Chapter III: Part I: Translation (1)

§1. ERIC THE RED AND THE COLONIZATION OF GREENLAND

This passage is common to all versions of the story. The source is
Landnámabók, II. 14, which is accordingly the text followed here.
The transcript in the Flatey Book is somewhat abridged. Additional
matter supplied by any version of the story is given in italics.

Thorvald, son of Oswald, son of Wolf, son of Oxen-Thori, and Eric the Red, his son, came from Jæderen (in Norway) to Iceland because they were implicated in homicide. _Iceland was then largely settled._[2] They took land in Hornstrands, and lived at Drange, where Thorvald died. Eric then married Thjodhild, daughter of Jörund Atlison and Thorberga the Ship-breasted, who at that time was married to Thorbjörn of Haukadal. Eric then moved from the north, and cleared ground in Haukadal, and settled at Ericstad near Vatshorn. _Eric and Thjodhild had a son called Leif._[2] Now Eric’s slaves sent down a landslide on the house of Valthjof at Valthjofstad. Eyulf Saur, a relation of Valthjof, killed the slaves near Skeidsbrekka above Vatshorn. For this Eric killed Eyulf Saur; he also killed Hrafn the Duellist at Leikskáli. Geirstein and Odd of Jörfi, Eyulf’s relations, prosecuted Eric, whereupon he was banished from Haukadal. He then took Brokey and Öxney, and lived at Trade in Suderey the first winter. At this juncture he lent his hall-beams[3] to Thorgest. Afterwards Eric moved to Öxney, and lived at Ericstad. He then asked for his beams and failed to get them. _Thence arose the quarrels and fights with Thorgest and his party which are related in Eric’s Saga._[4] [Thereupon he went in search of his beams to Breidabolstad, but Thorgest came after him. They fought a short way from the farm at Drange, where two sons of Thorgest fell, and some other men. After this both sides had a numerous following.[5] Styr _Thorgrim’s son_[4] helped Eric _in the proceedings_[4] as did Eyulf of Sviney, the sons of Thorbrand of Alptafjord and Thorbjörn Vifilson; but the sons of Thord Gelli and Thorgeir of Hitadal, Aslak from Langadal and his son Illugi sided with Thorgest. Eric and his men were outlawed at the Thorsness sessions. He made ready his ship in Ericsvág, but Eyulf hid him in Dimunavág while Thorgest and his men were looking for him about the islands. Thorbjörn and Eyulf and Styr escorted Eric out round the islands. He told them that he intended to look for the land which Gunnbjörn, son of Wolf the Crow, sighted when he was driven west past Iceland, when he discovered Gunnbjörn’s skerry. He said that he would come back and look up his friends if he discovered the country, _and they parted on the best of terms. Eric said that he would repay them with such help as lay in his power if they should happen to need him._[6] Eric sailed out to sea past Snæfellsjökul, and arrived (on the Greenland coast) near Midjökul, which is now called Bláserk[7]; thence he sailed south along the coast, to ascertain if it was habitable there. He was the first winter at Ericsey near the centre of the Western Settlement[8]; the following spring he came to Ericsfjord, and took himself a site there. He went that summer to the western wilds, _where he remained a long time_[9]: he gave names to places there over a wide tract. The next winter he was at Ericsholm off Hvarfsgnipa, but the third summer he went right up north to Snæfell, and into Hrafnsfjord. Then he claimed to have come to the head of Ericsfjord. At this point he turned back, and he was at Ericsey off the mouth of Ericsfjord the third winter. But afterwards, in the summer, he returned to Iceland, and arrived in Breidafjord.

[He passed that winter with Ingolf at Holmlat. In the spring he was attacked by Thorgest and his men, and Eric was then defeated; after which they were reconciled.[10] That summer Eric went to colonize the country which he had discovered, and called it Greenland, stating as his reason that men would be much attracted thither if the country had a good name.[11]

Learned men tell us that the same summer _that Eric the Red went to colonize Greenland_[12] twenty-five ships[13] set sail from Breidafjord and Borgafjord, but only fourteen arrived at their destination: some were driven back, and some were lost. This was fifteen winters before Christianity was legally established in Iceland. _Bishop Frederic and Thorvald Kodranson came out (to Iceland) the same summer._[12]

The following men who went out at this time with Eric took land in Greenland:—Herjulf took Herjulfsfjord, he lived at Herjulfsness; Ketil (took) Ketilsfjord; Hrafn, Hrafnsfjord; Sölvi, Sölvadal; Helgi[14] Thorbrandson, Alptafjord; Thorbjörn Glora, Siglufjord; Einar, Einarsfjord; Hafgrim, Hafgrimsfjord and Vatnahverfi; Arnlaug, Arnlaugsfjord; but some went to the Western Settlement.

NOTE, _Hall-pillars_. ‘Setstokkar’ are strictly speaking the
horizontal beams running between the central hall and the side
aisles on to which the bedrooms opened. They were frequently
carved with the figures of Thor, or other heathen deities, and
were a sacred and valuable family possession. The loan of such
articles is difficult to explain, as they would be necessary to
their owner, and at first sight of no use to a temporary borrower.
Eric, however, had not at the time settled down in his new home; he
would wait to build a suitable house until he had definitely fixed
upon a site, and in the meantime presumably would not require his
‘setstokkar’. It may be that Thorgest represented that he wished
to copy them, but we know of another use to which such things
were put, which may throw some light on the matter. When Ingolf,
the founder of the colony, wished to select a home for himself in
Iceland, we are told that he ‘threw overboard the pillars of his
holy place (öndugis sulur) for an omen, saying that he would settle
in that place where the pillars came to land’ (Landnáma, 1. 6).
This practice was evidently widely adopted, for we read (Landnáma,
3. 7) how Kraku-Hreidar ‘said that he would not throw his pillars
overboard, saying that he considered it a poor thing to determine
his plans in that way’. That ‘setstokkar’ were used in the same
way as ‘öndugis sulur’ is shown by another passage in Landnáma
(5. 9) where ‘Hástein threw his setstokkar overboard after the
time-honoured custom’. There is something analogous in the usage,
which is recorded in various traditions of the Scottish Highlands,
whereby a man would take up his residence where the packs first
fell from his horse after he set out on his travels. Thorgest was
no doubt a native of Iceland, for he was the son of Stein the
Great Sailor, who was settled in Breidabolstad, still he may have
required supernatural aid in the choice of a new home.

§2. THE ADVENTURE OF BJARNI HERJULFSON

From the Flatey Book.

Herjulf was a son of Bard the son of Herjulf, who was related to Ingolf the founder of the Iceland colony. Ingolf gave land between Vóg and Reykjaness to Herjulf (the elder) and his people. Herjulf (the younger) lived first at Drepstok. He had a wife named Thorgerd, and their son was Bjarni, a very promising man. He had taken to foreign voyages from his youth. This brought him both wealth and credit, and he used to spend his winters alternately abroad and with his parents. Bjarni soon had a trading-ship of his own, and the last winter that he was in Norway was when Herjulf undertook the voyage to Greenland with Eric, and removed his home there. Herjulf had on board his ship a Christian from the Hebrides, who composed the Song of the Tidal Wave, which contains this verse:—

Almighty God, to whom alone
The hearts of all thy saints are known,
Sinless and just, to thee I pray
To guide me on my dangerous way:
Lord of the heavens that roof the land,
Hold o’er me thy protecting hand.

Herjulf settled at Herjulfsness; he was held in the greatest respect. Eric the Red lived at Brattahlid; he was the most distinguished person there, and was obeyed by all. Eric’s children were Leif, Thorvald, and Thorstein, and a daughter named Freydis, who was married to a man named Thorvard: they lived at Garda, where the cathedral is now: she was a very haughty woman, but Thorvard was a man of no account; she was married to him mainly for his money. People were heathen in Greenland at that time.

Bjarni arrived in his ship at Eyrar in the summer of the same year in the spring of which his father had sailed away. Bjarni was much concerned at the news, and would not discharge his cargo. His crew thereupon asked him what he meant to do; he replied that he meant to keep to his custom of passing the winter with his parents, ‘and I will’, said he, ‘take my ship on to Greenland, if you will accompany me’. They all said that they would abide by his decision; upon which Bjarni remarked, ‘Our voyage will be considered rash, since none of us have been in Greenland waters.’ Notwithstanding this they put to sea as soon as they had got ready, and they sailed for three days before the land was laid; but then the fair wind ceased, and north winds and fogs came on, and they did not know where they were going, and this went on for many days. After this they saw the sun, and so were able to get their bearings, whereupon they hoisted sail, and after sailing that day they saw land, and they discussed among themselves what land this could be, but Bjarni said he fancied that it could not be Greenland. They asked him whether he would sail to this land or not. ‘I am for sailing in close to the land’, he said, and on doing so they soon saw that the land was not mountainous, and was covered with wood, and that there were small knolls on it, whereupon they left the land on the port side, and let the sheet turn towards it. Then after sailing two days they saw another land. They asked Bjarni if he thought this was Greenland; he said that he did not think this was Greenland any more than the first place, ‘for it is said that there are very large glaciers in Greenland’. They soon neared this land, and saw that it was a flat country and covered with wood. At this point the fair wind dropped, whereupon the crew suggested that they should land there: but Bjarni would not. They considered that they were short both of wood and water. ‘You are in no want of either’, said Bjarni, but he got some abuse for this from his crew. He ordered them to hoist sail, which was done, and they turned the bows from the land, and sailed out to sea for three days before a south-westerly breeze, when they saw the third land: now this land was high and mountainous, with ice upon it. So they asked if Bjarni would put in there, but he said that he would not, since—as he put it—this land appeared to him to be good for nothing. Then without lowering sail they kept on their course along the coast, and saw that it was an island: once more they turned the bows away from the land, and held out to sea with the same breeze; but the wind increased, so that Bjarni told them to reef, and not crowd more sail than their ship and rigging could stand. They now sailed for four days, when they saw the fourth land. Then they asked Bjarni if he thought this was Greenland, or not. Bjarni replied, ‘This is most like what was told me of Greenland, and here we will keep our course towards the land.’ So they did, and that evening they came to land under a cape, which had a boat on it, and there on that cape lived Herjulf, Bjarni’s father, and it is from him that the cape received its name, and has since been called Herjulfsness.

Bjarni now went to his father, and gave up voyaging, and he was with his parents as long as Herjulf was alive, and afterwards he succeeded his parents, and lived there.

§3. OF THORBJÖRN VIFILSON

This passage is a translation from the text of Eric’s saga,
collated with that of Hauk’s Book. Both are an accurate abridgement
from the Landnámabók. The words italicized are in Hauk’s book only.

There was a _warrior_ king named Olaf, who was called Olaf the White. He was a son of King Ingjald, son of Helgi, son of Olaf, son of Gudröd, son of Halfdan Whitelegs King of the Uplands. Olaf made a raiding voyage in the West, and conquered Dublin in Ireland and the Dublin district, and made himself king over it. He married Aud the Very Wealthy, daughter of Ketil Flatnose, son of Björn Buni, a great man from Norway. Their son was called Thorstein the Red. Olaf fell in battle in Ireland, whereupon Aud and Thorstein went away to the Hebrides. There Thorstein married Thurid, daughter of Eyvind Eastman and sister of Helgi the Lean: they had many children. Thorstein became a warrior king: he joined forces with _Earl_ Sigurd the Rich, son of Eystein Glumri. They won Caithness and Sutherland, Ross and Moray, and more than half Scotland. Thorstein made himself king over this district, until the Scots betrayed him, and he fell there in battle. Aud was in Caithness when she heard of Thorstein’s fall. Thereupon she had a vessel built secretly in the wood, and when she was ready she sailed for the Orkneys. There she gave in marriage Thorstein the Red’s daughter Gró, who became the mother of Grelada, whom Earl Thorfinn the Skull-cleaver married. After this Aud went to look for Iceland; she had twenty free men on board. Aud came to Iceland, and stayed the first winter in Björnhaven with her brother Björn. Later on Aud took all the Dalelands between the rivers Dogurda and Skraumuhlaup, and she lived at Hvamm. She had a private chapel at Crossholes, where she had a cross set up, for she was baptized and of the true faith.

With her came out many distinguished men, who had been captured in the western raids and were nominally slaves. One of these was named Vifil. He was a man of good family, who had been taken captive beyond the western sea, and was nominally a slave until Aud freed him. And when Aud gave homes to her crew Vifil asked her why she did not give him a home like the rest. Aud said that it would make no difference, and remarked that he would be considered noble as he was. (Later on) Aud gave him Vifilsdal, and he settled there. He had a wife. Their sons were Thorgeir and Thorbjörn[15]: they were promising men, and they grew up with their parents.

§4. GUDRID COMES TO GREENLAND

Translation from the saga of Eric the Red: there are no material
variations in Hauk’s Book.

Thorgeir Vifilson married, taking Arnora, daughter of Einar of Laugarbrekka, the son of Sigmund, the son of Ketil Thistil, who had taken Thistilsfjord. Einar had another daughter, named Hallveig; Thorbjörn married her, getting with her Laugarbrekkaland at Hellisvelli. Thorbjörn moved his home there, and became a most respected man. He was a local chief (goði), and had a magnificent estate. The daughter of Thorbjörn was called Gudrid; she was a very beautiful woman and most noble in all her behaviour.

There was a man called Orm, who lived at Arnarstapi. He had a wife named Halldis. Orm was a well-to-do yeoman, and a great friend of Thorbjörn, and Gudrid was brought up for a long time in his home. There was a man called Thorgeir, who lived at Thorgeirsfell. He was well off for money and had been freed from slavery. He had a son named Einar, who was a fine man and well-bred; he was also a great dandy. Einar was engaged in the trade between Iceland and Norway, a business in which he throve; he stayed alternate winters for an equal time in Iceland and Norway. Now at this point it must be told how one autumn when Einar was out here he went out with his wares along Snæfellness to sell them. He came to Arnarstapi. Orm asked him to stop there, and Einar accepted, for they were friends. His wares were carried into an outhouse. Einar opened his wares and showed them to Orm and his household, inviting him to take what he liked. Orm accepted, saying that Einar was a good sailor and a very lucky man. Now as they were engaged over the wares a woman passed the door of the outhouse. Einar asked Orm, ‘Who may that beautiful woman be who passed by the door there? I have not seen her here before.’ ‘That is Gudrid, my foster-child,’ replied Orm, ‘daughter of squire Thorbjörn of Laugarbrekka.’ ‘She would be a good match,’ said Einar, ‘but I suppose more than one man has come to ask for her hand.’ ‘Certainly there have been proposals, my friend,’ answered Orm, ‘but she is not to be snapped up by the first comer; it is thought that both she and her father will prove particular.’ ‘However that may be,’ said Einar, ‘she is the woman I mean to ask in marriage, so I wish that you would take up the suit for me with her father, and put all your mind into the matter to bring it about: for I shall consider it a most friendly act on your part. Squire Thorbjörn should see that a union between us would be a good thing, since he is a man of good standing and of good estate, but I am told that his wealth is greatly decreasing, while I and my father have no lack of land or goods, and it will be the strongest support to Thorbjörn if this proposal is accepted.’ ‘Certainly I consider myself a friend of yours,’ replied Orm, ‘but still I am unwilling to undertake this suit, for Thorbjörn is quick-tempered and a very proud man as well.’ Einar said that he would be content with nothing but that his proposal should be conveyed. Orm said he would undertake it. Einar went back south till he came home.

Some time afterwards Thorbjörn had a harvest festivity, as was his custom, for he was a man of a very generous disposition. Orm came there from Arnarstapi, and many others of Thorbjörn’s friends. Orm spoke to Thorbjörn, and said that Einar had arrived there from Thorgeirsfell, and that he had grown into a promising man. Then Orm started the proposal for Einar’s hand, and said that it would be a good thing for various reasons. ‘It might become a great source of strength to you, squire, from the pecuniary point of view.’ Thorbjörn replied, ‘I did not expect you to say such a thing as that I should give my daughter in marriage to the son of a slave. You evidently think that my wealth is on the wane, and Gudrid shall not stay with you any more, since you think her suited to so poor a match.’ After this Orm and all the other guests went home. Gudrid stayed thenceforward with her parents, and was at home that winter.

But in spring Thorbjörn gave a party and a good feast was prepared: many people came, and the feast was of the best. And at the feast Thorbjörn prayed silence and spoke as follows:—‘I have lived here a long time, I have experienced men’s goodwill and love towards me, and I admit that we have got on well together in our intercourse. But now my fortune is beginning to run low, though it has hitherto been thought no unworthy one. Now I will rather shift my home than lose my standing, rather quit the country than disgrace my family; so now I am resolved to fall back upon the word of my friend Eric the Red, which he gave me when we parted in Breidafjord, so now I mean to travel to Greenland this summer, if things go as I wish.’

This decision created a great sensation among the audience,—Thorbjörn had long been popular—but they felt sure that Thorbjörn, having made this announcement so publicly, could not be prevailed upon to draw back. Thorbjörn made presents to the guests, after which the banquet came to an end and the men went back to their homes. Thorbjörn sold his estates and bought a ship which was lying at the mouth of Hraunhaven. Thirty men accompanied him on his voyage. Orm of Arnarstapi and his wife were there, and such of Thorbjörn’s friends as were unwilling to part with him. Thereupon they put to sea. The weather was fine when they set out, but when they came into the ocean the fair breeze took off and they were caught in a great storm, and they made slow progress during the summer. Next a plague attacked their party, and Orm and Halldis his wife and half of them died. The sea began to rise, and they underwent a great deal of exhaustion and misery in many ways, yet they reached Herjulfsness in Greenland just as the winter began. Now a man named Thorkel lived at Herjulfsness. He was a good man and the principal landowner. He took in Thorbjörn and all his crew for the winter. Thorkel entertained them liberally. Thorbjörn and all his crew were well satisfied.

§5. GUDRID AND THE SIBYL

Translation from the saga of Eric the Red, collated with Hauk’s
Book. Passages italicized occur only in Hauk’s Book.

At this time there was a great famine in Greenland; those men who had gone fishing had made but a small catch, while some did not return. There was in the settlement a woman named Thorbjörg; she was a prophetess, and was called the little sibyl. She had had nine sisters, who were all gifted with prophecy, but she alone remained alive. Thorbjörg was accustomed to attend banquets in the winter, and she was especially invited by those who were curious about their fate or the prospects of the season. And since Thorkel was the principal landowner there, he thought he would approach her to find out when these times of scarcity which were oppressing them would cease. Thorkel asked the prophetess to his house, where a good welcome was prepared for her, as was customary when this sort of woman was received. A throne was made ready for her, and a cushion laid beneath, in which there were hen’s feathers. Now when she came in the evening with the man who had been sent to fetch her she was attired as follows:—she had on a blue mantle, which was set with stones down to the hem; she had a rosary of glass on her neck and a black hood of lambskin lined with white catskin on her head, and she had a staff in her hand with a knob on it: it was ornamented with brass, and set with stones down from the knob: round her waist she had a belt of amadou on which was a great skin bag, in which she kept those charms which she needed for her art. On her feet she wore hairy calfskin shoes, the thongs of which were long and strong-looking and had great buttons of lateen on the ends. On her hands she had catskin gloves, which were white inside and furry.

Now when she came in every one thought it right to offer her courteous greetings, which she received according as they were agreeable to her. Squire Thorkel took the wise-woman by the hand, and led her to the throne which was ready for her. Thorkel then asked her to run her eyes over household and herd and home there. She spoke little about it all. In the evening a table was brought in, and at this point it must be told what food was made ready for the prophetess. There was made for her porridge of goat’s beestings, and for her food there were provided hearts of all living creatures which were obtainable; she had a brass spoon, and a knife with an ivory handle bound with copper, and the point was broken off. But when the table was cleared away Squire Thorkel approached Thorbjörg, and asked what she thought of the house, or the behaviour of the men, or how soon those things would become known to her which he had asked and men wished to know. She told him that she would not say before the following morning, when she had first slept the night.

But on the morrow late in the day the necessary preparations were made for her to carry out the spell. She asked that such women should be procured for her as were instructed in the knowledge which was needed for the spell, and was called ‘varðlokkur’.[16] But no such women were found, whereupon a search was made about the house to find if any one knew these things. Then Gudrid said, ‘I am not skilled in magic, nor a wise-woman, but Halldis my foster-mother taught me in Iceland that art which she called “varðlokkur”.’ ‘Then you are wiser than I thought,’ answered Thorbjörg. ‘This is a kind of lore and a proceeding’, said Gudrid, ‘which I intend in no way to forward, since I am a Christian woman.’ ‘It may be’, said Thorbjörg, ‘that you might become useful to the company in this matter, yet be no worse woman than before; however I will leave it to Thorkel to procure those things which are necessary to me.’ At this Thorkel urged Gudrid till she said she would do as he wished.

The women then made a circle about the platform, while Thorbjörg sat on the top of it; Gudrid sang the song so beautifully and well that those who were by thought that none had heard the song sung with a more beautiful voice. The prophetess thanked her for the song, and said that she had brought many spirits there who thought it delightful to hear the chant, _since it was so well done_, ‘who before wished to keep themselves aloof from us, and not to yield us any assistance: and many of those things are now clear to me which before were hidden from me and others. Now I can say that this famine will not last longer _than this winter_, and that the season will improve as the spring comes: the sickness which has so long oppressed you will grow better sooner than was hoped. But you, Gudrid, I will reward at once for the help which has been received from you, for your fate is now quite clear to me. You shall make the most distinguished match here in Greenland that is open to you, though it will not last you long, for your ways lie out to Iceland, where a great lineage and a good shall come from you, and over the branches of your stock bright rays shall shine. But now farewell and prosper, daughter mine.’

After this people approached the wise-woman, and every one inquired about that which he was most curious to know, and she was free with information, and that which she told turned out true. Next she was sent for from other houses, and she went there. Then they sent for Thorbjörn, for he would not be in the house while such heathen rites were in progress. The state of the weather improved quickly when spring came, as Thorbjörg had said. Thorbjörn made ready his ship and sailed till he came to Brattahlid. Eric received him with open arms, and said that he had done right to come there. Thorbjörn and his family passed the winter with him, _but they lodged the crew with the farmers_. Later in the spring Eric gave Thorbjörn land at Stokkaness, and a fine house was built there, where he lived thenceforward.

§6. LEIF GOES TO NORWAY

From the Saga of Eric the Red, collated with Hauk’s Book.

At that time Eric had a wife named Thjodhild, and by her two sons, one called Thorstein and the other Leif. They were both likely men. Thorstein lived at home with his parents, and no man in Greenland was considered so promising as he. Leif had sailed to Norway, and was with king Olaf Tryggvason. But when Leif sailed from Greenland in the summer they were driven by storms to the Hebrides. It was a long time before they had a fair wind thence, and they made a protracted stay there in the summer. Leif was attracted by a woman there, named Thorgunna.[17] She was a woman of good family, and Leif formed the opinion that she was gifted with supernatural knowledge. Now when Leif prepared to go away Thorgunna asked to go with him. Leif asked whether this would have the approval of her kin. She said that as to that she did not care. Leif replied that he could not carry off a lady of such high birth in an unknown country, especially considering how small a force he had. ‘It is not certain that the course which appeals to you is best,’ said Thorgunna. ‘I must risk that,’ said Leif. ‘Then I tell you’, said Thorgunna, ‘that I shall not suffer alone. I am with child, and I say that the child is yours. I prophesy that it will be a boy when it is born. And though you will not pay any heed still I will bring up the boy, and send him to Greenland as soon as he can go with other men. And I prophesy that the possession of this son will turn out such a joy as befits our parting. And I intend myself to come to Greenland before the end.’ Leif gave her a gold ring, and a cloak of Greenland homespun, and a belt of (walrus) ivory. This boy came to Greenland, and was named Thorgils. Leif accepted paternity; some men say that this Thorgils came to Iceland in the summer of the Froda miracle. But anyhow Thorgils came to Greenland, where it was thought that there was something uncanny about him up to the last.

Leif and his men sailed away from the Hebrides, and reached Norway in the autumn. Leif joined the court of king Olaf Tryggvason. The king treated him with honour, evidently recognizing that he must be a man of good breeding.

One day the king spoke to Leif, and said, ‘Do you mean to go out to Greenland this summer?’ ‘Yes,’ said Leif, ‘with your consent.’ ‘I think it will be well,’ replied the king, ‘you shall go with my mission, and preach Christianity in Greenland.’ Leif said he would consider it, but added that he thought such a mission would have a difficult task in Greenland. The king, however, said that he knew no fitter person for it than he, adding, ‘you will bring it good luck.’ ‘If so, the luck will be solely derived from you,’ said Leif.[18]

* * * * *

Leif landed in Ericsfjord, and went home afterwards to Brattahlid, where he was well received. He soon started preaching about the country Christianity and the Catholic Faith, and published the message of King Olaf Tryggvason, and told how great glory and treasure accompanied this creed. Eric was slow to abandon his religion, but Thjodhild was soon won over, and she had a church built, though not in the immediate neighbourhood of the houses, which was called Thjodhild’s Church: there she, and her fellow-converts, who were many, used to offer up their prayers. Thjodhild would not live with Eric after her conversion, and this he took very much to heart.

NOTE. _Thorgunna and the Froda Miracle._ From the mention of the
Froda miracle it is clear that this must be the same Thorgunna
who is mentioned in the Eyrbyggja Saga (R. L. Stevenson’s _Waif
Woman_). On the other hand, neither the chronology nor the
description of Thorgunna can be reconciled in the two sagas.
According to Eyrbyggja (chap. 50) Thorgunna came to Iceland in the
summer in which Christianity was legally established (A.D. 1000),
and the Froda miracle, which was concerned with her death, followed
immediately afterwards; Thorgils, her son, could not therefore
have come to Iceland at this time unless he accompanied her as
an infant, and he is not stated to have done so. Again, though
the Eyrbyggja Saga agrees in describing Thorgunna as a Hebridean,
and states that she had valuable dresses and other property with
her, it gives the following account of her personal appearance,
which does not suggest the maiden victim of Leif’s early
passion:—‘Thorgunna was a woman of great size, broad and tall and
very fat, swarthy and with eyes set close together, with a quantity
of brown hair; most men considered that she would have reached
the sixties.’ The words in Eric’s Saga, ‘some men say’, suggest
that there were various accounts of the matter. As the whole story
of the Froda miracle is obviously incredible, there may well be
some inaccuracy about the date of her arrival in Iceland, which is
really all that is required to reconcile the two stories.

§7. LEIF DISCOVERS WINELAND

From the Flatey Book.

Now the next event to be recorded (after the death of Olaf Tryggvason, September 1000) is that Bjarni Herjulfson came over from Greenland to Earl Eric (who became the ruler of a large part of Norway after Olaf’s death), and the earl gave him a good reception. Bjarni told the story of his voyage when he saw the (strange) lands, but people thought that he had been lacking in curiosity, since he had nothing to report about those countries, and some fault was found with him on this account. Bjarni was made an officer of the earl’s court, but the following summer he went out to Greenland.

There was now much talk of exploration. Leif, Eric the Red’s son from Brattahlid, went to Bjarni Herjulfson and bought a ship of him, and engaged a crew of thirty-five men. Leif asked his father Eric still to be leader of the expedition.[19] Eric excused himself, saying that he was now an old man, and less fitted to bear all the hardships than formerly. Leif said that he was still the member of the family who would bring the best luck; Eric thereupon gave way to Leif, and as soon as they were ready for it he rode from home, and came to within a short distance of the ship. The horse which Eric was riding stumbled, and he fell off and hurt his foot. Then Eric said, ‘I am not fated to discover more countries than this in which we are now settled, and we ought not to bear one another company any longer.’ So Eric went home to Brattahlid, but Leif went on board with his companions, thirty-five men. There was a southerner (German) on the expedition called Tyrker.

Now they prepared their ship, and when they were ready they put to sea, and they found first the country which Bjarni found last. There they sailed up to the land, and having cast anchor and lowered a boat went ashore, and saw no grass there. The background was all great glaciers, and all the intermediate land from the sea to the glaciers was like one flat rock, and the country seemed to them destitute of value. Then Leif said, ‘We have not failed to land, like Bjarni; now I will give this country a name, and call it Helluland (the land of flat stone).’ Thereupon they returned on board, after which they sailed to sea and discovered the second land. Again they sailed up to the land and cast anchor, then lowered the boat and went ashore. This land was low-lying and wooded, and wherever they went there were wide stretches of white sand, and the slope from the sea was not abrupt. Then Leif said, ‘This land shall be given a name from its resources, and shall be called Markland (woodland),’ after which they returned to the ship as quickly as possible. And they sailed after that in the open sea with a north-east wind, and were out two days before they saw land, towards which they sailed, and having come to an island which lay to the north of the mainland they landed on it, the weather being fine, and looked round; and they perceived that there was a dew on the grass, and it came about that they put their hands in the dew, and carried it to their mouths, and thought that they had never known anything so sweet as that was. Then they went back to the ship, and sailing into the sound which lay between the island and the cape which ran north from the mainland they steered a westerly course past the cape. It was very shallow there at low tide, so that their ship ran aground, and soon it was a long way from the ship to the sea. But they were so very eager to get to land that they would not wait for the tide to rise under their ship, but hurried ashore where a river came out of a lake; but when the sea had risen under their ship they took the boat and rowed to the ship, and took her up the river and afterwards into the lake, where they cast anchor, and carrying their leather kitbags ashore they put up shelters, but later, on deciding to pass the winter there, they made large houses.

There was no want of salmon, either in the river or the lake, and bigger salmon than they had seen before; the amenities of the country were such, as it seemed to them, that no cattle would need fodder there in the winter; there came no frost in the winter, and the grass did not wither there much. Day and night were more equally divided there than in Greenland or Iceland: on the shortest day the sun was up over the (Icelandic) marks for both nones and breakfast time.[20]

Now when they had finished building their houses, Leif said to his men, ‘Now I will divide our party into two, and have the country explored: and one half shall stay at home in camp while the other explores the country, going no further than they can return by the evening, and not separating.’ And so for a time they did this, Leif sometimes going with the explorers and at others staying at home in camp. Leif was a big, strong man, the handsomest of men in appearance, and clever; in fact he was in all respects an excellent commander.

It happened one evening that a man of their party was missing, and this was Tyrker the southerner. Leif was much distressed at this, for Tyrker had been long with his father and him, and had been very fond of Leif as a child: so now Leif, after finding great fault with his men, prepared to look for him, taking a dozen men with him. But when they had got a little way from camp Tyrker came towards them, and was received with joy. Leif saw at once that his foster-father was in good spirits.

Tyrker had a projecting forehead and a very small face with roving eyes; he was a small and insignificant man, but handy at every kind of odd job.

Then Leif said to him, ‘Why are you so late, my foster-father, and why did you separate from your companions?’ Tyrker at this spoke for a long time in German, rolling his eyes and grimacing, but the others did not distinguish what he was saying. But a little later he said in Norse, ‘I did not go much further than you, (but) I have found something fresh to report. I found vines and grapes.’ ‘Is that true, foster-father?’ said Leif. ‘Certainly it is true,’ he replied, ‘for I was born where there was no lack of vines or grapes.’

Now they slept that night, but in the morning Leif said to his crew, ‘We will now do two things, keeping separate days for each; we will gather grapes and cut down vines, and fell wood, to make a cargo for my ship,’ and this suggestion was adopted. The story goes that their pinnace was full of grapes. So a cargo was cut for the ship, and in spring they made ready and sailed away, and Leif gave the country a name according to its resources, and called it Wineland.

So after this they put to sea, and the breeze was fair till they sighted Greenland, and the mountains under its glaciers. Then a man spoke up and said to Leif, ‘Why are you steering the ship so much into the wind?’ ‘I am paying attention to my steering,’ replied Leif, ‘but to something else as well: what do you see that is strange?’ They said they could see nothing remarkable. ‘I do not know’, said Leif, ‘whether it is a ship or a reef that I see.’ Then they saw it, and said that it was a reef. But Leif was longer sighted than they, so that he saw men on the reef. ‘Now,’ said Leif, ‘I wish that we should beat up wind, so as to reach them if they need our help and it is necessary to assist them, and if they are not peaceably disposed we are masters of the situation and they are not.’ So they came up to the reef, and lowered their sail and cast anchor: and they launched a second dinghy that they had with them. Then Tyrker asked who was the captain (of the shipwrecked party). ‘His name is Thori,’ was the reply, ‘and he is a Norseman, but what is your name?’ Leif told his name. ‘Are you a son of Eric the Red of Brattahlid?’ said Thori. Leif assented. ‘Now,’ said Leif, ‘I will take you all on board my ship, and as much of your stuff as the ship can hold.’ They agreed to these terms, and afterwards they sailed to Ericsfjord with this freight, until they came to Brattahlid where they unloaded the ship. After that Leif invited Thori and Gudrid his wife, and three other men to stay with him, and procured lodgings for the rest of the crews, both Thori’s men and his own. Leif took fifteen men from the reef; he was subsequently called Leif the lucky. So Leif gained both wealth and honour. That winter Thori’s folk were much attacked by sickness, and Thori and a great part of his crew died.[21]

§8. THORVALD’S VOYAGE AND DEATH

Translation from the Flatey Book.

Now there was much discussion of Leif’s expedition to Wineland, and Thorvald, his brother, thought that the exploration of the country had been confined to too narrow an area. So Leif said to Thorvald, ‘If you wish, brother, you shall go to Wineland in my ship: but I wish the ship to go first for the wood which Thori had on the reef.’ And this was done. Thereupon Thorvald prepared for this expedition, taking thirty men, by the advice of Leif, his brother. Afterwards they made their ship ready and held out to sea, and there is no report of their voyage before they came to Wineland to Leif’s camp. There they laid up their ship, and remained quiet that winter, catching fish for their food. But in the spring Thorvald told them to make ready their ship, and ordered the ship’s pinnace with some of the crew to go to the west of the country and explore there during the summer. It seemed to them a fine wooded country, the trees coming close down to the sea, and there were white sands. There were many islands, and many shoals. They found no traces either of men or beasts, except that on an island to the west they found a wooden barn.[22] Finding no further human handiwork they returned, and came to Leif’s camp in the autumn. But the next summer Thorvald sailed to the east with his trading ship, and along the more northerly part of the country: then a sharp storm arose off a cape, so that they ran ashore, breaking the keel under their ship; so they made a long stay there to repair their vessel. Then Thorvald said to his companions, ‘Now I wish that we should raise up the keel here on the cape, and call it Keelness,’ and so they did. Afterwards they sailed away thence and eastward along the coast and into the nearest fjord mouths, and to a headland which ran out there: it was all covered with wood. Then they moored their ship, and put out the gangway to land, and there Thorvald went ashore with all his crew. Then he remarked, ‘This is a beautiful spot, where I should like to make my home.’ After this they returned to the ship, and saw on the sands inside the headland three lumps, and on approaching they saw three canoes of skin, with three men beneath each. Thereupon they divided their party, and laid hands on all of them, except one who escaped with his canoe. They killed the eight, and afterwards went back to the headland, when they saw inside in the fjord some mounds, which they took to be dwelling-places. After this there came over them so great a heaviness that they could not keep awake, and they all fell asleep. Then came a cry above them, so that they all woke up, and the cry was, ‘Awake, Thorvald, and all your company, if you value your life: and return to your ship with all your men, and leave the land with all speed.’ At that there came from within the fjord countless skin canoes, which made towards them. So Thorvald said, ‘We must set the war-shields over the side, and defend ourselves as well as we can, while assuming the offensive but little.’ So they did, but the savages,[23] after shooting at them for a while, afterwards fled away, each as quickly as he could. Then Thorvald asked his men if they were wounded at all; they said there were no casualties. ‘I have got a wound under the arm,’ said he; ‘an arrow flew between the gunwale and the shield under my arm and here it is, and it will be my death. Now my advice is that you prepare to go away as quickly as possible, after carrying me to that headland which I thought the best place to dwell in: maybe it was the truth that came into my mouth that I should stay there awhile. Bury me there with a cross at my head and at my feet, and call it Crossness hereafter for ever.’ Greenland was then converted, though Eric the Red died before conversion.

Now Thorvald died, but they carried out all his instructions, after which they went and met their companions, and told each other such tidings as they knew, and they stayed there that winter, gathering grapes and vines for their ship. Then in the spring they prepared to go back to Greenland, and arrived with their ship in Ericsfjord, with great news to tell Leif.

NOTE. ‘_A wooden barn_’. (_Kornhjálm af tre_). This is the only
allusion, direct or indirect, which is made to corn in the course
of the Flatey Book version. It is frequently referred to as one of
the absurdities affecting the credit of this part of the story.
But it does not seem to me to have any necessary or probable
connexion with the wild corn of the Saga of Eric. The ‘selfsown
wheat’ is never mentioned by the historian of the Flatey Book;
unlike the wild grapes, he does not seem to have heard of this
feature. It is therefore impossible to suppose that the barn is an
imaginary feature introduced to colour the reports of wild corn.
It is recorded merely as the only trace of human occupation met
with during the exploration conducted in the ship’s pinnace. And
its very inappropriateness to the uncultivated crops of which we
are told in the rival version seems to me a strong proof of its
authenticity. Like the whole of this part of the story, it is too
purposeless to be invented. We need not on this account imagine
that it actually was a barn. The storage of Indian corn in New
England, according to the earliest observers, was, for the most
part at any rate, in holes in the ground, and an island remote from
human habitation seems a most unlikely situation.

On the other hand, De Laet’s _Nieuwe Werelt_ reports Hudson as
having seen ‘a house well constructed of oak bark, and circular in
shape, so that it had the appearance of being well built, with an
arched roof. It contained a great quantity of maize or Indian corn,
and beans of the last year’s growth, and there lay near the house,
for the purpose of drying, enough to load three ships.’ (_Hudson
the Navigator_, Hakluyt Society, p. 161).

But there may easily be a different interpretation. ‘Hjálm’ in its
primary meaning is a conical helm, then a stack or cock of similar
shape, and so finally a building used to cover such a stack of
corn. Two possible explanations occur to me. One is that what was
seen and originally reported was a structure of poles and bark of
conical shape, and that the explorers, being unfamiliar at this
time with savage architecture, assumed that it was intended to
cover a rick of corn, which in shape it resembled. Alternatively it
may be that originally the reference was solely to its shape, and
not to its purpose, and that the first report mentioned a conical
‘stack’ of poles. In either case what was actually seen may well
have been a deserted wigwam of poles and bark such as the Micmacs
and other Indians build at the present day. In the earliest records
similar dwellings are described, while in some cases those observed
by Champlain appear to have been roughly dome-shaped at the top;
this, as a glance at those illustrated in the sketch-maps of that
writer will show, would give them even more exactly the form of
a cock of hay or corn. It seems to me that the knowledge of the
wild corn mentioned in Eric’s Saga and by Adam of Bremen has alone
diverted the minds of previous commentators from this, the most
probable explanation.

§9. THORSTEIN’S UNSUCCESSFUL VENTURE

Translation from the Flatey Book.

It had happened in Greenland, meanwhile, that Thorstein of Ericsfjord had taken in marriage Thorbjörn’s daughter Gudrid, who, as has already been mentioned, had been the wife of Thori Eastman. Now Thorstein Ericson wished to go to Wineland for the body of Thorvald his brother, so he made ready the same ship, choosing his crew for their strength and size; and with twenty-five men and Gudrid his wife they put to sea when they were ready, and lost sight of land. All the summer they tossed about in the open, and did not know where they went, and in the first week of winter they made the land at Lysefjord in Greenland in the Western Settlement.