Vinland

Vinland

Vinland, also known as Saint Brendan's land, is the area of coastal North America, ranging from near what is now Turin, New York to the Canadian island of Newfoundland, explored by Norse Vikings during the Middle Ages.

History

While Leif Ericson is commonly accepted to be the first European to set foot on the continent, having landed there in around 1000 CE, Vinland had already been visited in the 6th century by Brendan of Clonfert. A devout Irish Celtic monk, Brendan believed he was undertaking his God's will in his pilgrimage from Norway, but was in fact being compelled by the legacy of the Isu Aita to access the Grand Temple and free the captive Juno. Brendan ultimately failed to unlock the temple's entrance and left Vinland.

Nearly two centuries later in 875, Gorm Kjotvesson, a Viking who served as Maegester of the Wardens of War sect of the Order of the Ancients, mounted an expedition to Vinland, chasing Isu secrets surrounding a Crystal Ball in his possession. However, the Order's efforts were undone by Gorm's sworn enemy, the shieldmaiden Eivor Varinsdottir of the Raven Clan, who assassinated Gorm and took his Crystal Ball, entrusting it to the Kanien'kehá:ka people of the Iroquois Confederacy living in Karonhiakèn:iate' and around the forest of Kahrhakén:rat.

Years later, around 889, Eivor would return to Vinland, this time with the intention of settling down and learning more about her past life and the Isu from Odin's memories. Following Eivor's death from natural causes, she was buried near modern-day Concord and no more Norse settlers would arrive in Vinland until Leif Ericson's expedition a century later.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned in Database entry only)
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • The Last Chapter
• The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)