From the moment that one exits Route 1 at Deer Lake and begins the 526 KM (327 mile) journey along “The Viking Trail”—as Newfoundland Route 430 officially is known—which takes one to the turn-off for L’Anse aux Meadows and eventually ends at St. Anthony, one begins to see growing signs of Viking branding and marketing. These, of course, reach a fever pitch in the immediate vicinity of the Norse Settlement Site, but let’s get real: Hopeful entrepreneurs are hawking plastic horned helms at gas stations half the Island away, and the Island is BIG (nearly 43,000 square miles; a bit bigger than Tennessee, a bit smaller than Louisiana. It’s the 16th largest island in the world, and the roads are neither very good nor are they often direct. So Newfoundland, if anything, SEEMS even bigger than it is. And that’s not counting Labrador, which is much, MUCH bigger, and part of the same Province).
In any case, a few Vikingesque business ventures in the immediate vicinity of L’Anse aux Meadows are worth a visit, and I’d be lying if I claimed that a select few of some of even the very cheeziest didn’t seem kind of fun. We live just outside of Gettysburg, so we have been well aware of the sort of economic development spurred by what, for lack of a better term, one might term “marketable history nuggets” for quite a long time. Having lived in Scotland and Denmark and having spent a fair amount of time in Iceland and the Northern Isles of Britain, I’ve also experienced a wide range of specifically “Viking”-themed marketing in my time. These have run a very wide gamut from the tasteful gift shops of well-preserved and interpreted archaeological sites to thoughtful, privately-financed living history, to nightmare-inducing animatronics, to bog-standard fast-food and cheap trinkets with dragons, horned helmets, and/or longships crudely stamped on them.
Something interesting about the growth of the Viking-themed market on Newfoundland, however, is the fact that, until the 1960’s, there was no archaeological evidence whatsoever to support the saga references regarding the settlements that eventually were identified at L’Anse aux Meadows. It is certain, in any case, that there was absolutely no traditional island population with a folk knowledge of Norse ancestors, because to the very best of our knowledge, the Norse settlers on Newfoundland just packed up and left: They left no European descendants behind. Therefore, unlike the situation in Iceland or Scandinavia or even the Northern Isles of Scotland, the current residents of Newfoundland have no real connection to the Norse other than geographical proximity to a fairly small archaeological site and very vague cultural ties. In addition, this very sense of “cultural connection” can be highly problematic, as Annette Kolodny suggests in her 2012 book, In Search of First Contact. We will explore similar themes in our book.
In any case, that is all by way of cautionary caveat. In addition to nearly countless gift shops and restaurants along the Viking Trail, in terms of the actual enterprises worth investigating further, the Vikingly venture closest to the settlement itself that is probably worth a stop and certainly would please the kids is called “Norstead: A Viking Village and Port of Trade on L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland.” This takes sort of a “Colonial Williamsburg” approach to the Norse Settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows, and seems to be a real crowd-pleaser. It certainly has gotten a lot of attention and won some awards. It is of interest, therefore, both as an attempt at living history and as a market-driven manifestation of the immense popularity of all things Viking, and the good, the bad, and the ugly that may entail.
In the immediate neighborhood, there’s also the Viking Village B&B, as well as the Viking RV Park (although I could sense nothing really Norse at the latter, I do have an unsolicited testimonial: Stop there for a great home-cooked breakfast and locally sourced and homemade Pigeonberry Preserves, Scones, and Muffins! The Moose Burgers are also quite good.) The Norseman Restaurant overlooking the statue of Leif Eiríksson is actually very good by any standard. Although the attached gift shop is a little pricey, the Medievalist in our party was thrilled to see a JOTUN-sized stack of the most recent excellent Penguin edition of The Vinland Sagas parked right by the cash register for the more discerning and literate impulse-buyer.
Going a bit further afield, there is even a “Great Viking Feast” in a spectacular, cliff-side coastal location at the end of Fishing Point Road in St. Anthony, the biggest town in the area, about a 40-kilometer, 40-minute drive from L’Anse aux Meadows. Yep: It takes a good 40 minutes to cover those 25 miles, and look out both for giant potholes and giant trucks attempting to avoid same…. St. Anthony is also the home of the Viking Mall (where one may find everything a growing Viking needs, including grocery, bargain, & liquor stores), as well as to RagnaRöck Northern Brewing Co., which bills itself as “The Brewery at The End of the World!” The bar-hands further claim it to be the northernmost brewpub in continental North America, but that wasn’t an important enough factoid for us to bother to check. Playing off the Marvel Universe as well as their (relative) proximity to L’Anse aux Meadows, the claim to be at the end of the world also comes from the fact that The Viking Trail (NL Route 430) ends in St. Anthony. This reality, (as even a quick glance at a map will show you) is not just idle talk, given the general state of the roads in Newfoundland and their “can’t get THERE from HERE” structure. Add to that the fact that the region around St. Anthony is isolated by virtue of its location at the extreme furthest end of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, and you might just buy that tagline by the time you arrive. You’ll certainly be ready for a beer. I recommend Syn’s Oat’h Stout Oatmeal Stout. John prefers the Freyja’s Feathered Cloak Session IPA. And as a closing note, the unique spelling of RagnaRöck is due to the fact that, long before Dwayne Johnson had descended from Valhalla to dwell amongst we lesser mere mortals in Midgard, Newfoundland has been known as “The Rock.”
Some of these places are worth a visit in their own right, but our own interest in them is in the blatant, not to mention seemingly profitable, commodification of the Norse Settlement Site, as well as how this trend exemplifies broader, and at times sinister, cultural trends. That will be a subject of some scrutiny in our book.
But for now, we raise our mead-horns to our readers with a mighty Skál!
More from our Files of the Viking Trail soon.
We have plotted many of our adventures on this map; as our dear friend & colleague Professor Myers has wryly noted, one MAY find a goodly number of brewpubs along our route:
https://share.garmin.com/IntheWakeoftheVikingsCFee
https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/trip-ideas/road-trips/western/viking-trail
In the Wake of the Vikings 
Skal!
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