History Browser

This house was reconstructed in the style of those built by the Vikings at l’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland around the year 1000. (Parks Canada)

L’Anse aux Meadows was the site of a Viking settlement at around the year 1,000. The area is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Parks Canada)

This Norman (or Viking) axe man holds a Danish style battle axe. Vikings were also called ‘Norman’ — men of the north — by the Dark Ages French. A large group of Vikings occupied and settled on the north-western coast of France in what became Normandy. This is the region from which many of the French settlers to New France came in the 17th century. It is also where the Canadian Army landed on D-Day on 6 June 1944. Print after Viollet-Leduc from the Bayeux tapestry.

In the early years of the 11th century, the first Europeans to set foot in North America arrived on the shores of modern day L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. These Scandinavians, collectively known as the Norse, had travelled west from their colonies in Iceland and Greenland. They had not come to raid, but to cut timber, hunt and explore the unknown wilderness they called Vinland.

The sleek design of these ships made them the fastest, most seaworthy craft of their time. (Library of the Canadian Department of National Defence)

The site of an 11th century Norse settlement on the Northern tip of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula, L’Anse aux Meadows is the earliest known European settlement in North America. Students learn about this national and world heritage site through archaeological and documentary evidence that combine to tell a rich tale of early exploration, colonization, and possibly conflict.

Based on Viking accounts, the Skraelings were courageous and effective warriors. Their tactics have a lot in common with other Amerindian cultures.

As early as 1000 CE, encounters between Europeans and First Peoples often led to violence.

This view was conceived during the 1930s by historical artist Fergus Kyle (1876-1941). Although we now know that Viking helmets did not have horns, as shown here and in countless other images in popular art, most of the other details shown give a relatively realistic impression of what such a settlement might look like. The Vikings also could build timber houses as well as ones made of earth.

Norman (or Viking) helmets typically had a nose guard such as the one seen here. Contrary to popular belief, Viking helmets had no horns. Print after Viollet-Leduc.