Early visitors to North America

This is the first of a two part blog.

I've teased in advertising that Time by Einstein is not set in the Canadian Maritimes, but it has a connection. And the connection is? Sea voyagers traveling from Northern Europe to the Americas.

But before we discuss this history of sea travel to the Americas, let’s be blunt. Christopher Columbus did not “discover” America. Columbus had a great marketing campaign flush with cash. Therefore, he got to write the history on his adventures, and these still influence how some today regard history. He got lost, and he found a land he mistook for India. It was already inhabited and not in need of being "discovered."

So who did "discover" America? Short answer: No one did. Vikings visited but did not discover the Americas, and they did it well before Columbus. However, the Viking Era did not introduce sea voyages to the Americas. It was going on before that.

The true (known) first European visitors of the New World were Scandinavians--not Vikings. Scandinavians would have included Norsemen. These were men and women who lived before the Viking Era (793 - 1066 CE). They explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic including the northeastern fringes of North America. Remains of Norse buildings were found at L'Anse aux Meadows near the northern tip of Newfoundland in 1960. Sometimes this discovery seems to amaze people even though it's been known about for over 60 years. On social media I regularly see posts from people who just realize Scandinavians came this far west. They visited Newfoundland first, but they eventually traveled down the coast to Nova Scotia and parts farther south.

Who can say if another people didn’t visit before them?

The Scandinavians and Vikings were not good at writing their history, and they were certainly not flush with cash. More on that in the second part of this blog. As a consequence, what we know about them is often written by foreigners who have traveled among them. One of the best resources is Ahmad ibn Fadlan. I mention him because he was a contemporary living in their world. The Eddas and Sagas would come later and would be written by men who took the oral story and wrote it down, potentially with their own biases influencing a story that would have evolved over time.

In Time by Einstein, I examine the idea that voyagers and explorers could have visited the Americas before the Viking Age. These explorers would not have been the sea pirates and plunderers that Vikings were known to be. They would have been exploring for other reasons. One of the main characters in this book is such a Norse voyager and speaks about his trips to an unnamed land. He takes his wife and family and assorted friends when he travels. His stories are rich and exciting, and demonstrate the ideas of the time which form much of the Norse mythology that we have today.

He also references an historical figure who is known best as Brendan the Navigator. It is not known how extensively Brendan traveled. Once again, his history was documented a couple centuries after his death. But his is an interesting story, and the Norseman in Time by Einstein loves to tell a tale.

From Time by Einstein:

(Jamie) I must have given him a funny look, but he continued with an amused light in his eyes, “On a voyage about five years ago I met a man from Éire named Brendan the Navigator. Like me, he voyaged far upon the sea. When I met him he was in Cymru where he’d founded a parish. He was preparing for another voyage..."

Could this Norseman Jamie meets have traveled to Newfoundland or somewhere in the Maritimes? Certainly. This is a broader piece of Maritime history. While there is a lot of pseudoscience about early visitors to these shores, there is equally enough real facts that archaeologist are exploring.

And why then did Vikings emerge in around the year 793? I will save that for the next blog. Sometimes, myths are more than they appear. What we consider myth may be a lost piece of history.

Time by Einstein is available in May 2024.

While you wait for Time by Einstein and The Wild Hunt, you can purchase any of the Jamie Poole Books directly from the author. Arrangements can be made by emailing: JamiePooleBooks@gmail.com .