We tend to think of Vikings as warring marauders who prowled the coasts of Europe in their warships.

But Canada has a Viking connection too. Not only did they settle on the northern tip of Newfoundland for a brief period a thousand years ago, they also travelled to the far reaches of the Canadian Arctic.

The Royal BC Museum in Victoria is hosting a travelling exhibit about Vikings that runs from May 16 to November 11, 2014.

Canada’s History program director Joel Ralph spoke with Mark Dickson, head of exhibitions at the museum, and Erin McGuire, an archaeologist at the University of Victoria, to find out more about how Vikings fit into Canadian history.

To learn more about the Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, watch this Parks Canada video.

Canada’s History magazine features a story about Arctic Vikings in its April-May 2014 issue written by David Keys. The issue is available at newsstands, or you can subscribe online by clicking on Subscribe at the top of this page.