CAA Manitoba Spring 2019 | Page 35

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