Moderator
Question 1: How do you think an improved relationship with the Inuit people could have helped your society?
- This question relates to the indifferent (at best) to hostile (at worst) relations between the Norse and Inuit people. The author mentions that, while the two had some customs in common like hunting caribou, the Inuit had much more experience living in arctic conditions and adapted by using seal skin to make kayaks for hunting whales, building winter homes from snow, and burning blubber rather than wood. In modern times, good relations are still just as important to the survival (and thriving) of a society, like the US and Mexico/Canada.
Question 2: What impact did the Inuit attack on the Eastern Settlement hunting party have on your life? It was described in 1379 in Iceland’s Annals. 18 men were killed; 2 boys and 1 woman were taken as slaves.
- This attack killed 2% of the adult male population, according to the author, and was a massive blow to the settlement they came from. It is interesting to consider how a dwindling society took such terrible news and how different reactions could have hastened/prolonged the abandonment of the Eastern Settlement.
Question 3: How did the extreme and unpredictable weather variations impact your life?
- With fog, ice, rains, strong winds, and snow affecting survival, it must have been a challenge to stay alive and have access to the resources they need. Scarcity and supply chain failures can hinder societies even today like with COVID, especially when the Norse were not as familiar with arctic survival.
Question 4: Could you connect the actions of your people to their consequences in the environment, and would you have been able to change, even if you could?
- Even if the Norse knew what was happening, they might not have been able to change if there were (seemingly) no alternatives, or if it was too late by the time they realized. This would still be relevant today with the conditions that contribute to societal collapse, especially with climate change/carbon emissions that corporations are responsible for and not the individual.
Question 5: What role did religion play in your life as society collapsed?
- Religion not only affected how the Norse viewed outsiders who did not practice their religion (which in turn affected their survival), but I can only imagine what it felt like to pray to your god with no response as your family and friends suffered and died. They must have felt abandoned and condemned as the weather snuffed crops, starved livestock, and blew their soil away.
Character 1: Iron Smithy
Character Description
My character would have been a blacksmith creating weapons and other tools in an iron smithy. They would have been burning high amounts of wood to produce the charcoal to extract iron from the bog.
Essay
When firewood had become more scarce, I realized that my bog iron would have to be just used for weapons and armor. I had opted to craft simple things out of different materials. I started with using chipped stone to create farming tools. Gods, they lost their edge so rapidly compared to the iron I’m used to. It also took longer, from shearing sheep to harvesting hay. It wasn’t just a lack of firewood anymore, but soon food was becoming scarce. With the grasses not growing, there isn’t food for the herding animals to eat. The grazing animals were unable to survive the cold winter. We cannot sustain this way of living for the coming winters. The native people have somehow learned to live with these challenges. Perhaps, we should have learned their ways or begun trade systems with them instead of passing them off and being hostile towards them.
Character 2: Norse Hunter
Character description:
I am Hans a Norse hunter. I help hunt for food in the harsh winters because there isn’t enough food for my family and others in the settlement. I have a small wooden boat because wood is very scarce here. I wish I had better weapons for hunting, but I make arrowheads out of caribou antlers because it is very hard to get iron because it is so scarce.
Brief Essay:
I wish I were a better hunter. I work so hard working long hours in the cold hunting seals. I watch the Inuit hunters catching all kinds of seals and whales in their boats made with animal skin, but my boat is not as good, and I am not having much luck hunting. The Inuit people had these funny looking tools for hunting. I go out with other hunters, and we hunt for seals. We don’t have big enough boats to catch whales. I never figured out how to hunt for a ringed seal. In really bad winters when there weren’t enough other kinds of seals, it would have been nice to be able to catch ringed seals. There were a lot of them under the ice, but I never figured out how to catch one successfully. I knew the seals were their because I saw Inuit people pulling like 4 of them out of the water and carrying them back to their homes. Winters are rough in my village. There is not enough food, and there is not enough wood for building, heating, and lighting houses. I like our houses that have walls made of turf. The Inuit people have these weird ice cube houses that they live in, so our houses are so much better.
Character 3: Farmer
Character’s Role in Society:
My character is a farmer that works to raise sheep and other livestock to have food and furs to trade with my village. I have acres of land where my sheep graze and when their hide gets too long I shave it and make it into blankets to survive the harsh winters here.
Brief Essay:
I’ve always been a simple farmer. I tend to my livestock, make blankets after I shear my sheep, and trade with my fellow village members to ensure I have food to survive. Lately, however, things have been taking a turn for the worse. When we first moved here, my village cut down many of the trees in the area for wood, and I use the area to allow my livestock to graze. However, none of the trees have grown back, and I fear that I only have myself to blame for that, as my livestock have trampled the area flat for the last few years. Not only that, but I can always see movement in the woods, like there are people there. Not only that, but a few of my sheep have turned up dead near the edge of the grazing area. When we arrived here so long ago, I hadn’t thought that implementing our own ways into a harsh and unknown environment may have not turned out well, but not we begin to see the consequences of our actions. As I have less sheep to shear, I can no longer provide the blankets that so many of my people rely on. As it only gets colder and colder, I fear that this coming winter may be my last.
Character 4: Farmer
Character Description:
My character is a farmer, dependent on raising sheep, cows and planting vegetation. Due to the horrible climate, I’ve had to switch on and off between farming and hunting wild caribou and hare for survival. In addition to feeding my family, my role in this society is to help provide food to the rest of the settlement in exchange for other goods. My character understands the horrible conditions we are all living in, and is willing to help out the rest of the society in any way he can. But when it comes down to it, it’s everyman for himself.
Brief Essay:
I started off as a successful farmer becoming owners of one of the largest farms in the Eastern Settlement. At first I was able to sustain sheep, cows and goats with the large open pasture created by the loggers in the settlement. I utilized the sheep to make and sell wool clothing and used the dairy from the cows to make dairy products. However, I found it more and more difficult to grow any vegetation and provide hay for my animals as most of the settlement dug up most of the turf for their houses. As we used up the turf, grass for grazing became more and more scarce, while the herds of animals continued to grow. As the animals stomped and grazed through their pastures the soil became more and more eroded. I could no longer care for the cows and goats, I sold them either as food or to other nearby farms with the capabilities to care for them. The environmental damages caused by the animals and the entire settlement made my life difficult as a farmer.
Soon after having to give up my cows and goats, the weather completely changed. The days got colder and colder. It rained heavier and heavier with every passing day. It soon became completely difficult to plant and harvest any vegetation. I spent most of my resources trying to maintain and care for the herd of sheep I still had. As it got colder, Norwegian boats stopped importing goods and purchasing my wool. I was unable to purchase any timber or iron, which I needed for warmth and new farming tools. Every farmer in the settlement was facing similar issues. When the storms settled down, we would barely make ends meet plus some, in time for the next seasons of storms. Life as a farmer became more horrible and painful, I think it’s time for a change in scenery.
Character 5: Woodworker
Character Description
My character is a wood worker whose family lived on this land since the first settlements, collecting the Siberian driftwood that came to shore and utilizing the local willow trees to make small, household objects. However, the scarcity of the trees leaves him wondering how he can survive.
Brief Essay
Damn it all, I can’t work in these conditions! The trees are all but gone, the driftwood has dried up, and I have nothing left to carve. How many times have I moved from settlement to settlement, searching for somewhere- anywhere- with enough trees to keep me afloat? Those imports from Norway are getting more and more expensive, and I can no longer afford them. How much longer can I search? I can’t bear to give up this business- my father was a wood worker, as was his father before him, and so on and so forth for generations. I cannot be the one who leaves our ways to die, so I must find something. We’ve lived on this land since the beginning, back when it was a whole new world brimming with potential. Now scarcely anything remains- and those damn Inuit people live on without a care in the world. Bah, forget them! We’re Greenlanders- a proud, strong, noble people. A few challenges aren’t enough to stop us- so we’ll keep going. It may look grim now, but this is our home- and we’ll be here for the next hundred, no, thousands of years! Somewhere out there is a new grove, some more resources for us to use- all we must do is find it.
Character 6: A Worried Farmer
Character Description
My character is a farmer that depends on farming, sheep, woods, and vegetation that grew in the environment. Due to climate change, my farm animals are not the same as before. The long winter and rainy summer days have made my life suffer.
Brief Essay
I was good at farming. I used to have cows and sheep that would graze on a sunny day. Enjoy the glimpse of sunlight on a good summer day. I would work on my farm when my sheep and cows would graze. I used to work in the field all day now since the summer has become a drought. The rivers and streams are not the same as they used to be before. Instead of farming more, I have to think of animals to feed. The winters are much longer, and summers have worsened because of heavy rainfall, which takes away the nutrition. I tried to sell some of my animals, but no one wanted them because they faced the same problem. At this moment of time, I might go and hunt for food for myself. Somehow, I need to survive in this madness. The other farmers consider the same. Linving as a farmer is really difficult at this moment of time.