During the colonization of the Mossfells, popular culture tends to focus on settlement of people from Norway, Iceland, and Denmark. While Nordic culture was certainly influential during the prosperous Mossfell Norse Golden age the Hopflings, a hybrid Amerindian/Norse culture, would eventually have the greatest cultural influence on the islands. This was especially the case as the Mossfell Golden Age came to an end.
Origins
The Hopfling people were the direct descendants of two distinct ethnic groups, Amerindians and Europeans. The first Hopflings were predominately the children of Algonquin-family Amerindians who lived on the islands of the Georges Bank and the Norse settlers which fled from Freydis Eriksdottir's failed expedition. Upon visiting the abandoned settlement of Hop and encountering native americans, the Norse survivors of Freydis Eriksdottir's expedition called these people Hopflings. The Norse survivors arrived in the Georges Bank at an opportune time. The Amerindians who inhabited the Georges Bank for several thousands of years were long experiencing a societal decline as the Georges Bank continued to sink into the North Atlantic. As a result, many native tribes engaged a period of war and famine which had never before been experienced in the small archipelago. In this tumultuous time the Norse settlers found themselves at a distinct advantage due to the presence of the fortified settlement of Hop, their metal weaponry, and the introduction of new livestock such as goats, chickens, sheep, and cows.
According the accounts from Saga of Thorkyr the Unlucky (Tho.), the initial coexistence of Amerindians with their new neighbors on the Georges Bank archipelago was tenuous at best. The account details that some Amerindians were treated well by their Norse neighbors, and allowed to settle in the burgeoning town of Hopf and marry into Norse families, while other groups were ruthlessly murdered or enslaved. Whichever may be the case, eventually through both cultural assimilation and intermarriage, a unique Algonquin-Nordic culture arose, leading to the first Hopflings. Several well-established Hopfling families traced their ancestry to these original settlers. Clans such as Mocoska, Stahlharjt, and the notable Nompoae family (which find fame through marriage into many of the petty Jarldoms of the isles) originate from these first Amerindian-Nordic families. While some Norse settlers found their Amerindian neighbors scandalous heathens, a larger portion of the settlement of Hop would have eagerly considered themselves Hopflings by the arrival of Thorkyr Liefson.
Arrival of Thorkyr and The Greater World
Thorkyr's arrival to Hop marked the beginning of a period of explosive growth for the Hopflings. Thorkyr's arrival brought many new Nordic settlers, skilled craftspeople, lawmen, and opportunities for land in the newly discovered Mossfell archipelago to the south. It also brought a new economic driver in the form of slavery. Several of Thorkyr's fellow travelers found themselves eager to capture or buy enslaved Amerindians from the other islands of the Georges Bank, or even as far as the islands of modern day Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. The creation of new farmsteads, monasteries, and towns in both the Georges Bank as well as the Mossfell Islands led to increased demand for menial labor.
Hop was naturally in the perfect spot to benefit from European trade, Amerindian slaves, and raw goods from the nearby Mossfell Islands. In an eerie mirror to the Triangular Slave Trade of the 1700s, the Hopfling slave trade was built on the continuous movement of raw material, slaves, and manufactured goods. Hopfling raiders eagerly captured and enslaved hundreds of Amerindians on the remainder of the Georges Bank and even sponsored expeditions as far as modern-day Long Island in search of captives. In Tho., Jarl Haakon of Vinstrihof utilizes hundreds of slaves to build his fortress settlement on the isle of Gasmensyi. Hopflings found themselves eagerly aiding and abetting this growing slave trade as it quickly enriched the settlement of Hop. In a dark chapter for the history of the islands, new Amerindian slaves were often tortured and sexually abused by their captors. Children who resulted widely varied in social station from being considered slaves due to their enslaved parents, considered fully-legitimate children in families, or being considered individuals of low class. As this population grew, the term Hopfling grew to encompass individuals with mixed indigenous-european heritage in both Hop and the Mossfell islands, rather than only individuals in Hop.
Over the two hundred years of the Mossfell Norse Golden Age, Hop and its surrounding settlements is estimated to have grown from a small settlement of only 100 people to a sprawl of nearly 8,000. In the Siggurd Codex, the city of Hop was noted to have a modest cathedral which was the seat of the bishop in charge of both Hop and the Mossfell Islands, a regal longhouse for the Jarl, as well as imposing moats and walls to protect its busy harbor. Archeological sites in the area reveal the extent of this wealth. Gilded tapestries from Bordeaux, rare incense from Tehran, carved walrus ivory from Brattahild, and golden crucifixes from Rome were common sites in the city of Hop during its heyday. While Hop and the Mossfell Islands payed lip service as nominal vassals to the Swedish King, effectively these settlements were too far for European politics, taxes, and laws to reach them. This effectively led to Hop, the strongest and oldest settlement on the islands, becoming the seat of the High Jarl of Hop and the Mossfells. Even as Thorkyr Liefson, Jarl Frey Cnudson, or even Jarl Haakon worked to carve out their own realms on the Mossfell archipelago, their descendants would all bow to the leadership and primacy of the Jarl of Hop.
Culture
Hopfling culture was greatly influenced by both Algonquin and Nordic customs and beliefs. Hopflings often wore buckskin or leather shirts an pants similar to that of Amerindians of North America. Additionally often used wadmal scarves, hats, or cloaks with vibrant blue colors influenced by Nordic travelers More wealthy Hopflings often wore leather or steel mail underneath a vibrant cloak embroidered with feathers from various birds native to the archipelago or elegant shells. The Jarl of Hop was noted to wear a golden crown fastened onto a gilded helmet - a symbol perhaps of both regality as well as a nod to their belligerent raiding practices.
Hopflings were thought to have a syncretic belief system, and often would worship deities from many religions. From traditional Algonquin beliefs hopflings worshiped a creator god named Manitou, spirits of the woods and forest called nikomo, and feared adversarial spirts of the ocean, sky, and land. At the same time, many hopflings considered themselves Christian. They believed in Christian trinity, worshiped the actions of saints, and prayed to the Virgin Mary. A small subset of hopflings also incorporated traditional Nordic beliefs in Odin, Tyr, Freya, and Baldur into their lives. From archeological sites in Hop and the Mossfells, it was not uncommon to find statuettes of the Virgin Mary being accompanied with carved figures representing nikomo in home altars.
Due to its unconventional origin on the far outskirts of the medieval world, hopfling culture could be considered more egalitarian than medieval Nordic culture. While women were often still expected to be the main steward of the home, they also found themselves being awarded many privileges that their contemporaries in Europe or even the American mainland would not have. Hopfling women were allowed to own their own property in the form of slaves, land, or goods. Additionally Hopfling women were at times allowed to represent their family interests in meeting of the Thing or before the Jarl of Hop. Interestingly, there is also some evidence that hopfling women were able to to work as priestesses or deacons in churches. Perhaps due to the increased distance from Rome, and the frontier mentality in Hop, women were able to fulfil many roles that were impossible to attain in Europe.
Decline of the Hopfling Culture
The Golden Age for the Hopflings and the Norse would last from the early 1000's to the late 1200's, nearly a remarkable three hundred years. During this time, the High Jarl of Hop would exert influence over lesser Jarls in the Mossfell Islands as well as far away settlements such as Leifsbudir in Vinland. However, cracks began to form due to both internal and external events. As settlements expanded outward on the Georges Bank, desirable land became more scarce and various clans started squabbles over it. Additionally, a growing number of Norse settlers began to resent the primacy of the Jarl of Hop and desired greater autonomy. Lastly, among the settlers themselves, religious strife between hardline Christians and syncretic believers caused societal rifts which often led to bloodshed. These conflicts reached a fever pitch around 1230 CE, when widespread conflict became common in the Mossfell Islands. Hop was spared much of the bloodshed by virtue of being the only large settlement in the Georges Bank, but its isolation also led to an immediate reduction of raw materials from the resource rich Mossfell Islands.
The gradual depletion of timber, livestock, and grain led to increased starvation in Hop and civil strife within the city. Settlers would find themselves with the choice of toughing it out in an increasingly instable city, returning back to Europe, or voyaging to nearby settlements in the Mossfell Islands. Unfortunately for those who wished to flee to Europe, at this same time global temperatures began to cool in a phenomenon currently known as the Little Ice Age. This reduction in temperatures led to shorter growing seasons for crops, hazardous winter travel conditions, and freak cold snaps which devastated livestock. Eventually, travel to and from Europe was simply too treacherous to attempt. The isolation of the Greenland settlements, Hop, and the Mossfell Island Settlements were assured around 1260 CE. Sune Halfhopfling, a wealthy merchant of Hop, left the city in the closing years with nearly 200 other settlers in three large cogs. He later remarked at the court of the Danish king that "The [people] of Hop finds herself (sic) poorer by the day, sicker by the hour, and more desperate by the minute."
Perhaps thankfully due to this isolation, a sudden freak pathogen was prevented from spreading globally. Human Transmissible Adenocarcinoma (HTA) is thought to have mutated at the end of the Mossfell Norse Golden Age. This pathogen was easily communicable through bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, and sexual fluids. At the close of the Mossfell Norse Golden Age, nearly 80% of the population of Hop and the Mossfells is thought to have perished due to the climatic changes, famine, war, and HTA.
Hop in the wake of these disasters would have been much like the devastated settlements of the Mossfells. Buildings would be abandoned and crumbling, livestock would roam aimlessly, and the few straggling survivors of this once proud society would be forced to eek out a meager existence in the shadows of their ancestors. While many Hopflings would survive in the Mossfell Islands and their unique hybrid culture would later transform into the Viardrmen people, those who were unfortunate to remain in Hop were doomed. As the Georges bank continued to sink into the North Atlantic, Hop would transform into a briny, half-sunken town. Eventually, the entire remainder of the Georges bank would be swept underneath the waves of the North Atlantic, taking whatever was left of the once gleaming and wealthy city of Hop with it.