Fun Puzzle: Which parts of Canada and the US did the vikings visit?

[rakovskii]

Let's consider the viability of Resolution Island as Helluland's identity, since it's a natural arrival point when sailing northward from Labrador. Plus, it solves the text issue that in the Greenlanders' Saga, Bjarni's voyagers somehow see that Helluland is an island. It's worth noting that according to Traustason's Visit Vinland, among scholars, the two typical candidates for Helluland are Baffin Island and Resolution Island.

There are three options as to how the Vikings could reach Resolution Island from Labrador, and unfortunately each route causes some unlikelihoods for it to be Helluland:

Option A:
In this case, the Vikings could sail north along the Labrador Peninsula to the peninsula's northern point, and then sail north to get to Resolution Island, a distance of 55 miles, shown on the map with a red line. In this case, there are two serious incongruities the Saga that show up, as the Greenlanders' Saga says that the Vikings sailed 3 days northeast:
I. The distance from Labrador to Resolution Island is 55 miles, whereas a knarr sailing at a bit slower than a standard knarr speed would be expected to cover about 144 miles ( 3 X 12 X 4 mph). Plus, the wind was running in their favor, so one would expect the Vikings to cover even more than a standard distance.
II. The direction from Labrador to Resolution Island at their closest points would run close to directly northward from Labrador, whereas the Saga says that the Vikings sailed northeast.

Neither problem I nor II is literally insurmountable, since they could have sailed in a very roundabout way. But this route seems unrealistic.

Option B:
Suppose that the Vikings took a different route to get from Labrador to Resolution Island. One alternate departure point is farther east down the Labrador Atlantic coast. That way, the Vikings could sail anywhere from the 55 miles to even the maximum 468 miles to get to their arrival point in 3 days. However, even though that eastward shift in the departure point would solve the problem of the expected distance, it would create two problems:

I. This route would mean that the Vikings would be sailing northwest to get to Resolution Island instead of sailing northeast, whereas the Saga gives a northeast trajectory.
II. The Vikings would be practically sailing almost along and parallel to the Labrador coast for much of that route, and thus likely in sight of land. In contrast, the Saga speaks as if the Vikings departed the land directly northeast.

Option C:
The Vikings could depart northeastward from a spot inside of Ungava Bay such as near Leaf River, as the pink line shows. This route could take them 210 miles, which would be somewhere around what one might expect for a three day journey. This route would also solve the problem of direction, as they would be sailing northeast to get to Resolution Island. Nonetheless, Option C is problematic because:

I. For them to get from the Atlantic coast to Leaf River, they would have to sail to the north end of Labrador and then sail southwest to Leaf River, whereas their goal was to get to Greenland, which was far to their northeast.
II. Further, the general impression from the text that I get is that they were sailing in the same general direction with the same general wind direction from the time when they got to Markland until they left it. However, this impression is not an absolute.
III. For the Vikings to sail from the Leaf River area to Resolution Island, they would almost be doubling back against the route that they had come to from Labrador, whereas it would be more simple logistically for them to just sail north from Labrador's north end.

Options A, B, and C all share another potential distance problem, namely that if one interprets Helluland to be the same landmass in each of the two Sagas, then Eric the Red's Saga would entail that it's at most two days' sail north from Markland/Labrador. This 2 day route would run along the red line from Killiniq to Resolution Island. Thus, Options B and C would match Resolution Island's 3 day distance from points on the Labrador Peninsula, but the 55 miles from Killiniq to Resolution Island still looks too short for a 2 day journey.

In fact, even if one were not to interpret the two Sagas as referring to the same landmass as Helluland, Eric the Red's Saga still presents the problem of the closeness of Resolution Island's 55 miles to Labrador in contrast to the 2 days' sail described in Eric the Red's Saga.

Another issue is that you would have to conclude that the Bjarneyar would have to be outlying seashore islands on the east side of Baffin Island for the VIkings in Eric the Red's Saga to make a 2 day journey south from Bjarneyar to Helluland, and in that case, it seems a little puzzling that the Vikings would mention the Bjarneyar instead of mentioning Baffin Island right next to them, although I suppose in that case Baffin Island could be Bjarneyar. However, Baffin Island doesn't work very well for Bjarneyar because it's 23 to 59 miles from Baffin Island to Resolution, depending on the route that one takes, whereas Eric the Red's Saga says that the journey from Bjarneyar to Helluland was two days, and the minimum that one would expect for a two day journey would be 96 miles (2 doegr X 12 hr/doeger X 4 mph)

Thus, it seems conceivable that Resolution Island could be Helluland, but there are a line of unlikelihoods with this identification.

(click to expand)

 

[rakovskii]

To Reiterate:

For Helluland, by process of deduction, we are stuck theorizing that it's either (A) Baffin Island or else (B) an island in the east to southeast range of Baffin Island that runs from Akpatok Island and Resolution Island in the south up to Cape Dyer in the north. More specifically, in Eric the Red's Saga, Helluland could not be farther north than Leopold Island.

For Bjarneyar, the location could only be either (A) on Greenland's west coast between Disko Island and Atammik to the north of Nuuk, or else (B) on Baffin Island's east coast between Cape Dyer and Resolution Island. This limitation is due to the maximum distances for the two daeger journey from Bjarneyar south to Helluland and the two daegar journey from Helluland south to Markland / the Labrador Peninsula.

(click to expand)

 

[Wagonlitz]

It's just been revealed that vikings used glass windows. Something previously thought to have not been the case.
It was stained glass, though, and hence meant to illuminate in various colours, rather than to look through. But still, it demolishes the existing belief that viking halls were dark. Albeit, that belief always has seemed weird to me, as window is a Norse loan word, as in English got it from Norse, and it literally means wind eye. So clearly they knew about windows. Though, perhps it was for staples, not the halls. No idea. Just always seemed weird to me.


Anybody know about where vikings used windows?

 

[Latachaudhary]

L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada,
Gulf of Saint Lawrence,
and Northern United States

 

[Wagonlitz]

L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada,

That likely was just a repair point and not meant to be an actual settlement. Could be Kølnæs (keel ness), but that's probably it.

 

[rakovskii]

So clearly they knew about windows. Though, perhps it was for staples, not the halls. No idea. Just always seemed weird to me.
Anybody know about where vikings used windows?

What did you mean by "staples?"
Maybe you meant "steeple" towers?

Sweden has a Viking recreation town:

Map of the Viking town | Fotevikens Museum

www.fotevikensmuseum.se

England has one at York, called "Jorvik Viking Centre."

An article on the Learn Glass Blowing website from January says:

Spoiler: "Did The Vikings Have Glass Windows? Examining The Use Of Glass Windows During The Viking Age"

During the Viking Age, which lasted from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century, the use of glass windows was common among the wealthier members of Norse society. The wealthy were able to purchase imported glass from the Mediterranean or Central Europe, or alternatively, make their own glass from sand, ash, and lime. The windows were usually made of small, thick panes of glass, held together in a wooden frame. These glass windows allowed for light to enter the home, and for the inhabitants to look out. They were also an indication of the wealth and status of the homeowner.

During Scotland’s medieval period, stained glass windows were primarily used in monasteries, cathedrals, and some smaller churches and chapels. Despite the fact that glass was previously used in castles and towers, it was not until centuries later that it was widely used.
...
Viking houses, on the other hand, rarely had windows due to the lack of light that would enter through the vents and gaps in the thatching.
...
Viking houses did not have windows mainly because of their location. Vikings lived in cold climates, and windows would have let in cold drafts and allowed their homes to become too cold. Additionally, glass was not available at the time, and the windows would have to be made of wood or animal hide, which would be easily damaged or decayed over time. Furthermore, Vikings preferred to keep their homes dark and private in order to maintain their privacy and to prevent their enemies from seeing inside. Additionally, windows were believed to be a source of evil spirits entering the home and could be dangerous to their occupants. For these reasons, Viking houses were built without windows.

Because Viking longhouses did not have windows or a chimney, fire smoke from the fire would frequently escape from the roof.
...

Did The Vikings Have Glass Windows? Examining The Use Of Glass Windows During The Viking Age | Learn Glass Blowing

learnglassblowing.com

The Wikipedia article on Denmark's Architecture says:

Spoiler: "Romanesque style" section of the article

St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted, 1170
Denmark's first churches from the 9th century were built of timber and have not survived. Hundreds of stone churches in the Romanesque style were built in the 12th and 13th centuries. They had a flat-ceilinged nave and chancel with small rounded windows and round arches.

A detailed article with diagrams showing that regular Viking houses didn't have glass windows is here:

Viking Houses

I have been researching Viking housing and I have compiled my own mini guide to Viking housing based upon this research. I started by creating mood boards of imagery pertinent to Viking housing, p…

phillipshakesbymasters.wordpress.com

 

[Wagonlitz]

What did you mean by "staples?"

A staple is a building where you e.g keep cows and pigs when you have a farm. Basically it's the part of teh farm where you store your livestock, as opposed to the barn where you store the crops.

Hundreds of stone churches in the Romanesque style were built in the 12th and 13th centuries. They had a flat-ceilinged nave and chancel with small rounded windows and round arches.

And that's the early, middle ages, not the viking age. It's long been known that glass windows existed in the early medieval era and it was thoguht until now that it only arrived there.

Viking houses did not have windows mainly because of their location. Vikings lived in cold climates, and windows would have let in cold drafts and allowed their homes to become too cold. Additionally, glass was not available at the time, and the windows would have to be made of wood or animal hide, which would be easily damaged or decayed over time. Furthermore, Vikings preferred to keep their homes dark and private in order to maintain their privacy and to prevent their enemies from seeing inside. Additionally, windows were believed to be a source of evil spirits entering the home and could be dangerous to their occupants. For these reasons, Viking houses were built without windows.

As mentioned then it's just been found that what you described there isn't the case, and that viking houses indeed had windows. But more for letting in light than for looking out, and the glass generally seems to have been stained.

A detailed article with diagrams showing that regular Viking houses didn't have glass windows is here:

That's outdated as of a few days ago.

 

[Acheron]

A staple is a building where you e.g keep cows and pigs when you have a farm. Basically it's the part of teh farm where you store your livestock, as opposed to the barn where you store the crops.

That might be stables? Staples being a sorted pile of something or a cliche. Not sure though, I mix these up as well.

 

[rakovskii]

"A staple is a building where you e.g keep cows and pigs when you have a farm. Basically it's the part of teh farm where you store your livestock, as opposed to the barn where you store the crops."

That might be stables? Staples being a sorted pile of something or a cliche. Not sure though, I mix these up as well.

Right.

A "staple" can mean specifically a supply source location, although it often refers to a stiff metal wire paper fastener. A metal staple fastener in Danish is hæfteklammer.
"Staple," https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/staple

A "stable" is specifically a building where animals, especially horses are kept. In Danish, a Stable is Stabil or Stald per Google Translate.

BTW, Staple, Stable, Steeple are distantly related Germanic-based words in English, although they have different meanings.
According to Wiktionary, Danish has the following related words:

• Old Danish: stapæl
• Danish: stabel, stapel, stavl

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:proto-Germanic/stapulaz

 

[rakovskii]

At this point, here is where I am with the locations:

• Academia has a solid hold on where the Western Settlement, Middle Settlement, Brattahlid, Gardar, and Eastern Settlements were on Greenland.
• I think I can prove that Markland was the Labrador Peninsula.
• With Hvitramannaland (White Man's Land)/ Ireland the Great, Newfoundland is the most reasonable location, with Nova Scotia being a second, less likely location.
• Bjarni's small hilled, forested, First Land similarly has Newfoundland as the most obvious candidate, with Nova Scotia being a second possibility.
• I can narrow Helluland down to an island in the range of Akpatok Island, Baffin Island itself, Cape Dyer, and the islands in between.
• Next, I can narrow Bjarneyar's location down to either (A) the coast of western Greenland from Nukk up to Greenland's northwest end, with Disko Island being a particularly likely spot, or (B) the range of Helluland above, north of Akpatok Island.
• Byarney in Eric the Red's Saga is an island southeast of Markland/Labrador, and thus it must practically be either Belle Isle or Newfoundland. The name Bjarney might be an allusion to the First Land that Bjarni found in the Greenlanders' Saga, because some scholars consider the two Sagas to be textually related, as if they perhaps drew from a common source. In that case, Bjarney would be Newfoundland.
• Kjalarnes in Eric the Red's Saga must practically be either the north end of Newfoundland or north to northeastern Cape Breton Island. This is because in the Saga, the Vikings reach it by sailing south for two days from Markland/Labrador. Then later a wind sweeps one group of them east to Ireland when they try to go north and west around Kjalarnes to Vinland. Due to the likely relationship between the two Sagas and similarities in its description in both Sagas, Kjalarnes in the Greenlanders' Saga would tend to be the same place. Technically, the Greenlanders' Saga just says that it's east of Vinland and south of Markland, without giving more specifics.

I have a hard time narrowing Kjalarnes down more specifically between the north end of Newfoundland and the north to northeast end of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

• The finding of the Viking ship repair station at L'anse aux Meadows, Nfld. points in favor of Kjalarnes being there.
• It seems alittle bit more realistic to get swept to Ireland from the north end of Nfld than from Cape Breton, because from Cape Breton you might run into southern Newfoundland first. But the story hints that the Viking ship that got swept east actually wanted to leave and go back home, so in reality the Viking ship might have chosen to go to Ireland.
• The distance south from Labrador to L'anse aux Meadows is only like 34-42 miles, the distance from Labrador to Cape Breton Island is like 217 miles, whereas a Viking ship should be expected to sail like 96-264 miles in two days, depending on the speed. Based on what I've read, I would expect them to sail at 7 mph and make 168 miles, but it could vary alot based on whether they were sailing on a knarr or a longship, and sailing slowly or at top speed. So northern Newfoundland looks rather too close to Labrador to be Bjarney, whereas Cape Breton Island looks a bit far.
• If one counts Bjarney to Markland's southeast to be Belle Isle, then it seems that one might be inclinced to put the southward departure point from Markland at a spot on Markland in the vicinity of Belle Isle. In that case, one might sail south from Markland and within sight of Belle Isle, arriving on the north end of Newfoundland.
• If, however, one posits Bjarney to Markland's southeast to be Newfoundland, then the expected layout would put Kjalarnes to Markland's south to be Cape Breton Island, as the Saga seems to distinguish Bjarney from Kjalarnes.
• Kjalarnes being on Cape Breton Island fits better with Straumsfjord being on the American/Canadian mainland, eg. Bay of Fundy. However, it's not really certain where Straumsfjord would be.

Can you think of other arguments or points to make about Kjalarnes' potential location, @Wagonlitz ?

 

[Wagonlitz]

Academia has a solid hold on where the Western Settlement, Middle Settlement, Brattahlid, Gardar, and Eastern Settlements were on Greenland.

Well, we have found the ruins so there's not really any discussing where those settlements were.

I think I can prove that Markland was the Labrador Peninsula.

Well, it clearly was there. There's no doubt about that. The question is whether it was all of Labrador or not.

With Hvitramannaland (White Man's Land)/ Ireland the Great, Newfoundland is the most reasonable location, with Nova Scotia being a second, less likely location.

WWhat was it Hvitramannaland was?


Bjarney could be a now disappeared island, an island that now has silted together with the mainland to no longer be an island, or something third. Could also be Anticosti.

 

[rakovskii]

Well, it clearly was there. There's no doubt about that. The question is whether it was all of Labrador or not.

Markland has to be Labrador as far north as its north coast at Torgut Park, because in the two Sagas, the Vikings locate Markland as 2 days both south and southwest from Helluland. Since all spots beyond a 2 day sailing distance north from any point on Labrador are at Resolution and Akpatok island or farther north, and barely east, Markland has to include that region of northern Labrador.

Similarly, the Greenlanders' Saga describes a 2 day sailing journey from Markland southwest to the dewy island. Therefore, Markland has to include eastern Labrador at least as far south as the Belle Isle area because at that point the coast starts to turn in a southwest direction, i.e. the coastline runs at 181 degrees or more, at 6 o'clock on a clock face.

This is because there is no way to sail southwest from an eastward facing coast. The coast has to face at least partly south for their southward departure point.

In case you don't know what I mean, you can hold up a pen to the maps that I showed and plot lines in different directions to the landmasses north and south of any points on Labrador that you choose. It shows that in order to make those journeys to and from Markland, they practically have to count the long east facing coast of Labrador up to Torgut Park as Markland.

There are some practical, common sense reasons to think that Markland runs as far southwest as the St. Lawrence River. One is that sailing from a southeast facing coast southwest to another landmass seems clunky, but at least possible, as the ship would be sailing practically parallel to the coast. A second reason is that they are on the same landmass. A third reason is that the Sagas never describe the Vikings going from Markland specifically westward to any other place that could be directly west of any place in Labrador. For instance, the One footer's mountain land could be the Gaspe Peninsula, but that's not reachable by going just straight directly west of Labrador. You would have to south from Labrador to get to the Gaspe Peninsula. So they don't specify some other location that could be on Labrador besides Markland.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Markland has to be Labrador as far north as its north coast at Torgut Park

It's more hw far south was considered Markland. Like, whether it was all of Labrador and hence all the way down toe Quebex City, or only parts.


Also, with regard to maps, then don't use flat maps. Use a globe. Or a map showing things correctly at the top, meaning a map only showing the north. At the national museums viking exhibition they have such maps and it really shows how short some of the distances are, whereas on a standard map they look way longer than they are.

 

[rakovskii]

WWhat was it Hvitramannaland was?

Norse writings describe Hvitramannaland, also called Ireland the Great, as being west, or else west south west, across the ocean from Ireland.
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Labrador would all be considerations, but Labrador is rather northwest from Ireland rather than southwest.

This article in English quotes Norse sources on Hvitramannaland:

Great Ireland - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

One of the sources quoted there counts Hvitramannaland as 6 days west of Ireland. That is technically possible with modern technology, but is probably uncommon. The quickest trip from NYC to Ireland, for comparison was under 4 days and was by a cruise line in the 20th century.

If the Vikings took a long ship at top known speeds of like 11 to 13 mph and sailed for 6 24 hour days they could get to Newfoundland, but otherwise they would come short.

The name Hvitramannaland seems more likely to refer to the stories about missionaries from Europe, especially Ireland, sailed west to islands to peach and supposedly would have worn white, and their staffs were the long poles that the White clothed men carried in the story. Another theory is that they were Amerindians wearing white clothes like polar bear skins.

Near the end of Eric the Red's Saga, two Amerindian kids from Markland tell the Vikings that Hvitramannaland is located up "against" Markland, which in Russian clearly means that it's across a waterway like a strait or inlet. I don't know if that expression works that way in Danish, but that's how I rake it. So it would be across the Gulf of St Lawrence like Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick.

This is in Sephton's translation's Chapter 14 of Eric the Red's Saga where the children from Markland/Labrador tell the Vikings about Hvitramannaland's location:

Spoiler: Sephton's 1880 translation: https://sagadb.org/eiriks_saga_rauda.en

They said, moreover, that there was a land on the other side over against their land, and the people there were dressed in white garments, uttered loud cries, bare long poles, and wore fringes. This was supposed to be Hvitramannaland (whiteman's land).

In the Old Norse version, it's in Chapter 12:

Spoiler: Old Norse text of the same section

Þeir sögðu þar liggja land öðrum megin gagnvart sínu landi, er þeir menn byggðu, er váru í hvítum klæðum ok báru stangir fyrir sér, ok váru festar við flíkr ok æpðu hátt, ok ætla menn, at þat hafi verit Hvítramannaland eða Írland it mikla.

Newfoundland is an island that is somewhat about the same size as Ireland and they are right across the ocean from each other, so the name Ireland the Great works.

In one of the Norse writings quote on Wikipedia, Hvitramannaland is differentiated from Vinland and Markland. As I recall, one statement is that it's beyond Vinland, which would make its location a bit confusing.

 

[rakovskii]

Also, with regard to maps, then don't use flat maps. Use a globe. Or a map showing things correctly at the top, meaning a map only showing the north. At the national museums viking exhibition they have such maps and it really shows how short some of the distances are, whereas on a standard map they look way longer than they are.

I have a tool that measures distances on a map that takes into account the spherical form of the earth:

Measure Distance on a Map

Take a measurement between two points on a map to find the distance

www.freemaptools.com

 

[rakovskii]

Bjarney could be a now disappeared island, an island that now has silted together with the mainland to no longer be an island... Could also be Anticosti.

Those three options seem possible.

I'm guessing that it's not talking about an island that disappeared sometime between 1000 AD and c. 1500 AD when the modern explorers arrived for two reasons: Since there's actually a line of tiny shore islands along Labrador's coast, then for the Sagas to draw attention to Bjarney in particular, I'm guessing that it was something sizable on the order of Belle Isle or bigger. Plus, the shore line has actually grown farther to sea for some reason in the L'Anse aux Meadows area due to sand being washed onto the beach.

Similarly, in the case of an island that silted together with the mainland, then for that to happen, I would expect it to be somewhat apparent that this had occurred, like having a narrow long peninsula jutting out into the ocean. One reason is that for the island to have been noticeably distinct from the known tiny shore islands, it would have to be quite a ways out at sea like Belle Isle is, and in that case for it to form into a peninsula with the mainland, one would expect that the new peninsula would be jutting out into the sea.

As for Anticosti Island, it's also a possibility, but it doesn't really look as much of a "southeast island" as Newfoundland and Belle Isle do. The Vikings would have arrived at Belle Isle and Newfoundland before getting to Anticosti Isle, and thus would have more likely taken note of those places first. Anticosti island seems better described as being on the "south" side of Markland/Labrador. In fact, if you would count only eastern Labrador as "Markland", then Anticosti island would be on Markland's southwest side.

 

[Wagonlitz]

I have a tool that measures distances on a map that takes into account the spherical form of the earth:

Measure Distance on a Map

Take a measurement between two points on a map to find the distance

www.freemaptools.com

Oh, I wasn't doubting you had a tool. Meant more when visualising. Visualising it can give a lot of insights to, as you can see where it would seem likely they arrived. Or which directions are closest.

Similarly, in the case of an island that silted together with the mainland, then for that to happen, I would expect it to be somewhat apparent that this had occurred, like having a narrow long peninsula jutting out into the ocean. One reason is that for the island to have been noticeably distinct from the known tiny shore islands, it would have to be quite a ways out at sea like Belle Isle is, and in that case for it to form into a peninsula with the mainland, one would expect that the new peninsula would be jutting out into the sea.

NF does have a peninsula sticking out a lot to the north, just saying.

Anyway, an island can silt over so thoroughly that you can't see it used to be an island. There's plenty of cases of that here in Northern Europe.
And it could have disappeared already in 1100. Or could have in 1700 and it just wasn't considered important enough to note by later colonists who arrived from different directions.
Also, could have eroded fully away.

And just because small isles still exists doesn't mean a larger one couldn' have and then disappeared.

 

[Acheron]

Could a larger island have shrunk so that one would not consider it a candidate anymore?

 

[Wagonlitz]

Could a larger island have shrunk so that one would not consider it a candidate anymore?

It's definitely possible.

Relatively large isles have disappeared in Denmark (or, well, these days it's Germany due to you lot stealing the land 150 years ago). One of them had a size comparable to Als, so I'll use that for area as I can't seem to find the area of the that disappeared island, and likely nobody knows the exact one as it's appeaoching 700 years since the first parts of it sunk into the sea.
But yeah, Als is 321 square km and this island was of similar size, probably even a tad larger based on map comparisons - and it had over 22 parishes as it had 22 remaining after teh first part sunk.


There's also examples of relatively large, rock isles off Iceland appearing from undersea volcanoes and then eroding away again relatively fast.

 

[rakovskii]

Oh, I wasn't doubting you had a tool. Meant more when visualising. Visualising it can give a lot of insights to, as you can see where it would seem likely they arrived. Or which directions are closest.

Good idea. Here is a rotating globe that resembles what you are talking about:

3D Interactive Globe

Explore the Earth with the 3D interactive globe. Latest high-resolution 3D satellite imagery. The globe is a three-dimensional model of the Earth.

earth3dmap.com

The main difference or insight that I get from the globe, as well as maps that are adjusted for earth curvature is an impression of how much closer Iceland looks to Newfoundland, as per Bjarni's journey to his small-hilled land. With a regular flat Mercator map, there is territory that is expanded in the north Atlantic that makes the journey look farther.

By comparison, this map below showing Bjarni's journey in blue looks like it's adjusting more for the globe's curvature at its north pole, and it shows what I mean about Bjarni's journey looking shorter. But the map makes its distance adjustment at the expense of directional accuracy, since the east end of Newfoundland looks like it's directly south from the east end of Labrador:

NF does have a peninsula sticking out a lot to the north, just saying. Anyway, an island can silt over so thoroughly that you can't see it used to be an island. ... Also, could have eroded fully away.

You're right, and this issue comes up in history. For instance, Gunnbjorn's Skerries were small islands that the Vikings noticed between Greenland and Iceland:

Gunnbjörn's skerries - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There are a couple issues to help us though that make it less likely that the island of Bjarney would have been lost.
One factor is that we know what the geography of that region around Labrador looks like today and geologists can make estimations on land-sea level. The sea level overall around L'anse aux Meadows has receded by around 6 feet as I recall, so we would be talking about a change in height or depth of about that much.

Another factor is that Labrador, northern Newfoundland, and the strait between them each have pretty sharp contrasts of hundreds of feet in height and depth. So it's pretty likely that Labrador's current overall east mainland was still a mainland in 1000 AD, and that the strait was still there too, and so was the mountainous north area of Newfoundland.

Therefore, if Bjarney theoretically was an island that has since disappeared, we can make several estimations about it:
It would likely be a peninsula now due to the sea level going down
The former island would probably be north of Newfoundland, because in the story, the Vikings sailed south along Labrador's east coast, and then got to an island off Labrador's southeast side. Then they sailed south across open sea for two days to get to Kjalarnes. Based on this description, the Vikings would have gotten to Newfoundland on their sailing journey south along Labrador's coast. Therefore the island would be either Newfoundland, Belle Isle, or another island north of Newfoundland, with Newfoundland being either Bjarney or a separate landmass with Kjalarnes on it.

If on the other hand, Bjarney would be on the southwest side of Newfoundland, then the Vikings probably would have seen Newfoundland before they got to Bjarney, making it more likely that they would have noticed Newfoundland first. This in turn makes it more likely that the Vikings would have remarked on Newfoundland in their Saga before talking about Bjarney.