In Norse mythology, the burning rainbow bridge of Bifröst is the gateway between the realm of the gods (Asgard) and the realm of humans (Midgard). It holds prophetic significance, as “Ragnarök” — the end of the world — is foretold to begin with its collapse, leading to the inevitable fall of Asgard. Thus, it is guarded by Heimdall, son of the almighty Odin. Thanks to the MCU, the world knows the bridge well, for it is where Idris Elba (playing Heimdall) makes his last stand against Hela’s wolf (before Bruce Banner goes green to “smash”).
The far white world of Greenland is a Bifröst in its own capacity. And this is not a poetic use, as among all Norse places, Greenland is where myth and verifiable history fuse. It is the only place in the Nordic realm where myths, saga literature, folklore, archaeology, and even Christianity overlap without any boundary.
Furthermore, until medieval times, Greenland was the edge of the known world for the Norse. Mothers made mischievous kids fall into line by cautioning them of the wrath of Korlim. Condemned to death by burning in Hvalsey for sorcery in 1407, he was one of many spirits, giants, and cursed families that mainlanders rumoured to prosper in Greenland due to its proximity to the unknown. And for the obedient ones who fell asleep on their grandmothers' laps, it was a land of extreme magic where dreams came true. This is why in the Asterix cartoons, the Normans say they have come south to “learn what fear is”. It refers to a famous Norse saga motif, as the northern ice people are fearless because they live at the edge of the world, closer than most to the forebringers of Ragnarök.
By establishing permanent settlements in Greenland, they turned the “myth” of lands further west (Vinland/North America) into reality — yet again true to its calling as the bridge.
Tracing the history of Greenland over the last millennium involves a fascinating cast of characters who represent three cultural waves: the Norse explorers, the Thule people, and the Dano-Norwegian colonisers. In mainland Scandinavia, history often begins with kings and wars. In Greenland, it began with exile and discovery instead, when Erik the Red set out on exploration after being banished from Iceland for murder and ended up on a frozen island. The hot-headed chieftain named it "Greenland" for branding purposes to attract settlers. In 985 AD, he led a fleet of 25 ships to establish a Norse foothold that would last for nearly 500 years.
While Erik was a pagan, his wife Thjodhild was a Christian and built the “New World’s” first church. Their son, Leif Erikson, followed his mother’s footsteps to convert the Norse population of the island before turning Greenland into the base for the first European landing in North America. Leif made his Vikings fish and hunt walruses for tusk export instead of conducting violent sea raids.
The family remained characters mentioned in the ‘Vinland Sagas’, two Icelandic texts written in the early 13th century, before ruins were excavated. But the harsh frosts and chills of the Little Ice Age gradually led the Norse to go extinct over time. It was the arrival of the Thule people around 1200–1300 AD that clothed the land in a new fur. With their whale-hunting tools, kayaks, and larger “umiak” boats, the coastal belts of the frostbound barrens became marginally hospitable again. The Thules, with a long march from Alaska and Arctic Canada behind them, never collapsed. Their descendants, eight centuries later, survived to be called Inuits, and were reportedly offered $100,000 per head by POTUS 47 to sell and leave.
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Denmark–Norway, meanwhile, remained hopeful that the Norse explorers thrived there and continued to claim sovereignty over the island despite having no contact with their folk.
History smiled at the polar island again when a Norwegian missionary called Hans Egede sailed to Greenland in 1721. He earned the name ‘The Apostle of Greenland’ as he managed to give wings to Scandinavian colonial dreams by evangelising the Inuits. He founded Godthåb, which would later become Nuuk, the modern capital of the island. The 1700s witnessed more settlements appearing and the gradual return of European economic and civic life.
Mundane chills breezed across the island for decades until the twentieth century, when a Danish civil servant called Eske Brun became governor and then president of the Greenland Administration. Many dub him the “Founder of Modern Greenland” for leading it before and after World War II. In 1979, local priest Jonathan Motzfeldt became the PM, turning Greenland from a province to a self-governing nation with its own flag within the Kingdom of Denmark. Uncle Sam, meanwhile, used the threat of the Nazis and Soviets to establish bases.
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The MCU claims an inevitable Ragnarök was brought via Bifröst by Surtur, the reckless fire demon reborn with a black crown and orange flesh. Well, with doomsday in the picture, the world would love Greenland to stop evoking the rainbow bridge at this point. All things considered, one can’t be blamed for seeing signs in the black suits and orange hair of a certain someone. As for recklessness, ask Caracas. May Odin and Thor be with us all!
