After this story we have no detailed accounts of voyages
to Vineland. There are, however, references to it in
Icelandic literature. There does not seem any ground to
believe that the Norsemen succeeded in planting a lasting
colony in Vineland. Some people have tried to claim that
certain ancient ruins on the New England coast--an old
stone mill at Newport, and so on--are evidences of such
a settlement. But the claim has no sufficient proof behind
it.
On the whole, however, there seems every ground to conclude
that again and again the Norsemen landed on the Atlantic
coast of America. We do not know where they made their
winter quarters, nor does this matter. Very likely there
were temporary settlements in both 'Markland,' with its
thick woods bordering on the sea, and in other less
promising regions. It should be added that some writers
of authority refuse even to admit that the Norsemen
reached America. Others, like Nansen, the famous Arctic
explorer, while admitting the probability of the voyages,
believe that the sagas are merely a sort of folklore,
such as may be found in the primitive literature of all
nations.
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