Saturday, May 31, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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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The US war on the world

Since the Second World War alone, US wars have caused an estimated 20 to 30 million civilian deaths. Aggressive war is not an exception in US history, it is the norm.

Published 18 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Iraq and Vietnam are just two examples of a large number of countries bombed to pieces by the US military.

The US’s self-image as the “land of freedom” and the ultimate defender of democracy has long been a central part of the country’s political rhetoric and cultural self-understanding. Not far behind this increasingly hollow facade, however, lies a bloody history of military expansion, intervention, and war that few, if any, other empires in modern times can match.

As early as the 19th century, the US took its first imperialist steps through the doctrine of “manifest destiny”, the belief that the country had a God-given mission to expand across the entire North American continent. This justified violent attacks on Native American tribes – often in the form of ethnic cleansing – as well as a war against Mexico in 1846–1848 that resulted in the annexation of Texas, California, and other large territories. Since its initial expansion across the American continent, the history of the United States has in fact been a history of almost uninterrupted war, and since the 2000s with completely open claims to global military dominance.

The expansion has thus been not only territorial but also ideologically motivated, with a belief that the American model should be exported to the rest of the world – even by force if deemed necessary.

The Battle of Río San Gabriel during the American conquest of California. Painting: James Walker (1819-1889)

American peace – a rare exception

Those who did not submit to American supremacy were threatened with gunpowder and death – something that Japan, among many other nations, experienced when Commander Matthew Perry arrived on the island nation with heavily armed warships on a mission to force the country to open its ports to trade. Under threat of military force, Japan was then pressured to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa the following year, an event that marked the end of Japan’s 200-year policy of isolation and the beginning of US influence in the region.

During the 20th century, the US’s military ambitions grew to global proportions. Since the end of World War II, the country has carried out direct military operations in at least 37 countries, according to independent research. In total, the US has been at war for over 93 percent of its existence since 1776 – only about 20 of those years have been marked by actual peace. It has been involved in at least 130 major armed conflicts, and in the last 80 years alone, these wars are estimated to have caused between 20 and 30 million civilian deaths – figures that far exceed the civilian casualties of any other country’s wars during the same period.

American soldiers in Korea in 1950. Photo: U.S. Army

Lied about weapons of mass destruction

The reasons given for these wars have varied, but what they have in common is that they were often based on what later turned out to be lies, exaggerations, or cynical manipulation. In the case of Vietnam, for example, the so-called Tonkin Gulf incident in 1964 was used as a pretext for a massive escalation of the war. The alleged attack on American warships turned out to be completely fabricated. The result was a 20-year war in which the US dropped over 76 million liters of chemicals over the Vietnamese landscape, including the dreaded substance Agent Orange. Up to seven million civilians died, and even more suffered genetic damage and cancer.

In the last 80 years alone, these wars are estimated to have caused between 20 and 30 million civilian deaths.

The Iraq War in 2003 is another example where lies were used as a driving force for aggression. In this case, US President George W. Bush claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had links to the terrorist group al-Qaeda. No such weapons were ever found, nor was any evidence of an alliance between Saddam Hussein and Islamist terrorist networks ever presented. Despite this, the invasion of the country went ahead, resulting in over a million Iraqi deaths – most of them civilians – and enormous destruction of infrastructure, healthcare and education systems. At the same time, Iraq was transformed into a breeding ground for the terrorist groups that the US claimed to be fighting, such as Islamic State. The US decision-makers responsible have never been prosecuted for their actions.

American bombs are loaded onto aircraft for use against Iraqi targets. Photo: U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Lee F. Corkran

Millions dead in Korea

A third case among many others that could be mentioned is Afghanistan, where the US spent two decades trying to crush the Taliban and install a Western-friendly government. Instead, billions disappeared into corruption, before the Taliban was able to regain power in 2021 after 20 years of war. More than 100,000 civilians were killed during the war, and opium production – a key source of income for various armed groups – doubled during the same period. The US’s own war machine created the conditions it claimed to want to prevent.

The same pattern has been repeated time and time again throughout history. In Korea (1950–1953), nearly three million civilians were killed in a war that reduced North Korea to ruins, with as much as 85 percent of all buildings in the country bombed to pieces. In Cambodia (1969–1973), the US carried out secret B-52 bombings that killed over half a million people and created the instability that enabled Pol Pot’s later genocide with his Khmer Rouge. In Yemen, the US, through military support to Saudi Arabia, has recently contributed to one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, with hundreds of thousands dead, around 70 percent of whom are women or children.

The suffering of war is borne mainly by civilian populations in other countries – while the profits often end up with the US military-industrial complex. Companies such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have earned trillions (i.e., thousands of billions) of dollars from the conflicts that the US wages or supports. The country’s military budget for 2025 alone amounts to approximately $886 billion, which corresponds to about 36 percent of the world’s total military spending. That is more than the ten next largest military actors combined.

The US accounts for almost 40 percent of the world’s total military spending. Here are the aircraft carriers USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Harry S. Truman. Photo: US Navy

At the same time, the US has built up a global network of over 800 military bases in 80 countries – a pattern that clearly signals that it is maintaining an imperial military force, not a defense force. Many of these bases are located in close proximity to the US’s geopolitical rivals, such as Russia and China. This military presence, often in contravention of the will of local populations, has been a leading means of attempting to consolidate a global hegemony that effectively deprives other nations of their sovereignty.

War becomes the driving force of politics

The US’s endless wars cannot be explained as isolated events. Rather, war and the threat of lethal violence have been a central driving force in the political DNA of the American empire. This policy is supported by a sophisticated propaganda machine that glorifies American soldiers as heroes, where films and news channels legitimize violence, and where criticism of military power is dismissed as disloyal or naive. According to the logic of the American system, it is always the US that is the real victim – even though it has, in principle, always been the actual aggressor.

The suffering of war is borne mainly by civilian populations in other countries, while the profits often end up with the US military-industrial complex.

Although no country in modern times has directly threatened US territory, the country has continued its military aggression in a long series of conflicts. In Yemen, US drones are currently bombing Houthi rebels who have refused to compromise on their support for Palestinian rights. In Somalia, a low-intensity war has been going on since the 1990s, with special forces and drones killing suspects without trial. In Ukraine, instead of making genuine attempts to mediate peace, the US has consistently pursued an aggressive line and continued to pump billions into arms deliveries for the proxy war in which Ukraine has been used as a “battering ram” against its arch-enemy Russia – with the civilian population, as usual, being the biggest loser.

The war has continued even under Trump’s presidency. Photo: Sgt. Thomas Scaggs/U.S. Army

Political analysts have long pointed out that this cynical behavior is not about defending the interests of the American people, but rather an expression of the power ambitions of the country’s de facto ruling oligarchy. The US has insisted that it should be treated as a moral superpower and “the last bastion of democracy”, while it has become increasingly clear that its relentless war against the world is not about freedom, but about control.

The rhetoric stands in stark contrast to reality, where the US has repeatedly been found to have acted systematically to undermine democracies, supported jihadists, and provided support to brutal dictatorships around the world. The CIA’s involvement in coups, torture programs, and political assassinations is now well documented – but this is rarely problematized or questioned in the American sphere of power, which now clearly includes Sweden.

The bill: $8 trillion

Around 100,000 American soldiers have died in armed conflicts since the Vietnam War, a figure that pales in comparison to the 20–30 million civilians killed as a result of US military operations since 1945. The economic cost is almost incomprehensible: over $8 trillion has been spent on war in the 21st century alone. This is money that could have been used to finance healthcare, debt-free education, or in other ways to improve the lives of the American people – but instead it has lined the pockets of the oligarchs of the war industry.

Before Trump took office, virtually the entire Swedish political establishment spoke of the US as our most important ally – so essential to Sweden’s security that we not only joined the US military pact NATO, but also gave US troops access to Swedish territory and Swedish army bases through the DCA agreement.

Thanks to Swedish politicians, American soldiers now have access to a number of Swedish military bases. Photo: U.S. Army Europe

This has happened despite the obvious but suppressed fact that war is not an exception in US history, it is the norm. Militaristic campaigns are a fundamental pillar of the American “order”, in which violence is normalized as long as it is exercised by the “right” side – regardless of the horrific consequences. Refugee flows, terrorism, and collapsing states are direct consequences of US policies that claim to defend “democratic values” but in practice defend oil wells, geopolitical interests, and the oligarchic financial elite’s insatiable appetite for power and profit.

Although the US empire is in crisis in many ways today, its war machine remains intact – and it is very active. Nor is it just a matter of rebels in Yemen or Somali Islamists being blown to death by US drones – vast resources are also being poured into enabling other states to kill.

50,000 tons of weapons to Israel

The US has also been instrumental in the Israeli genocide in Gaza, where extensive military, diplomatic, and economic support from Washington has effectively enabled the invasion and bombing. Estimates suggest that the US has delivered over 50,000 tons of weapons to Israel since October 2023 alone – including 15,000 bombs and 50,000 artillery shells – and despite Gaza lying in ruins with unimaginable consequences for the civilian population, the boundless support for the war seems never-ending.

Gaza lies in ruins today – largely thanks to American bombs. Photo: Al Araby/CC BY-SA 3.0

Although only about 4.2 percent of the world’s population lives in the US, it accounts for just over 37 percent of global military spending – far more than any other country, and this trend does not appear to be changing.

War is not an exception in US history, it is the norm.

Over the years, several analysts have pointed out that all it takes to challenge American imperialism is historical awareness – but popular resistance to militarism as a guiding ideology is also necessary. This resistance needs to be seen and heard not only in the rest of the world, but perhaps even more so among the American people.

Despite the enormous influence of American propaganda campaigns in US vassal states such as Sweden, the obvious cannot be denied. US history does not show how freedom has spread to the rest of the world – but rather how it has been crushed under the boots of the world’s most powerful military force. As long as lethal violence continues to be the US’s perhaps most important export, the world will remain an unstable and very dangerous place.

Surprising discoveries reveal more of the legend of King Arthur

A medieval fragment of Arthurian legends has been rediscovered – hidden in the binding of a 16th-century document from Cambridge University Library. The discovery sheds new light on the adventures of the wizard Merlin, as well as on the hidden secrets of European cultural heritage.

Published 20 April 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Two portraits of King Arthur on the left and in the center with three crowns clearly visible as his heraldic arms. On the right is the wizard Merlin, who has fallen hopelessly in love with the woman Viviane, who gave Arthur the sword Excalibur.

King Arthur, according to ancient texts, was a 6th century British leader who became legendary in the dramatic era after the Roman Empire lost its grip on Britain. The recovered text belongs to the Suite Vulgate du Merlin – a continuation of the folktales of King Arthur written down in the 13th century as part of the so-called Vulgate Circle – a medieval French prose cycle that includes the stories of the knight Lancelot, the Holy Grail and the wizard Merlin.

The Vulgate Circle consists of several linked knightly romances and stories about the Holy Grail, written in Old French. The authorship of these works is unknown, but there are strong indications that they were the result of collaboration between several scribes. The Suite Vulgate du Merlin is the second part of the cycle and describes the expansion of Arthur’s kingdom, the establishment of the first Knights of the Round Table and the emergence of the bard and seer Merlin as the king’s prophetic advisor. It acts as a bridge to the Lancelot part of the cycle, weaving Merlin into the story of the Holy Grail.

In their day, these stories were medieval bestsellers, distributed via hand-copied manuscripts. Today, fewer than 40 manuscripts of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin survive, and each one is unique because they were written by hand by different people.

The present fragment has been identified as having been written around 1275-1315 and is written in Old French, the language used by the aristocracy and court in England after the Norman Conquest. Small variations in the text – such as a mistake in the name of one of the characters – can help scholars trace its relationship to other versions.

The prose of the Arthurian legends was often aimed at a noble audience, and the decorative design of the manuscript suggests that this text was also intended for such a setting.

Amélie Deblauwe, photography technician at Cambridge, demonstrates the technique she used to document the invented manuscript, which we see rendered in 3D on the right. Photo: University of Cambridge

Medieval parchment reused as book covers

The fragment in question was discovered in 2019 during a re-cataloging of a 16th century register in Cambridge University Library. Among these documents was a court and land register from Huntingfield Manor in Suffolk. However, when researchers leafed through the worn volume, they discovered that the inside cover contained pages from a much older manuscript. The parchment had been reused and folded, cut and sewn into the binding.

At first, it was difficult to determine what the text was about. Researchers initially thought it was a 14th-century story about the knight Gawain, but on closer inspection, the library’s medieval specialist Dr. Irène Fabry-Tehranchi realized it was the Suite Vulgate du Merlin.

The text fragment contains two scenes. The first depicts a decisive battle between Britons and Saxons: the Battle of Cambénic, where King Arthur’s nephew Gawain fights alongside his father and defeats four Saxon kings. The second scene takes place at the court on Ascension Day, when Merlin appears disguised as a blind harpist. Among other things, the story clearly shows how magic, Christian symbolism and court etiquette were intertwined in the medieval imagination.

New technology revealed the text

Following the discovery, a collaboration between the library’s conservators and its Cultural Heritage and Image Laboratory (CHIL) began. The aim was to enable the text to be read without damaging the parchment. Using multispectral imaging, the researchers were able to photograph the text in different wavelengths, from ultraviolet to infrared light, to reveal faded and hidden areas. Minimal noise filtering was used to enhance weak layers of writing. Marginal notes and old stamps, such as those with the word “Huntingfield”, were thus brought out again.

To study the structure of the parchment, computerized tomography (CT) scanning was used, the same technique used in medicine and paleontology. By “X-raying” the bookbinding, the researchers were able to create a three-dimensional model of the folds, threads and layers of the parchment. Finally, hundreds of photographs were taken from different angles to create a digital model that allowed the sequence of the text to be followed – even where text was hidden under flaps or stitches. The result was a digital reconstruction where the handwriting could be analyzed as if it were unfolded.

This multispectral image, processed using the minimal noise method, reveals previously invisible notes in the margins – including the “Huntingfield” stamp from the 16th century, when the manuscript was reused as a book cover.

Using this arsenal of techniques, the researchers managed to recreate a text that has been hidden for over 500 years. For literary scholars, the discovery means that a new fragment of the Arthurian legend has become available for analysis, as well as a technical insight into how older manuscripts were reused and embedded in new volumes.

Dr. Irene Fabry-Tehranchi emphasizes that the project is not only about the discovery of a single text, but also about the development of a methodology to rediscover hidden fragments in archives in other parts of the world.

King Arthur's heraldic arms: Three crowns

King Arthur, like Sweden later, is portrayed with three crowns as one of his main features, which he is said to have worn on his heraldic arms (see main image). Whether there is any historical connection to Sweden's coat of arms is pure speculation, but the fact is that the origin of Sweden's crowns is still shrouded in historical obscurity. Three crowns have been traced back by historians to at least King Magnus Eriksson and the 1330s, some eight hundred years after the reign of King Arthur.

Bronze Age Norse may have sailed open sea between Norway and Denmark

Published 9 April 2025
– By Editorial Staff
From a test event with a reconstruction of the Hjortspring boat, which dates from around 350 BC.

Norwegians could well have made regular boat trips between Denmark and Norway on the open sea. This is according to a new study from the University of Gothenburg, which has used detailed simulations to test how harsh sea weather a boat from the Bronze Age could be expected to withstand.

Some historians have previously believed that the Norse traveled close to the coast on voyages between Denmark and Norway during the Bronze Age, or more specifically the period around 2350-1500 BC, in southern Scandinavia. That journey would have taken several weeks and they would have had to stop for food, but they would have done so because they could not cross the open sea on the Skagerrak between the two countries.

Judging from tests on ancient boats, it turns out that even Bronze Age boats can make the journey. This is according to a new study published in PLOS One, in which the Maritime Encounters research program has used advanced technology to simulate boat journeys in Scandinavia in various ways. The technology has made it possible to use data on weather, wind and water currents in combination with data on how a boat moves through the water.

One meter high waves

To navigate the Skagerrak, the boats needed to be able to navigate in waves up to one meter high and in winds of up to 10 knots, but they also needed to have high-quality weather forecasts and significant navigational skills. However, researchers believe that the Norse also had these skills in the Bronze Age.

The study ‘Seafaring and navigation in the Nordic Bronze Age’ is the result of several years of research where we have now been able to simulate prehistoric seafaring by applying boat performance to the Hjortsprings boat, the oldest plank-built boat in Scandinavia, says Boel Bengtsson at the University of Gothenburg in a press release and continues:

− We also believe that the voyages on the open sea were made during the summer months.

The reason for studying these Scandinavian voyages is that it has previously been found that the Bronze Age societies in northern Denmark and southwestern Norway have striking similarities, with archaeologists finding many similar artifacts, burial sites and architecture.

− We have tried to understand and explain the close contacts the archaeological record suggests the two regions had during the Bronze Age. Therefore, we have used the simulation tool on boat journeys between northern Denmark and southwestern Norway, says Bengtsson.

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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