Editing Viking Age (section)

== North America ==
=== Greenland ===
[[File:Hvalsey Church.jpg|thumb|The last written records of the [[Norsemen|Norse]] Greenlanders are from a 1408 marriage in the [[Church of Hvalsey]].]]
The Viking-Age settlements in Greenland were established in the sheltered [[fjord]]s of the southern and western coast. They settled in three separate areas along roughly {{convert|650|km|nmi smi|abbr=on|lk=out}} of the western coast. While harsh, the [[microclimate]]s along some fjords allowed for a pastoral lifestyle similar to that of Iceland, until the climate changed for the worse with the [[Little Ice Age#Dating|Little Ice Age]] {{circa|1400}}.<ref>See also [[History of Greenland#Norse failure]].</ref>
* The [[Eastern Settlement]]: The remains of about 450 farms have been found here. Erik the Red settled at [[Brattahlid]] on Ericsfjord.
* The [[Middle Settlement]], near modern [[Ivigtut]], consisted of about 20 farms.
* The [[Western Settlement]] at modern [[Godthåbsfjord]], was established before the 12th century. It has been extensively excavated by archaeologists.

=== Mainland North America ===
{{Main|L'Anse aux Meadows}}
In about 986, the Norwegian Vikings [[Bjarni Herjólfsson]], [[Leif Ericson]], and [[Thorfinn Karlsefni|Þórfinnr Karlsefni]] from Greenland reached [[North America|Mainland North America]], over 500 years before [[Christopher Columbus]], and they attempted to settle the land they called [[Vinland]]. They created a small settlement on the northern peninsula of present-day [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], near [[L'Anse aux Meadows]]. Conflict with indigenous peoples and lack of support from Greenland brought the Vinland colony to an end within a few years. The archaeological remains are now a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>UNESCO World Heritage Centre. [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/4 "L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616164041/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/4 |date=16 June 2006 }}. ''unesco.org''.</ref>