Newfoundland (island)Newfoundland (ˈnjuːfən(d)lənd,_-lænd , ˌnjuːfəndˈlænd ; Terre-Neuve, taɛ̯ʁ.nœːv; Ktaqmkuk) is a large island situated off the eastern coast of the North American mainland and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The island contains 29 percent of the province's land area. The island is separated from the Labrador Peninsula by the Strait of Belle Isle and from Cape Breton Island by the Cabot Strait. It blocks the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, creating the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary.
BerserkerIn the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word berserk (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources. The Old Norse form of the word was berserkr (plural berserkir). It likely means "bear-shirt" (compare the Middle English word 'serk, meaning 'shirt'), "someone who wears a coat made out of a bear's skin".
SkaldA skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ˈskald, later ˈskɒːld; ˈskault, meaning "poet") is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally composed to honor kings, but was sometimes extempore. They include both extended works and single verses (lausavísur). They are characteristically more ornate in form and diction than eddic poems, employing many kennings , which require some knowledge on Norse mythology, and heiti, which is a noun that is more formal to compare to every day terms.
Scandinavian YorkScandinavian York, Viking York (Jórvík) is a term used by historians for, what is now, Yorkshire during the period of Scandinavian domination from late 9th century until it was annexed and integrated into England after the Norman Conquest; in particular, it is used to refer to York, the city controlled by these kings and earls. The Kingdom of Jórvíc was closely associated with the much longer-lived Kingdom of Dublin throughout this period. York was first recorded by Ptolemy around the year 150 as Eborakon.
History of GreenlandThe history of Greenland is a history of life under extreme Arctic conditions: currently, an ice sheet covers about eighty percent of the island, restricting human activity largely to the coasts. The first humans are thought to have arrived in Greenland around 2500 BCE. Their descendants apparently died out and were succeeded by several other groups migrating from continental North America. There has been no evidence discovered that Greenland was known to Europeans until the 10th century CE, when Icelandic Vikings settled on its southwestern coast.
Earldom of OrkneyThe Earldom of Orkney is the official status of the Orkney Islands, and was a Norse territory ruled by the earls (or jarls) of Orkney from the ninth century until 1472. It was founded during the Viking Age by Viking raiders and settlers from Scandinavia (see Scandinavian Scotland). In the ninth and tenth centuries it covered the Northern Isles (Norðreyjar) of Orkney and Shetland, as well as Caithness and Sutherland on the mainland. It was a dependent territory of the Kingdom of Norway until 1472, when it was absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland.
TórshavnTórshavn (ˈthɔu̯ʂhau̯n; Thor's harbour), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the Kirkjubøreyn. They are separated by the Sandá River. The city itself has a population of 13,994 (2023), and the greater urban area has a population of 21,078, including the suburbs of Hoyv%C3%ADk and Argir.
SkrælingSkræling (Old Norse and Icelandic: skrælingi, plural skrælingjar) is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the peoples they encountered in North America (Canada and Greenland). In surviving sources, it is first applied to the Thule people, the proto-Inuit group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century. In the sagas, it is also used for the peoples of the region known as Vinland whom the Norse encountered and fought during their expeditions there in the early 11th century.
Medieval Warm PeriodThe Medieval Warm Period (MWP), also known as the Medieval Climate Optimum or the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, was a time of warm climate in the North Atlantic region that lasted from 950 to 1250. Climate proxy records show peak warmth occurred at different times for different regions, which indicate that the MWP was not a globally uniform event. Some refer to the MWP as the Medieval Climatic Anomaly to emphasize that climatic effects other than temperature were also important.
