Once upon a time a
young merchant named Bjarni Herjolfsson on his way to Greenland across the
Denmark Strait was blown blindly past his destination and across the Atlantic
Ocean to previously unknown lands. This was in 985 or 986. About a decade
later Leif the Lucky, son of Eirik the Red, bought the ship that had survived
the voyage and steered it with a crew of thirty-five back to the shores of the
"New World" to explore and, if possible, to exploit Bjarni's chance
discovery. This, at least, is the account given in the Grænlendinga Saga. This
is one post about that event and about a 1926 / 1927 duplication of it. Maybe
there will be a second post, maybe not, depending upon whether I am feeling
ambitious or lazy. The post card above is the closest thing I could come up
with showing the ship which made the 1926 / 1927 crossing with a crew of four
men and a dog as it was in a Duluth, Minnesota, park for a number of years. The
ship is now dry docked and undergoing renovation. The photograph at the end of
this piece shows the captain of the replication voyage, Gerhard Folgero,
standing on the prow of the vessel.
A latter-day Viking
voyage to America
(Editor's Note:
October 9 is Leif Erikson Day in the United States and a few other corners of
the world. The day to remember and to honor Leifr Eiríksson, as his name would
be written in Old Norse, is not an official holiday -- meaning no banks are
closed and students still have to attend classes -- but some people and
communities observe it in their own ways. The 1874 book, "America Not
Discovered by Columbus," by Norwegian-American Rasmus Anderson helped popularize
the idea Vikings were the first Europeans in the New World. On September 2,
1964, Congress authorized the observance of Leif Erikson Day nationwide. Each
president in the years since has noted the event with a proclamation, often
praising the contributions of Americans of Nordic descent and the spirit of
discovery. The date was chosen because the ship Restauration coming from
Stavanger, Norway, arrived in New York Harbor on October 9, 1825, beginning a
wave of immigration from Norway to America.)
Norwegian
Captain Gerhard Folgero of Sannesjoen with a crew of three men -- Johan Johnsen
from Molde, Kristian Andersen from Sandnessjoen and Thomas Stavenes from Bergen
-- and a dog (whose name and breed I have yet to
uncover) sailed in a hand-built Viking replica ship across the Atlantic Ocean
from Bergen, Norway, to Duluth, Minnesota, in 1926/27.
The ship set out from Bergen on May
23, 1926. The voyageurs reached the southern tip of Nova Scotia two months
later on July 22, where according to lore, the legendary Leif Erikson had
briefly landed years ago.
When they arrived in Boston Harbor
in mid-August, the vessel had travelled 6,700 miles. After wintering
in New York, the crew resumed the voyage in early March the next year by going
up the Hudson River and connecting with other rivers and lakes. By the time
they reached Duluth, Minnesota, on June 23, 1927, the little boat had travelled
about 10,000 miles.
Folgero's
dream was to prove true the Norse sagas about Viking explorer Leif Erikson
making the journey to America in approximately 997 Anno Domini (A.D.), almost 500 years
before Columbus arrived in 1492.
At the time, no evidence of Viking
sites had been found in North America and not until 1960 with the
discovery of a Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern
tip of Newfoundland was it established the Old Norse had crossed the Atlantic
Ocean.
After
arriving in Duluth, the adventurers later sailed the craft to Chicago with
Folgero and two new sailors returning to Duluth, where the ship has been since
that time on display in Leif Erikson Park. It currently is in storage
undergoing renovation.
Here is Folgero's account of the
last leg of the original journey across Lake Superior -- The Lake -- from Sault
Ste. Marie in Michigan to Duluth in Minnesota:
June 17 1927
Wind from the east and clear skies
to begin our journey of 505 miles across Lake Superior to Duluth, Minnesota. We
met many large ships loaded with ore, and at 3:00 p.m. reached Whitefish Bay.
We set a course for Isle Royale; the landscape is quite desolate, only a few
houses or fish houses along the shore. Most people who live here are of
Scandinavian ancestry and fish on Lake Superior. Farming isn't very good, the
summers are raw and cold, and the winters are very hard.
Open sea ahead of us is very rough,
with rollers just a big as those on the North Sea. Many large ships have been
lost on this lake. The wind died down, but the rollers go on so we can't make
coffee. The only life we see is an occasional seagull.
June 18 1927
The wind died completely in the
night and we drifted and rolled. It was as cold as in Greenland, and the water
is ice cold both summer and winter. Tradition has it that a man overboard is
dead right away, going to the bottom and never coming up again. Later the wind
picked up from the east, and we made observations and navigated just like we
did on the ocean. There is no land to be seen, only smoke from steamships
passing on the horizon.
We caught sight of Isle Royale, and
were met by many fishermen. Everyone spoke Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish. It
was the height of the herring season, and it (sic) were given some. It was
freshwater herring, dry and large, not as good as ocean herring. We also got a
large trout from a man from Egersund, Norway, which we cooked at once and it
was delicious. The island was beautiful, with many fishermen living there,
along with summer homes for Duluthians and Canadians.
June 21 1927
We sailed on and encountered a
powerful storm, followed by a thick fog. It was difficult to navigate because
of all the magnetism in the hills, the compass was almost useless. We arrived
in Two Harbors this Tuesday night where we were met by many Norwegians who
arranged a dinner for us. We prepared the boat for our arrival in Duluth.
June 23 1927
The president of the committee, Mr.
Borgen, a Norwegian, came to Two Harbors, along with some other committee
members, and with some Daughters of Norway, to sail with us to Duluth. The
distance from Two Harbors to Duluth is only 28 miles, and wouldn't take more
than eight hours if the wind was favorable.
We were told the boat was a proud
sight as it sailed out of Two Harbors, decorated with flags from stem to stern.
We kept near the shore all the way to Duluth, with a fresh wind from the east
and the lake smooth. People waved American and Norwegian flags from shore, and
many Norwegian fisherman came out and followed us a while. The coast here is
similar to Norway, high hills and small bays where fish houses stood, the
houses even looked Norwegian.
Five miles out of Duluth we were met
by the warship "Paducha", with an orchestra on board playing the
Norwegian anthem. Closer in, more boats came out to meet us, and thousands of
peopled line the canal piers to welcome us. We sailed into the harbor and tied
up. We had made it to our destination. It was an event for us, our country, and
Duluth.
People were everywhere, even on
rooftops. A choir sang "When the Fjords Turn Blue", a song dear to
every Norwegian. We took our places under the Sons of Norway banner and the Norwegian
anthem was played, then we went in parade to the courthouse where the American
national anthem was played. Mayor Snively and Congressman William Chars gave
speeches. Chars said, "Nobody will say today that the history of the
Vikings is not true. There is no doubt that Vikings were in America long before
Columbus was born."
(Concluding Note: Now,
it is safe to say that barring the unforeseen there will be what I consider to be a footnote piece to this post,
something more about Gerhard Folgero, and another post about Leif the Lucky and
Norse explorations along the east coast of North America. Until then .... later,
baby ....)
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