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The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep767: Eleanor Barraclough offers a poignant look at the Norse settlement of Greenland, founded by Eric the Red in 985 AD. At the Herjolfsness graveyard, well-preserved organic material reveals the coarse, patched clothing of 15th-century inhabitants, indicat

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

News, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Eleanor Barraclough offers a poignant look at the Norse settlement of Greenland, founded by Eric the Red in 985 AD. At the Herjolfsness graveyard, well-preserved organic material reveals the coarse, patched clothing of 15th-century inhabitants, indicating their isolation and decline. As the climate cooled, the Norse struggled while the Inuit thrived, with the final records including a witch burning in 1407 and a wedding in 1408 — the last known activities before the colony vanished. (8)
1946 RUNE. SWEDEN.

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm John Bathurst, visiting with Professor Eleanor Barakoff,

0:05.0

embers of the hands, hidden histories of the Viking Age.

0:08.0

The Viking Age closed over time or didn't close because it's still with us.

0:13.0

Everybody who knows Lord of the Rings well knows the Viking world.

0:17.0

We're talking about a language and a time that's magical.

0:21.6

However, there's also what I find in Eleanor's closing remarks, a sadness to it, because the world ended.

0:30.6

And when did it end?

0:31.6

It's the story we're now approaching.

0:35.6

Eleanor, where is Harleof Ness?

0:39.2

So Herriov Ness is right at the southern tip of Greenland.

0:44.9

And Greenland, for me, is one of the most fascinating parts of Norse Viking Age history.

0:52.6

It's the bit that I think I love the most.

0:55.6

I've spent a lot of time researching out there.

0:57.9

It's very wild.

0:58.9

It's very remote still.

1:00.6

But it also means there's a lot still to see.

1:03.6

You know, there's whole churches still standing.

1:06.6

There's farmsteads.

1:07.7

You know, you can really get a sense of what it was like.

1:10.7

Herios-Ness was one of the first places to be settled. There's farmsteads, you know, you can really get a sense of what it was like.

1:14.8

Heriosness was one of the first places to be settled.

1:22.0

So the Norse essentially start to settle parts of the west coast of Greenland under Eric the Red,

...

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