Greenland, a vast icy island 10 times the size of Britain with a population the size of Bermuda’s, has just taken its system of home rule further towards independence, shaking off the gentle yoke of Denmark. Did the Viking era go on a bit longer than we thought?

Denmark, while not normally placed in the front ranks of European colonialists, does have a voluminous imperial history. Not only did the Danes long lord it over Norway, Iceland, bits of Sweden and the Faroe Islands. In the 9th to the 11th century the Vikings had a pronounced predilection to operate out-of-area.