A Chapter in Canadian History - Discovery of the Northern Hemisphere - Ottawa, Ontario
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Weathervane
N 45° 25.182 W 075° 42.472
18T E 444618 N 5029819
This plaque, titled: A chapter in Canadian History, describes the discovery of the Northern Hemisphere by Greenlander and Icelandic explorers Bjarni Herjol'fsson and Leifr Eiriksson.
Waymark Code: WM10P31
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 06/05/2019
Views: 7
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 11: p.m. - Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Inscription on the plaque:
A chapter in Canadian History
Discovery of the Western Hemisphere
This plaque commemorates the discovery of the Eastern coast of Canada by mariners from Iceland and Greenland in the late tenth century. The historic excerpt reproduced below is from Graenlendinga saga (The Saga of the Greenlanders) First committed to writing in Iceland about A.D. 1200 and preserved in Flateyjarbok (The Flatley Book), a vellum manuscript compiled in Iceland about A.D. 1390.
Part I records the sightings of the new land in the West by Bjarni Herjolfsson, of Eyrar in iceland, in A.D. 986. Part II describes the voyage discovery of Leifr Eiriksson some years later and his landing in Helluland (Flatstoneland), Markland (Woodland), and Vinland (Wineland). These explorations led to an attempt at colonization by Thorfinn Karlsefni whose son, Snorrri Thorfinsson, was born on this continent.
Archaeological research in Western Greenland and Eastern Canada supports these ancient Icelandic records of exploration and colonization.
Part I
Bjarni Herfo'lfsson Sights New Land
... After that they saw the sun again and were able to get their bearings; they hoisted sail and after a day's sailing they sighted land. The discussed amongst themselves what country this might be. Bjarni said he thought it could not be Greenland. The crew asked him if he wanted to land there or not; Bjarni replied. ' I think we should sail in close'. They did so, and soon they could see that the country was not mountainous, but was well wooded and with low hills. So they put to sea again, leaving the land on the port quarter.
II
Leifr Eiriksson's Explorations
... They made their ship ready and put out to sea. The first landfall they made was the country that Bjarni had sighted last. They sailed right up to the shore and cast anchor, then lowered a boat and landed. There was no grass to be seen, and the hinterland was covered with great glaciers, and between glaciers and shore the land was like one great slab of rock. It seemed to them a worthless country.
Then Leifr said ' Now we have done better than Bjarni where this country is concerned - we at least have set foot on it. I shall give this country a name and call it Helluland:
They returned to their ship and put to sea, and sighted a second land. Once again they sailed right up to it and cast anchor, lowered a boat and went ashore. This country was flat and wooded with white sandy beaches wherever they went; and the land sloped gently down to the sea.
Leifr said, this country shall be named after its natural resources; It shall be called Markland'.
They hurried back to their ship as quickly as possible and sailed away to sea in a North-East wind for two days until they sighted land again. They sailed towards it and came to an island which lay to the north of it.
They went ashore and looked about them. The weather was fine. There was dew on the grass, and the first thing they did was to get some of it on their hands and put it to their lips, and to them it seemed the sweetest thing they had ever tasted. Then they went back to their ship and sailed into the sound that lay between the island and the headland jutting out to the North.
They steered a westerly course round the headland. They were shallows there and at low tide their ship was left high and dry, with the sea almost out of sight. But they were so impatient to land that they could not bear to wait for the rising tide to float the ship; they ran ashore to a place where a river flowed out of a lake. As soon as the tide had refloated the ship they took a boat and rowed out to it and brought it up the river to the lake, where they anchored it. They carried their hammocks ashore and put up booths. Then they decided to winter there, and built some large houses. There was no lack of salmon in the river or the lake, bigger salmon than they had ever seen.
The country seem to them so kind that no winter fodder would be needed for livestock; there was never any frost all winter and the grass hardly withered at all. In this country, night and day were of more even length than in either Greenland or Iceland: On the shortest day of the year, the sun was already up by 9 A.M. and did not set until after 3 P.M.
When they had finished building their houses, Leifr said to his companions, ' now I want to divide our company into two parties and have the country explored; half of the company are to remain here at the houses while the other half go exploring - But they must not go so far that they cannot return the same evening, and they are not to become separated'. They carried out these instructions for a time.
Leifr himself took turns at going out with the exploring party and staying behind at the base. Leifr was tall and strong and very impressive in appearance. He was a shrewd man and always moderate in his behaviour.
They slept for the rest of the night, and next morning Leifr said to his men, ' Now we have two tasks on our hands. On alternative days we must gather grapes and cut vines, and then fell trees, to make a cargo for my ship'.
This was done. It is said that the tow-boat was filled with grapes they took on a full cargo of timber; and in the spring they made ready to leave and sailed away. Leifr named the country after its natural qualities and called it Vinland.
Group that erected the marker: The Government of Canada
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
K1A 0N4
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