Vinland is so called because of what appears in the
Icelandic Annals at the time of discovery. The expedition describes an area with
wild grapes in profusion, vast stretches of towering
timber, an abundance of
game of all kinds, rivers teeming with giant
salmon, meadows rich with a harvest of
wild wheat, and a
climate so kind that winter
frosts were hardly known; even the
dew seemed to them sweeter than anything they'd ever tasted before. And
Leif the Lucky named the country
Vinland: '
Wineland', the land of grapes.
This is the main point of conjecture about the location of 'Vinland'. Since the settlers seemed to place so much importance on the quantaties of grapes that surrounded them, it seems unlikely that they could have been talking about Newfoundland. Before the discovery of the settlement in Newfoundland at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Vinland had been confidently located by enthusiasts in areas as far apart as Hudson Bay and Virginia.
The discovery of Viking settlement in Newfoundland is of monumental historical importance, but does little to paint a clear picture of the extent of the Norse colonization of America.