Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1998, Blaðsíða 147

MENNISKJALIGAR REAKTIÓNIR TIL UMHVØRVISBROYTINGAR
í O Y GGJ AS AMFELØGUM í NORÐURATLANTSHAVI
153
was surely supported by the local social
elite which had its cultural background in
Christian Europe. Therefore, Norse Green-
landers just could not response to the wors-
ening of environmental and economic con-
ditions by using the experience offered po-
tentially by the Palaeo-Indians and Palaeo-
Eskimo. Such an option was blocked ideo-
logically.
However, also some more practical as-
pects should be considered. The Norse
were farmers and agriculture has such a
strong impact on human mentality that
there are no(?) examples in history of farm-
ers who voluntarily turn back to hunting-
gathering while totally abandoning tillage
and/or herding. It is not only a psychologi-
cal problem but also a practical one. Agri-
culture is an economy based on a delayed-
return model. This means that large invest-
ment of labour does not give immediate
gains - crops must grow and ripe, and ani-
mals must be fed and cared for before any
food is obtained. There is no place for any
free competition over access to agricultural
resources for it must be regulated and the
rules must be executed. For the Faroes we
have the famous Seyðabrævið (Sheep let-
ter) issued in 1298 (Norges gamle Love, IV,
p. 353f). It gave royal sanction to local reg-
ulations concerning agriculture.
Farming involves settlement stability
which implies building durable houses that
need some infrastructure like paths, fences,
water supplies, etc. It also needs numerous
heavy tools that are often made of imported
materials. All this caused that a farmer
would not give up farming. There is always
some margin of possible adjustments by
specialisation and/or supporting activities
like fishing, hunting and gathering but,
generally, there is no question of abandon-
ment of agricultural land if there is no oth-
er similar locality available.
My conclusion, then, is that the extinc-
tion of the Norse Greenlanders was due to
the Christian ideology of farmers who tried
to continue with their cultural tradition
against any odds. Their will to survive as
civilised Europeans was stronger than their
fear to disappear physically for, in return
for following their religion they were
promised a happier afterlife. Their leaders
were vitally interested in keeping their peo-
ple under ideological pressure. In such a
situation even obvious environmental sig-
nals would be ignored.
References
Bourdieu, P. 1990. The logic ofpractice. Cambridge.
Ingimundarsson, I. H. 1995. Of sagas and sheep: to-
wards a historical anthropology of social change and
production for market subsistence and tribute in
early Iceland (10th-13th centuries). PhD dissertation
for the Department of Anthropology, University of
Arizona.
Urbanczyk, P. 1997. The meaning of Christianisation
for medieval pagan societies. In: P. Urbanczyk (ed.).
Early Christianity in Central and East Europe.
Warsaw: 31-38.
Urbanczyk, P. unpublished. Why did the Norse Green-
landers not leam from the Thule Inuits?, Paper
prepared for the congress in Reykjavik - 17-20 June
1998.
Vesteinsson O. 1996. The Christianisation of lceland.
Priests, power and social change 1000-1300. PhD
thesis, London.