The Lost Vikings of Tasmanlaand
It is a strange tale to tell, but the Vikings perhaps made it to Tasmania. What we know comes from a copy of a manuscript found by a Norwegian Whaler, Nils Henriksen, who as a young man sailed with the Tasmanian whaling fleet in the 1840s to 1850s, when whaling was at its peak. What can be judged from his writing was that he had gone ashore to scout for water when he noticed a cairn on stones. Picking through the cairn he discovered a manuscript made of penguin vellum, wrapped in sail cloth and smothered in Mutton Bird tallow. Unwrapping the document, he discovered it to be written in a language that contained words he thought he recognized. Being able to make out some words he kept the document and in later life, retired from the sea, he made a translation with the help of ‘learned folk’ from the university. Miraculously preserved it told the story of a small band of Vikings. Written in old Norse it was the story of these Vikings and their journey.
Without the original there is no way to date the work other than through the internal references. Their voyage was supposed to be to Vinland, which has since been identified as Newfoundland in Canada, to return to the settlement at Leifsbudir. (Leif’s booths/huts.) These references date the work to the start of the 11th century. References to being followers of Thorfinn potentially identifies them as part of a group of Greenlanders who attempted a permanent settlement there in around 1010 AD. Thorfinn is mentioned in the Saga of the Greenlanders which records this attempt.
So much for the manuscript’s context. The main body of the work then speaks of the journey and their life in Tasmanlaand. The writing is called The Saga of the Tasmanlaanders and starts with their attempt to sail to Vinland. They speak of Skapa who led five keels towards Vinland. Their journey was interrupted by a huge storm which seemed to blow them down the coast of the Americas. The story refers to warm – cold warm and then a great following wind and finally shipwreck. The following wind could only be The Roaring 40s which drove them onto the Tasmanian coast. Most noted people mentioned include Skapa, Olaf, Thora, Snorri, Idun, Sven and Ulf.
