Greenland

Oktberfest · October 13, 2003, 7:17pm

Why is called Greenland? When Europeans first was Greenland was it covered by forests, not glaciers?

MC_Master_of_Ceremonies · October 13, 2003, 7:30pm

Supposedly in order to attract settlers.

Achernar · October 13, 2003, 7:33pm

Because on the map, it’s colored green.

Of course, that’s probably just because Denmark is colored green.

Papermache_Prince · October 13, 2003, 7:35pm

Greenland was called Greenland as an early example of Viking spin-doctoring. See Arctic Studies Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. “{Erik the Red}established colonies on Greenland, naming it such “so that people would be encouraged to go there”.”

Schnitte · October 13, 2003, 7:37pm

Surely this is a high-simulpost-risk thing, but I’ll give it a try:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/micegreenland.html

He [Erik the Red, an Icelander who was the first European to sail toGreenland] used the time to explore the rumored lands to the west. When his term of banishment expired, he returned to Icleand to invite his neighbors and friends to settle the new country with him. He purposely chose the pleasant name Grænland (“green land”) to attract settlers, but the choice wasn’t exactly misleading. Some parts of Greenland, especially the parts the Norse settled, really are green, as these pictures from the tourist board attest (www.greenland-guide.dk/outdoor_life_photo.htm). He may have been a killer, but at least he wasn’t a real-estate scam-artist. He didn’t have that much to gain by lying anyway, since he didn’t charge anyone for the land. As in Iceland a century before, the land was free for the taking.

[…]

The unoccupied land in southern Greenland really was of much higher quality than anything that remained unclaimed in Iceland. The greenery that most interested the settlers was the pasturage, which was good enough to support their sheep, goats, horses, swine, and cattle.

Oktberfest · October 13, 2003, 7:43pm

So is the climate on Greenland basically the same today as when Europeans first discovered it?

Matchka · October 13, 2003, 7:57pm

Maybe, but in the interrim it got real crappy & the Viking-dudes had to face starvation or move to Minnesota. That’s why no more Viking dudes … in/on Greenland at any rate.

Some say…

Not_In_Anger · October 13, 2003, 8:13pm

No it was quite a bit warmer then than now. And yes, it got extremely cold during the “Little Ice Age,” approximately 1250-1500 AD. The Norse failed to change their way of life to adapt, despite the example given by the Inuit who migrated south into the Norse area during this period, and with agonizing slowness gave up the ghost.

Oktberfest · October 13, 2003, 8:28pm

Despite it being warmer was most of Greenland still covered with ice?

Matchka · October 13, 2003, 8:37pm

This could be helpful.