Infopanel 18

Long trips to the southeast

The most impressive sea voyages of the Vikings today are the long voyages – whether to the northwest to the New World or to the southeast. The latter includes the voyage of discovery by a Swede named Yngvar, the well-traveled, who set out around 1040 to explore the sources of the Russian rivers. A considerable number of Swedish runestones tell of this voyage and the death of his traveling companions. Other long voyages to the southeast include the travels of the later Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, who escaped the Battle of Stiklastadir in 1030 and moved first to Kiev and later to Byzantium, where, as leader of the so-called Varangian Guard at the imperial court, he waged wars in Sicily and as far as the Middle East.

Long journeys to the northwest

The voyages from Greenland to America were truly long journeys into the unknown: Leif Eiriksson sailed southwest, where he first encountered rocky and inhospitable land, which he named Helluland, or Stone Land. He then found a wooded coast, which he named Markland, or Forest Land. Two days later, he sighted more lush land, which the sailors named Vinland. Leif spent the winter there, becoming the first Scandinavian to set foot on American soil. However, he returned the following spring. A subsequent expedition led by the Icelander Thorfinn Karlsefni also failed. This marked the end of attempts to colonize Vinland once and for all: the connections to the old homeland were too long, and supplying provisions was too difficult.