According to the Icelandic Book of Settlements (Landnámabók), the farmstead was established by Erik the Red's uncle, Þorkell Farserkur (Thorkell Farserk) in the late 10th century.

Í þessum firði stendur bær mikill, sem konungi tilheyrir og heitir Þjóðhildarstaðir.

The church house, which was first erected in the early 12th century, might have been built by Scots-Norse stonemasons as similar structures are found in Norway and Orkney.

It was not until 1721 that a joint merchant-clerical expedition led by Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede discovered that the Norse colonies in Southern Greenland had disappeared.

In the Greenlandic Inuit oral tradition, there is a legend about why the Norse population of Hvalsey died out and why their houses and churches are in ruins.

In revenge for Ungortoq's slaying of his younger brother, Inuit warriors under K'aissape approached Hvalsey by sea in kayaks disguised as an iceberg and then burned down the Norse settlers inside their houses.