Chapter XIII: Part II: Discussion (7)

‘After which island (Wineland)’, said he (King Svein), ‘no
habitable land is found in that ocean, but all that is beyond is
full of intolerable ice and utter darkness (_immensa caligine_). Of
which matter Marcianus thus bears record, saying, “Beyond Thule,
one day’s sail, the sea is frozen solid (_concretum_).” This was
lately tested by the most enterprising Harald, prince of the
Norsemen, who, when investigating with his ships the breadth of the
northern ocean, hardly escaped with safety from the awful gulf of
the abyss, by turning back, when at length the bounds of the earth
where it ends (_deficientis_) grew dark before his eyes.’

Professor Yngvar Nielsen, in an article entitled _Nordmaend og Skraelinger i Vinland_ (Norske Geografiske Selskabs Aarbog for 1904), argues that the voyage here referred to was possibly another attempt to find Wineland. He sees, too, a possible connexion with the Hönen runes, since Harald hailed from Ringerike, from which district the unknown hero of the inscription would seem also to have come. This connexion is evidently too fanciful to be taken seriously, though, if Harald’s voyage had Wineland as its objective, the possibility is not altogether excluded. It is true that the voyage of the Norwegian king is reported in a context which links it closely with Wineland, and it seems at first sight unlikely that Harald would have organized an expedition of so unprofitable a nature as a mere scientific exploration of the Arctic Ocean. On the other hand, the words ‘_latitudinem septentrionalis oceani perscrutatus_’ do seem to suggest that the object was arctic exploration, and, since Adam considers Marcianus’s remarks about the sea beyond Thule as relevant, we are not justified in concluding that Harald’s voyage was any more intimately connected with the question of Wineland. Of the theory which associates Wineland with the arctic regions something remains to be said later. (See p. 294). Here we may merely observe that there does not appear to be any reliable evidence to connect Harald’s voyage with the subject of Wineland, particularly as the experiences related, if they amount to more than a sailor’s yarn, are suggestive of the ice-floes and long night of the Polar regions.

_Ideas of Icelandic Geography._

An Icelandic geography preserved in various manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contains a reference to the lands discovered in America, which, in its fullest form, runs as follows:

‘South from Greenland is Helluland, next to it is Markland, thence it
is not far to Wineland the Good, which some men think is connected
with Africa; and, if so, then the outer ocean must fall in between
Wineland and Markland. It is said that Thorfin Karlsefni cut a tree
for a “húsa snotra” (cf. Flatey Book account, p. 71), and after this
went to seek for Wineland the Good, and came where this land was
believed to be, but did not explore it or settle there. Leif the
Lucky was the first to discover Wineland, and on that occasion he
found merchantmen in danger on the sea, and rescued them by God’s
mercy; he also introduced Christianity to Greenland, and it prospered
so that an episcopal seat was placed there, at Garda.’

Part of this account claims to be founded on the information of Abbot Nicholas of Thingeyre, who died in 1159. The references to Karlsefni and Leif appear rather to be confused summaries of the statements contained in the sagas. They can hardly be relied on to displace anything occurring in the records with which we have been dealing.

As regards the relative position of the three countries, the geography knows nothing precise, except that Helluland lay to the south of Greenland, as stated in the Saga of Eric the Red. Probably it was known, or deduced from the information as to climate, that Markland and Wineland belonged to lower latitudes, and hence the error, reproduced in Eric’s Saga, of imagining the course between all the lands to be uniformly south, was generally accepted. The writers of the geography do not, however, commit themselves to any such view. Apparently they knew more about Helluland and Markland than about Wineland, which looks as if the former had been more recently visited. They evidently knew that Helluland and Markland were _not_ connected with Africa, while Wineland might be. With the way in which such a theory as the connexion between Wineland and Africa may have arisen I have already dealt (p. 274). The theory, it will be noticed, is mentioned in connexion with the ancient hypothesis of the all-encircling ocean, which long hampered geographical and cartographical science.

_Early Maps._

We have to wait till a period subsequent to the re-discovery of America for the earliest known attempt to depict Wineland, and the two more northerly lands known to the Norsemen, in the form of a map. There exists, however, in the Royal Library at Copenhagen, a copy, made apparently about 1590, of a map drawn by Sigurd Stefansson, an Icelander, about one hundred years previously. The map is dated 1570, but it has been clearly proved that this is a mistake on the part of the copyist, and that the date must probably have been 1590 on the original map. The general lines of this map are here reproduced. With regard to the point marked A there is a note by the author betraying a knowledge of Frobisher’s voyage in 1576, which is in itself sufficient to show the date, 1570, to be an error.

A map drawn by Hans Poulson Resen in 1605 is also in existence which covers the same ground, and is so similar in most features that it has generally been accepted as being a mere copy of Stefansson’s work, revised in the light of such information as more recent voyages could provide. The relevant features of this map are also here reproduced.

Now, in the first place, there arises on consideration a very great difficulty in the way of adopting the current view, maintained by Storm and others, that the Resen map is based on that of Stefansson.

The inscription on Resen’s work runs as follows:

‘Indicatio Groenlandiae et vicinarum regionum, versus Septentrionem et Occidentem, ex antiqua quadam mappa, rudi modo delineata, _ante aliquot centenos annos_, ab Islandis, quibus tunc erat ista terra notissima, et nauticis nostri temporis observationibus.’

The error in the date on the extant copy of Stefansson’s map is manifestly the work of an unintelligent copyist, which makes it practically certain that the original was also dated; moreover the note on the point A, to which allusion has been made, is stated to be by Stefansson himself, and must therefore in all probability have been attached to the original. In any case it must have been made about the same time, for the author of the map was drowned in Iceland not long after the date of its production. It seems, therefore, practically impossible that Resen, with such evidence of recent composition before him, could have described as a map made ‘some centuries ago’ a work so nearly contemporaneous with his own. He could not have, in fact, formed any such conclusion, and there would be no point in falsely ascribing to his source an origin which detracts from its authority. Again, though neither work is a masterpiece, Sigurd Stefansson’s production compares quite favourably in point of finish with Resen’s, and could therefore hardly be stigmatized by the latter author as _rudi modo delineata_. The form, moreover, of Hvitserk in Greenland is more complicated in Resen’s map than in the earlier work, and, as the cartographer could have had no modern source from which to correct this feature, it is difficult to suppose that its form is borrowed from Stefansson. Finally, Resen introduces in his map such place-names as Ericsfjord, Vesterbygdsfjord, and Österbygd, which do not occur in Stefansson, and are not derived from the work of later discoverers.

In fact, all the evidence confirms the probability that both Resen and Stefansson worked, not one from the other, but both from a common source, of earlier date, which may well have been made, as Resen claims, _ante aliquot centenos annos_, and was, if so, pre-Columbian.

Now, if the two maps are independent of one another, the common source must clearly have contained, not only the representation of Greenland which is found in both, but equally the representation of Helluland, Markland, and Wineland, which shows, allowing for revision in the light of later exploration, almost as marked similarity. Unless, then, the mapping of these lands is merely based on the contemporary interpretation of the sagas, we have here fresh evidence of subsequent voyages, if not to the lands explored by Karlsefni, at least to some parts of North America which became confused with them.

The hypothesis that the land-forms are merely drawn from a reading of the sagas is that adopted by Storm. It is difficult, however, to account in this way for such a feature as the south-easterly trend from Markland to Wineland, which distinctly conflicts with the sources which we have been following. There is, moreover, as will be seen by a comparison with the map on p. 291, a striking resemblance to the actual form of Baffin Land and northern Labrador, the shape of the latter peninsula especially in Resen’s map being remarkably accurate in points not traceable to any map of the period known to me. The indications of Ungava Bay and Cape Chidley in particular are features unrepresented by contemporary cartographers, and though Labrador is much too small in proportion to the two main peninsulas of Baffin Land, this is what one would expect from crude and early representations, which are apt to devote more space to well-known than to less-known places. It is quite clear, in any case, that both Stefansson and Resen considered that their maps represented Baffin Land and Labrador, and this argues a better knowledge of the appearance of these localities than other cartographers of the period seem to have been able to derive from the reports of explorers. On the whole, then, I incline to the view that these maps are evidence of voyages to America subsequent to those of which we have any record.

What then? Must we discard all the conclusions hitherto arrived at, and adopt those of the Labrador school which we have rejected so unhesitatingly and for such formidable reasons? By no means. It is quite in accordance with precedent that a confusion should have arisen in the identification of places visited by early explorers, and that Baffin Land and Labrador, when visited by later Norsemen, should have been wrongly assumed to be the lands discovered and described by their predecessors. Thus Frobisher’s discoveries in Meta Incognita were for a long time supposed to be situated in Greenland, while the latter country, and not that which now bears the name, was the original Labrador.

To suppose that the old Norsemen, with a possibly imperfect recollection of the sagas, should have identified Labrador with Wineland is to accuse them of no grosser error than that committed by many modern critics of the subject, to whom the whole of the relevant evidence was readily accessible. The reader can hardly have failed to notice that some such confusion as is here suggested must, at a very early date, have taken place. Whereas the sagas themselves speak clearly of southerly latitudes and a temperate climate, the later tradition and such records as we have of possible later voyages indicate an idea that Wineland was to be found in the Arctic Regions. Thus, the Hönen runes speak of ‘ice in the uninhabited regions’, Adam of Bremen associates Wineland with ‘intolerable ice’ and frozen seas, the ‘New Land’ is identified in the later MSS. of the Annals with the wilds of Greenland, and Furdustrands becomes a region uninhabitable on account of frost (see p. 227).

It is not difficult to see how such ideas may have arisen in Iceland and European Scandinavia. The maps under consideration supply us with a probable clue. Greenland is quite wrongly oriented, with its southern extremity pointing south-east instead of south, or, as a compass-chart would have represented it, considerably to the west of south. The cartographer has evidently been misled by the names Western and Eastern Settlement, conferred on the colonies at Godthaab and Julianehaab respectively, which are, in fact, more or less north and south in relation to one another. The confusion produced by this inappropriate nomenclature persisted down to very recent times. The effect of such an error is to suggest to intending explorers that land which really lies to the west of Greenland may be reached by sailing in a direction which is actually north. Although I have suggested another reason for Karlsefni’s alleged visit to the Western Settlement before setting out on his travels, it is always possible, as Dr. Nansen says (vol. 1, p. 321) that this too is a mistake on the part of the saga-writer, based on the not unnatural assumption that the Western Settlement lay due west of the Eastern, and was therefore the nearest point to Wineland instead of the farthest from it. The unduly shortened distance in the saga between Greenland and Helluland (two dægr) may possibly be explained in the same way, and in this case the Bear Islands may actually mean Disko. (Cf. Chapter VIII, p. 262). If so, however, one would have to suppose the saga-writer to have had access to the report of some subsequent explorer, who, sailing from Disko, had touched or sighted the Cumberland peninsula of Baffin Land, and the earlier part of the record of Karlsefni’s voyage would have to be rejected, in so far as it purported to represent historically the experience of that explorer.

Now if, from a misunderstanding, of the true orientation of the Greenland peninsula, Icelandic or Norwegian sailors got the idea that it was necessary to follow the Greenland coast in order to approach the countries discovered in America, it is easy to see how they might bring back reports of ice and arctic conditions, and possibly of parts of Baffin Land and northern Labrador, which might thus become identified with the lands discovered by Leif and Karlsefni.

The Icelandic geography referred to above conveys, as already stated, an impression that while countries identified with Helluland and Markland had been visited, Wineland had been sought for in vain, and its exact situation was at the time of writing unknown. This is quite intelligible if later explorers had, for the reason suggested above, confined their search to more northerly latitudes.

Whilst, then, these early maps are of no use as authorities whereby we may unravel the problems of the original Wineland voyages, I think that they are of considerable interest both as affording evidence of later Scandinavian voyages to America, and also as providing a solution of the way in which the mistaken idea which associated Wineland with the north may have come into existence.

_Conclusion._

The data being now exhausted, it only remains to bid farewell to our explorers. Comparisons are proverbially odious, and it is futile to bring Columbus and his successors into the question. Karlsefni and his contemporaries were—as discoverers—born out of due time. With the general interest which was felt in exploration in the fifteenth and following centuries, with kings to back them and states to develop their discoveries, above all, with an armament immeasurably superior to that of the natives, such as the later explorers possessed, these simple Norse seamen might have attained a far wider fame, or even have affected the course of history. As it was their deeds were unimportant, and soon almost if not quite forgotten. To-day the man in the street looks incredulous or astonished at the very mention of the Wineland voyages, however well authenticated these are seen to be by the student of the subject. A little less scepticism, a little less complete oblivion is all that shall be asked for them here.

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INDEX

Adam of Bremen, 49, 97, 156, 286.

Annals, Icelandic, 110, 137, 146, 152, 283–5, 295.

Ari Marsson, 96, 189.

Ari the Learned, 74, 87, 93, 120, 156, 173–7.

Aud the Very Wealthy, 28, 87, 103, 152.

Avalldamon, 65, 188.

Babcock, W. H., 7, 103, 186, 199, 234, 235, 236, 252, 254, 262,
263, 268–70.

Bacchus, Île de, 159.

Balista, 62, 184–6, 194.

Bardson, Ivar, sailing directions of, 199, 204.

Barn, discovered by Thorvald’s expedition, 46, 48, 160.

Barnstable Peninsula, 246, 248, 253, 257, 258, 270.

Bear, killed on Bjarney, 56, 266.

Bear Isles, 56, 262, 295.

Bede, the Venerable, 191, 209.

Birds, on Straumsey, 57, 154, 168–71.

Bjarney, 56, 228, 238, 265–7.

Bjarni Grimolfson, companion of Karlsefni, 53, 55, 58, 60, 64;
confused with Herjulfson, 105;
not mentioned in Flatey Book, 143.

Bjarni Herjulfson, discovers America, 25–8;
in Norway, 40;
sells ship to Leif, 40;
distinguished from Grimolfson, 105;
authenticity of voyage, 114–18;
course of voyage, 131;
Mr. Hovgaard on, 238;
reconstruction of voyage, 244–51.

Björn Asbrandsson, 190.

Björn, Bishop, descendant of Karlsefni, 19, 20, 72, 86.

Bláserk, 22, 112.

Brand I, Bishop, descendant of Karlsefni, 72, 86, 101–2, 111, 137.

Brattahlid, 25, 37, 39, 40, 44, 45, 52–5, 135, 138, 141.

Brendan, Saint, voyage of, 162, 168, 171, 184.

Bull, Karlsefni’s, frightens savages, 62, 83, 194.

Cabot, 9, 221, 266.

Canoes, 46, 61, 95, 107, 174, 177–9, 193.

Cartier, Jacques, 107, 158, 170, 179, 183, 192, 226, 231, 266,
267.

Cartwright, Captain, 240, 266.

Celtic literature, influence discussed, 154, 162–72, 184, 187,
191.

Champlain, 48, 159, 170, 236, 256, 268.

Charlemagne, character of traditions concerning, 116.

Cloth, red, coveted by skrælings, 61, 183–4, 194.

Cod, Cape, 248, 256–9, 265, 267, 270, 273, 276.

Corn, wild, 48, 57, 60, 76, 98, 107, 158, 159–62, 226, 229, 240.

Corte Real, 9, 221, 265, 266.

Courses, 107, 131, 222, 232, 239, 242, 258, 259, 265.

Crossness, 47.

Dægr, meaning discussed, 196–211.

Dasent, Sir George, 148.

Dawson’s _Acadian Geology_, 269.

De Laet: _see_ Hudson.

Denys, Nicholas, 159, 170, 179, 268–9.

Dicuil, 191.

Dieserud, Juul, 104, 234, 258, 271.

Down Islands: _see_ New Land.

Dublin, 28, 66.

Eggs, on Straumsey, 58, 168–71.

Eric, Bishop of Greenland, 18, 152, 283.

Eric the Far-Travelled, 110.

Eric the Red, adventures in Iceland and discovery of Greenland,
21–4;
children, 25, 37;
receives Thorbjörn Vifilson, 37;
slow to change faith, 39;
asked to accompany Leif, 40;
accident to, 41, 78;
death alleged, 45;
unconverted, 47;
entertains Karlsefni, 53;
in Eyrbyggja, 73;
Ari’s account of, 74, 94;
bad opinion of priest, 75, 136;
conversion alleged, 76;
accompanies Thorstein, 79;
problem of his death, 135.

Eric the Red, Saga of, 14, 100, 101, 108, 141.

Eyktarstad observation, 42, 107, 123, 211–20, 225, 229, 243.

Eyrbyggja Saga, 39, 66, 73, 190.

Fernald, Professor, 160, 229.

Fischer, Joseph, 106, 115.

Fisher’s Island, 272, 273.

Flags, Indian, 65, 183, 193.

Flatey Book, 14, 100, 104–46, 238.

Flóamanna Saga, 136.

Fortunate Islands: _see_ Insulae Fortunatae.

Fóstbraeðra Saga, 138.

Foxes, arctic, in Helluland, 56, 165, 230–1.

Freydis, daughter of Eric the Red, 25;
illegitimate, 55;
courage of, 62–3;
second visit to Wineland, 67;
crime of, 70;
independence of Flatey Book story of, 105;
probability of story, 127.

Fríssbók, 74, 119.

Frobisher, 178, 183, 184, 289.

Froda miracle, 38–9.

Furdustrands, 56, 59, 60, 133, 227, 233, 234, 236, 238, 240, 242,
267–71, 285, 295.

Fur-trading by skrælings 61, 84, 183, 194.

Garda, site of Greenland Cathedral, 25, 142, 288.

Genealogies, Icelandic love of, 10, 91.

Geography, Icelandic, 241, 274, 287–9.

Godthaab, 23, 262, 295.

Gosling, W., 181.

Greenland, 16, 22, 74, 94, 139–46, 149, 177, 261, 282, 284, 287,
288, 290–6.

Gretti’s Saga, 53, 249.

Gripla, 227.

Gudrid, early history of, 30;
helps the sibyl, 36;
marriage to Thori, 45, 134;
to Thorstein Ericson, 49, 79;
to Karlsefni, 54, 83;
son born in Wineland, 64;
later history and death of, 72;
descendants, 86;
heroine of Saga of Eric, 142.

Gunnbjörn, 22, 117, 118.

Hake and Hekja, 57, 106, 151, 167, 254, 271.

Hakluyt, 169, 178, 179, 231, 236, 250, 266.

Haliburton, R. G., 113.

Halibut, 60, 171.

Hallbera, Abbess of Reynisness, 19, 20, 87, 102.

Hall-beams (setstokkar), 21, 24.

Harald Haardraade, 90, 286.

Hauk Erlendson, 19, 20, 87, 96, 100–4.

Heimskringla, 94, 113, 120, 138, 199.

Helgi Thorbrandson, 24, 116.

Helgi and Finnbogi, 67–70.

Helluland, 41, 56, 165, 167, 172, 227, 230–1, 235, 238, 251,
263–5, 287, 288, 290, 295, 296.

Henderson’s _Iceland_, 212–13.

Herjulf, 16, 24, 25, 114.

Hewlett, Maurice, his _Gudrid the Fair_, 7–8.

History, character of early, 150.

Hönen runic stone, 285, 286, 294.

Hóp, 60, 64, 108, 162, 223, 228, 234, 237, 238, 240, 242, 252,
272, 275–81.

Horsford, E. N., 147, 235, 270.

Hovgaard, W., 7, 114, 237–40, 262.

Hudson, the Navigator, 48, 159, 184, 187, 277.

Hudson River, 272, 276.

Húsa-snotra, 71, 144, 146, 288.

Hvarf, in Greenland, 202, 203–5, 208.

Hvítramannaland, 65, 97, 189–91, 194.

Hvitserk, 22, 290, 292.

Imramha: _see_ Voyage literature, Celtic.

Insulae Fortunatae, 98, 154–62.

Ireland, 28, 60, 66, 154, 162–72, 189–91.

Isidore Hispalensis, 98, 154, 162.

Íslendíngabók, 74, 87, 94, 173–6.

Jan Mayen, 207, 208.

Jökul, 238, 249.

Jolduhlaup, 202, 205.

Jónsson, Finnur, 7, 40, 102, 108, 264.

Julianehaab, 23, 295.

Karlsefni, Thorfin, ancestors of, 52;
comes to Greenland, 53;
marries Gudrid, 54;
sails to Wineland, 55;
expedition of, 52–67;
in Flatey Book, 82–6;
trades with Bremen merchant, 71;
descendants, 72, 86, 87;
related to Ari, 20, 93;
mentioned in Landnámabók, 97;
ancestor of Hauk, 20, 101, 103;
an Icelandic hero, 116, 118, 122;
courses of voyage, 131;
date of voyage, 18, 137, 261;
Mr. Hovgaard on, 239, 240;
voyage reconstructed, 261–81.

Kayaks, Eskimo, 178, 181, 182, 194.

Keelness, 46, 56, 59, 60, 77, 150, 227, 238, 242, 258, 267, 270,
273, 276, 278.

‘_King’s Mirror_’, 177, 249.

Kjafal, 57.

Kolbein’s island: _see_ Mevenklint.

Kolskegg, 96.

Kristinret, 214, 218.

Kristni Saga, 75, 120.

Labrador, 228–31, 238–40, 242, 244, 249, 251, 262–4, 290, 291,
293, 294.

Laing, Samuel, 113, 128.

Landnámabók, 21, 28, 96, 181, 189, 201, 209.

Land-Rolf, 284.

Leif Ericson, born, 21;
seduces Thorgunna, 37;
converts Greenland, 39, 74–6;
goes to Wineland, 40–5;
alternative account, 76;
lends houses to Karlsefni, 83;
and to Freydis, 69;
still a child in 986, 117;
Flatey Book account of preferred, 118–25;
course sailed by, 131;
date of visit to Norway, 134;
Rörek sent to, 138;
voyage discussed, 251–5.

‘Leita’, meaning of, 152.

Long Island Sound, 271–4.

Lyme-grass, 160, 161, 229.

Maelduin, voyage of, 165–7, 184.

Maize, 161.

Maps of Wineland, early, 241, 289–96.

Markland, 41, 56, 65, 166, 180, 188, 227, 231–3, 235, 238, 239,
241, 251, 265, 283, 287, 288, 293, 296.

Mausur (or mösur) wood, 71, 76, 146, 160, 229, 230.

Melur: _see_ Lyme-grass.

Mevenklint, 207, 209.

Midjökul, 22, 112.

Milk, appreciated by skrælings, 84.

‘Moose-butter’, 179.

Morris convention in translating sagas, 12.

Moulton’s _History of New York_, 8.

Mountains at Straumsfjord and Hóp, 58, 64, 260, 277–81.

Nansen, Dr. Fridtjof, 9, 133, 147–72, 174–7, 180, 181, 183–8, 191,
265, 274, 285, 295.

Natives: _see_ Skrælings.

Neckel, G., 7, 106, 109, 253–4.

Newfoundland, 230–3, 235, 237, 238, 240, 247, 249, 250, 264, 265.

New Land, the, 283–5.

Nicholas, Abbot of Thingeyre, 288.

Nielsen, Dr. Yngvar, 286–7.

Njál’s Saga, 90, 128, 148.

Norway, significance of direct voyages to, 144–5.

Nova Scotia, 170, 179, 230, 233–6, 247, 248, 251, 256, 257, 259,
265, 267–70.

Olaf the Holy, Saga of, 110, 138, 199.

Olaf the White, 20, 28.

Olaf Tryggvason, 37–8, 40, 57, 67, 74–6, 109, 110, 111, 118–22,
134, 135.

Olderfleet, 205.

Oral tradition in Iceland, 88–93.

Pamet River, 257, 259.

‘Papar’ (Irish monks), 175–6.

Parkhurst, Antony, on Newfoundland, 231.

Rafn, C., 147, 216, 219, 235.

Rafn the Limerick-Farer, 190–1.

Reeves, A. M., 10, 111, 264.

Remains, Norse, in America, alleged, 235.

Resen, Hans Poulson, map by, 289–96.

‘Reydur’ (see whale).

Rice, wild, 161.

Rímbegla, 197, 200–1.

Rolf: _see_ Land-Rolf.

Saga, erroneous ideas concerning, 11;
historical value of, 147–51;
in Greenland, 55, 141.

Saint Lawrence, Gulf of, 124, 266.

Salmon, in Wineland, 42, 166, 275, 277.

Savages: _see_ Skrælings.

Scotland, partial conquest of, by Norsemen, 28.

Seal-tar, specific against teredo, 65.

Shenachies, 89, 92.

Ships, Icelandic, speed of, 196–201, 263.

Sibyl, the, 11, 33–7, 142.

Skrælings, 46, 61–3, 65, 74, 83–6, 95, 154, 173–95.

Snorri Godi, 18, 20, 73, 136.

Snorri Karlsefnison, 18, 20, 64, 72, 84, 86, 87, 94, 137.

Snorri Thorbrandson, 22, 24, 53, 55, 60, 61, 62, 64, 66, 73, 143.

Steensby, H. P., 7, 124, 226, 237, 238, 241–3.

Stefansson, Sigurd, map by, 289–96.

Storm, Gustav, 106, 113, 117, 124, 132, 134, 144, 191, 202, 217,
224, 230–4, 244, 259, 265, 267, 278, 284, 293.

Straumsey, 57, 168, 243, 273.

Straumsfjord, 58, 64, 133, 228, 238, 240, 242, 271–4, 279, 280.

Sturlunga Saga, 99.

Svalbarda, 202, 206, 207.

Svein Estridson, king of Denmark, 18, 97, 156, 286.

Teredo, 65.

Thalbitzer, W., 188.

Thjodhild, wife of Eric the Red, 21, 37, 39.

Thorar Nefjolfson, 138, 199, 201, 203, 248.

Thorbjörg: _see_ Sibyl.

Thorbjörn Vifilson, 14, 15, 20, 22, 28–33, 37, 55, 103, 136.

Thorbrand Snorrison, 63, 67.

Thorgest, 21–3, 73, 100, 108.

Thorgunna, 37–40.

Thorhall Gamlison, 53, 55.

Thorhall the Hunter, 55, 59, 60, 77, 107, 133, 155, 168, 226, 254,
268.

Thori Eastman, 44–5, 49, 134.

Thorkel Gellison, 20, 74, 93, 95, 177, 190.

Thorkel Leifson, 138.

Thorlak, Bishop, descendant of Karlsefni, 18, 20, 72, 86, 87, 94,
137.

Thormod Kolbrunarskald, 77, 126, 138, 187, 224.

Thor-names, frequent occurrence of, 152.

Thorstein Ericson, 25, 37;
marries Gudrid, 49, 79;
sails for Wineland, 40, 78;
illness and death of, 50–2, 80–2;
driven near Iceland and Ireland, 79, 125;
supernatural episodes connected with, 50–2, 80–2, 149.

Thorvald Ericson, mentioned among Eric’s children, 25;
voyage of, in Flatey Book, 45–8;
alternative account, 77;
only mentioned by Hauk as Karlsefni’s companion, 55, 126, 279;
accounts of death compared, 125–7;
voyage reconstructed, 255–60.

Thorvard, husband of Freydis, 25, 55, 69, 126, 129, 142.

Three, recurrence of number, 153, 167.

Time-keeping, Icelandic method of, 212.

Tir-nan-Oge, in Celtic myth, 164.

Torfaeus, 214.

‘Trjóna’, meaning discussed, 181–3, 194.

Troil’s _Letters on Iceland_, 160, 168, 199, 213, 220, 230.

Tylft (Icelandic measure), 169, 197–200.

Tyrker, 41, 43, 44, 106, 150, 254.

Umiak (Eskimo boat), 178.

Uniped, 77, 126, 154, 187, 224, 259, 260.

Uvægi, 65, 188.

Vætilldi, 65, 188.

Valldidida, 65, 188.

Varðlokkur, 35.

Verses, incidental, in sagas, 13, 14, 25, 59, 60, 78, 133, 155,
168, 224, 226, 260, 268.

Verezzano, 180, 277.

Vifil, 20, 29, 103, 142.

Vigfusson, G., 90, 93, 96, 99, 110, 113, 216.

Vika (Icelandic measure), 197–8.

Vines, discovery of, 43, 48, 57, 60, 76, 97, 98, 154–9, 226,
253–5.

Voyage literature, Celtic, 163–5, 184.

Whale, episode of, 58, 83, 104, 107, 132–4, 150, 154, 167–8, 240.

Wineland, 44, 74, 75, 95, 97, 98, 155, 156, 159, 225, 227, 229,
233, 235, 236, 237–43, 251–3, 255–60, 267–81, 283, 285, 287,
289–96.

Winter, Icelandic, 216.

Women, quarrels over, in Wineland, 64, 105;
characteristics of, 130.

Yates: _see_ Moulton.

Yeats, W. B., his comparison of Celtic and Icelandic literature,
164.

PRINTED IN ENGLAND
AT THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Hereinafter referred to as the Saga of Eric the Red, Hauk’s Book, and the Flatey Book. See Part II, Chapter I.

[2] Flatey Book.

[3] See note at end of section.

[4] Flatey Book. Cf. Part II, Chapter I, p. 108.

[5] From [ omitted in Flatey Book.

[6] Hauk’s Book and Saga of Eric the Red.

[7] So Landnámabók, Hauk’s Book, and Flatey Book: Eric’s Saga has ‘Hvitserk’.

[8] Flatey Book and some texts of Landnámabók have ‘Eastern Settlement’. The Eastern Settlement was near Julianehaab, the Western near Godthaab. Both were thus on the west coast of Greenland.

[9] Hauk’s Book.

[10] Omitted in Flatey Book.

[11] What follows is transcribed in the Flatey version only.

[12] Flatey Book.

[13] Flatey Book has ‘35’.

[14] Hauk’s Landnámabók and some other texts have ‘Snorri’. In fact Snorri Thorbrandson went out later, as will be seen.

[15] There must be an error in supposing this Vifil to have been the father of Thorgeir and Thorbjörn. Even if we consider Vifil to have been captured as a boy, and to belong to the generation of Aud’s grandson, Olaf Feilan, we know that Thorgeir and Thorbjörn were of the generation of Snorri Godi and Thord Horsehead, the great-grandsons of Olaf Feilan, as their daughters married the sons of these persons respectively. (See Genealogical Table, p. 20.) It will be seen, moreover, later on, that Thorbjörn Vifilson looked down on the son of a slave, which would hardly have been the case had he been one himself. (See _post_, p. 32).

[16] i.e. a chant for attracting spirits.

[17] See note at end of section.

[18] At this point, on the voyage to Greenland, comes the accidental discovery of Wineland by Leif, as given in this version. For this see Appendix, p. 76.

[19] i.e. as he had formerly led the expedition to Greenland. Finnur Jónsson sees in the word _enn_ (‘still’) a reminiscence of Thorstein’s voyage in Eric’s Saga; this interpretation, however, seems unnecessarily far-fetched.

[20] Lit: ‘the sun had there eykt-place and dagmál-place on the shortest day’. See Part II, Chapter V.

[21] The text adds:—‘Eric the Red died also that winter.’ I am disposed to think this statement probable, but as Eric is frequently mentioned later on in the alternative version, I omit this from the story. (See, however, Part II, Chapter II, p. 135.)

[22] See note at end of section.

[23] _Skrælingar._

[24] See note at end of this section.

[25] This is corroborated by Gretti’s Saga, Chaps. 14 and 30, where one ‘Thorhall Gamlison the Winelander’ is mentioned.

[26] Hauk’s Book: ‘Eric’.

[27] Following the text of Hauk’s Book, as the clearer sense.

[28] The copyist of Eric’s Saga misplaces this sentence, putting it before ‘with much playing’. Hauk’s is the preferable reading.

[29] Hauk’s Book: ‘spring’.

[30] Hauk’s Book corrects this to ‘Thorvard, who married Freydis, an illegitimate daughter of Eric the Red’, but adds ‘and Thorvald Ericson’. Cf. Part II, Chapter II, p. 126.

[31] Plural, therefore he had been with Eric many years.

[32] Hauk’s Book: ‘with Thorvard and Thorvald’.

[33] Eric’s Saga says, ‘forty men of the second hundred’. Hauk’s Book has, ‘forty men and a hundred’. As the Icelandic hundred was 120, this means 160 in each case.

[34] From [ Hauk’s Book has: ‘Thence they coasted south for a long while, and came to a cape’, &c.

[35] Hauk’s Book; Eric’s Saga has ‘bjafal’. The word is clearly Gaelic. Nansen suggests an Irish word, ‘cabhail’, the body of a shirt. Or possibly ‘gioball’ = garment.

[36] Hauk’s Book has ‘newly-sown’.

[37] Hauk’s Book: ‘eiders’.

[38] From [ omitted in Hauk’s Book.

[39] These verses follow the Hauk’s Book text, which is here less corrupt than the other.

[40] See note 39 on previous page.

[41] So Hauk’s Book; the companion text has ‘small’.

[42] Lit. as many as if it had been sowed with coal.

[43] Following Hauk’s Book, as the clearer text.

[44] Hauk’s Book has ‘several’.

[45] i.e. sent from Hóp, as hostile emissaries or spies.

[46] Hauk’s Book: ‘at night’.

[47] Hauk’s Book: ‘Gudrid’.

[48] Here follows this narrative’s version of the death of Thorvald. (See Appendix, p. 77.)

[49] Following Hauk’s text. Eric’s Saga reads, ‘They intended to explore all those mountains which were at Hóp, and those which they found.’ It continues ‘they went back, and the third winter’, &c.

[50] Following Hauk’s text.

[51] Hauk’s Book, probably more correctly ‘Ireland’.

[52] Hauk’s Book gives a different reason. ‘All thought this such a manly offer that no one would speak against it.’

[53] See Appendix, p. 83.

[54] The text has ‘Karlsefni’, an obvious slip.

[55] The meaning of this word is uncertain.

[56] A mistake. Hallfrid was the wife of Runolf, and mother of Bishop Thorlak.

[57] The dying speech ascribed here to Thorvald is evidently borrowed from that of Thormod Kolbrunarskald after the battle of Stiklestad, where the point is much more easy to grasp. Thorvald means that he has come to a land providing plenty of nourishment, otherwise he would not be fat.

[58] Following Hauk’s text, to supply what is illegible in the other version.

[59] Following Hauk’s text, the other version being badly confused here.

[60] Or, ‘he lords it over all the apparitions’, etc.

[61] I have heard of a similar custom in the more remote parts of Norway at the present day, where the visits of the priest are infrequent. The only difference is that earth is sprinkled into the hole when the funeral service is read, instead of holy water.

[62] Word omitted in MS.

[63] Hauk’s Book, ‘Gudrid’.

[64] _Prolegom. to Sturlunga_, p. xxv.

[65] _Prolegom. to Sturlunga_, p. xxxvii.

[66] Ibid., p. xxxi.

[67] See below, p. 108.

[68] _Early Norse Visits to North America._ Washington, 1913.

[69] _Die Entdeckungen der Normannen in Amerika._ Freiburg, 1902.

[70] _Opdagelsen af og Reiserne til Vinland_, Aarbog for Nordisk Oldkyndighed, etc., for 1915.

[71] _Prolegom. to Sturlunga_, p. lix.

[72] Aarbog for Nordisk Oldkynd. og Hist. 1887.

[73] Since this chapter was written, my attention has been called to W. Hovgaard’s _Voyages of the Norsemen to America_ (1915), in which the Flatey Book is defended.

[74] This was written before the appearance of Professor Steensby’s monograph, which will be dealt with later (p. 237). This author brings his explorers into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but I adhere to my opinion.

[75] If the statement of the Flóamanna Saga can be relied on, Eric as a young man, already grown up, was with Haakon Jarl in Norway at the time when the latter ‘took the kingdom’, i.e. immediately after Harald Greyfell’s death (_c._ 970). The passage refers to Eric as an ‘Icelander’, but must almost necessarily relate to the period before Eric’s emigration from Norway.

[76] According to the Fóstbraeðra Saga, when Thormod Kolbrunarskald visited Greenland about five years before his death at Stiklestad (1030) Eric’s grandson, Thorkel Leifson, had succeeded to Brattahlid.

[77] _In Northern Mists_, vol. ii, pp. 20–21.

[78] _In Northern Mists_, vol. i, p. 335.

[79] _In Northern Mists_, vol, i, p. 346.

[80] _In Northern Mists_, vol. i, p. 359.

[81] See Stearn’s _New England Bird Life_, Part II, p. 362.

[82] _In Northern Mists_, vol. i, p. 345, and cf. p. 360.

[83] Force’s Tracts, vol. ii, p. 61.

[84] _In Northern Mists_, vol. ii, p. 75.

[85] ‘There were then Christian men here, those whom the Norsemen call Papar, but they went away afterwards, because they would not live here with heathen men, and they left behind them Irish books and bells and croziers: from which it might be inferred that they were Irishmen.’

[86] W. G. Gosling, _Labrador_, p. 17.

[87] Cf. Frobisher’s first voyage, in Hakluyt, ‘And so _with a white cloth_ brought one of their boates with their men along the shoare, rowing after our boate.’

[88] See _In Northern Mists_, vol. ii, pp. 8–10.

[89] _Norse Visits to North America_, p. 157.

[90] The most that can be said is that the ‘lld’ sound occurring in three of the four words was probably characteristic of the language. Mr. Thalbitzer permits himself an unrestricted range through the Eskimo vocabulary for words resembling in sound those cited in the saga. This obviously leaves room for a considerable chance of merely accidental resemblance. Mr. Thalbitzer’s equivalents for ‘Vætilldi’ and ‘Uvægi’ are ‘uwätille’ and ‘uwätje’, meaning ‘wait a little, please’ and ‘wait a little’. The ‘ll’ we are told is strongly aspirated, and may be represented by ‘tl’. By a curious coincidence, which shows the danger of arguing on these lines, these Eskimo words have almost the same sound as their English rendering—‘you wait a little’, ‘you wait’.

[91] _In Northern Mists_, vol. i, p. 354.

[92] So Hauk: other texts have simply ‘west to Greenland’.

[93] _Irish Place Names_, vol. i, p. 106.

[94] Troil’s _Letters on Iceland_, 1780, p. 118.

[95] _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, vol. i, p. 430.

[96] This was written before the appearance of Professor Steensby’s monograph, which is dealt with in a postscript (p. 237).

[97] See Troil’s _Letters on Iceland_, p. 105.

[98] Though there are woods at Nain, and were formerly more, it must be remembered that there is an intricate barrier of sterile islands between the coast and the open sea, in and about these latitudes.

[99] Cf. Hakluyt, _A briefe relation of the New found lande_:—‘That which we doe call the New found lande ... is an iland, or rather, after the opinion of some, it consisteth of sundry ilands and broken lands.’

[100] It is also possible, as Mr. Hovgaard suggests, that Karlsefni had to sail north to penetrate the ice round the coast.

[101] Since writing this, I find that the same emendation has been suggested by Finnur Jónsson.

[102] Unless we accept the story told to account for the name, Keelness. Even this would only be a very temporary landing, on the beach.

[103] _In Northern Mists_, vol. ii, p. 24.

[104] In an article on the fauna of Greenland by Herluf Winge (_Meddelelser om Grönland_, vol. xxi, p. 322), the author cites a list of furs said by Archbishop Erik Walkendorff of Trondhjem (_circa_ 1516) to be obtained from Greenland. Many of the animals therein referred to are not properly attributable to Greenland, and Winge suggests that these skins may have found their way via Greenland to Trondhjem from America.

[105] It is perhaps rash for an amateur to criticize the interpretation of an expert, but the numerous ‘ands’ in the early part of the inscription suggest to my mind that the words between them should be names of persons. The stereotyped form for a memorial runic inscription usually begins with a list of the persons responsible for it, separated by ‘and’ (auk = ok). The original, as read by Bugge, runs ‘út _ok_ vitt _ok_ þurfa þerru _ok_ ats’, &c.

Transcriber’s Notes:

• Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
• Text enclosed by equals is in bold (=bold=).
• Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.