Northern Treasure

While a Norse sailor describes his adventures searching out a special treasure in the Far North, an Inuit woman tells her grandchildren about the strange blue-eyed men with red or yellow hair.

1325, Western Settlement, Greenland

“Did the giant whale smash your boat, afi?” Sigrun shivered as she imagined her grandfather in such danger. His long hair and beard were grey now, but his stories were still exciting.

He laughed. “No, little one. If it had, I wouldn’t be here now, would I?”

Rolf piped up. “But you said it was the biggest whale in the world, and you were in just a little rowboat. How could you . . .”

Their grandfather interrupted him. “Never mind — we had many adventures and we made it through just fine. We dodged icebergs and bounced on the waves and sailed farther than any Norsemen before or since.”

The fire danced and crackled as the wind moaned around their sod house.

“Farming was not for me. I needed adventure,” he went on. “While the others tended sheep and goats, my friends and I were exploring new lands to find ivory.”

“Is that where you met the skraelings?” Sigrun asked. “Were they scary?”

Her grandfather snorted. “Not at all. They were smart, though. They had warm clothing made of furs and small skin boats. And they brought us walrus.”

Little Knut looked puzzled. “Were walrus good to eat?”

“We were after their tusks — the ivory,” said his grandfather as he poked the fire. “I know you’ve heard stories of huge animals in the hot lands that have ivory tusks, too, but that was hard to get. And from their tusks, the carvers made such beautiful things — tiny statues and carved boxes. Carvings for the finest churches. The most perfect chess pieces you ever saw.”

“Mother won’t let anyone touch her ivory cross,” said Sigrun, looking longingly at the delicately cream-coloured carving on the wall.

“Tell us about the unicorns,” Rolf prompted.

His grandfather chuckled. “We really fooled them with that one, didn’t we? We found these odd little whales with long, pointy horns. We knew there were many who would love such a thing. So we said they came from unicorns.”

“What’s a unicorn?” asked Knut.

“It’s a magic horse — a bit like Sleipnir, Odin’s horse, but it only has four legs and a long, pointy horn on its nose. It’s not real . . . but we didn’t tell that to the people we were trading with!”

His eyes seemed to look far beyond the smoky, dim room. “But those days are over. The walrus are too hard to find now, and the price is bad for any ivory we do get. Perhaps I’ll have to become a farmer after all.”

He shook his head and smiled at his grandchildren. “And now it’s time for you to go to sleep. Dream of far-off lands and magical creatures, little ones.”

1325, Baffin Island

The old woman smiled at the grandchildren gathered around her, the flickering light from the fire dancing on their expectant faces.

“Tell us again about the qallunaat.” Anyu hoped to hear her favourite story about the strange men from far away.

“Ah, yes. They were tall, and their skin was like the white whale’s. Their hair was like nothing we had ever seen — yellow or red. And it grew all over their faces, too!” The grandmother shook her head and smiled.

“Their eyes were funny, too, weren’t they, anaanatsiaq? Imagine having blue or green eyes instead of brown!” little Pakak laughed.

“Your grandfather and the other men brought them aiviq, but not for the meat. The tall men wanted the tusks. So many tusks that the walrus are almost gone,” the old woman said sadly.

“I wish I had met one of the hairy men,” said Ujurak. “I would have asked him for his shirt made of shiny rings. Mother never lets me touch the pieces of that shirt.”

The snow swirled on the wind outside the igloo. Their grandmother shook her head. “We won’t see the qallunaat again. And now it’s time for you three to go to sleep. Dream of far-off lands and men with hairy faces, little ones.” K

Arctic Traders

The Norse who moved to Greenland set up two colonies, known as the eastern and western settlements. Greenland was warmer then, and the settlers were able to farm for many years. The colonies did well in harsh conditions, with as many as 3,000 people living there.

Not everyone wanted to farm, though, and many Norsemen sailed north and west into what is now the Canadian Arctic. A Canadian archaeologist, Patricia Sutherland, has found pieces of Norse yarn as well as things made of metal on Baffin Island.

Many researchers now feel sure that the Norse traded with various Aboriginal peoples in the north, mainly for walrus tusks, which have been called “Arctic gold” because their ivory was so valued.

The tusks were carved into religious and decorative items, like the one shown here, that have been found throughout Europe. And yes, the Norsemen also provided some narwhal horns, although we can’t be sure they were the ones who fooled the buyers into thinking they were getting horns from magical, mythical unicorns.

The Norse probably didn’t hunt much walrus themselves, but they encouraged local hunters to bring them as many as they could. The trading went on for about 70 years, from about 1280 to 1350. But as ivory from Africa became easier to get in Europe, the value of walrus tusks dropped and the trading eventually stopped.

The colonies in Greenland also had problems, and by the mid-1400s, the Norse there had vanished. No one knows exactly why.

Written by Allyson Gulliver; illustrated by Mike Boldt.