The wedding was mentioned in letters from a priest at Garðar and by several Icelanders, and is the last written record of the Greenlandic Norse.

The Inuit made a massive attack on Hvalsey and burned the Norse inside their houses but Ungortoq escaped with his family.

Hvalsey is located on a narrow strip of land at the head of a fjord, with the church situated around 70 m (230 ft) from the water.

It had eleven rooms, combining living quarters, an 8 by 5 m (26 by 16 ft) banqueting hall and livestock pens.

The dwelling was built on the top of an earlier building that dates back to the time of Erik the Red, and may have been Thorkell Farserk's home.

Qaqortoq means "the white place", and the modern town of that name at the mouth of the fjord could have gotten its name by association with the church.

Thanks to the good construction quality, Hvalsey Church has resisted the elements better than other Norse structures in Greenland.