Hvalsey Kirke, Southwest Greenland
On 14th of September 1408, only days short of 600 years ago, a wedding occurred at the stone church at Hvalsey, in the Viking Eastern Settlement of southwest Greenland. Sigrid Bjornsdatter, a Greenland colonist, was wed to Thorstein Olafsen, a prominent Icelander. Visitors from Iceland arrived by Viking longboat to celebrate the occasion. The Greenland Vikings had long-since abandoned their Norse Gods and adopted Christianity. We can imagine the couple standing in the autumn light streaming into the stone church through its vaulted window. Perhaps there was even stained glass, imported from Europe in trade for seal skins or walrus ivory, in the window. After the ceremony the wedding party no doubt moved to the adjacent grand hall of similar stone construction where the celebration ensued. It probably lasted for weeks, until the mead gave out. We know that at least some of the visitors from Iceland did not return home until 1410. Perhaps they were stranded by worsening ice conditions as the climate shifted towards the cold of the Little Ice Age. This event is the last recorded contact between the Viking colonies of Greenland and the outside world. This morning we landed at Hvalsey to visit the church, great hall, and the ruins of Viking longhouses. It must have been a productive farm to support such fine structures, and sheep still graze on the slope behind the Viking remains. We walked over tiny tundra plants that flower in this most temperate part of Greenland, and got down on hands and knees to admire and photograph them.
Over lunch our ship moved down the fjord to Qaqortoq, formerly Julianhåb, named after the Queen of Denmark when the town was founded as a trading center by Danes in 1775. This beautiful, clean town sits in an amphitheater around a fine natural harbor. It is now the hub and largest town of southern Greenland. As we were there a cargo ship arrived from Denmark and quickly began offloading containers of goods for the coming winter. After a walking tour of the town we gathered in the town square which features the only fountain in Greenland. In the old cooperage, now a restaurant, we were treated to a sampling of local foods, most of which we will never see at home! Many of the residents of Quqortok were enjoying the warm, sunny afternoon with a stroll, women proudly pushing their babies in prams. We, too, enjoyed the afternoon warmth sitting around the village square lined with historic buildings. We returned to the ship, but our day was not done. We gathered on the aft sun deck where an East Greenlander, Jacob, showed us typical drum dancing. In the old days drum dancing was used to settle disputes. Two combatants would face each other with their wood-rimmed skin drums, each heaping ridicule upon the other until the loser backed down.
On 14th of September 1408, only days short of 600 years ago, a wedding occurred at the stone church at Hvalsey, in the Viking Eastern Settlement of southwest Greenland. Sigrid Bjornsdatter, a Greenland colonist, was wed to Thorstein Olafsen, a prominent Icelander. Visitors from Iceland arrived by Viking longboat to celebrate the occasion. The Greenland Vikings had long-since abandoned their Norse Gods and adopted Christianity. We can imagine the couple standing in the autumn light streaming into the stone church through its vaulted window. Perhaps there was even stained glass, imported from Europe in trade for seal skins or walrus ivory, in the window. After the ceremony the wedding party no doubt moved to the adjacent grand hall of similar stone construction where the celebration ensued. It probably lasted for weeks, until the mead gave out. We know that at least some of the visitors from Iceland did not return home until 1410. Perhaps they were stranded by worsening ice conditions as the climate shifted towards the cold of the Little Ice Age. This event is the last recorded contact between the Viking colonies of Greenland and the outside world. This morning we landed at Hvalsey to visit the church, great hall, and the ruins of Viking longhouses. It must have been a productive farm to support such fine structures, and sheep still graze on the slope behind the Viking remains. We walked over tiny tundra plants that flower in this most temperate part of Greenland, and got down on hands and knees to admire and photograph them.
Over lunch our ship moved down the fjord to Qaqortoq, formerly Julianhåb, named after the Queen of Denmark when the town was founded as a trading center by Danes in 1775. This beautiful, clean town sits in an amphitheater around a fine natural harbor. It is now the hub and largest town of southern Greenland. As we were there a cargo ship arrived from Denmark and quickly began offloading containers of goods for the coming winter. After a walking tour of the town we gathered in the town square which features the only fountain in Greenland. In the old cooperage, now a restaurant, we were treated to a sampling of local foods, most of which we will never see at home! Many of the residents of Quqortok were enjoying the warm, sunny afternoon with a stroll, women proudly pushing their babies in prams. We, too, enjoyed the afternoon warmth sitting around the village square lined with historic buildings. We returned to the ship, but our day was not done. We gathered on the aft sun deck where an East Greenlander, Jacob, showed us typical drum dancing. In the old days drum dancing was used to settle disputes. Two combatants would face each other with their wood-rimmed skin drums, each heaping ridicule upon the other until the loser backed down.
