The Farfarers: Before the Norse is a non-fiction book by Farley Mowat, setting out a theory about pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact. Mowat's thesis is that before the Vikings, North America was discovered and settled by Europeans from Orkney. They reached Canada after a generation-spanning migration that used Iceland and Greenland as 'stepping stones'. Mowat's ideas are controversial and have been accused of being over-speculative. The book has been published in the UK as The Alban Quest.

The 'Albans'

Mowat's premise is that Iceland, Greenland and North America were visited and settled before the Vikings by Europeans from the northern British Isles. Mowat refers to these people as Albans, after the ancestral name for the British Isles, and maintains that the Albans were descendants of the original Neolithic peoples of Britain displaced by the Celts. He argues that these peoples were pushed to the fringes of north-western Europe, in Northern Scotland, Orkney and Shetland by Armorican refugees fleeing the Romans. led the Albans to discover Iceland or Thule centuries before the Vikings (as described by the Greek explorer Pytheas in 330 BC).

Richard Ellis of The New York Times stated that "The Farfarers is worth reading, if for no other reason than to experience a provocative, alternative version of history, written by a master storyteller."

Stuart C. Brown of the Department of Anthropology, Memorial University stated that "As any competent archaeologist will tell you, in prehistory few things are impossible -- so Mowat's hypothesis cannot be simply dismissed out of hand. There is a small problem though, which must be overcome before an hypothesis can be at least provisionally accepted: the presentation of reasonably compelling evidence." Brown goes on to point out that there is no evidence at the Pamiok site that anyone other than Tunit used it. He concludes by saying "Can I recommend The Farfarers? Most certainly! I have always enjoyed Farley Mowat's writing and his abiding fascination with Canada and its past. To this tale he brings the full powers of his imagination but, while it is entertaining as fiction, it is far from convincing as fact."

See also

  • Point Rosee

References

  • <!-- quote=The Farfarers mowat. --> Internet Archive