In 1957 this map surfaced in rare map circles, and offered anonymously for sale to the British Museum. Significantly it included an accurate depiction of Canada, the storied Vinland of the Icelandic Sagas.
The map predated Columbus by 50 years and a Viking map had never surfaced prior to this time.
The map was purchased for $300,000 and donated to Yale’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
In 1974 it’s authenticity was questioned due to a modern chemical used in the ink.
The question remains to this day: was this a Viking map?
Watch this video for yourself and leave your responses below.
I would personally LOVE for this to be a Viking Map! I would love to imagine a library of information destroyed by the Vikings themselves or buried at sea with the Viking kings, their secret oceanic pathways taken with them to Valhalla.
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I want it to be a Viking map with all my heart. The Norse set off across the oceans in open boats and sailed to so many places! Finding Iceland was a great discovery, Greenland a small miracle. There is definite proof they found Canada. As much as they traveled, how could they not make maps? Maps are the only way to tell others how to find what you have found, to make your work at discovery MEAN something!
Well, they say that they passed on their information via oral tradition. And these are nomads, seafaring nomads! Nomads are known for their lack of documentation other than legends passed from generation to generation…take the first four books of the bible for example. It wasn’t written down for hundreds of years.
Carrie, see Lisa’s notes about the Irish monk. His journal of sailing to Newfoundland is also fascinating.