Chapter 23 | Helluland
on February 1, 2024
at 12:00 am
Helluland translates to “land of flat rocks” and is thought to mean the areas around Baffin Island. The stone structure featured on this cover is an inuksuk, a cairn or landmark made by purposefully piling stones on each other. They rarely made the shape of a person and could vary greatly in size, and we can only guess what their use was. They were probably most often used as markers to navigate by and signal the location of camps or hunting routes. Some might have been more spiritual in purpose. Regardless, their presence is a clear indicator that, at some point in time, people were there.
And we’re back!
When I was a kid, I made things like this on our beach (which is all slate and stuff the glacier left) for no particular reason other than it was cool to stack rocks on top of each other.
Where there are rocks, there are ways to stack them.
Posted Feb 1? I’m so early the new cover page is in the future!
Haha, yeah I guess I should specify Feb 1 EST lol.
Yay! We’re back!!
Woo! Hopefully for a while.
Hooray! Welcome back!
Aw, thank you!
Welcome back! I hope you’re doing alright, I’m sorry about your job troubles and hope they’ll get solved soon.
Thank you! Job troubles haven’t gone away but working on something makes me feel better.
Hooray for the return!
Yay, thank you!
Some native Alaskan peoples used them to help herd caribou to areas where they could be trapped and killed. Apparently, the break in the flat landscape was enough to turn them.
Yeah they’ve likely been used for a lot of different things! Definitely would have stood out.
Yay!
As a background note: At this time period the Inuit of Arctic North America have not arrived on the scene and the indigenous groups are probably the Tuniit/middle to late Dorset culture.
More on this here: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dorset-culture
I guess it’s never been said in the comic itself but, yes, Arne is from the Dorset culture. We don’t actually know what they called themselves and I’ve gone back and forth on what term to use, but settled on Dorset because it would produce the most results in a web search.
Hurray! My happiness levels just jumped up a great deal higher. 🙂
Yay! Glad I could contribute.
Welcome back.
We missed you.
Thank you! I missed the comic too. It’s good to get back to it.
Here’s hoping your situation resolves soon, this is a long time to be so precarious and while we know you’re worth it, it’s hard to believe it with knockbacks. I feel that.
Oh yeah it’s definitely tough. Especially as we live in a culture that places so much worth on the work you do. When you don’t have any work, you start to feel worthless. Hopefully something turns around soon. Thank you!
@Sarah: for me “Helluland” means “Halleluyah!” because I am so happy to see you back.
@Elizabeth Thomas: mine too!
@Felixscout: The Canadian Encyclopedia article Inuit says ” The ancestors of the present-day Inuit, who are culturally related to Inupiat (northern Alaska), Katladlit (Greenland) and Yuit (Siberia and western Alaska), arrived about 1050 CE. As early as the 11th century the Norse exerted an undetermined influence on the Inuit.” Since Sarah has never specified dates except for “some time in the Viking Age” she can make the Arctic people Inuit if she wants to. (Also, fiction, eh!) : – )
Haha, glad to be back! I mentioned it to Felix but yeah, Arne is from the Dorset culture. But the Dorset weren’t the only people in the Arctic at this time…
Excited to see this return and psyched to see Arne’s homeland.
Aw thank you! I’m excited to finally reach this part too. :3
Welcome back!
New year new start and hopefully new job.
Sure hope so lol, thanks!