Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth, with Gordon Campbell

Experts on History

In our interview with Gordon Campbell, we chat all about his new book Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth. The book tells two stories. One story is that of the Norse proceeding in the 10th and 11th century from mainland Scandinavia to the Faroes and Iceland and Greenland, and from Greenland they sail, hunting in many cases to what is now the Eastern Arctic in Canada. And they famously, as we have known since the 1060s, had a sort of camp in Northern Newfoundland at a site called L'Anse aux Meadows.

The other story is the appropriation of the first story by Canadians and Americans who want to have been discovered by people with white North European origins rather than by Columbus, who was Italian, sailed for Spain, and did all kinds of other suspicious things. So, there is a racial narrative, which is potentially pernicious in the huge attraction of having the Norse discover America. I became interested in the attraction as much as I did in the actual voyages themselves.

— BUY NORSE AMERICA: THE STORY OF A FOUNDING MYTH —

https://www.worldhistory.org/books/B08YZ5M8YY/

— GORDON'S WEBSITE —

https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/english/people/gordoncampbell

— SUPPORT US VIA OUR PATREON —

https://www.patreon.com/join/whencyclopedia

— BUY OUR MERCH —

https://www.worldhistory.store​/​

— WANT TO KNOW MORE? —

The Norse in America: Fact and Fiction https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1880/the-norse-in-america-fact-and-fiction/

Leif Erikson https://www.worldhistory.org/Leif_Erikson/

Vinland https://www.worldhistory.org/Vinland/

— ATTRIBUTIONS —

The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:

https://www.ancientlyre.com

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7Dx2vFEg8DmOJ5YCRm4A5v?si=emacIH9CRieFNGXRUyJ9

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ1X6F7lGMEadnNETSzTv8A