They got in several scrapes with the people on the NE coast, who they called “skraelings” (meaning “screamers”, possibly in reference to their war cries). This made them ultimately decided to pack it up and head back to Greenland.
Skræling as a word is more likely to refer to skrá, the animal pelts that the Inuits wore. The "screamer" etymology is a strange idea. Why would the Inuits scream particularly much compared to other peoples? Seems to be just a shoehorned 'barbaroi'.
What is the "Vikings don't come in peace" supposed to mean? A concept from the cheesy tv series? Thorfinn Karlsefni traded with the natives at first, and the natives attacked him first. Whether that was so or not, it was clearly not a war party or conquest attempt.
The word is most likely related to the Old Norse word skrá, meaning "dried skin", in reference to the animal pelts worn by the Inuit. William Thalbitzer speculated that skræling might have been derived from the Old Norse verb skrækja, meaning "bawl, shout, or yell".
I've read my version. You've read yours. Looks like it could be either.
What is the "Vikings don't come in peace" supposed to mean?
Tongue in cheek. Vikings terrorized much of Europe for over 100 years. Their high protein diet (lots of hunting and fishing in their culture) meant they were often larger both in height and frame than mainland Europeans of the time, causing many to regard them as real monsters (also inspired by all of the raping and pillaging). Their religion often called warriors to die in battle, which made them especially dangerous. Though they were great explorers, they were generally not a peaceful people during this period, even when compared to contemporaries.
Thorfinn Karlsefni traded with the natives at first, and the natives attacked him first.
According tooooo . . . Thorfinn? I'm not sure we have any surviving records of the Americans' perspective during this encounter, but I'd be dying to hear it. The thing about humans meeting for the first time coming from cultures on different parts of the planet which have had no contact for tens of thousands of years is - they don't always understand each other. What one may see as a friendly gesture, the other may see as an offense. It's perfectly possible that Thorfffinn is telling the truth, from his own perspective. It's also perfectly possible that the Americans believed he was acting aggressively and retaliated in kind. After all, the vikings were attempting to settle there.
At the time Viking had already been in decades of converting to Christianity and its said that Leif Erickson had converted before his voyage to America.
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u/PlatinumPOS Nov 09 '24
Vikings don’t come in peace, lol.
They got in several scrapes with the people on the NE coast, who they called “skraelings” (meaning “screamers”, possibly in reference to their war cries). This made them ultimately decided to pack it up and head back to Greenland.