After the disappearance of the Norse colonies in Greenland, the Inuit had no contact with Europeans for at least a century.

It was not until 1721 that a joint merchant-clerical expedition led by Danish missionary Hans Egede discovered that the Norse colonies in Southern Greenland had disappeared.

The Norse colonies were later abandoned.

While rejecting Danish authority, Olaf made it his mission to convert Norway and the Norse colonies in the west as quickly and as completely as possible.

The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century.

While the Norse colonies in Greenland lasted for almost 500 years, the continental North American settlements were small and did not develop into permanent colonies.

Diamond travels to the scenes of vanished civilizations like the Polynesian society on Easter Island and the medieval Norse colonies on Greenland.

The Norse settlers were followed by immigrants from Norse colonies in Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Western Isles of Scotland.

Erik founded the first Norse colonies in Greenland, and was based at the family estate Brattahlíð in the so-called Eastern Settlement, where Leif had his upbringing.

Iceland's biggest problem was environmental fragility: by far the most fragile soils among the Norse colonies, and the second most fragile vegetation after Greenland.