The First Warriors

The Withdrawal Of The Vikings

• Previous page of section
• 1: Page 1 of section
• Next page of section

Were the Vikings forced to abandon America by the conflictual nature of their first contacts with indigenous populations? The natives were certainly numerous, and the intruders, despite their iron weapons, had little hope of defeating them. As the Saga of Eric the Red says, the Vikings in Vinland "realized that even though this was good land, their lives here would always be dominated by battle and fear." They decided therefore to return home - and thus the first armed European incursion into Canada was repulsed. After the failure of the Viking attempts at colonization, another 500 years would pass before another wave of explorers arrived from the Old World.