Five decades have now passed since a major university proudly announced the existence of the Vinland Map to the world. Hailed as the “oldest known map showing American lands,” its publication was greeted with a wave of chaotic controversy. To this day, despite being widely denounced as a forgery, the Vinland Map still exercises a mysterious drawing power.
In a detailed critical study, Scottish researcher John Paul Floyd sets out his personal discoveries which expose the true scandals surrounding the Vinland Map. It is a story of a church library subjected to quiet pillage, of shady dealings in the antiquarian bookselling trade, of respectable institutions determined not to relinquish their spoils, of a police investigation intent on thwarting the return of stolen property. It is the story of ancient Icelandic tales, of Norse adventurers and of innocents accused of forgery. It is the story of medieval maps, misguided scholarship and a scientific debacle. It is a story of how experts have overlooked the obvious for fifty years.
Nobody with even a passing interest in the Vinland Map controversy can afford to be unaware of the findings presented in “A Sorry Saga.”
