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Ívar Bárðarson

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A map of locations from Ívar Bárðarson's report on Greenland, Det gamle Grønlands beskrivelse

Ívar Bárðarson (also known as Ivar Bardarson[1]) was a Norwegian clergyman who was the Bishop's official representative at the Roman Catholic Garðar Cathedral in Greenland from 1341 to 1366.[2] He is best-known for his detailed first-hand account for the Eastern Settlement in Medieval Greenland. Bárðarson was designated the head of the diocese of Garðar for Bishop Hakon in Bergen on 8 August 1341.[3] Greenlandic bishop Árni served on the island from 1315 until his death in 1347 or 1349.[4] During the wait for a new bishop to be ordained, Bárðarson filled the vacancy as an official representative of the Catholic Church.[5] It was discovered that Árni was still alive, so Ívar Bárðarson did not take over the diocese until several years later.[6]

Bárðarson returned to Bergen, Norway, by 1364.[7] Bárðarson brought back information on the Scandinavian colonies in Greenland. Over time, the colonists had grown increasingly isolated and communications with the colony had greatly diminished. His original written report, Det gamle Grønlands beskrivelse, has not survived, but later manuscript copies still exist. The best-preserved copy is the 17th century manuscript "AM 777 a 4to" in the collection Safn Árna Magnússonar at the Arnamagnæan Institute.[8][9]

According to his report, the Western Settlement had already totally disappeared as a colony in the 14th century. Native Americans, called skrælingjar by the Greenlanders, lived in the former area of the settlement, along with feral sheep, goats, and cows descended from the Greeland livestock.[10]

Further reading

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  • Thisted, Kirsten (2001). "On Narrative Expectations: Greenlandic Oral Traditions about the Cultural Encounter between Inuit and Norsemen". Scandinavian Studies. 73 (3): 253–296. ISSN 0036-5637.
  • McGhee, Robert (1984). "Contact between Native North Americans and the Medieval Norse: A Review of the Evidence". American Antiquity. 49 (1): 4–26. doi:10.2307/280509. ISSN 0002-7316.
  • Hemstad, Ruth; Kaasa, Janicke S.; Krefting, Ellen; Nøding, Aina, eds. (18 July 2023). Literary Citizenship in Scandinavia in the Long Eighteenth Century. Knowledge and Communication in the Enlightenment World. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. doi:10.2307/jj.3643591.7. ISBN 978-1-80543-046-9.
  • Ogilvie, Astrid E.J.; Woollett, James M.; Smiarowski, Konrad; Arneborg, Jette; Troelstra, Simon; Kuijpers, Antoon; Pálsdóttir, Albina; McGovern, Thomas H. (2009). "Seals and Sea Ice in Medieval Greenland". Journal of the North Atlantic. 2: 60–80. ISSN 1935-1984.
  • Marcus, G. J. (1953). "The Course for Greenland". Saga-Book. 14: 12–35. ISSN 0305-9219.

References

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  1. ^ Along with Ivar Bardarson and Ivar Bardsen, his name has been latinized as Ivarus Barderi, and sometimes abbreviated to Bertt or Bere.
  2. ^ Thalbitzer, William (30 August 1951). Two Runic Stones, From Greenland and Minnesota (PDF). Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Vol. 116. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. p. 50. OCLC 1482904191.
  3. ^ Høy, Thorkild (1970). Surveying and mapping in southern Peary Land, North Greenland: With an appendix: Some observations on the hydrology of the Jørgen Brønlund Fjord District. Danske Peary Land ekspeditioner. Copenhagen: C. A. Reitzel. p. 70. ISBN 8742100054.
  4. ^ Magnússon, Finnur; Rafn, Carl Christian (1845). Grönlands historiske mindesmærker (in Danish). Trykt i det Brünnichske bogtr.
  5. ^ Larson, Laurence M. (1919). "The Church in North America (Greenland) in the Middle Ages". The Catholic Historical Review. 5 (2/3): 175–194.
  6. ^ Magnússon, Finnur; Rafn, Carl Christian (1845). Grönlands historiske mindesmærker (in Danish). Trykt i det Brünnichske bogtr.
  7. ^ "Dataene er fra Diplomatarium Norvegicum bind I-XXIII". dokpro.uio.no. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  8. ^ Saga Book of the Viking Society for Northern Research. Vol. 33. Viking Society for Northern Research. 2009. p. 74.
  9. ^ Bárðarson, Ívar. "Ivar Baardssøn's Description of Greenland ; Denmark, 1600-1615" (1600-1615) [Manuscript]. Safn Árna Magnússonar, ID: AM 777 a 4to. Copenhagen: Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, The Arnamagnæan Institute.
  10. ^ Mills, William J. (2003). Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 456. ISBN 1576074226.
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