A place

Nuuk

3 stories from this place.

The Footnote June 25, 2026 · Nuuk, Greenland

The First European Dictionary of an Inuit Language Was Compiled by a Lutheran Pastor Who Had Sailed to Find Vikings

Hans Egede arrived in Greenland in 1721 expecting to find the lost Norse community. He found Inuit. Over the following fourteen years he learned the local Kalaallisut language well enough to compile the first European dictionary and grammar of any Inuit language — published in 1750 by his son Paul.

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The Cabinet June 23, 2026 · Brattahlíð, Eastern Settlement, southwestern Greenland

The Norse Outlaw Who Founded Greenland Because He'd Been Banished From Iceland

Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland in 982 for killing two men. He spent three years exploring the next island to the west. He returned, organised a settler expedition of 25 ships, and gave the new territory the most successful real-estate name in medieval European history.

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The Cabinet June 10, 2026 · Nuuk (formerly Godthåb), Greenland

The Missionary Who Sailed to Greenland to Find the Vikings

Hans Egede spent fifteen years on the Greenland coast looking for Norse Christians who had been dead for three centuries. He found ruins, ice, and Inuit.

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