Comments on: For the Love of Yeti, Bigfooters, Read a Primary Source!

By: Should You Answer Aristotle? - Skepticality

Should You Answer Aristotle? - Skepticality — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:47:38 +0000

[...] Humanities: "For the Love of Yeti, Bigfooters, Read a Primary Source." – Skeptical Humanities: "Crypto-Creationism 2: Return of the Killer Crapgasm." – [...]

By: Eve

Eve — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:23:51 +0000

There’s no question that Morison is following the sagas when he says Eirik was banished from Norway because he killed someone. However, the saga says Eirik and his father Thorvald were banished; Morison doesn’t mention Thorvald. He just uses the sagas in a slightly odd way–conflating, interpreting and occasionally embellishing. That said, he makes it absolutely clear that the Skraelings are natives. He also makes fun of the ways some people interpret the sagas to support their own preconceived notions. On the other hand, he does the same thing himself. For instance, he seems to want L’Anse aux Meadows to be Vinland (rather than the entrance to Vinland or the main base while the Norse were exploring greater Vinland). He notes that “vinber” literally means “wine-berry,” and suggests that it refers to some sort of berry rather than to grapes. He further suggests that Leif could have called the place Vinland to attract settlers (in the same way Eirik chose “Greenland”), but for a number of reasons, that argument is unconvincing. For one thing, Leif never attempted to settle in Vinland as his father did in Greenland. Secondly, the sagas are abundantly clear that Vinland is full of grapes and grape vines. It’s really pretty unambiguous.

By: Pacal

Pacal — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:50:58 +0000

Your right why don’t people check the primary source material!?
after all there are numerous good translations of the Vinland Sagas and the two Sagas even together are very short and can be read in well under an hour. There is simply no excuse.

As for Skrælings. Well even a quick read of the Sagas will reveal that they had bows, boats that they traded with the Norsemen etc. Not exactly Yeti Sasquash material to but it mildly. But very much like North American Indians.

Regarding Morison’s mistakes. In all fairness I’ve read a couple of popular accounts of the Vinland voyages which state that Erik the Red left Norway because he killed someone. So Morison is probably just repeating something he read. As you point out the killing was probably actually done by Erik’s father and Erik was a child at the time.

Bob your right about Morison writing the massive multivolume history of the US navy in World War 2. An essent8ial primary source but stunningly long. (15 volumes!). The Two Ocean War, is one volume and a real good read. As a Canadian I am rather fond of his biography of Samuel de Champlain.

Morison also wrote one of the best books about Columbus,
Admiral of the Ocean Sea. His two volume The European discovery of America, is a wonderful distilation of the major European voyages of discovery in the New World. If your a fan of pseudohistory Morison is no friend he rather throughly lambastes pseudo-historical speculation. It is intersting to record that he was one of the first “mainstream” historians to accept that L’Anse Aux Meadows was a Norse site and in his The European Discovery of America (1971), he takes the Vinland voyages as fact. So much for being close-minded.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:20:58 +0000

Samuel Eliot Morrison was the official Naval Historian of WWII. His Two-Ocean War is the standard naval history. The complete history of the Navy (of which 2OW is a condensed version) has been read in its entirety twice, both times by Vince Casaregola.

Also, hi, Vince!

RJB