The Vinland Mystery

For more than two centuries, scholars have speculated about the existence and location of the mysterious "Vinland the Good," mentioned in manuscripts of Icelandic sagas. Vinland, "the place where the wild grapes grow," was thought to be on the eastern coast of North America somewhere between Virginia and Newfoundland. In 1960 a curious group of house mounds was uncovered at l'Anse aux Meadows in northern Newfoundland by Drs. Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad of Norway. This documentary, intercut with material from the illuminated manuscripts, ancient maps and archival footage shot by the Ingstads, is the story of the search, discovery and authentication of the only known Norse settlement in North America. Named to the United Nations World Heritage List, l'Anse aux Meadows is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.