I believe I wanted to avoid the whole Halloween thing even though there is a great story of Finn MacCool and how he stayed awake to kill some monster on all hallows eve.
Then I guess I got plain busy and all.
The Holidays and all.
So in time I will be reviewing the book I'm getting for Christmas. Ones on the forts of the Celts and men-at-arms on the same people. Very fascinating stuff in reality.
I recently was cracking open a book I'd gotten a couple of years back entitled
"The Viking Discovery of America: The Excavation of a Norse settlement in L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland"
The authors Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine Ingstad both excavated the Norse settlement in Newfoundland. It is a fascinating read, especially to find out how they tracked it down. Oddly it involved a lot of talking to local peoples of any ruins etc in their area. Eventually, they stumbled on the Village/Settlement in Newfoundland.
There is now a full replicated village just like the original one in the location and it makes up part of the Canadian National Parks system.
L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada
I guess all god Vikingphiles should go there one day and see things first hand. One day when I'm independently wealth I guess I'll do that.
One really interesting comment made in the books epilogue goes something like this: Why did the Norse not stay? Why did they leave behind the great location and resources of L'anse Aux Meadows? The Norse were on par with the natives in regards to weaponry. Both used bows and arrows, and spears (no mention of swords or axes). Also eventually the Norse in Greenland discovered a shorter southern route to the region of Vinland and Markland so there was not necessarily a need to a Semi-permanent base of operations on the North American continent. After a few run-ins with the natives they basically left realizing they were overwhelmed at least numerically.
Same thing could have happened to the English Pilgrims and the like. The difference was the increased potential in the weaponry. The firearms and the cannons. Coupled with the increased ability (albeit 2-3 months) time it took to communicate with Europe, the fledgling settlements took hold and thrived. Though we do know that the natives helped in some instances to make survival possible.
Think of the difference encountered by the English in 1600's and the Vikings in 1000's.
The Vikings had to take a long route basically staying close to the shoreline to head to Greenland and then take a long journey to Iceland. At this point an additional journey was needed to head to places like the British Isles or Norway. This all could take months and require in some instances to remain for a season in one or more of the locations due to ice and other obstacles to travel. Open sea travel directly from continent to continent was not a very feasible option.
Boy what a difference a bit of technology can make.
I believe that is a enough ranting and rambling for now.
Look for more in the future on such topics as Trebuchets, and an idea for a musical tour with Josh Groban for Charity.
Buaidh - NO - Bas
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