The Vinland Mystery (1984) User Reviews

Great piece of history

[tpsculli · 8/10 · 21 May 2019]

At first, I thought this movie was going to be a tale of a "could have happened" settlement near Newfoundland filled with a bunch of "maybes" and tall tales. It is a grainy picture, and the background music is to be desired, but the story ends up being a fascinating discovery of the oldest known Norse settlement in North America. Dr. Helge Ingstad and his wife Dr. Ann Stine Ingstad did a fantastic job recalling the details of their adventure and documentation. I'm so glad that these two had the opportunity to tell their story in such detail with all of the footage from the site included. A piece of history with this amount of historical impact needs to be told to more people. I applaud the National Film Board of Canada for seeking out stories like these and making them publicly available for the citizens of Canada, and the citizens of the world to enjoy. The Norse settlement in the documentary is what the Ingstads believe to be Vinland, a lost site of Leif Erikson when he journeyed from Iceland to go west seeking the land that his father, Erik the Red, spoke to in his saga. I hope that the ruins found at the L'Anse aux Meadow site are researched in more detail now that it is on the World Heritage list and that the site can be confirmed as the Vinland location Erik wrote of in his saga.

Short and enjoyable

[gabrcurr · 8/10 · 4 February 2019]

Really relaxing and beautiful scenes through out most of the movie and a nice narrators voice to add to the experience. Dr. Helge and their spouse were a little hard to hear clearly due to some very quiet moments of personally conversation, however the rest of the movie was very relaxing and enjoyable to sit down and watch. I had to watch the beginning to try and understand the maps and directions the Norse traveled. Following my found understanding of the way in which the Norse arrived, I still remember the awe I felt from the clips of the 40+ miles of beach leading to the settlement over looking the ocean and windy grass fields. I was also impressed by the discovery of the buried remains of the house they find towards the end and all the information they are able to perceive from a pile of metal shards, charcoal and a nail. But it all makes sense and doesn't seem like a long reach that was poorly made out of nothing. I find it sad that time and dirt continues to overlap the past and all the knowledge we can learn. On one end I tend to never associate myself with history, but films like this just feel to pull out something inside me like a call to arms, to pack up and go help learn what we can before everything in the past is lost for good. Thinking about discovering new places I think is a very common theme these days, due to the feeling we know everything, but I think we have so much more to learn about the world we live on and the history it shares with us, without having to go to the bottoms of the oceans to find something new. With hard work and creative minds we can try to think like our past civilizations, and learn from periods and cultures that lack written histories to learn how we came to be alive today. Now I am going to go eat some grapes because that was a central point of the film that made me very hungry. Also I would like to believe that there really was vines of grpaes that far north or that the Norse moved south and found current day america before the Europeans. 8/10

Great Norse history

[krautg · 8/10 · 5 February 2019]

On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this video an 8 due to its great amount of information that it presented. This video did a great job with the back story all the way up to current times where archaeologist were discovering the cites of the Norse. I was amazed on the accuracy of the maps as they were from so long ago where the vikings/Norse had very little technology yet were able to produce very descriptive forms of information. The information along with the maps that described the landscape of the land so well that even to this day people can follow their tracks showed me how important information was to these settlers. I was also very impressed with the sailing skills of Leif Erikson and the other settler along with him. They were able to tell where they were just based on the sun along with taking in every detail around them. I was also very impressed with the natives focus on information as well. Mostly because both the natives and the Norse documented very very similar stories of their relations with each other. The archaeologists did a great job retracing the the tracks of these Norse settlers while being very persistent and finding many artifacts that gave solid evidence to the existence of the Norse settlement, now making it a national historic park which is a huge achievement as an archaeologist.

Its still crazy to me that people could just pack up and leave to look for a new place to live have absolutely no idea what is in store for them especially back in the viking times were it would be even harder surviving without any sources of technology except for a compass that uses the sun. This makes me respect the Norse very much with their ability to explore adapt and survive even if they did pillage a village of innocent native women and children.

All in all this film did a great job telling the story of the Norse and how they were very intelligent, along with being great sailors, great explorers but bad in foreign relations.

Interesting, but I wish there was more

[dscherzer-52625 · 7/10 · 2 February 2019]

I would rate this video with a score of 7/10. I give it this score because it had a lot of good information about the discovery of L'Anse Aux Meadows as a historical Viking site. The facts in this documentary are in line with what I have heard about the Viking settlement of L'Anse Aux Meadows from other short documentaries on the subject. The filmmaker's use of the primary two archeologists who excavated the site was also a good decision. I also liked how the corroboration of the Inuit paintings and folklore were included as supporting evidence of the Viking settlers landing in the area. The use of the map made by Viking cartographers was also a nice addition to the film because it showed not only a general location that the archeologists used to begin their search, but it also highlighted the map making abilities of the Viking settlers. Finally, I liked the use of the Icelandic lore and writings as a guide for the beginning of the expedition. Using this guide to re-trace the steps of the Norse settlers as they moved from one location to another was a clever thing for the archeologists to do.

My main criticism of the documentary are that it could have been longer. I would have liked for them to go deeper into the relationship with the Viking relationship with the Inuit, as well as investigate more about the Inuit lore surrounding the Viking settlement. I would have also liked to hear about where other archeologists and historians thought Viking settlements in North America could have been. Was L'Anse Aux Meadows the only Viking settlement, or were there other possible sites south along the coast? It was mentioned briefly that they could have landed farther south, but I would have liked to hear about other expeditions looking for Viking settlements south of L'Anse Aux Meadows. It would have also been nice if they gave more details on what, specifically, they were looking for when determining if a site is Viking or not. They mentioned a couple things, such as there being a smithy and evidence of metalwork, which the local Inuit didn't do, but it would have been interesting to learn more about how the Vikings built their settlements.

An interesting short about Norse expedition

[nsbondi · 8/10 · 4 February 2019]

I would rate this film a 8/10. The film starts with a short history on the Norse people and their cultural traditions. It also talks about the Norse Sagas and how those were used to trace and map the Norse settlements across the northern Atlantic. However, Vinland, a mysterious place that is unknown was mentioned twice, which lead to two Norwegian archaeologists to search for its location in North America. One of the things that the film does is talk about Erik the Red's story, which isn't all that important for the discovery of L'Anse Aux Meadows because all it talks about is how he was exiled from Iceland to Greenland. Not very important to the rest of the story. However, it can be argued that the stories of Erik the Red and his son Lief Erikson provide an interesting piece to the story that captures the attention of the viewer, because most people have heard of Lief Erikson. From these stories the viewer can gain insight on how miraculous these travels by the Norse people actually were, and how they navigated the North Atlantic. From the manuscripts and sagas the Norwegian archeologist were able narrow done their search. Another key item that the film includes is the story from the Inuit point of view. Through the interpretation of Inuit paintings a story is told of the Inuits running into a settlement of foreign peoples where the relationship started peaceful but turned violent quickly.

Similarly, when the archeologists reach the village of L'Anse Aux Meadows and talk with its inhabitants about ruins, it is made out that this was the mysterious Vinland. It is not until the end of the film that it is revealed that it is most likely that the ruins found are just a stop on the way to Vinland. From the excavation of L'Anse Aux Meadows their are two significant and interesting findings. The first is the iron nail which shows that the people that were there were would workers. Meaning they probably repaired their ships there. The second and more significant finding was the brass pin. Brass pins as stated in the film were like find a sword or an axe, because these were widely known in Norse culture to hold their cloaks on their shoulders. To a person like me, who knows little of Norse culture other than the stereotypes like their viking helmets and a violent people, I did not know the significance of this find. The film does a good job of explaining this to the audience.

Finally, the film does a good job of including the original photos from the excavation, as well as including graphics to help the reader understand where the Norse sailed from and settled. As well as showing the Norse manuscripts, which, I feel grab the readers attention.

Holds up despite its age

[srdebrul · 7/10 · 26 May 2019]

I think this is a pretty solid documentary. It gives a good amount of background on the recorded history of Vineland and L'Anse aux Meadows. It also makes a point to discuss the natives who lived in the area before Norse explorers found the area, which I appreciate. I liked when information was relayed by Dr. Helge Ingstad and Dr. Anne Stine Ingstad instead of narration over videos of ice flows, but it all worked. It also doesn't frame the Norse reaching Vineland as a discovery of a new world like Christopher Columbus, but instead as a meeting of two people, the Inuit and the Norse, which helps to makes it more reputable. It's kind of an old video, you get that vibe from the on-screen text, the style of the background music, and the general audio and visual quality. But it still holds up. The graphics are understandable and the illustrations, especially the images of old Norse and Inuit illustrations, still look alright today. This is probably not the prettiest documentary about Vineland and the ruins found at L'Anse aux Meadows, and it is not the most in-depth. But it does a very solid job of telling the story of how the Ingstads found the ruins, laying out the basics of its history, and sourcing that information. The Vinland Mystery succeeds at doing what it wanted to do.

A short review of the film

[jprussel · 8/10 · 2 February 2019]

On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this documentary an 8. The reason I give it an 8 is because I believe it is very informational but is a little slow and does not seem to tell as much info about the settlement found at L'Anse aux Meadows. Most of the information provided in this short video is about the why and the journey to finding Vinland, if this is in fact Vinland. I will say that it is interesting hearing about how they were able to find this Norse settlement in Newfoundland based off of just 2 mentions in some Norse manuscripts and a Native tale. I am curious if this is actually the Vinland mention in the Norse Saga's though. They seemed to mention multiple times the rich fertile land and the grapes growing but as mentioned in the video grapes do not grow that far north in Newfoundland. This makes me agree more with the theory mentioned at the end of the documentary which is that this is a way station used for resupplying and repairing ships. This would make sense since the Norse would need points of resupply from Greenland to reach somewhere warm enough to grow wild grapes. Also knowing that the Norse followed the coast would also point to this being a rest stop on their journey because they would be able to see that this is a more habitable area versus other spots on the journey. It also makes sense for a way station since the journey would take even longer following the coast instead of going across the ocean. I did find the fact that the "coast" the Norse followed was not actually the coast but ice that forms that far north. I had always viewed the Norse as seafarers that just sailed in the ocean and stumbled upon lands. This seems a more strategic way of sailing than what I thought they did. It is also interesting to note that one man found Vinland on accident because of the storm he encountered and then others went to seek it. I had thought when hearing of Leif Erickson discovering North America it was an exploration to find new lands and they had no prior knowledge of land there. There is some good knowledge in this short documentary, I just wish they would have went further in depth about the settlement they find here.

Good film

[grodrigu12 · 7/10 · 5 February 2019]

I would rate this film from one out of ten I rate it a seven out of ten. This film goes over how settlers arrived in modern day Canada and try to figure out the events that took placed during that time period. Events that were lost throughout time are hard to piece together from discoveries that are found because it can answer some questions, but they will also create other questions. The objective of this film is to inform and talk about some of the discoveries that were made by stories that where written and passed down through generations. They used that knowledge to figure out where and the reasons in to why they settled down in certain areas in modern day Canada. In my opinion I found the subject of this film to be very interesting and I learned many new theories on how people arrived in Canada and the reason why. The way that the research was being told in a boring tone that is kind of typical in most historical documentaries. The Vinland Mystery goes into the research and the discovery that was being made through stories being told by Norse tales that were passed down throughout the generation which detailed the event into why they arrived in Canada. There were also some beautiful scenery in the documentary like the discovery the 40 mile long beach that was mentioned in the Norse documents. The amount of history that that the producers had to fit within the time frame of the film was well put together and was told in a way that the audience could get an understanding of the research being done. I also found interesting that once they were finish with their research the site became a national historical park and was nominated to the world heritage list by UNESCO. Overall, I found the film to be a very good film that should be watch if you are interested into the Norse movement to the Canada and how they may have been the first to discover the America instead of the Europeans. The length of the film helps it to be a quick watch and still get a lot of information from it.

Good Overview

[tmmoon-72889 · 8/10 · 5 February 2019]

I really enjoyed this documentary, I thought it provided good information on a specific topic of Norse history in Canada. With that being said I would rate this documentary as a 7.5 out of 10.

I gave it this rating because, although I feel it did provide very good information in a condensed movie, I think it was slightly too condensed. In my opinion this documentary could have been slightly longer and talked a little bit more about the voyages of Eric the Red and Leif Erickson. It also could've delved more into some of the interactions between the Inuit people and the settlers. While this documentary covered a good deal about the excavation I feel like the documentary could've talked a little bit less about all the little details of the excavation, for example, I feel like the could've covered everything about the bog iron in probably 30 seconds.

I also think this movie could've spoken more about the "legends" of Vinland. After watching the documentary, I feel like this whole documentary was about a hunt for this place only talked about in stories and they didn't find it. But they did find something.

The movie was very interesting and provided good insight into the history of the Norse in Canada. I thought that the movie did a very good job of explaining the basic history of the Norse explorations to North America. Although it would've been nice for the documentary to cover more about the expeditions and I feel like the historical significance of the dig site was kind of skimmed over.

Overall, this documentary provided very good information about a pretty significant archaeological find. I would be curious to find out if anymore excavations have been done since this documentary has been made. This movie was very well made for being an old movie and was actually very easy to watch. So, all in all this movie was a great learning experience that provided good information.

Interesting, Short and some Beautiful Nature Footage

[jokobe · 7/10 · 4 February 2019]

The Vinland Mystery is a pleasant and informative short documentary about L'anse aux Meadows, the first confirmed site of Norse settlement in North America. The visual component of the documentary features some neat shots of ancient Norse writings and art work as well as a wide variety of beautiful nature footage from Greenland and the eastern coast of North America. The music is calm and does not distract from the footage and narration. I found the background on Norse settlements in Iceland and Greenland to be very interesting. The description of the conflict between the Norse settlers and the Inuit people along with the accompanying artwork was also engaging. The most interesting part of the documentary was the journey of Dr. Helge Ingstad and his wife along the coast of North America and the subsequent excavation of the L'anse aux Meadows site. The footage from the trip is breathtaking and showcased a great deal of interesting places I was not aware of, like the 40 mile long beach in Labrador. The archaeological excavation covered quite an impressive area and produced a great deal of interesting finds. I had no idea that things as simple as nails, slag and pins could provide such a definitive level of proof after such long periods of time. It is inspiring that Ingstad and his wife's trip up the coast was able to make such a huge impact on the history of the settlement of North America, it serves a great example of the power curiosity can have. I would really like to know more of the history of the actual settlement at L'anse aux Meadows, it seemed like a beautiful and community centered place. I also would like to know how the community was impacted by the creation of a national historic park so close by. Has the isolated nature of the settlement been completely altered? All in all the documentary went quickly and was extremely engaging, informative and beautiful. It also provides a good starting point for learning about ancient Norse settlements in Greenland and North America. I'd give the Vinland Mystery a 7/10 score.

An excelent movie that isn't without its flaws

[accraig-64858 · 8/10 · 5 February 2019]

The video describes the discovery of a Norse settlement in Newfoundland called L'Anse aux Meadows. I would say that overall this video is really well done. The details about the discovery of this land, and the general structure that the video was ordered in makes it very easy to comprehend while also being interesting to listen to. The accounts coming from the discover himself help portray this discover and gives the motivations behind how it was discovered. Furthermore, the info they give on the Eskimos and what appears to be a recounting of events gives and even bigger context to this historic event and help encapsulate the video's time-frame. Additionally, a major aspect of this film that helped convey the overall sentiment was the sound score. Throughout the entirety of the film, the music that went along with the content helped give a sense of wonder and accomplishment while just watching to story of this site. Finally, I like the way that all the info was presented and the addition of good visuals to showcase the discovery.

A problem with the film, however, is that although the content is really good in this film, I would say that it does not go in-depth enough. This is mainly limited by the length of the film; however, if they could have included more commentary from the discoverer or more historical background into the context of the site, it would have greatly improved the film. Further, I think that the pacing could have been slightly quicker. It feels to be a bit too drawn out for the content that is in the film, and I think conveying the content a bit quicker could help remedy with that. Another criticism that I have with this film is that the cuts of the discoverer could be a bit cleaner in their presentation. It feels that the film is built around an interview almost, and I think it could be improved by just making those portions more straightforward so that it seems more like the discoverer himself is telling the story. Overall, I think that it is still a great film and would rate it 8/10.

Interesting watch

[rmschlic · 6/10 · 5 February 2019]

On a scale of one to ten with ten being the highest, I would rate this movie at about a 6. I think that, overall, the movie is a good watch and gives accurate information (accurate to the time the movie was filmed; early to mid- 1980s) to the viewer about Viking settlements along the North American coast. I think the inclusion of motion pictures from Dr. Ingstad's research helped authenticate the movie and ground it in real life- instead of just watching an interview and scenery, we were able to watch clips of life in the area and archaeological digs that provide physical evidence for Viking settlements. I believe the scenic shots also give the movie a sort of authenticity by providing the audience with visuals of the land they are learning about. Dr. Ingstad talks about iron and bog iron, and the voiceover is paired with a shot of bog iron being dug and pulled straight from the field. As a wildlife major, I tend to enjoy documentaries that include facts about the natural environment and animals and show long shots of scenery and native wildlife. I enjoyed animals such as the black bear and spruce grouse being the visual that was provided while the narrator was explaining possible locations the Vikings may have settled and where Vinland (traditionally) would have been. I think it made a nice connection to the fact that historians and archaeologists cannot just point at any given map and name any given location as Vinland- there are accounts by the Viking settlers that describe wildlife and vegetation and the landscape, and these all factor in to locating the 'true' Vinland. Additionally, the inclusion of traditional art and maps really gave me a sense of how real this actually is; Dr. Ingstad and the narrator aren't just talking about any random old story, they are explaining the history behind the first European settlers of North America.

I will admit, however, that my review is a bit on the low side of what I think this movie deserves. This is simply because the movie is a short documentary that reviews information that I already knew- I am biased. I think the movie is of excellent quality in both filmography and information for the time that it was created, and that it would be an interesting and insightful watch for someone who doesn't have prior knowledge of Vinland and Viking settlements in North America. It is an interesting movie and I think it would have been more interesting and fun to watch had I not already known the information that it was made to pass along.

Good information, poor presentation

[richterlauryn · 5/10 · 5 February 2019]

On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this movie a 5/10To begin with, it's a very short film and not a lot can be reviewed from that. Secondly, it's a very old film and hard to watch. The technology isn't updated and it get's hard to focus when there is poor quality involved( even though at the time the technology used was the best). I would say that the video still has a lot of useful information about the mysterious Vinland. They used footage from actual researches trying to crack this mystery. Apparently Vinland is the place that could not be found and people have been trying to search for it, more than likely it could've been America that was discovered. I thought it was very informative on how they mentioned the background of Greenland and how Vinland was came to be heard of or discovered. They use sufficient information in my opinion, but it's very outdated. The video as a whole is very well made in it's connections to Norse history. It's still an informative video to people who haven't heard of the Vinland Mystery before. The movie traces history back to the original people who first settled there and told the stories from the artifacts that they had found. One thing I didn't like in the movie was how they kept going to the two people being interviewed. I know it's a documentary, but it kinda got off track when it would show them and it was hard to understand their accents. They could've improved on it more by just showing clips from the couples trip rather than having the actual interview in it. I also think that they could've added more information or background to Vinland rather than diving straight into it for people that have not a clue about it. Overall I thought the movie was informative, but slow and outdated. It could have been presented in a better way with more visual graphics to help viewers get a better understanding of where and what the narrator is talking about. Like mentioned before, I would say a 5/10, good information, but could've been presented better.

Interesting Video that Doesn't Explore the Complete Narrative

[atdorn · 6/10 · 25 May 2019]

I enjoyed the story-telling of this video. It gave a coherent storyline of how an ancient Norse settlement was discovered when people thought that there was nothing more to be discovered. I liked hearing the enthusiasm of Drs. Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad and of their faith that there was something that needed to be found. They were able to distinguish the truth out of the information they had and persevered to prove it. Though I thought the information provided in this video was enlightening I think that there is another side of this story that needed to be told in this video as well. And that is the story of the l'Anse aux Meadows people. I wish that the story was also told from someone like George Decker's point of view, such that how the ruins' existence was known and what he believed it to be. This video, after Dr. Helge Ingstad's initial description of l'Anse aux Meadows and the people who lived there, never mentions them again. How did declaring l'Anse aux Meadows as a national historic site impact their lives? I can imagine that tourism to that area to see this ancient settlement increased and that these people who lived there were not used to that many outsiders, who were in a way invading their home. Did the people of l'Anse aux Meadows welcome these outsiders with the same hospitality that they showed Drs. Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad or did they resent them? Did they feel pride about their involvement in this discovery or did they wish that Dr. Helge Ingstad had never came? Did the information learned in the discovery of the ancient Norse settlement outweigh the change that the people of l'Anse aux Meadows experienced due to it is the question that is never addressed in this video and one that I think is an important part of this narrative.

Interesting Piece of History

[jbilkey-36308 · 8/10 · 19 May 2019]

I am giving this movie a rating of 8/10. This rating would be lower for today's standards, but I took into account the time since this movie was produced, so I give it some understanding for the outdatedness. The reason for the -2 points is the production of the film. The narrator is monotonous, the people who speak on camera are disinteresting and unexciting in their demeanor, but the information they bring to the table is still very interesting.

To start off, the battle between the Norse and Inuit was a very interesting dynamic. The two were originally allies but the Norse betrayed the Inuit, and the Inuit struck back. I thought this dispute was very interesting and most likely a key point in the Norse expedition.

Another piece that I found to be very interesting was how, even to experts, some pieces of this history are lost in translation with little clues to follow but no definite answers. Historians may have a very hard job, especially if the work is very unclear.

To learn how people settled in modern-day Canada was especially fun to learn. Learning about the Norse people and their decisions in living in Canada kept my interest throughout the entire film. Even learning about their making of charcoal and making iron from slag was extremely intriguing as this makes you think about their technology and way of life, and how different it is from the modern day.

Could Have Had More Detail

[tjpepera · 6/10 · 4 February 2019]

I found this movie to be very informative especially to somebody like me who had never even heard of the Vinland mystery prior to watching this movie. I found it to be very entertaining despite being a quite old movie. It was very historic and it pointed out plenty of detail as far as the events that had to take place in order to retrace the steps of the Norse people to find Vinland. However, I did not like how slowly the story progressed and how there was very little real time expedition taking place throughout the movie. I believe they would have incorporated more film similar to the end of the movie that shows the archaeologists and their findings as they dug around the area of L'Anse Aux Meadows.

Another part of the movie that I was not a huge fan of was the use of the two people being interviewed. Their accents were very hard to understand and made it much more difficult to follow the storyline of the movie. I believe that they could have added more detail into their findings at the site where they believe that Vinland was. It would have been nice to see some more proof of the site other than a couple nails and a pin. It would have seemed much more convincing had they found some sort of tools or showed some proof of some carbon dating that put the date and the location together with the norse settlement. It's really hard to believe that these norse people were definitely in that area considering that the findings could have possibly been from a later settlement such as the people from France or Spain and many other possibilities.

All in all, I would give this movie a 6 out of 10 for being very informative if you are somebody that has no prior knowledge of this event, but I believe it could have contained more information and details about the location of Vinland to show for certain that this location was indeed Vinland. However, I did enjoy the movie and I would recommend it to anybody that wants to learn about historical events that are not very well known to the general public.

Intriguing Mystery

[john_buckrum · 8/10 · 22 May 2019]

The Vinland Mystery is a short documentary on Dr. Helge Ingstad and his wife Dr. Anne Stine Ingstad and their discovery of the first Norse settlement within North America, Vinland. His research started with 700 year old manuscripts, of which were written from being passed down generation to generation by word of mouth. The certainty of the manuscripts considering the original settlement was over 1000 years ago is little to go off of. Leaving a 300 year gap for story told information does not bode well. Dr. Ingstad pushed on though to read both the Greenlander Saga and Erik the Red's Saga. Both of these mentioned the elusive Vinland. Erik's son Leif Erikson was sent out to further the Norse settlement. This expedition is what founded Vinland, a region on today's Northern Newfoundland. He wrote of a beautiful land where the wild grapes grow. Most historians perceive that since wild grapes were mentioned the settlement must be further South than the proposed Vinland. Dr. Ingstad sustains that due to the timing of the expedition and harsh winters Leif stopped sooner rather than later. And from an old Icelandic map that showed the coast line that resembled the area. Ingstad set out on his own expedition following the same routes described by Leif and it led exactly to Vinland. Dr. Anne Stine Ingstad, being an archeologist, led the excavation of searching for the settlement. What they found is simply amazing; old house settlements, iron slag, and bronze pins, which of the era belonged solely to the Norse culture. The documentary concludes with the discovery being documented and in 1977 becoming a National Historic Park of the first Norse settlement in North America. I give this documentary an 8/10 due to the fact of poor audio and it's hard to understand at certain points.

Well rounded documentary

[fulleri118 · 7/10 · 5 February 2019]

The Vinland Mystery is an interesting short documentary about Norse settlements in North America. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate this movie at a solid 7. The film does a great job of explaining how the Norse people ended up travelling to North America, and also how a pair of semi modern archeologists found and traced the journey of the first settlers. The documentary tells starts out by telling the viewer about Dr. Helge Ingstad and his wife Dr. Anne Stine Ingstad, and archeologist. In 1960, the Ingstads discovered the only authenticated Norse settlement in North America, located in Newfoundland. Together, the pair led many archeological expeditions and excavations between 1961 and 1968, which led to the confirmation that the site that they had discovered was indeed the first Norse settlement in North America. Dr. Ingstad then goes on to tell about how the Norse people made their way to North America, first settling in Iceland, and then Greenland, before moving on to what is now present-day Newfoundland. The documentary then switches gears, and focuses on the history of the first Norse settlers, by telling the story of Erik the Red. Erik was born in the year 950 and was brought to Iceland by his father. His father was a violent man, and Erik took after him. He was forced in to exile, and he ended up settling in Greenland. From there, his son Leif went on to settle what is called Vinland. This is where it all clicked for me personally. I did not know much at all about Norse history, especially when it came to early Norse settlements. I did however, know about Leif Erikson, the first European to "discover" America. This film helped me learn more about the history of Leif's family, and how they ended up stumbling upon North America. Overall, the documentary provides lots of great information about how the Norse people settled in North America. I particularly liked that they made a connection to more modern themes by telling about Dr. Ingstad's archeological excavations and expeditions, it made the documentary more well-rounded.

Interesting watch

[asavard-74326 · 8/10 · 27 May 2019]

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this film an 8. I felt this was an interesting documentary. I didn't feel overwhelmed with information, and it wasn't too long that I got bored. It was an interesting look at Norse history that I feel aged well for how old the film was. I did feel that the pacing of the movie could have been better, as it elaborated on the discovery, then wrapped up extremely quickly with announcing it was a national archaeological site. I felt like I was left hanging, in a way. If this area was discovered in the 60s, and this film was produced in the 80s, then I was curious if there was more to the story that was discovered since the initial discovery years. I was intrigued by it being the first known Norse settlement, but I found it to be odd that they all picked up and left after they spent a few years living there. I wonder if there was something wrong that they found, or that they could have just wanted to head south to warmer weather. I also felt it was odd that they hadn't fully discovered this area for many many years, as I feel that by the 60s, most areas of the world would be pretty well explored. I suppose we do always learn something new, but that just felt strange to me. All in all, I feel that they presented their findings well in the film, and I appreciated the images presented throughout the film.

pretty decently ok

[sgkoerne · 7/10 · 25 May 2019]

Overall, I would rate the "Vinland Mystery" as a 7 / 10. The overall experience of the short film was interesting and has a enjoyable folklore, just the storyteller, visuals, and the overall accomplishment were lame, half of the short film was just audio playing over pictures and videos which may or may not have anything to do with the documentary. The narrator is about as exciting as a watching an ant hill (without a magnifying glass). Also, (spoiler alert) the archaeologists that were looking for this mysterious Vinland didn't even find it, I might as well be watching "Ancient Aliens" because there is no actual hard evidence that they were close to finding the mysterious Vinland.

Before the documentary, I knew that some vikings were great sailors and have sailed over the Atlantic Ocean and into North America, but I never knew they settled in this hemisphere. Besides that, I had no idea about Norse settlement in North America.

During the documentary, Dr. Helge had a thick accent and was very hard to understand sometimes. Get this man a translator or signer or something. Also, I thought it was funny that that Erik named the new discovered land "Greenland" to attract people to settle there, like what did he do when everyone sailed across part of the ocean and it was covered in snow. I finally understood where the documentary was going when Leif Erikson (Hinga Dinga Durgen), the son of Erik, went off to settle Vinland.

After the documentary, looking back and piecing together what I just watched, I realize i just learn a decent amount of Norse folklore which lead to the discovery of North America, which is a pretty big. I think that just finding one nail on the whole excavation site doesn't fully prove your point because the could be just an oddly shaped piece of bog iron.

A great movie that's quick and insightful

[pacmand-53062 · 8/10 · 5 February 2019]

This was a very good goose chase that only ended up finding the egg of the goose and a few feathers. Having no knowledge of this prior, it was a solid description from start to finish and I actually learned a lot.

The vinland mystery is a story that was told down through many generations and this "land" was the wonderful grape growing land that was "found". I thought it gave a good background and really went to give as much information as they had found, so the whole line of events could easily be traced. It was funny how this land in which everyone knew about through word of mouth, never had been documented except in only two sagas: 'Eric the Red' and 'Greenlanders'. Eric's story was the same in 'eric the red' and 'greenlanders'. Eric had to be exiled which I find fascinating because of his choices but why did he commit murder in the first place? It's a total side mission but I would have liked to know why. This is why he lived a hard life like his dad but then the next question is why was his father living a hard life? There's just some backstory on Eric that I would like to know but I guess that's up to me to dream about. It makes sense that Dr. Ingstead would follow the exact route described by leif Erickson but if he already knew what was there, why go along the path? Well it was a good thing he did because he found what he needed, but not what he wanted. There was a beach that was a day long as in the story so Dr. Ingstead found said beach and followed it for another day and found 'L'anse Aux Meadows'. It was a big surprise that he found this beach, but the Norse went even further north. It was perfectly written as so that I thought they found vinland but they dug around and found where the Norse people were living for a short period of time. I was happy to know where they settled but why couldn't there have been clues for the actual 'vinland'? I enjoyed the ending in how they recognized this land of "L'anse Aux meadows" as a national treasure but we still don't know where vinland is. The only reason we're sure the Norse were here because of a nice clue, luckily left behind by those wonderful people. I'm just as happy as I am shocked, we found where they stopped but where did they go after that??? What's north? Ice? Did they turn around? I enjoyed this movie, just take the tiny wins during the movie and run with it! The Dr. and his wife didn't find vinland but they found the next best thing, proof.

I thought it was a good addition that the Dr. included some actual footage of his journey, it gave some life and allowed the viewer to see how gorgeous the land actually was. Having no prior knowledge of this or anything about the people, I had a clear description of who they were and their situations. It is a documentary, but I would recommend this for anyone who likes mystery and likes to have questions afterwards!

Good Informational Documentary

[alynch-89711 · 6/10 · 5 February 2019]

To rate this movie from a one to a ten with ten being the highest or best, I would have to give this movie a rating of six out of ten. I believe this movie to be very informative in the specific topic of "The Vinland Mystery." With that being said, while it was very informative there was one thing that made it very hard to watch. This was that of Dr Helge Ingstad, while i very much appreciated that they included him and his wife in this movie to provide more of their side of the story and details of what they experienced while exploring and researching, it is so hard to understand some of the things he is saying. This especially when they continue to play the audio of his voice but cut the video to another scenic moving portrait. I think adding subtitles to his voice would make it much easier to understand some of the things he is saying. Other than that, I fairly enjoyed the short movie, it did however cause me to ask a few questions. The first of these questions would be how they found out that the last recorded event in Greenland from the people Eric the Red brought over and colonized was a wedding in 1408? Probably an easy question to answer, but wasn't answered. The next on my list of questions would be how many people died trying to sail to Greenland, i only ask this because they said that Barnie was caught in a storm on his first trip from Iceland to Greenland and ended up in Vinland after not being able to navigate for days. This also makes me ask the question, if no one had sailed that far yet, where did all the native people come from? Speaking of native people, back in Greenland, whose bright idea was it to kill all the native women and children while the men were out hunting just because they seemed somewhat suspicious? Either way lets pretend that it happened to be the one person who escaped on the boat. After everything said and done, I did enjoy learning the story behind it considering i had never knew it prior, I just believe it could have been a better delivery.

7.5 / 10 A well told story

[cdkase · 7/10 · 4 February 2019]

7.5/10 The Vinland Mystery is an impressive collection of interviews, footage and historical information regarding the discovery of North America well ahead of Columbus. The story is told using a combination of original footage and interviews with the historians who searched for and discovered the possible "Vinland" island. I found it to be a enthralling tale that warrants a watch from anyone who is interested in the discovery of what is now Canada and the unwritten story of Norse settlement in North America. The story is captivating in its reflection of the struggles of early people and uses an array of reenactments and well animated maps to explain the rout followed by the original sailors and the areas that were inhabited. I found it very educational as much of the information is different or in addition to what is common knowledge and often discussed regarding the discovery of North America. The Leaf Ericson tale and his exciting origin as a cast away from Norway and Iceland is fascinating. The original historians interviews are also moving as they give there fist hand impressions of the life and culture and show a deep interest in their discovery. It is a beautiful story. The film is somewhat dated, the original discovery was made in the 1950s and the footage appears to be late 80s or early 90s production quality. It is also sometimes difficult to understand the heavy accent of the historians without subtitles. The reneactments and footage could have been more creative. Seeing as there was renectment houses built (which were used in the same footage quite alot) there could have been more done in that regard. It was also recycling alot of its same footage of the still shots of the reenactment houses which became rather boring. The film also ended on a very different tone, basically stating that the island probably was not Vinland because they couldn't grow grapes, despite seeming to have declared that was simply an advertising scheme it is then mentioned at the end of the movie that it probably means a different island was Vinland and this was just some Viking stomping grounds, which is too bad but the story is still well told up to the end and a very educational and enlightening work.

Very interesting look into history

[daranvil · 8/10 · 5 February 2019]

It was very interesting to be able to learn about the discovery of a Norse settlement based purely on tales that have been passed down through generations and eventually written down. From these tales and a selection of maps that are available, Dr. Helge and his wife were able to accurately trace the route from Norway across the Atlantic and Arctic oceans to what is now Iceland and Greenland, and eventually what is now Newfoundland and Labrador. It is staggering to learn about how far the settlers actually had to travel between land masses. The name "Vinland" comes from the settler Leif Erikson who had reportedly found wild grapes growing above the northern limit of the grape growing area.

It was also interesting to learn about the interactions between the Norse settlers and the native Inuit people. At first, all was well and peaceful. Then the settlers grew weary of the native people and decided to take matters into their own hands to prevent the natives from turning against them. This resulted in the surviving natives exacting revenge by burning the settlement and killing all but one man. Interactions like these are interesting to discover and study as they expose the build up and eventual and sometimes explosive release of tension between cultures.

One of the most interesting things detailed in the documentary was the discovery of the smelter. Smelters are typically used in the production of high melting point metals such as iron. Along with the smelter, there was evidence of slag and large quantities of charcoal, both of which are byproducts of iron processing, which lead to the assumption, however without sufficient evidence, that a small amount of iron had been produced. Later, this assumption was proven correct by the discovery of a vast bog containing large amounts of raw iron ore, and of a single iron nail.

Knowing of all the technology that was incorporated into this settlement, it seems surprising that it was only around for possibly a couple of years before the settlers continued south further into the Americas, or ventured back to Greenland.

Overall I would rate this film at an 8/10. I give it this score because it is great. The visuals of the archaeological site during the excavation put into perspective just how slow and daunting the discovery process can be. That being said, during the interview, Dr. Helge was difficult to hear at some points and was not easily understood which took some of the awe out of the whole experience.

Well made and very intriguing

[ncmoser · 7/10 · 5 February 2019]

This film was very intriguing and educational. Nordic groups are typically viewed as extreme war hungry people who ravage and pillage all that they see. The Vikings depicted through this film were a gentler folk who built societies and extended culture. Although there was still distrust betrayal between the Vikings and the Native Canadians, the people groups still will willing to live with the idea of possibly coexisting. The videos contributor, Dr. Helge Ingstad, and his wife were in search for remains and archaeological evidence of the vikings in North America. The story and preservation of the site was in good hands. Dr. Helge was very intelligent in finding the remains of the Viking's home. He used legend and tale that was past on with word of mouth for centuries to find the location of the site. The excitement and feeling of discovery kept me drawn into the film. The idea that there were preserved, untouched remains in Northern Newfoundland was quite exciting to here. The Narration of the film was also well kept. The voice was calm and smooth, but was also vivid enough to not put me to sleep. (As most Narrators seem to do for any form of documentary I watch.) Another good point about the film was the quality of video. The video itself may not be in high definition, but the color was well kept in digitizing the original film. Though the old video also is a bit off putting because of its nature of being fuzzy at times. The movie as a whole was well directed, though. It was smooth, but straight to the point. I felt that I could get a good amount of information, while still feeling fully entertained. The image of the map in the video was another good point that I found visually stimulating as I watched the video. Even though the video was of lesser quality, I could still see and read the map quite clearly. Out of 10 stars, 10 being best, I would give this video seven and a half stars. It was intriguing and still straight to the point.