland, not Finland.

------
a-no-n
Check out more history of natives' genocides in the Americas:

====

"A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies"

\- Paperback [https://amzn.to/2dnhEhE](https://amzn.to/2dnhEhE)

\- Kindle [https://amzn.to/2dngoLi](https://amzn.to/2dngoLi)

\----

"The Conquest of New Spain"

\- Hardcover [https://amzn.to/2duUoKt](https://amzn.to/2duUoKt)

\- Kindle [https://amzn.to/2d1NWyU](https://amzn.to/2d1NWyU)

