Norwegian and Icelandic settlers were also not uniformly wealthy warriors.

Most people living on the farms were farmers, herders, craftspeople, hunters, traders, women, children, and enslaved people.

Their society had social hierarchies, but daily survival depended on mundane work.

The image of a Viking warrior standing with an axe in the snow is therefore a poor model for understanding Greenland.

The better image is a farmer checking a haystack.

A family counting sheep before winter.

A boat preparing to leave for a hunting ground.