Skræling facts for kids
Skræling is a name the Norse people from Greenland used for the peoples they met in North America (which includes Canada and Greenland). In old writings, this name was first used for the Thule people. The Thule were an early group of Inuit people who lived alongside the Norse in Greenland after the 1200s. In the old Norse stories called sagas, the name Skræling was also used for the people living in a place called Vinland. The Norse explorers met and sometimes fought with these people during their trips there in the early 1000s.
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What the Word "Skræling" Means
The word Skræling most likely comes from an Old Norse word, skrá, which means "dried skin." This might refer to the animal furs and skins the Inuit people wore. Another idea is that it comes from the Old Norse word skrækja, meaning "to bawl, shout, or yell."
In modern Icelandic, skrælingi means "barbarian" (a wild or uncivilized person). In Danish, a similar word, skrælling, means "weakling."
The term Skræling was probably first written down by Ari Thorgilsson in his book Íslendingabók (The Book of the Icelanders). This book was written long after the Norse first met the indigenous Americans. By the time these stories were recorded, Skræling was the common word Norse people in Greenland used for the Thule people. The Thule people were the ancestors of today's Inuit. They arrived in Greenland from North America in the 1200s and then met the Norse Greenlanders.
The Greenlanders' Saga and the Saga of Erik the Red, written in the 1200s, also use this word for the people of Vinland. The word became well known and has been used in English since the 1700s.
The name "Kalaallit", which is what the largest group of Greenlandic Inuit call themselves, might have come from the word Skræling. In 1750, a person named Paul Egede noted that the Inuit used "Inuit" among themselves. But they used "Kalaalit" when talking to non-Inuit, saying it was the term Norse settlers used.
Norse Explorers Reach a New Land
Norse exploration of the New World began when an Icelander named Bjarni Herjólfsson saw North America. He spotted land in 985 or 986 after his ship went off course while sailing to Greenland.
They wondered what land this could be, because Bjarni thought it was not Greenland.
His journey made other explorers curious, including Leif Eriksson. Leif would later explore and name areas like Helluland, Markland, and Vinland.
First Meetings with Native Peoples
Leif Eriksson started a settlement in Vinland by building some "large houses." When he returned to Greenland, people talked a lot about his trip.
There was great talk about Leif's Vinland voyage, and his brother Thorvald felt they had not explored enough of the land. Leif then told Thorvald, 'You go to Vinland, brother, and take my ship if you wish, but before you do so I want the ship to make a trip to the skerry to fetch the wood that Thorir had there'
Thorvald had the first direct meeting with the native people, who would later be called Skrælings. After a conflict where some native people were killed, the Norse were attacked near their ships. They defended themselves.
'I have been wounded under my arm,' he said. 'An arrow flew between the edge of the ship and the shield into my armpit. Here is the arrow, and this wound will cause my death.'
Thorfinn Karlsefni's Journey
Thorfinn Karlsefni was the first Norse explorer to try and truly settle in the newly found Vinland. He went to the same place where Thorvald and Leif Eriksson had been. According to the Saga of Erik the Red, he sailed with three ships and 140 men.
When they reached Vinland, they found the famous grapes and wild wheat that gave the land its name. They spent a very difficult winter there. They barely survived by fishing, hunting inland, and gathering eggs. The next summer, they sailed to an island called Hop. There, they had their first peaceful interactions with the native people. They traded with them. Thorfinn did not let his men trade their swords and spears. So, they mainly exchanged red cloth for animal furs. The Norse described the native people:
They were short in height with threatening features and tangled hair on their heads. Their eyes were large and their cheeks broad.
Soon after, the Norsemen were attacked by native people. A bull that got loose from the Norse camp frightened the native people. The Norse had to move to a safer spot before fighting their attackers. At the end of the battle, two of Thorfinn's men were killed, and "many of the natives" also died. Thorfinn and his men realized that:
despite everything the land had to offer there, they would be under constant threat of attack from its prior inhabitants.
After this adventure, they went back to Greenland. Their three-year trip was the longest-lasting known European settlement in the New World. This was until Columbus's voyages nearly 500 years later, which started the full European arrival in the Americas.
Inuit Stories About the Norse
There are also stories from the Inuit people about their meetings with the Norse:
[S]oon the kayaker sent out his spear in good earnest, and killed [the Norseman] on the spot. When winter came, it was a general belief that the Kavdlunait would come and avenge the death of their countrymen
Kavdlunait (plural) was the Inuit word for a foreigner or European. Today, the Greenlandic word qallunaaq ("Dane") is similar.
See also
In Spanish: Skræling para niños
