Such intoxicating lore is what attracted
me to this province—that and my
Finnish heritage. Over the years, I’ve
indulged my Nordic side by visiting
Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum and listen-
ing to Viking-themed Swedish heavy
metal. But living it up Odin-style on
the East Coast is a first for me.
Daylight brings more opportunities
to explore L’Anse aux Meadows, which
in 2018 marked its 40th anniversary as
a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From
1961 to 1966, Norwegian archaeologist
Anne Stine Ingstad helmed the exca-
vation of North America’s oldest
known European settlement. In 1960,
Ingstad’s husband, Helge, pinpointed
its exact location with the help of
local fisherman George Decker,
who assumed it was a First Nations
burial ground.
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I can’t believe I’m finally here. I get
chills wandering along a boardwalk
built over the ridged terrain, which
is dotted with black spruce trees and
caribou lichen. As a brisk breeze blows
from Islands Bay, my group spots a
moose in the distance—one of more
than 80,000 in the province.
Near the reconstructed grass-
roof Viking buildings, rectangular
indentations in the ground mark the
original locations of a house, kitchen
and workshop. The village was home
to about 75 Norse men and women,
along with their European slaves.
Artefacts ranging from a bronze
pin to a glass bead confirmed their
presence.
But the settlement didn’t pan out.
“Leif Erikson sailed for distant regions
in the West to make himself a wealthy
man,” explains friendly guide Matthias
Brennan. “So L’Anse aux Meadows
became a wintering base camp for
further exploration.” Despite a prime
location on a shipping route and waters
filled with salmon, it never spawned
the bounty desired by the Vikings,
whose vast trade networks stretched
from Greenland to Baghdad.
Still, my heavy-metal heart rejoices
to learn that L’Anse aux Meadows
witnessed the first iron production
in North America. “They harvested
and smelted bog iron ore, using a clay
furnace heated with charcoal,” Brennan
says. “And we have now revived the
tradition. Last summer, we produced
nearly eight kilograms—four times
as much as the original Vikings.”
Icelandic exchange students partici-
pated in the smelting, with the
Coastal calm in Norstead