s ag a
Journey through
Viking legends and
Norse history in
Newfoundland
B y L u c a s ay k r oy d
what really
happened in Vinland?” Thorstein
asks. The bearded Viking, his face
illuminated by flickering flames,
spins an ancient yarn of betrayal and
bloodshed—and I’m spellbound.
The Viking? He’s actually a costumed
Parks Canada interpreter, but no
matter. I listen intently while sipping
spiced partridge berry juice inside a
reconstructed sod dwelling at L’Anse
aux Meadows. Thorstein’s evening
“Sagas and Shadows” performance
transports me back a thousand years,
when explorer Leif Erikson sailed
from Greenland to establish North
America’s only Viking settlement, here
on Newfoundland’s northern tip.
Depending on which linguist you
believe, the name Vinland alludes to
wind, pasture land or grape-growing. »
“Have you Heard
CAA maNiToba
spriNg 2019
35