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Greenland and the Nordic heritage

After a dramatic voyage more than a thousand years ago, Erik the Red landed on the world's largest island with 11 ships. The descendants of the early Nordic Greenlanders, through his son Leif Erikson, would later make their way to America.

Published 26 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Statue of Erik the Red and the painting “Summer night off the coast of Greenland around the year 1000”.

The first Nordic inhabitants had already settled in Iceland in the 870s. It was also from Iceland that Erik the Red set sail in 982 to explore the southern and western parts of Greenland.

However, it is likely that Norse people were already aware of Greenland’s existence around the year 900, after ships traveling between Norway and Iceland were blown off course and spotted small rocky islands off the eastern coast of the giant island, as described in the Icelandic Landnamsbok.

Erik the Red was born in Norway, but after his father, Thorvald, was declared an outlaw, the family emigrated to the Westfjords of Iceland. However, Erik soon came into conflict with his neighbors and killed two of them, leading to him also being declared an outlaw and forced to leave his farm.

It was during this time in exile that Erik the Red, according to the sagas, took the opportunity to explore more closely the land he had heard stories about, and which Snaebjörn Hólmsteinsson had also tried unsuccessfully to attract settlers to a few years earlier. Erik also discovered that parts of the island seemed to have a milder climate similar to that of Iceland

When his time as an outlaw was over, he returned to solicit volunteer settlers and in this recruitment process, the fertile-sounding name “Greenland” is said to have been coined, as a kind of counterpart to the “Iceland” the inhabitants were now being asked to leave.

Thousands of Scandinavians

The bold Viking apparently managed to promote the new land successfully. According to the sagas, he left Iceland with 25 ships and an estimated 700 Norse settlers. As many as 11 ships were lost at sea, but despite this, two colonies were soon established on the southwestern coast: Eystribyggð (Eastern Settlement) and Vestribyggð (Western Settlement).

Erik the Red and a reconstruction of the first church in Greenland. Montage. Painting: unknown, photo: Hamish Laird

At the time, Inuit people lived in parts of northernmost Greenland, but the area settled by the Norse was completely uninhabited. They built simple houses and lived by fishing, hunting and herding. Archaeologists have found the ruins of around 620 farms and it is believed that at most between 5,000 and 10,000 Scandinavians lived in Greenland during this period.

With the help of Norwegian and Icelandic ships, they traded extensively with Europe, exporting mainly walrus tusks, wool and furs in exchange for mainly iron tools, building materials and some exclusive foods. In this way, many of the new Greenlanders acquired great wealth.

Greenland also soon had its own bishop when the island was Christianized. Although Greenland eventually became formally subordinate to the Norwegian king, his influence was limited. Instead, there was a relatively high degree of independence, with local chiefs playing a leading role in decision-making, but with the peasants also having a major influence on everyday and political life on the island.

The settlements are abandoned

As is often the case, happiness rarely lasts forever and this was to be the case for the people of Greenland. With their small numbers and isolated location, they were entirely dependent on expeditions for a decent existence. At the same time, contact with the outside world became increasingly limited, and in the mid-14th century the small western settlement was abandoned. By the end of the 15th century, all the inhabitants had also left the larger eastern settlement, and later expeditions found no living people in these areas either.

Over time, the proto-Inuit Thule culture (blue) displaced the Dorset people (green) and then expanded southwards towards the Nordic areas (red). Illustration: Masae/CC BY-SA 3.0

Exactly why and how the Norse settlements in Greenland were emptied is not known with certainty, but a number of factors may have played a role. During the 14th century, the area became colder, which, together with erosion due to the cutting down of trees, made it more difficult to cultivate and live on the island. In addition, they became increasingly economically isolated in terms of trade, partly because the demand for walrus tusks fell due to the availability of cheaper ivory from Africa.

There is also evidence that the Inuit expanded southwards and became involved in bloody conflicts with the Norse. There is also speculation that younger generations simply grew unhappy with the isolation and preferred to settle in more populated areas of Iceland or Norway – or that they may even have headed west for new adventures in the Americas.

In 1540, Icelandic seafarer Jon reported visiting Greenland and finding a “dead man lying face down on the ground. On his head he wore a well-made hood and otherwise good clothes of wool and sealskin. Near him lay a knife, bent and torn”. If the story is to be believed, this would have been the last time a European saw a Nordic Greenlander with his own eyes.

Renewed interest

The Norse settlements had been lost, but in time the island would once again attract the attention of the Nordic rulers. In 1605, King Christian IV of Denmark sent three ships to Greenland, followed by new expeditions to map and explore the giant island’s coast.

A map of Greenland from 1747 based on missionary Egede’s descriptions. Painting: Emanuel Bowen (c. 1694-1767)

At this time, whale and seal hunting were the main attractions, as well as an increased demand for cod liver oil. During the 17th century, the area was also increasingly visited by Dutch and English whalers engaged in trade with the Inuit.

Politically, it was now perceived as urgent by the northerners to secure control of the island before anyone else did. On July 3, 1721, Norwegian priest Hans Egede and a few dozen settlers also arrived on the island to establish a colony with the support of Danish King Frederick IV – and to Christianize the island’s Inuit population.

Hans Egede is seen as Greenland’s great apostle and is statued in Nuuk. Montage. Painting: Johen Horner, photo: David Stanley/CC BY 2.0

A part of Denmark

The number of Nordic settlers in Greenland grew again over time – while conflicts with the Dutch and British escalated to the point of bloody sea battles. In 1733-1734, it was also reported that thousands of people died in a smallpox epidemic, but in the following years the Danish Crown was still able to strengthen its grip on the island and established further trading posts along the Greenlandic coast.

At the end of the 18th century, Denmark established a trading monopoly over the island to control the trade in walrus tusks, sealskins and other natural resources. The 19th century also saw the beginning of a more systematic mapping of the Greenland interior.

Among other things, the Danes focused on studying the ruins of the old Norse settlements in more detail, and also found that the stories told in the old sagas seemed in many respects to have described real events.

Hvalsey church is thought to have been built in the 14th century. Photo: Number 57/CC0 1.0

The island remained a Danish colony until 1953, when the area was formally recognized as a county in the Danish realm. This meant that all inhabitants of Greenland also became Danish citizens and Greenland thus gained two seats in the Danish Parliament.

In 1979, Greenland’s autonomy was increased and it became a more autonomous region of the Danish Kingdom with its own parliament and self-determination in most areas – an autonomy that was then further extended in 2009.

The son discovered America

While not an uninterrupted presence in Greenland, the Norse have an ancient history on the world’s largest island, stretching back over a thousand years.

Today, less than 10% of Greenland’s population is of Nordic origin. The majority of the population is descended from the Thule people – the same Inuit who arrived in Greenland in the 13th century from Alaska and who, according to researchers, likely came into conflict with the early Norse and contributed to the eventual abandonment of the settlements.

Greenland’s largest community Nuuk (formerly Godthåb) was founded by missionary Hans Egede. Photo: Oliver Schauf

Erik the Red would make history with his settlement of Greenland. In the autumn of his life, according to legend, he also came very close to joining his son Leif Eriksson’s expedition to America, the new land that the Norse would come to call Vinland. However, on the way to the ship, Erik fell off his horse, which was interpreted as a bad omen and he was therefore left at home.

Later that winter, the accident was to become more definitive when Erik, along with a large number of other settlers, died of an unknown disease that ravaged the Nordic settlements. His son Leif would also go down in history and is now considered the first European to land in North America – 500 years before Christopher Columbus. You can read more about the first Norse expeditions to the North American continent here.

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Wings of steel and a heart of gold: The adventures of Carl Gustaf von Rosen

Published 12 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff

Count, aviation hero and aid worker. In many ways, Carl Gustaf von Rosen is one of Sweden’s most fascinating historical figures of the 20th century and his life was characterized by adventure, self-sacrifice and a burning conviction to defend those he considered oppressed.

Von Rosen was born in 1909 at Rockelsta Castle in Södermanland, the son of the famous explorer and ethnographer Eric von Rosen and his wife Mary. His family had a strong tradition of adventure and community involvement of various kinds that deeply influenced the young Carl Gustaf.

He was strongly fascinated by technology and especially by flying. After attending Lundsberg boarding school, he chose to continue his studies at AB Aeromateriel’s flight school and obtained his pilot’s license in 1929. He spent the following years working as an air show pilot and commercial pilot, until he embarked on some highly publicized adventures, starting with Haile Selassie’s Abyssinia.

Selassie’s Ethiopia

In 1935, when Italy under Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, or Abyssinia as the empire was also known under the mythical Selassie’s rule, von Rosen offered to help the Red Cross as an ambulance and liaison pilot. He joined the Swedish Red Cross Abyssinian Ambulance and flew at great personal risk on missions in a country fighting an overwhelming enemy.

A young Carl Gustaf von Rosen flew for the Red Cross in Ethiopia. Photo: SVT

During this time, Carl Gustaf witnessed, among other things, the use of mustard gas by Italian forces and the bombing of civilian targets, which made a deep impression on him and strengthened his conviction of the importance of standing up against oppression of all kinds.

Von Rosen saw his work as a way to help defend Ethiopia’s independence and the experience of the 1930s created a lifelong bond between him and the country.

The Winter War

In 1939, von Rosen once again voluntarily became part of a struggle between a seemingly weak nation and a major aggressor when the Soviet Union invaded Finland.

With his own money, he decided to buy a DC-2, a twin-engine transport plane from the KLM company, with which he carried out a number of bombing missions against Soviet targets. He did this with his life on the line, and among the Finnish troops he came to be seen as something of a hero.

I couldn’t sit still and watch a small nation fight alone against such a colossus. I had to do something“, von Rosen himself commented on the decision to try to help Finland.

World War II eventually ended, but it did not mean peace for Carl Gustaf von Rosen. Invited by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, he spent the years between 1946 and 1952 building up the Ethiopian Air Force.

Carl Gustaf von Rosen with his son Eric during the food airlifts in Ethiopia in 1975. Photo: facsimile/SVT

Under von Rosen’s leadership, the outdated Ethiopian Air Force was transformed into a very modern military branch by African standards, using Swedish instructors and Saab aircraft to achieve this goal.

For his work, von Rosen was rewarded with the rank of colonel. He worked almost tirelessly to train Ethiopian pilots and to build a sustainable air force structure – but also emphasized the potential of aviation for civilian purposes, such as transport and communications. He considered his work with the Ethiopian Air Force, which he saw as an important symbol of the country’s independence, as very important.

Cooperation with the Ethiopian regime would be disrupted by political disagreements, an emerging cult of personality around the emperor, and changing priorities that led to conflicts and diminished von Rosen’s role. By the time he left Ethiopia in the 1950s, his efforts had laid the foundation for Ethiopia’s modern air force.

The Biafran War

During the Nigerian civil war, the Swedish airman would again risk life and limb when he decided to get involved in the self-proclaimed state of Biafra’s fight for independence. The region in south-east Nigeria had broken away due to ethnic and economic tensions, particularly control over the country’s oil revenues. The Nigerian government responded not only with force of arms, but also with a blockade that led to a massive famine.

Von Rosen was disturbed by reports of starvation and suffering in Biafra and, through international humanitarian networks, organized aid flights to the isolated breakaway republic, often in person. His night flights were often very dangerous for himself as he risked being shot down by Nigerian forces, but were to be a lifeline for many people during the war.

In order to help Biafra, not only humanitarian but also militarily, von Rosen created a small but effective “private air force” with the help of some other Swedes. For this purpose, he bought five MFI-9B Militrainer aircraft from Malmö Flygindustri in Sweden. These small aircraft, originally designed for civilian purposes, were fitted with rockets and then used in precision attacks against Nigerian forces.

The aircraft were small, fast and difficult to detect, making them ideal for operations against larger and slower Nigerian bombers. Von Rosen himself flew in several of these dangerous missions, which he saw as necessary to protect the people of Biafra from persecution and starvation.

The Biafran Air Force in all its glory. Photo: Private

Von Rosen is said to have viewed the civil war as a David versus Goliath scenario and although his efforts brought some military success to Biafra, destroying a number of enemy aircraft and drawing international attention to the conflict, he could not change the outcome of the war. In 1970, Biafra was finally defeated and reintegrated into Nigeria. Von Rosen’s involvement was seen by many as a shining example of heroism, sacrifice and a determination to help the vulnerable and oppressed against a threatening superpower. Others, critical voices, argued that his efforts contributed to prolonging the war – and thus the suffering.

The return to Ethiopia

In the 1970s, the somewhat ageing von Rosen returned once again to Ethiopia to work in humanitarian aid during the Ogaden war between Ethiopia and Somalia. Among other things, he coordinated relief efforts for the many refugees who had been forced to flee their homes during the conflict.

On July 13, 1977, Carl Gustaf von Rosen, 67 years old, was killed in a Somali artillery attack on the town of Gode. A shell hit the house where he was staying and he died instantly. According to the Somali commander who led the attack, von Rosen had fallen like a good soldier after hard fighting. In Sweden at the time, he was described as a “warrior for humanity”, while in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa he was honored as a friend.

Carl Gustaf von Rosen’s grave in Addis Ababa 2015 Photo: David Castor

Carl Gustaf von Rosen was remembered by many as an idealist who lived his convictions and put them into action. His courage and humanitarian efforts would inspire others to follow in his footsteps, and his work in Ethiopia, Biafra and Finland strengthened the belief of many that it is indeed possible to do something – even in the most extreme circumstances.

Anonymous person donates record Viking treasure in Sweden

Published 28 November 2024
– By Editorial Staff

An unknown individual has donated an extensive silver treasure from the Viking Age to the County Administrative Board in Jönköping.

The treasure is the largest of its kind ever found in the county and consists of a very large number of Arab silver coins.

In Jönköping County, only one comparable find has been made before and that was in the 1800s in Forsheda in Värnamo municipality. Then an agricultural worker found about a hundred English and German silver coins, as well as an Arabic coin and a small piece of jewelry. The treasure that has come in now is more abundant”, writes the county administrative board in a press release.

In addition to the silver coins, the treasure consists of various jewelry, cut pieces of silver and an amulet ring, but the county administrative board is critical of the fact that the treasure was excavated illegally several years ago.

Since the treasure was found by metal detecting without permission, no archaeologist was involved in the excavation. This means that much scientific information has been lost forever. If you find ancient finds and try to clean them yourself and then leave them at home in a drawer, they are destroyed. But it is good that the find has now been submitted”, they continue.

They emphasize that it is important to know what applies to ancient monuments and the use of metal detectors, and that ancient monuments are protected by the Cultural Environment Act and must be preserved in the ground until something has to be built on the site.

Permission from the County Administrative Board is then required to intervene. Permission is also required to use metal detectors, even on beaches and your own property. If you find an ancient find, you must stop immediately and contact the County Administrative Board. Illegal searches are reported to the police”.

“Miniature Roman wine bucket”

Some of the silver coins have holes in them so that they can be threaded onto straps. There is also a braided silver neck ring, a pendant, parts of ring pins, an amulet ring and several pieces of silver that have been cut into pieces, probably to be used as currency by weight.

The pendant is small, bowl-shaped and decorated with filigree and granulation, that is, decoration of threads and small balls of silver. It may have been designed to resemble a miniature Roman wine bucket. A ring pin is a costume buckle, here the ring does not remain but only parts of the pin itself and it is ornamented with triangles, rhombuses and points”.

The amulet ring is the size of a bracelet and has several smaller rings attached to it. Amulet rings are believed to be ritual objects that were deposited in the ground to positively influence the future”, it concludes.

When Israeli terrorists murdered the Swedish king’s godfather

  • On September 17, 1948, UN mediator Folke Bernadotte was gunned down by Jewish terrorists in Jerusalem at the dawn of one of the world's most complex and protracted conflicts.
  • But the murderers were never punished. Instead, they were celebrated in Zionist circles, where several of the perpetrators went on to hold high positions in Israeli society.
  • The leader of the terrorist group, Yitzhak Shamir, who ordered the assassination, went on to become Israel's president, foreign minister, and prime minister.
  • Here is the dramatic story of the end of one of Sweden's most prominent diplomats, whose memory lives on far beyond the Swedish royal family.
Published 18 September 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Carl XVI Gustaf was only two years old when his godfather was murdered.

The Swedish royal family has not visited Israel since the founding of the state – breaking the pattern for a Sweden that otherwise has extensive trade and other diplomatic relations with Israel. Behind the “boycott” of Israel lie deep historical wounds, as well as personal ones, dating back to the current Swedish king’s own godfather, Count Folke Bernadotte. The Count, who was a celebrated mediator in Sweden, was assassinated during an important UN mission by the Jewish paramilitary terrorist organization known in Hebrew as “Lohamei Herut Israel – Lehi” – translated into English as “Israel’s Freedom Fighters – Lehi”.

Bernadotte, a diplomat, had distinguished himself during World War II, gaining international recognition for his role in rescuing thousands of prisoners from German concentration camps on the “white buses” – many of them Jews. His achievements were considered by many authorities to be very impressive, and in 1948 he was considered a very suitable choice to become the UN mediator in the protracted conflict between Jews and Arabs.

Bernadotte’s peace proposal included a return to the partition plan previously proposed by the UN, whereby certain territories occupied by Jews in the area would be returned to the Arabs. The Swedish count’s proposal was based on the idea of two independent states, one Jewish and one Arab, where it was considered essential to quickly establish a cease-fire and ensure that hostilities would not resume in the future. It also focused on the right of displaced Arabs and Jews to return to their homes and that, if no agreement could be reached, the borders of the states would be decided by the UN itself.

Folke Bernadotte on the ground in Jerusalem.

Rejected by Jewish militants

While much of the outside world saw the proposal as sane and reasonable, militant Jewish radicals saw it as a threat to their ideas of a “Greater Israel”. The idea of returning some of the occupied territories to the Arabs was seen by them as totally unacceptable and something that had to be stopped at all costs.

Even some Arab militants who did not want a Jewish state in the region opposed the proposal – but it was mainly in Jewish extremist circles that the peacemaker Folke Bernadotte was portrayed as an existential threat to the Jewish people. It did not help that Bernadotte also advocated limiting Jewish immigration to Israel.

Before the establishment of Israel, Jewish terrorist groups and “underground militant networks” were common in the region. These terrorized not only the British, who controlled the Mandate of Palestine, but also Arab villages and sometimes other Jews who were considered too “moderate”.

One such group was the Lehi, whose stated goal was to “take over Israel by force”. In 1944, the group assassinated British Minister Lord Moyne, bombed British government and army buildings, and carried out a series of attacks on British and Arab targets both in the region and abroad, the massacre of 107 Palestinian villagers at Deir Yassin being perhaps one of the most famous.

Lehi decided that Folke Bernadotte should also be assassinated. In the eyes of the terrorist group, it was irrelevant that he advocated mediation, peace and consensus – Bernadotte was perceived as a threat to the group’s plans for Jewish supremacy in the region. The de facto leader of the terrorist group at the time was Yitshak Shamir, and the team that carried out the attack was led by Yehosha Zettler.

Members of Lehi protest against Bernadotte’s mediation. Photo: National Library of Israel/ CC BY 4.0

“Twisted by hatred”

On September 17, the perpetrators went into action, blocking the road in front of the diplomatic convoy in Jerusalem. Then 26-year-old Yehoshua Cohen steps forward and executes Folke Bernadotte and French soldier Andre Serot with several shots from a German 9 mm machine gun.

Major General Åge Lundström, who was sitting next to Serot on the left side of the car, described the terrorist’s expression as “twisted with hatred”. Bernadotte and Serot died suddenly from the shots and were later flown home in two white coffins to receive numerous posthumous honors for their efforts.

However, the murderers were never prosecuted or punished. Instead, the perpetrators were hailed as heroes in Zionist circles, and the few who were arrested were released almost immediately. The murderer, Yehoshua Cohen, eventually became the “unofficial bodyguard” and close friend of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion.

Terrorist members involved in the double assassination have also boasted about the deed on television and radio broadcasts. Yehoshua Zettler, who led the assassination squad, has never expressed remorse for killing Bernadotte.

– When we demonstrated in front of [Bernadotte] and told him, ‘Away from our Jerusalem, back to Stockholm,’ he didn’t answer, so we had no choice, he claimed in 1988.

Other Lehi members eventually rose to prominent positions in Israeli society – but none more so than the leader of the terror group, Yitzhak Shamir, who went on to become both Speaker of the House and Foreign Minister, and twice Prime Minister of Israel. The man who ordered the assassination of peacemaker Count Bernadotte became Israel’s supreme leader – most recently from 1986-1992.

Cohen, the murderer, became the bodyguard of a prime minister, and Shamir became prime minister himself. Montage. Photo: Yolene Haik/CC BY 4.0

No excuse

Shamir also escaped legal responsibility for the terrorist attack, and although the UN Security Council at the time dutifully condemned the murder as “a cowardly act which appears to have been committed by a criminal group of terrorists”, there was never any real political will in Israel to mete out punishment.

To date, Israel has not officially apologized for the murder, which is believed to be the main reason why Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf has never expressed interest in visiting Israel during his long reign. In the same context, Crown Princess Victoria’s decision to name her daughter “Estelle” – after Folke’s wife – has also been speculated to be a symbolic mark to honor the memory of the king’s godfather.

On several occasions, Israeli leaders have met the King in Sweden, but these visits have not been reciprocated. At the funeral of assassinated Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986, the king is reported to have said to Shimon Peres, then Prime Minister of Israel: “Let us not forget that Olof Palme was the second Swedish mediator in the Middle East to fall victim to an assassin’s bullets”.

Although not all Arabs viewed Bernadotte’s work positively at the time, the count seems to be remembered more fondly there than in Israel, where the West Bank city of Ramallah has a street named after him to commemorate his efforts to bring about a “just” settlement in the region.

Count Bernadotte’s street in Ramallah. Photo: Mohammed Abushaban/CC BY-SA 3.0

Decorative ribbon named after terrorist group

Lehi was disbanded in 1948 under heavy pressure from the outside world and later officially classified as a terrorist organization. In practice, however, this did not pose much of a problem for those involved, who instead became involved in other political organizations, joined the army, or joined a more officially recognized intelligence organization. Some members also continued on a militant path, participating in assassinations of public figures deemed to be “traitors” to the Jewish people, such as the journalist Rudolf Kasztner in 1957.

It is clear that Israeli officials have looked favorably upon Lehi’s long list of bloody attacks. In 1980, for example, then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin established a military decoration ribbon named after the terrorist group – the “Lehi ribbon”.

Begin himself also had a background as a leader of the Jewish terrorist group Irgun, which also carried out attacks against a large number of British targets in the 1940s. After the establishment of the State of Israel, the Irgun terrorists were largely absorbed into the IDF, which is still Israel’s official military.

Many terrorists were given a “second chance” in the IDF. Photo: IDF

Swedish peace agency bears his name

For Sweden, Bernadotte’s memory may have faded somewhat after decades as perhaps the foremost symbol of humanitarian diplomacy. But the echo of his name and commitment lives on, not least through the Folke Bernadotte Academy, which works for peace, development and security under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Utrikesdepartementet – UD), and whose main focus is to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and negotiation – rather than arms and violence.

“As part of Sweden’s development assistance, we work to build peace in conflict-affected countries. We provide training, advice and research to support peace and state-building. We also contribute civilian personnel to peace operations and election observation missions, mainly led by the UN, EU and OSCE. We are named after Folke Bernadotte, the first UN peace mediator”, the agency says on its website.

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