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Staff Book and Media Recommendations

Library Research Guide Collection of book and media reviews by library staff

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DVD

Reviewer Patrick Douglas

Patrick Douglas is a Library Technician at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Title

The Viking Deception: The Truth Behind the Vinland Map

Review

From its discovery in 1957 to the present, the Vinland Map—supposed evidence that the Vikings settled the Americas at least a half century before Columbus landed in the Caribbean—has been the subject of a great deal of controversy.  Bound with the more accepted antique text, The Tartar Relation, the map has undergone close scientific examination from a variety of experts, each employing vastly different techniques and technologies.  At stake were the reputations of Yale University, its Beinecke Rare Book Library, and their benefactor, millionaire philanthropist Paul Mellon, not to mention the feelings of millions of Italian-Americans and the accuracy of schoolbooks across the country.

The map had several things going against it.  Its depiction of Greenland—which was first successfully navigated in the twentieth century—was complete and very accurate, while the shape of the Scandinavian peninsula—the Vikings’ homeland—was horribly inaccurate.  Just as important, no other Viking map had ever been discovered, since the Vikings passed down their knowledge of seafaring by oral tradition, not by making maps.  Also, the rebinding of the missing companion text, The Speculum Historiale, used modern materials, available only since the 1950s.  In its favor—the discovery in 1960 of a Viking village during an archaeological dig in Newfoundland.

Over the decades, the authenticity of the Vinland Map has been hotly debated, its many analyses often being very contradictory, offering explanations as to why previous conclusions may have been in error.  This episode of the PBS series NOVA ultimately takes a position on the map’s authenticity, even though there is further recent evidence to the contrary which is never mentioned.  Still, this installment of the educational series is a fascinating history of the discovery, controversy, and intrigue surrounding a singular piece of antiquity that could change the way millions view their world.

Review Date

Reviewed March 2013