THE BUILDER JUNE 1925

The Norse Discovery of America

By BRO. ALFRED NEWTON MINER, Massachusetts

THE history of the city or country of Norumbega is vested with the
charm of antiquity, fable and early explorations. Early historical
accounts contain many references to Norumbega [a name given to a
lodge in Newtonville, Mass.], and the place was much sought for in
the 15th Century. Who founded it, where it was located, and what
was the cause of its abandonment, are questions that have never
been fully answered to the satisfaction of all. One late writer has
referred to Norumbega as "The Lost city of New England."

In the study of ancient historical subjects, especially before the
era of the written word, one is dependent upon the traditional
narratives or legends of the people, which were handed down by word
of mouth, from generation to generation, until at last set down in
writing by some scribe and presented as historical narratives.
These legendary or traditional accounts are found mingled with the
early written historical accounts tending to corrupt the
authenticity of the earliest records. This mixture has often led to
the serious questioning of the early records, and caused many
discussions between the students of narrative and critical history.
Such is the case with the earliest records of Norumbega.

Many theories have been advanced regarding its situation and
founder. Early maps, from 1520 to 1634, show it variously located
along the eastern coast of North America from Nova Scotia to
Florida. John Smith speaks of Norumbega as including New England
and the region as far south as Virginia. Some later historical
students have placed Norumbega on the Penobscot River in Maine,
others in Rhode Island, others near our Massachusetts Bay.

So far as is known, no trace of ancient settlements has been found
indicating that this city was located along the Penobscot River.
The old stone tower at Newport is now believed to be the work of an
early governor of Rhode Island, rather than the work of the
Norsemen. The Dighton Rock at Dighton, R. I., on which were found
runic figures, is now believed by some to be the work of early
Indians. In the main, however, it is agreed that if such a city or
country existed, it was undoubtedly an early settlement of the
roving Norsemen. It is probable that Norumbega will never be
definitely located to the satisfaction of all, unless historical
records clearer than those at hand are discovered.

Inasmuch as our interest is in the origin of the name and the
location of the ancient city of Norumbega, the writer has made a
careful study of early Norse history, the Norsemen and their
voyages of exploration, their discovery of America, their early
settlements, as well as the works of recent writers substantiating
or refuting the possibility of this city being located on the
Charles River near the Massachusetts Bay.

To appreciate the hardy, courageous, adventurous nature of the
Northmen or Norsemen, their exploration and their discovery of
America, nearly five hundred years before Christopher Columbus, it
is necessary to glance briefly at the early history of these
people, and their settlement of Iceland and Greenland.

The name Northmen or Norsemen was applied in a general way to the
early inhabitants of Denmark. Norway and Sweden, these people
forming the northern branch of the Teutonic or Germanic race.
Later, the names were specifically applied to the people of Norway,
Iceland and Greenland, and are so applied in this narrative.

ALL IS LEGEND PRIOR TO TENTH CENTURY

For the first few centuries, the Norsemen were more or less hidden
from view in their remote northern home, Norway. Their history only
becomes authentic with the introduction of Christianity, at the
close of the 10th Century. All previous to this date is a compound
of legend, mythology and doubtful history. Enough is known,
however, of these hardy sea kings to make it certain that they were
the most intrepid voyagers of the day. Though they had no compass,
no guide, in fact, but the sun and stars, yet they continually made
long voyages in rudely built vessels, not larger than some of our
fishing boats. The beaks of their long ships were seen in every
known port of Europe, as far south as the Golden Horn, and they
explored other countries then unknown in general. Their armed aid
could be secured by every ruler who could afford to pay them. Their
craft crept along the coast of Germany, Gaul and the British Isles.
Every summer these dreaded sea rovers made swift descents upon the
exposed shores of these countries, plundering, burning, murdering
and retiring to the north before winter set in. Before long they
began to winter in the southern countries, and soon the shores were
dotted with their stations and settlements.

They made their first appearance on the coast of England in 787
A.D., and from the year 832 A.D. repeated their invasions, until
they became masters of the whole country for about fifty years
under King Canute. Land, which the Norsemen named Normandy, an
ancient province of France, was granted Rollo, one of the most
renowned of Norman chieftains, together with the daughter of
Charles the Simple, to stop the ravaging of France in the 10th
Century.

Wherever they settled, they rapidly adopted the more civilized form
of life of the country, but they inspired everything they adopted
with the bold, fearless spirit of the Norsemen, producing marked
internal improvements and fearless leaders.

Iceland was discovered in 860 A. D. by the bold Norse Viking
Naddodd, sailing from Norway. It was settled by immigration from
Norway in 874 A. D. This island, although located in the cold North
Sea, was soon well peopled. The nature and climate of the island,
where winters are long, the whole year surrounded by chill ice
mountains, where the main support must be from fishing, developed
a hardy, brave race, one who loved the freedom of the wild country,
the spirit of the Viking.

Soon the adventurous nature led to the discovery of Greenland, in
876 A.D., but it was not until about a century later, in 984 A.D.,
that the land was visited and explored by Erik the Red, an
adventurous Norseman, who had fled from Norway on account of
manslaughter and was later banished from Iceland for the same
cause. He returned after two years to obtain settlers for
Greenland, giving the new country this name to attract them.
Greenland, too, was soon colonized.

Iceland soon after its settlement became the literary center of the
Scandinavian world. There grew up a class of Scalds or Bards, who
before the introduction of writing preserved and transmitted orally
the Sagas or legends of the northern races. About the 12th Century
these poems and legends were gathered together, and they constitute
a small body of Icelander literature that has come down from the
period of the events narrated, held for a long time in the memory
by frequent recitations, transmitted by father and mother to son
and daughter, and later, with the introduction of writing, written
on parchment. They are among the most important and interesting of
the literary memorials that we possess of the early Teuton people
and reflect the beliefs, manners, customs and the wild adventurous
nature of the sea kings, as well as giving the historical data of
the people and age, at a time when literary darkness overshadowed
the European continent.

The voyages which led to the discovery of North America by the
Norsemen and their settlements are set forth in the Old Norse
Vinland Sagas, or early traditional songs, which tell the following
story:

In 986 A. D. a Norseman named Bjarni, son of Herjulf, who was
voyaging from Iceland to Greenland, was driven far out of his
reckoning to the west by a gale. He saw several times in the
distance a bold, rugged coast line, probably that of "New
Foundland" or "Laborador", but made no landing. The account of this
voyage was related when he returned to Iceland.

LIEF ERIKSON SETS OUT

In the year 1000 A. D., Lief Erikson, son of Erik the Red, bearing
in mind the tale told by his predecessor, set out with the avowed
object to test the truth of his report and sailed with thirty-five
men. He visited first an island seen by Bjarni, and named it
"Helluland" (flat stone land), supposed to be Newfoundland, next
"Markland" (woodland), supposed to be Nova Scotia, and last
"Vinland" (vineland, because they found vines and grapes in great
abundance), supposed to be the coast of New England. Lief built
houses and wintered in Vinland and in the spring loaded his vessel
with timber and returned to Greenland.

About 1002 A. D., Lief's brother Thorvald went to Vinland with
thirty men and wintered at the same place. In the succeeding year
he sent a party to explore the coast, who were gone all summer. In
1004 A. D. he explored the coast eastward and was killed in a
skirmish with the natives, and in 1005 A. D. his companions
returned to Greenland.

In the spring of 1007 A. D., Thorfinn Karlsefne, a rich Icelander,
set sail for Vinland with three ships and one hundred and sixty men
and women. They took with them their cattle and sheep. Three
summers were passed on the Vinland coast. While here Thorfinn's
wife, Gudrid, bore a son, Snorre. Finding the natives hostile, they
at last returned to Greenland. The old Icelander manuscripts make
mention of other visits to Vinland, or to Markland in 1011, 1121,
1281 and 1347 A. D.

Briefly, this is the accepted account of the first discovery of
America by the Norsemen. The truthfulness of the Sagas' account is
confirmed by the accounts of Adam of Bremen, almost contemporary
with the voyage of Thorfinn. Later documentary evidence, in
relation to the intercourse between Greenland and America, is the
Venetian narrative of the visit of Nicolo Zeno about 1390 A.D.,
when he met fishermen who had been on the coast of America.

The connection between this early Norse settlement, called
"Vinland," and the Norumbega of today has been discussed by many.
Why this city was not discovered before the ruthless hand of time
had entirely destroyed it is not definitely known. Apparently but
very little voyaging of exploration was done between the time the
Norsemen finally abandoned their settlement and voyages to America
in the early part of the 13th Century, and the voyages of
Christopher Columbus in 1492, John Cabot, 1497, and contemporary
explorers.

COLUMBUS KNEW OF NORSE EXPLORATIONS

The fact that Christopher Columbus knew of the land discovered by
the Norsemen is not disputed today. Several years before he sailed
on his memorable voyage he had visited Iceland, and undoubtedly
talked with the descendants of those who had lived in Vinland,
North America. He also undoubtedly had opportunity to see and study
the map of Vinland, thought to have been procured for the Vatican
by the first Bishop of Iceland, who visited Vinland in the year
1121.

The manner in which the knowledge of this ancient city was handed
down to the later explorers was not found by the writer. It may
have been from the Vatican reports, as Gudrid, the wife of
Thorfinn, the mother of Snorre, made a pilgrimage to Rome after the
death of her husband, and recounted the story of her three years'
residence in Vinland. Rome at this time was paying much attention
to geographical discoveries, and took pains to collect all new
charts and reports. England, France, Portugal and Spain were all
vying with each other in discovering new lands and extending their
territories. The roving Norsemen, themselves, may have spread the
stories of the new land, through these countries, as recounted by
the men at home. Whatever the way, the stories of this wonderful
place in a new country began to carry historical weight. Many maps
of the early explorers carry reference to it, although in many
cases the name is spelled differently. Norway was known as
"Norvega" in Europe in the early centuries, and is so shown on some
of the ancient maps in late 1500, and the Norsemen undoubtedly
settled the new country in the name of the motherland, "Norvega."

The name Norumbega is said, by Professor Horsford, to be the Indian
attempt to pronounce the name given to the country by the Norsemen.
Their inability to pronounce it aright may have accounted for the
diversified spelling of the name found on the early maps of
explorers. In the Spanish Document of 1523, the name "Arembi"
appears in place of Norumbega. Peter Martyr also mentions "Arembi"
as a province known and visited by the Spaniards. Thevel, in his
instructions to mariners about 1557, speaks of a small fort erected
by the French some ten or twelve leagues from the mouth of a river,
which place was name "Fort of Norumbegue." Verranzano's map of 152
shows a place on the New England coast called "Aranbega." The
Dieppe Sea Captain, in 1539, speaks of "Norumbega" as a vast and
opulent country extending from Cape Breton to Florida, discovered
by Verran zano. Jean Allefounsce, in 1543, who about that time
visited Massachusetts Bay, describes "Norombegue , from reports "as
the capital of a great country". The great French map of 1543,
which represented much of the geographical knowledge of the day,
shows the "Los City of New England" with stately castles and
imposing towers. Michael Lok's map of 1582 gives the name
"Norombegue" in prominent letters. Champlain's map of 1612 gives
the name as "Naranbergue." Several old maps of this time give the
name as Norumbega, and this so appears on Dutch maps to the end of
the 17th Century.

INGRAM WROTE AN ACCOUNT OF "BEGA"

The first Englishman certainly known to have reached any portion of
the country known as Norumbega was David Ingram, a sailor, who
passed through this territory in following Indian trails north from
the Gulf of Mexico, where he had been sent ashore with some one
hundred and twenty men, on account of lack of provisions, by Sir
John Hawkins in 1568. Although his account is a mingling of facts
and fable, that he accomplished the journey has never been doubted.
He states he saw the city of Norumbega, called "Bega," which was
three-fourths of a mile long and abounded with peltry. 

It is easily seen that these ancient names Arambe, Arambec,
Aranbega, Norvega, Oranbega, Norombegue and Norumbega are similar
in sound, and may be said to support Professor Horsford's theory as
to the origin of the name "Norumbega."

These ancient maps of the early explorers, although establishing
the fact that there was a country or city of Norumbega, are
inaccurate as to its definite location so that much is left to
conjecture. The first known English expedition to Norumbega was
made in a little frigate by Simon Ferdinando, who sailed from
Darthmouth in 1579. His brief account does not state the exact
location. 

HORSFORD DISCOVERS NORSE REMAINS

There was one, however, who believed that the early city of
Vinland, of the Norse Sagas, was the Norumbega, as given on the
ancient maps, and that this city could be located from the old
narratives. This was Professor Eben Norton Horsford, of Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Early in 1880 he began his careful study of the old
Norse Sagas and traditions, the accounts of early explorers and
their crude maps. He became firmly convinced that the description
of the country, as given in the Sagas, pointed to the Charles River
Basin as the location of Vinland, and that the ancient city and
seaport, Norumbega, one of the early settlements of the roving
Norsemen under Lief Erikson in 1000 A. D., underlay the modern
Watertown. Here were found the stone walls on either side of the
Charles River beginning just above the United states 'Arsenal, in
some places undermined or removed, but in the main nearly
continuous, running up the river and expanding at Watertown into
docks, wharves, a fishway and a dam at the head of tide-water,
which he states may be traced to the Norsemen--"indispensable
requirements for the conduct of a great Norse industry of which
glimpses are given in the Vinland Sagas."

Near the head of stony Brook in Weston and Newton were found
remains of their canals in which they floated the mosurr wood (a
burr growth on the trunks of trees) to the river to be floated to
the seaport and loaded into their ships for Norway, where this wood
was greatly prized for the fashioning of drinking cups, bovrls,
kneading troughs, etc.

Scattered throughout the basin of the Charles are found the
theatres and amphitheatres, where the ground has been terraced so
that all might see the events taking place. One may be found near
Breed's Pond, Mount Auburn, another near the Charles River, about
a half mile above the United states Arsenal (in front of the
Perkins Institute for the Blind), where their water sports might
have been held, another near Riverside, all pointing to the work of
man before the colonization of New England by our forefathers.

There are many who do not agree with Professor Horsford, and there
have been controversies of long standing over his placing Norumbega
in this region. The critical historians, however, do not offer
proof to definitely disprove his findings. Due honor should be paid
him for the long years of painstaking research work, the careful
search of the countryside where he believed the city to be located,
and the offering of proof to substantiate his beliefs. That these
facts are disputed does not dim our appreciation of the Norsemen as
a race, barbarous and adventurous, but attaining a degree of
civilization in an age when Europe was but emerging from darkness.

In referring to his works and writings on this subject, so late a
writer as William Hovgaard, late commander in the Royal Danish
Navy, Professor of Naval Design and Construction in Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, writes after a careful study, examination
and discussion of the ancient Norse Sagas and subsequent works in
his book, "The Voyages of the Norsemen to America":

"Certain ruins of houses and graves, found by the late Professor
Horsford and by Miss Cornelia Horsford on the banks of the Charles
River, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, were believed by them to be
Norse. The researches which some years ago were undertaken on the
spot did not bring to light any positive evidence to substantiate
the theory, but on the other hand there appears to be nothing
absolutely to disprove it."

Professor Horsford, to commemorate the early discovery of America
by the Norsemen and to mark the site of their settlement, erected
a tower on the site of their fort on the Charles River in Weston,
near the Newton line, which carries the inscription as given on
page 170.

A view of this tower appears on the Seal of Norumbega Lodge as well
as on the cover of the lodge notices.

MOUNT MORIAH'S BROW
The kings have crumbled into dust,
The scepter and the sword
Since e'er the master builder stood
Beside the trestle-board-
Yet never strikes the solemn hour,
I care not where or when
But that His name is whispered low
Upon the lips of men:

I conjure with its magic spell
In strange barbaric lands
And lo! the temple's beauties rise
From out the desert sands:
And in the Arab's guarded tent
Refreshed from travel's toil,
I'm welcome to his little store
Of corn and wine and oil:

The mighty ones of all the earth,
The rustic at the plow,
Have gone with me along the road
To Mount Moriah's brow:
No charm of creed, no power of birth,
Nor pride in battles won,
Shall blight the green acacia bloom
Where sleeps the widow's son:

In humble guise, with contrite heart
I walk the lonely way
And sore beset where dangers lurk,
I kneel me down and pray;
What though the road is dark and rough
Or angly threats be heard?
I journey onward to the light
And seek the Master s Word:

Low twelve or high, it matters not
So that He calls to me,
I fare me on from Lebanon
To Joppa by the sea:
For never night goes round the world,
I care not where nor when,
But that His gentle spirit speaks
Upon the hearts of men.
--Robert Rexdale.
