(upbeat music)
(upbeat orchestral music)
(fighting) (grunting)
(yawning)
- Now then, children, which one of you can tell me
who discovered America and when?
- It was Columbus.
(laughing)
- If it wasn't Columbus, then who?
- I understand why you say that, only it's not right.
(upbeat orchestral music)
Doesn't any one of you have an idea?
(upbeat orchestral music)
- Could it have been the Vikings?
- Correct, it was in fact the Vikings.
But to understand how it happened,
we have to go much farther back in time.
(tapping)
I said we go back in time.
(beeping)
Stop, stop, that'll do just fine.
Now our story begins with a Norwegian
who had a terrible reputation, Eric the Red, a Viking.
You know that from the eighth to the 10th century,
these men of the north, oh they terrorized
Europe from Iceland to Scandinavia,
crossing the seas and navigating the great rivers
all the way into Russia and Morocco and beyond.
These adventurers would trade or pillage
according to circumstances.
- [Monk] Oh Lord, protect us from these
barbarians of the north.
- And then if anyone did battle with them
they learned to their cost what powerful warriors they were.
But the area west of Iceland was totally unknown.
And this is where our adventure begins.
It's the story of a very unusual family.
In 964, Eric the Red was banished from Norway
because of a murder.
He left for Iceland, but when he arrived there,
there was no room.
Iceland was overpopulated and there was little food,
so his fiery nature got him in trouble again.
982, the Icelandic court sat in judgment against him
and again, he was banished, and this time for three years.
So Eric the Red took to the sea and sailed west.
- We have a good wind, Eric,
but it's cold and getting colder,
and where are we going?
- You must've heard a story about a great land to the west.
More than 50 years ago, a sailor headed for Iceland
was driven off course by a storm.
He'd been blown far the west.
He observed an immense land covered with ice.
Could be an island.
That's our destination, if the gods so will it.
- A land covered in ice? Hm.
- Patience, it's surely there.
(slow orchestral music)
- Oh, look there.
(slow orchestral music)
(men yelling)
- Hold on men, that ice'll make a mighty splash!
(splashing) (men yelling)
(slow orchestral music)
- [Maestro] Meanwhile, back on Eric's farm in Iceland,
the seasons changed and the children grew up.
- Frilla, do a good job cleaning the house.
You have to tell these slaves everything,
they're all the same.
(slow orchestral music)
(laughing)
(sheep baaing)
- Oh, sorry about that!
He's back, I saw his ship.
Come on everybody, he's back.
- [Man] Hey, did you hear he's back?
- Come on, he's here, he's here.
Mom! Dad, he's here.
He's come back, I saw his ship.
- [Man] Eric's back!
- Ow!
- [Woman] Eric's ship has returned!
- [Boy] Poppa, hey!
(slow orchestral music)
- An enormous ice barrier rose up before us.
We sailed south and went around it.
- It must've been real cold.
- On the other side, what did we see
but a lost and fertile land with wild game
and fish in abundance, it was incredible.
- A new land with abundant food?
- A new land?
- Wow.
- This new territory I call Greenland
should now belong to us.
There we'll find all we need.
It's there just waiting.
I know the route.
Now who will come?
(men cheering) (men laughing)
- And calling it Greenland, the green land,
was stretching the truth.
He was a sly one alright,
Eric knew just how to convince them.
- We're on our way.
- [Maestro] And convince 'em he did.
Over 600 people set off with him for his green land.
(grand orchestral music)
(groaning)
(laughing)
(chicken squawking)
(laughing)
(slow orchestral music)
(laughing)
(slow orchestral music)
- Oh no! (people exclaiming)
(slow orchestral music)
(lightening striking)
(slow orchestral music)
(boat creaking)
(men groaning)
- Oh no.
Oh.
(lightening striking)
(slow orchestral music)
- [Eric The Red] Look, you see, this is it.
(slow orchestral music)
- [Maestro] Of the 25 ships that had set out
with Eric, only 14 finally made it to Greenland.
(people cheering)
The 400 survivors were to found a new colony.
- We're here, we're here.
- [Maestro] The climate was harsh,
ill suited to farming.
Raising live stock was their main activity.
But there was plenty of game and fish
and certain plants and berries and eggs of course.
The little colony was able to survive reasonably well.
(laughing)
- That Greenland, okay, that's fine.
But what's it gotta do with America
and the Wild West and cowboys and skyscrapers?
- Oh.
- Skyscrapers and Wild West is it?
We'll see all about that later, but right now.
Here, take a look at the maps.
Three quarters of the Northern Atlantic
had already been crossed, now what about that
poor sailor who was driven off course?
Well, by chance, he happened to discover a new land.
His name was Bjarni, he'd sailed from Iceland
to join his father in Greenland, but without realizing
he sailed past his destination,
sailed off course to a flatland
covered with a great forest.
- Do we go ashore?
- No, it doesn't seem to match the description of Greenland.
- There's no forest, and we'd
better set a new course to the northwest.
- [Man] Okay.
- [Bjarni] We're sure to find it.
Course, northwest.
- [Maestro] They sailed on for a few more days
and eventually landed at the southwestern
point of Greenland, and sure enough,
Bjarni's father was there.
For 15 years, nobody paid much attention
to that mysterious land lying to the west.
And then around the year 1000...
- Under those clouds there is land.
I'll bet it's the land old Bjarni
talked about, huh, Leif?
- Yep, let's go and talk to my dad.
What we'd like to do is buy old Bjarni's
ship and sail out to find the island with the forest.
If there really is such a place,
the wood would be very useful to us.
On Iceland, there's no longer enough wood.
(grumbling)
- You sail well, but how would you chop course?
- By looking to the west for the distant horizon.
On clear days, there are clouds on the horizon
that don't appear over the sea.
Only one explanation: land.
- And when you discovered, Greenland,
did you know the way?
(laughing)
- That's my boy, Leif, a real son of Eric, huh?
Yes, by all means, you take Bjarni's
ship and discover your new lands.
- Why aren't you heading this expedition?
- I have to give the youngsters a chance.
Anyway, I'm getting a bit too old for the short fame.
- Be careful, Leif might outdo his old man.
(laughing)
(slow orchestral music)
(kissing)
- I won't worry, I know you're in the best of hands.
(chuckling)
- Please be careful, brother.
- Musn't worry, Freydis.
Next time, you're going along.
- All will go well.
In the magic ruins, I read good omens for you.
May the god Odin protect you, Leif.
(tense orchestral music)
- When I suspend it on the string,
the sun stone always shows us which way to go.
- [Explorer] When you suspend it, it always points North.
- [Maestro] The first land that Leif sighted
was Baffin Island, just north of the Hudson Strait.
(tense orchestral music)
- Not too friendly here, wouldn't you say?
- Uh no.
- Helluland, place of many flat stones.
- Why don't you say we go home?
I'm just asking.
- Yeah, if this was the last land we cited
before turning around and headin' for Greenland,
better continue on a course southeast.
- [Maestro] A few days later, here they are in Labrador.
(tense orchestral music)
- It was there we went on the voyage with Bjarni.
That's it.
- All that wood, the land of forests, this is Markland.
- Let's go on, we can always return later, huh?
- Eh, does anybody wanna go back home?
- No, not yet! (yelling)
- [Maestro] Two days later, here they are
at the gulf of the Saint Lawrence River.
(splashing)
- Make sure we all stay in line.
It wouldn't do to get lost.
(orchestral music)
(splashing) (laughing)
- It's a real paradise, this new land.
Imagine our animals here, grazing to their heart's content.
It would be the good life, right, Leif?
(laughing)
(upbeat orchestral music)
(chopping) (grunting)
- [Maestro] Leif and his party would build cabins
and a large mead hall and spend their winter there.
(orchestral music)
(yawning)
- Now that spring is here, let's explore the area.
(slow orchestral music)
Look, there, go on.
- Oh.
(grumbling)
(grunting)
Oh!
What kind of animal is that?
I wonder if it's friendly.
I won't take a chance.
(sniffing)
Don't smell too good.
In fact, it actually stinks a little.
(laughing)
Gee, Leif, I'm not too well, I have a headache.
- No, don't come any closer, please.
Oh, go wash.
(laughing)
(eagle cawing)
(moose vocalizing)
- Ever seen anything so enormous?
- No.
(moose vocalizing)
Shh.
(grumbling)
- I only sampled a couple of 'em.
- Discovering these wild grapes,
which were unknown in Scandinavia,
prompted Leif to call this place Vinland.
As usual, I can't trust anyone here.
This whole story about wild grapes is wrong.
It's completely wrong.
The word "vin" in old Norse means "pasture land."
So here they named it Vinland,
it was because there would be a splendid
place for grazing animals.
Now then.
Begin again.
- Hey, look what I found.
Look, look, look.
I guess I didn't find anything,
but I could've sworn I found, what did I find?
Eh, must be something in the air.
I get forgetful.
(slow orchestral music)
Wait a minute, line up and go back?
We're fine here, aren't we?
It's just when everything is perfect, we give up.
- Don't worry, we'll return.
Lots of us will make this our home.
By the way, your grape story, it might
come in handy yet.
- Leif, Eric's son, chip off the old block.
When Leif's family learned that he had found a
fertile land with a mild climate just a few days away...
- We all wanna go there, Leif.
How soon can we go?
- [Leif] My father Eric's not well right now.
It's my duty to care for him and watch over our lands.
But my brother Thorvald will go with ya.
(intense orchestral music)
- Let's go! (yelling)
(clanking) (fighting)
(tense orchestral music)
(yelling) (arrows cutting through air)
(yelling)
- Attack!
(groaning)
- Well, nobody was killed, right?
- Uh uh.
- Might've been a lot worse.
- They're just a lot of savages.
They are weaklings.
- Good for nothings, we sure showed them.
Oh.
Wait a minute, was I wounded or what?
(groaning)
- Glory to you, great Odin.
May the Valkyries carry Thorvald like a hero,
may he dwell in Valhalla forever.
(orchestral music)
- Master, master!
Master, the merchant Thorfinn.
Thorfinn has just arrived from Iceland.
- Go and tell him he is welcome here in Greenland,
and I'll see him now.
- Right!
(people talking)
- Ah ha ha, yes it's wine, we're grateful.
It's a luxury we experience very seldom.
- This new land is quite rich in its way.
Are you sure you couldn't colonize it?
- Since my father's death, I haven't felt I could go away.
Too many responsibilities.
My brother tried, by those accursed savages killed him.
Besides, it would require many boats,
and well armed men and women, animals.
No, it's impossible right now, Thorfinn.
- Thorfinn, you have two boats
well equipped and ready to go, you must do it.
A man of your high rank could surely
lead such an expedition.
- And in my boat.
Don't forget I'm an expert hunter,
I can get any game.
And as for training men to fight those savages,
I know how to train 'em.
- I have plenty of merchandise.
We can use it to bargain with those scruffy natives,
however, if it doesn't work, we can resort to force.
- I think the best plan is spend the winter here with us.
In spring, when the weather's mild,
we'll prepare for your trip.
- Well said, brother, but let me remind you,
there has always been one of our family on past voyages.
Well, I will go along with him.
- On one condition: watch your step.
(laughing)
(upbeat music)
- Go on, go on.
(banging)
- [Maestro] The first winter was very mild
and the livestock found plenty of grazing land.
Then on the other hand, there wasn't
enough food for the colony.
Trouble began to brew, feelings were running high.
(grunting)
Before long, they broke out into open hostility.
- Back off, she's mine.
- There's only one way to settle this.
- Eh, eh.
Lose your temper, lose your life.
You get that, huh?
(upbeat music)
- [Maestro] When spring finally came,
the colonists had their first meeting
with the indigenous people.
They were called Indians.
At first they were pleased with all the merchandise.
(upbeat music)
- And what I say is fortify our entire camp,
then we can do away with all of them
before they sneak in and kill us in our sleep.
- Without their food, we wouldn't be
able to survive the winter.
- And what I say is they're dangerous.
- They're dangerous, like he said.
- All the exchanges we've made have
been to our advantage, I see no reason
why we should disrupt all that.
- They're wild savages, you can't trust 'em.
Do what you like, only I'm not staying
to get my throat cut one night.
(orchestral music)
- Shh.
- I'm no dope.
- [Maestro] So Thorhall and eight of his men
set sail for Greenland.
But a violent storm blew them across the Atlantic.
(men yelling)
Finally their ship landed in Ireland.
(tense orchestral men)
- Where'd they go? Where are they?
(tense orchestral music)
- They're returning to trade with us again.
Only we can't barter, there isn't
anything at all left.
(tense orchestral music)
(sheep baaing)
(groaning)
(men yelling)
They're attacking, get your weapons.
(yelling)
(hitting) (yelling)
(popping) (yelling)
(tense orchestral music)
- You call yourself warriors, running
away from simple savages?
Cowards, give me a sword.
I'll show you how vikings beat them.
(tense orchestral music)
(yelling)
(tense orchestral music)
- Thorhall was right, there are too many
and we are too few.
We'll never have peace.
Now we must go back to Greenland.
(upbeat music)
- Hey those Vikings, big losers.
- Yeah.
- And that was the last attempt
by the Vikings to colonize America,
but it's easy to see why the descendants
are proud of their ancestors.
Nearly five centuries before Europeans
like Columbus and Magellan, these giant men
of the north, more than anyone at the time,
pushed back the frontiers of the unknown.
They pillaged, leaving destruction in their wake,
and we call them barbarians,
but for three centuries, Viking society
was the most open minded and dynamic in the Middle Ages.
Merchants, warriors, pirates, as fate would dictate,
they were surely among the most daring adventurers
of all time.
(upbeat orchestral music)