A visit to the Greenland Eastern Settlement

As a youth, I was fascinated by stories of the Norse westward exploration and settlement. From about the 870s to around the year 1000, they reached first Iceland, then Greenland and finally Newfoundland and adjacent areas. 

With a visit to Greenland this June 2023, I have now visited all of these places and seen something of their character and atmosphere: volcanoes, geysirs, waterfalls, icebergs and aurora in Iceland; snowy mountains, fjord-wide expanses of drift ice and eagles in Greenland; dolphins and moose plus hillsides covered in berries at that northern tip of Newfoundland. 

I have also seen the Norse ruins in all these places, mostly just the foundations of buildings made of stone and turf. The experience of this particular “quest” feels in essence complete. 

I started the dotted line on the map below in Rogaland (Norway), where we lived in the late 1990s. That's also where Erik the Red was born.

The Norse westward expansion (simplified) from the 870s to around the year 1000 CE

The route in Greenland began with arrival at the airport at Narsarsuq on June 1st, followed by a boat ride and a hike from Itilleq over to Igaliku, then from Itilleq to Narsaq by boat (June 3rd) and finally on to Qaqortoq (June 5th) through fjords choked with drift ice (see the image below). Blue Ice Explorer arranged the boats and accommodation.

The southwest Greenland journey (GoogleEarth image)

Garðar

I walked (in the company of a friendly German couple) through the rain from Itilleq, arriving a bit wet at Igaliku, a spread out village with colourful houses on the edge of the fjord. The low cloud and drizzle dampened the colours, but also created a certain atmospheric effect. The ruins of Garðar here are quite impressive, with the foundations of the cathedral clearly visible and some large barns with standing walls made of very large blocks of the local red sandstone. Two friendly sheepdogs accompanied me one rainy morning as I wandered round the ruins. 

Looking towards the fjord over the ruins of Garðar, with a sheep for scale.

Doorway and lintel of the robust tithe barn. This is the symbol for the Kujataa UNESCO world heritage area of Southern Greenland.

GoogleEarth image showing the ruins of Garðar, with cathedral near top centre, to the right of the modern building

I went for a walk along the fjord side, at one point startling an eagle at a distance of a few metres, at another seeing a group (an "unkindness") of ravens up on a ridge. There were also wheatears and buntings. Meeting a fast-flowing and impassable river, I walked beside it up to a lake next to the Narsaarsuk Plateau. I didn't venture up onto the plateau since it was entirely hidden in low cloud (and I was on my own and a long way from base). I watched the eagles, wheatears and redpolls for a while then looped back to the village. There's a famous mineral locality up there, source for 67 mineral species, type locality for 13 of them.  

An eagle near Igaliku

An unkindness of ravens near Igaliku

After a return hike to Itilleq, a small boat took me along the Tunulliarfik fjord to Narsaq. There was some fascinating geology to be seen along the way (I would see it again in brilliant sunshine later in the week). A highlight was a complete cross section of the Ilimaussaq alkaline igneous complex completely exposed on both sides of the fjord. I have no expertise in igneous geology, but for those who do, I realise that this place is hallowed ground. It’s the crystallised fill of a magma chamber, which was about 3-4 km deep a bit over a billion years ago, but is now exposed at surface and scoured clean by glaciers. There are more than 290 mineral species, 38 first described from here (Type Locality) and a good number only found here. The following day, I hiked up to an old uranium mine adit at Kvanefjeld for a closer look at this igneous complex - and came back down with a backpack full of rocks! (see below)

Narsaq

At Narsaq, occupying a fine site at the foot of Qaqqarsuaq mountain and overlooking the fjord, the foundations of a large longhouse dating to first settlement times can be seen. Some fascinating artefacts, including a rune stick, were found here.

If you look beyond the middle lupin you can just about make out a white information board describing the longhouse foundations visible in that flatter area of ground.

A rune-stick found at this site, from the information board by the foundations of the longhouse

Reconstruction of the farm, with Qaqqarsuaq mountain behind

The dramatic setting at the base of Qaqqarsuaq mountain of the Landnám homestead, Landnámsgaarden. Dated to about the year 1000, the homestead (directly to the right of the dark green field at lower left) is among the oldest of the Norse ruins in the area.

A closer view of the Landnamsgaarden site from the fjord

Context view of Narsaq Norse ruins. Tunulliarfik fjord is to the right; Sermilic fjord to the left. Narsaq sound extends across the bottom of the photo. The Landnamsgaarden longhouse is shown to the right of Narsaq and the Dyrnaes ruins are to the left, at the mouth of the Narsaq river valley.

Far less recognisable than the longhouse foundations at Narsaq are the ruins next to the delta of the Narsaq Elv close to the modern Dyrnaes farm (Narsap Ilua). The history of research in the area can be found here. 

View down the Narsaq Elv valley to the blue buildings of the modern Dyrnaes farm. The Norse ruins lie beyond these modern buildings.

GoogleEarth view showing Norse and modern Dyrnaes farm locations (scale of 500 m at lower left). Overlain on the topography is the 2008 survey of the Norse ruins (Kapel & Clemmensen 2008). The location of the 1980 Kvanefjeld adit which I visited is shown at top right.

I hiked on up the valley, through drizzle and low cloud, to an old Uranium test mine adit on Kvanefjeld. There were fascinating minerals to be found in that part of the valley in the Ilimaussaq Alkaline Igneous Complex, including tugtupite, steenstrupine, aegirine, arfvedsonite, eudialyte, feldspars and a number of others.

A specimen of brilliantly colourful tugtupite found close to the Kvanefjeld adit. Sphalerite and aegirine are also present.

The day following this hike (June 5th), the cloud finally lifted, revealing magnificent scenery. The other guest at the Narsaq Hotel had been waiting four days for the helicopter to be able to fly. As I hiked along the coast to Narsaq Point, I saw the helicopter arrive and then depart again.

Finally, the clouds lift!

Qaqortoq

The journey to Qaqortoq from Narsaq was made very exciting by the presence of wall to wall drift ice. The usual small fast boat was replaced by the expedition ship Adolf Jensen. The ship bumped and displaced the ice floes, a spotter in the crow's nest guiding the path forward. A blue ship which had been ahead of us became stuck and then fell in behind, enjoying the cleared path. After about three hours of slowly pressing through ice, we came across a battered red ship heading in the opposite direction, with a long slow journey ahead of them. It was nearly 10:00 pm by the time we approached the colourful town of Qaqortoq, houses covering the slopes around a harbour. 

Approaching Qaqortoq in the late evening

Hvalsey was inaccessible due to the wall to wall drift ice, but here is a googleEarth image showing the well known later medieval church ruin (scale of 50 m at lower left).

The return journey by the Adolf Jensen provided another opportunity to enjoy the spectacular drift ice.

Brattahlíð 

I arrived at Brattahlíð  (Qassiarsuq) on 7th June, enjoying a rare glorious day. The small boat left me at the jetty and I walked along the path through modern farm buildings and a monument to the farmer Otto Frederikson, beneath a large statue of "Leif the lucky" towards the ruins. There's the foundations of a church in its churchyard, the tiny church of Tjodhilde, various other buildings and a large milking fold up on a hill. There's also a reconstructed Inuit turf house.

There are remains of an earlier church beneath this one.

The site of Tjodhilde's tiny church with (above) what the excavation found (information post at the site).

Artist's reconstruction of Brattahlíð (above) and map of the ruins (information post at the site)

This was an extremely rewarding journey. The scenery was magnificent, often hidden by low cloud, but at times revealed in bright sunshine. The geology tells stories from more than a billion years ago, from ancient rivers and deltas to extensive basaltic lava flows and vast crystallised magma chambers filled with exotic minerals. The Norse and Inuit ruins are evocative, especially those of Garðar, Brattahlíð and Narsaq. And I loved hearing Inuit (Greenlandic) spoken, with favourite word "illillu" (you're welcome) sounding like "ishlishloo." 

References

Arnebourg, A. 2011. Norse Greenland - research into abandonment. Conference: 40 years of medieval archaeology at Aarhus University.

Kapel, H. & Clemmensen, N. C. 2008. Narsaq Museum Feltrapport. Ruingrupperne ved Sissarluttoq og Narsap Ilua – Digital opmåling og fotodokumentation.

Myrup, M. 2010. Archaeological survey Narsaq 2010. Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu.