In the beautiful country of Iceland there are a couple of dozen waterfalls, but none of them compare to the great Skógafoss located in Skógar. Skógafoss is one of the largest waterfalls in the country; from where the water flows over to the splash down is a sixty-meter fall and stretches twenty-five feet wide. Because of the constant mist that rises up there is always a rainbow or even two that glow amazingly across the fall. This waterfall is also an attraction for treasure hunters. Legend has it that Þrasi Þórólfsson was the first settler in Skógar around 900 CE. He was known as a great warrior, but most certainly greedy in his old age. When he believed that his life was coming to an end, he decided that he was going to take his money with him. He filled a chest with all of his gold and valuable items and sank it into the water under Skógafoss. Time and time again people have claimed they have seen it, but then would glance away and could not find it again. One man was able to get a rope through a ring on the side of the chest, but as he was pulling it up the ring broke off and the chest sunk back down. The man that was left with just a ring brought it to a church in Skógar where it hung on the door; since then the church has been demolished, and the ring is held at a the Skógar Museum.
In 1658 an all-black ship appeared in the harbor of Lynn, MA. Four men and a chest lowered from the ship, and they were quickly named pirates throughout the town. The men sailed up the Saugus River to the iron works to purchase tools such as hatchets, shovels, and shackles. The tools were crafted as they were getting paid in silver. The pirates set up camp on the Saugus River in the spot which is now known as Pirate’s Glen, but word got out that they were staying there and British soldiers went out to look for them. Three were captured and hung, but one was able to escape. His name was Thomas Veal, and he escaped deep into the woods and started living in a cave. Over time he lived in peace as a member of the Lynn community. One day, a sudden earthquake shook the Lynn area, and a large rock tipped forward permanently sealing the cave entrance and trapping Veal and his treasure forever. This location is now known as Dungeon Rock. Although the area was searched for years no one has been able to find the treasure.
The two men, Þrasi Þórólfsson and Thomas Veal, share much in common with the great Viking Erik the Red. In the Icelandic Erik the Red’s Saga, Erik is banned from Iceland due to a few murders and has to set sail with his followers to new land. They ended up in Greenland, which was undiscovered until his time. When he arrived in Greenland he left his mark by naming new towns after himself and family just as Þrasi left his chest that now plays a part in Icelandic heritage, as does Dungeon Rock in Lynn Woods.
Hjálmarsson, Jon R. "Gold Under Skogafoss." Icelandic Times, Feb. 2016, icelandictimes.com/gold-under-skogafoss/.
The Vinland Sagas: The Icelandic Sagas about the First Documented Voyages Across the North Atlantic. Translated by Keneva Kunz. Penguin, 2008.Whydah Pirate Museum is in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The wreck of the Whydah Gally is approximately fifteen-hundred feet off Marconi Beach in Cap Cod, with most of its wreckage submerged in sand. Originally built in 1715 as a transport ship for slaves, the Whydah Gally sat at one-hundred feet in length and weighed over three-hundred tons. During its first and only voyage as a slave transport ship, it was taken by pirate captain Sam “Black” Bellamy after a three-day chase. By the time Bellamy’s fleet reached New England after taking over the Whydah, he and his crew had plundered over fifty separate vessels. On the night of April 26, 1717, a nor’easter struck the Whydah, running the ship aground on a sandbar. Many of the pieces recovered from the wreck are on display in the Whydah Pirate Museum, which currently houses a full-size replica of the ship. Since the wreck’s discovery by an underwater explorer named Barry Clifford, over two-hundred-thousand pieces have been recovered by Clifford’s team according to Ian Aldrich of New England Today. The wreck of the Whydah is one of the only golden-age pirate wrecks with undoubted conformation thanks to the discovery of a plaque and bell with the ship’s name on both, which makes it a cultural symbol of the late golden-age of pirating. Not only is it one of the only identified golden-age pirate wrecks with two pieces of proof confirming the ship’s identity, but it also remains in the New England area, making it a valuable symbol of pirating and pirate culture during the early 18th century. Pirating and pirates have a long-standing history in the seafaring world. Traversing oceans and battling the elements can be just as deadly as the pirating and raiding, and the 18th-century pirate lifestyle owes a great deal to that of their Viking metaphorical ancestors.
Vikings are synonymous with pirating, looting, raiding, and seafaring travel. Some would consider Vikings to be some of the best sea navigators of their day, and with good reason. Being a Viking was a job, and that job involved pirating. If a Viking wasn’t an excellent navigator, fighter, or plunderer of goods, the Viking wasn’t good at their job.
Egil’s Saga follows the story and lives of the clan Egil Skallagrimsson, who holds the titles of farmer, skald, and Viking. The saga spans multiple generations and goes through the family’s history from Egil’s grandfather to Egil’s offspring. Like the pirates aboard the Whydah, Vikings plundered for loot across the seas. While pirates primarily overtook ships, and preferred not to fight and risk losing the enemy’s ship and the cargo it held, Vikings primarily raided along coastal waters and, as a result, didn’t have the heavy economical restrictions as golden-age pirates. As The Sagas of the Icelanders edited by Jane Smiley notes, the Viking’s “[f]irst notable attack on England came, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 793, when the church on the island of Lindisfarne was plundered and some people were slain.” While being a Viking was a job and title, piracy in the golden-age of pirates was more akin to a way of life. Vikings could go back home to their family in Iceland or Norway, but pirates didn’t typically have national allies, which made going to any kind of home much more difficult.
The image chosen to go with Egil’s Saga and subsequently the Whydah Pirate Museum and Whydah shipwreck is the image of a Viking longboat at the Roskilde Ship Museum in Denmark. Both Vikings and the more modern, golden-age pirate used ships as their primary method of travel, which makes this image serve as a reminder not only of the seafaring ways of pirates and Vikings, but the possible dangers of sea travel during the period. This is an excellent image of a piece of Viking cultural history and, in part, the pseudo ancestors to the golden-age pirates of the 17th and 18th century.
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