Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber's Note: A number of typographical errors in the original text have been maintained in the current version of this book. A complete list is found at the end of the text.

ORIGINAL NARRATIVES
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY

REPRODUCED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

GENERAL EDITOR, J. FRANKLIN JAMESON, PH.D., LL.D.
DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN THE
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON

THE NORTHMEN, COLUMBUS, AND CABOT
985-1503

_ORIGINAL NARRATIVES
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY_

THE NORTHMEN
COLUMBUS AND CABOT
985-1503

THE VOYAGES OF THE NORTHMEN
EDITED BY
JULIUS E. OLSON
PROFESSOR OF THE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS
AND OF JOHN CABOT
EDITED BY
EDWARD GAYLORD BOURNE, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN YALE UNIVERSITY

_WITH MAPS AND A FACSIMILE
REPRODUCTION_

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

Printed in the United States of America

_All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons_

GENERAL PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY

At its annual meeting in December, 1902, the American Historical Association approved and adopted the plan of the present series, and the undersigned was chosen as its general editor. The purpose of the series was to provide individual readers of history, and the libraries of schools and colleges, with a comprehensive and well-rounded collection of those classical narratives on which the early history of the United States is founded, or of those narratives which, if not precisely classical, hold the most important place as sources of American history anterior to 1700. The reasons for undertaking such a project are for the most part obvious. No modern history, however excellent, can give the reader all that he can get from the _ipsissima verba_ of the first narrators, Argonauts or eyewitnesses, vivacious explorers or captains courageous. There are many cases in which secondary narrators have quite hidden from view these first authorities, whom it is therefore a duty to restore to their rightful position. In a still greater number of instances, the primitive narrations have become so scarce and expensive that no ordinary library can hope to possess anything like a complete set of the classics of early American history.

The series is to consist of such volumes as will illustrate the early history of all the chief parts of the country, with an additional volume of general index. The plan contemplates, not a body of extracts, but in general the publication or republication of whole works or distinct parts of works. In the case of narratives originally issued in some other language than English, the best available translations will be used, or fresh versions made. In a few instances, important narratives hitherto unprinted will be inserted. The English texts will be taken from the earliest editions, or those having the highest historical value, and will be reproduced with literal exactness. The maps will be such as will give real help toward understanding the events narrated in the volume. The special editors of the individual works will supply introductions, setting forth briefly the author's career and opportunities, when known, the status of the work in the literature of American history, and its value as a source, and indicating previous editions; and they will furnish such annotations, scholarly but simple, as will enable the intelligent reader to understand and to estimate rightly the statements of the text. The effort has been made to secure for each text the most competent editor.

The results of all these endeavors will be laid before the public in the confident hope that they will be widely useful in making more real and more vivid the apprehension of early American history. The general editor would not have undertaken the serious labors of preparation and supervision if he had not felt sure that it was a genuine benefit to American historical knowledge and American patriotism to make accessible, in one collection, so large a body of pioneer narrative. No subsequent sources can have quite the intellectual interest, none quite the sentimental value, which attaches to these early narrations, springing direct from the brains and hearts of the nation's founders.

_Sacra recognosces annalibus eruta priscis._

J. FRANKLIN JAMESON.

CARNEGIE INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D.C.

NOTE

Special acknowledgments and thanks are due to the representatives of the late Arthur Middleton Reeves, who have kindly permitted the use of his translations of the Vinland sagas, originally printed in his _Finding of Wineland the Good_, published in London by the Clarendon Press in 1890; to the President and Council of the Hakluyt Society, for permission to use Sir Clements Markham's translation of the Journal of Columbus's first voyage, printed in Vol. LXXXVI. of the publications of that Society (London, 1893), and that of Dr. Chanca's letter and of the letter of Columbus respecting his fourth voyage, by the late Mr. R.H. Major, in their second and forty-third volumes, _Select Letters of Columbus_ (London, 1847, 1870); to the Honorable John Boyd Thacher, of Albany, for permission to use his version of Las Casas's narrative of the third voyage, as printed by him in his _Christopher Columbus_ (New York, 1904), published by Messrs. G.P. Putnam's Sons; to Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Company for permission to use, out of the third volume of Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, the late Dr. Charles Deane's translation, revised by Professor Bennet H. Nash, of the second letter of Raimondo de Soncino respecting John Cabot's expedition; and to George Philip and Son, Limited, of London, for permission to use the map in Markham's _Life of Christopher Columbus_ as the basis for the map in the present volume, showing the routes of Columbus's four voyages.

CONTENTS

ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF THE VOYAGES OF THE NORTHMEN
EDITED BY PROFESSOR JULIUS E. OLSON

PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3

THE SAGA OF ERIC THE RED 14
The Ancestry of Gudrid 14
The Colonization of Greenland 15
Gudrid's Father emigrates to Greenland 20
The Sibyl and the Famine in Greenland 21
Leif the Lucky and the Discovery of Vinland 23
Thorstein's Attempt to find Vinland 26
The Marriage of Gudrid to Thorstein 27
The Ancestry of Thorfinn Karlsefni; his Marriage with Gudrid 30
Karlsefni's Voyage to Vinland 31
The First Winter in Vinland 34
Description of Vinland and the Natives 36
The Uniped; Snorri; the Captured Natives 40
Biarni Grimolfson's Self-sacrifice 42
Karlsefni and Gudrid's Issue 43

THE VINLAND HISTORY OF THE FLAT ISLAND BOOK 45
Eric the Red and the Colonization of Greenland 45
Leif Ericson's Baptism in Norway 47
Biarni Herjulfson sights New Land 48
Biarni's visit to Norway 50
Leif's Voyage of Exploration 50
The Discovery of Grapes 52
Thorvald's Expedition to Vinland 54
Thorfinn Karlsefni's Expedition to Vinland 59
The Expedition of Freydis and her Companions 62
Karlsefni and Gudrid return to Iceland 65

FROM ADAM OF BREMEN'S DESCRIPTIO INSULARUM AQUILONIS 67

FROM THE ICELANDIC ANNALS 69
Annales Regii 69
From the Elder Skalholt Annals 69

PAPAL LETTERS CONCERNING THE BISHOPRIC OF GARDAR IN GREENLAND
DURING THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 70
Letter of Nicholas V. 70
Letter of Alexander VI. 73

ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS
EDITED BY PROFESSOR EDWARD G. BOURNE

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE LORDS, THE CATHOLIC SOVEREIGNS,
AND CHRISTOBAL COLON 77
Columbus appointed Admiral and Viceroy of such Mainland and
Islands as he should Discover 77

TITLE GRANTED BY THE CATHOLIC SOVEREIGNS TO CHRISTOBAL COLON OF ADMIRAL, VICEROY, AND GOVERNOR OF THE ISLANDS AND MAINLAND THAT MAY BE DISCOVERED 81 The Powers and Privileges of the Office of Admiral 82

JOURNAL OF THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 85

INTRODUCTION 87
The Voyage to the Canaries; repairs on the _Pinta_ 91
The Double Reckoning of the Distances 94
Traces of the Nearness of Land 96
The Fears of the Sailors 99
The Chart 100
The Declination of the Compass 103
The Course changed from West to West-southwest 107
The Light on Shore 109
The Island of Guanahani 110
The Natives 111
The Islands of Santa Maria and Fernandina 115
Description of the Natives of Fernandina 121
The Island of Isabella 123
Reports of the Island of Cuba; Columbus takes it to be Cipango 126
Products of the Islands 127
Arrival at Cuba 130
Columbus thinks it to be Cathay 134
He sends an Embassy to the Gran Can 137
Return of the Messengers; their Report 140
Products of Cuba 144
Planting the Cross 149
Martin Alonso Pinzon sails away with the _Pinta_ 152
Columbus returns to Cuba 153
Signs of Gold 154
Rumors of a Monstrous People 156
The Eastern End of Cuba 158
Columbus outlines a Colonial Policy 159
The Natives. A Large Canoe 162
An Interview with the Natives 163
Discovery of Hayti 167
First View of Hayti 168
Further Description of the Island 171
Columbus names it Espanola 173
The Products of the Island 174
Visit to a Native Village 176
The Life of the People 177
Another Village Visited 180
Description of an Indian Cacique 183
The Cacique visits the Ship of Columbus 185
Columbus anchors in the Bay of Acul 188
Description of Native Life 190
Trading with the Natives 194
A Large Village 196
Character of the Natives 198
Wreck of the _Santa Maria_ 199
Helpfulness of the Indians 201
The Cacique dines on Shipboard 202
Columbus plans to have a Garrison 204
Inquiries after the Source of the Gold 206
Preparations to return to Spain 208
Spices and Pepper 209
The Garrison left at Navidad 210
The Return Voyage Begun 211
Columbus concludes that Cipango is in Espanola 212
News of the _Pinta_ 213
Return of Martin Pinzon with the _Pinta_ 214
Comment on the Pinzons 216
The Harbor where Pinzon had Tarried 219
Samana Bay Discovered 221
The Caribs. Indians with Long Hair 223
Matinino, an Island inhabited by Women Only 226
Columbus takes the Direct Course for Spain 228
Varieties of Sea Life 230
Continued Fine Weather 234
Finding their Position 235
A Terrible Storm 238
Columbus's Reflections 240
Prepares a Brief Report which is fastened in a Barrel 241
The Storm Abates 242
Arrival at Santa Maria in the Azores 244
Suspicions and Hostility of the Governor 245
Columbus hampered by the Detention of Part of his Crew 247
The Sailors are Restored 249
Violent Gale off Portugal 251
Columbus at Lisbon 252
Interview with the King of Portugal 254
Columbus leaves Lisbon 257
Arrival at Palos 257

LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO LUIS DE SANTANGEL 259

INTRODUCTION 261
The New Islands Discovered 263
Description of their People and Products 265
Description of Espanola 268
Value of the Discoveries to Spain 268
A Fort built and Garrisoned 269
The Customs of the Inhabitants 270

LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA CONCERNING
THE COLONIZATION AND COMMERCE OF ESPANOLA 273
The Regulations proposed for Settlements 274
The Regulations for Mining 275
The Regulations for Commerce 276

LETTER OF DR. CHANCA ON THE SECOND VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 279

INTRODUCTION 281
The Outward Voyage. Stopping at the Canary Islands 283
First Impressions of the Lesser Antilles 285
Intercourse with the Inhabitants 285
Their Cabins; their Arts 286
The Caribbees 287
Indications of Cannibalism 288
Customs of the Caribbees. They Eat their Captives 289
Return of Diego Marquez who had been Lost 291
A Clash with the Caribbees 293
Discovery and Description of Porto Rico 294
Arrival at Espanola 295
Following the Coast 297
Suspicious Circumstances; Fears for the Spaniards left at
Navidad 298
Navidad in Ruins and the Garrison All Dead 300
Vestiges of the Settlement 301
Fixing upon the Site for a New Settlement 302
Columbus visits the Cacique Guacamari 304
Examining Guacamari's Wound 305
Guacamari's Amazement at seeing Horses 305
The Site selected for the New Settlement named Isabella 307
The Food and Clothing of the Natives 308
The Products of the Country 310
Columbus sends out Exploring Parties to Cibao and Niti 312
Conclusion 313

NARRATIVE OF THE THIRD VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS AS CONTAINED IN LAS CASAS'S HISTORY 315

INTRODUCTION 317
The Start. Arrival at Madeira 319
Three Ships despatched direct to Espanola 320
Columbus goes to the Canary Islands 323
The Lepers' Colony on the Island of Boavista, one of the Cape
Verde Islands 324
Columbus at the Island of Santiago 325
He sails Southwest from the Cape Verdes. Intense Heat 327
Signs of Land 327
The Course is changed to the West 328
Discovery of Trinidad 331
August 1, 1498, the Mainland of South America Sighted 332
The Dangers of the Serpent's Mouth 334
Intercourse with Indians of the Mainland 335
Their Appearance and Arms 336
Fauna and Flora 338
Exploring the Gulf of Paria 340
Trading with the Indians 343
Columbus retains Six Indians as Captives 343
Nuggets and Ornaments of Gold 345
Indian Cabins 346
Exploring the Western End of the Gulf 347
Columbus's Reflections upon his Discoveries 348
The Terrors and Perils of the Boca del Drago 354
The Northern Coast of Paria 355
Columbus suffers from Inflammation of the Eyes 357
Columbus begins to believe the Land is Mainland 358
His Reasons for not Exploring It 360
Observations of the Declination of the Needle 363
The Products of the Country 364
Arrival at Santo Domingo, August 31, 1498 366

LETTER OF COLUMBUS TO THE NURSE OF PRINCE JOHN 367

INTRODUCTION 369
The Injustice of the Treatment accorded to Columbus 371
Conditions in Espanola upon his Arrival 373
The Rebellion of Adrian de Muxica 374
The Conduct of the Commander Bobadilla 375
His Unwise Concessions to the Colonists 376
Bad Character of Some of the Colonists 378
Bobadilla's Seizure of the Gold set apart by Columbus 380
The Proper Standards by which Columbus should be Judged 381
Richness of the Mines in Espanola 382
Seizure of Columbus's Papers 383

LETTERS OF COLUMBUS ON THE FOURTH VOYAGE 385

INTRODUCTION 387
Voyage to Espanola 389
A Terrible Storm 390
Storms on the Coast of Central America 391
Anxieties and Misfortunes of Columbus 392
Arrival at Veragua 394
Evidence that Columbus had reached the Extremity of Asia 395
Marinus's Views of the Extent of the Earth Confirmed 396
Exploring the Coast of Veragua 398
Recurrences of Storms 399
Excursion into the Interior of Veragua 401
Difficulties with the Natives 402
Columbus's Vision 403
Decides to return to Spain 405
Columbus arrives at Jamaica 406
No one else knows where to find Veragua 407
Some Features of the Country 408
The Arts of the Natives 409
The Gold brought to Solomon from the Far East 412
The Recovery of Jerusalem 413
Retrospect. Columbus's Justification 415
His Distressing Plight in Jamaica 418

ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF THE VOYAGES OF JOHN CABOT
EDITED BY PROFESSOR EDWARD G. BOURNE

INTRODUCTION 421

LETTER OF LORENZO PASQUALIGO TO HIS BROTHERS ALVISE AND
FRANCESCO, MERCHANTS IN VENICE 423

THE FIRST LETTER OF RAIMONDO DE SONCINO, AGENT OF THE DUKE
OF MILAN, TO THE DUKE 424

THE SECOND LETTER OF RAIMONDO DE SONCINO TO THE DUKE OF MILAN 425

DESPATCH TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA FROM PEDRO DE AYALA,
JUNIOR AMBASSADOR AT THE COURT OF ENGLAND, JULY 25, 1498 429

MAPS AND FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION

PAGE 1. MAP SHOWING THE ROUTES, OUTWARD AND RETURN, OF THE FOUR VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 88

2. FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF THE FOLIO (FIRST) EDITION OF THE SPANISH TEXT OF COLUMBUS'S LETTER, DATED FEBRUARY 15, 1493, TO SANTANGEL, DESCRIBING HIS FIRST VOYAGE. From the original (unique) in the New York Public Library (Lenox Building) 262

3. THE NEW WORLD IN THE CANTINO CHART OF 1502, SHOWING THE STATE OF GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE AT THE TIME OF THE DEATH OF COLUMBUS 418

ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF THE VOYAGES OF THE NORTHMEN

INTRODUCTION

The important documents from Norse sources that may be classed as "Original Narratives of Early American History" are the Icelandic sagas (prose narratives) that tell of the voyages of Northmen to Vinland. There are two sagas that deal mainly with these voyages, while in other Icelandic sagas and annals there are a number of references to Vinland and adjacent regions. These two sagas are the "Saga of Eric the Red" and another, which, for the lack of a better name, we may call the "Vinland History of the Flat Island Book," but which might well bear the same name as the other. This last history is composed of two disjointed accounts found in a fine vellum manuscript known as the Flat Island Book (Flateyjar-bok), so-called because it was long owned by a family that lived on Flat Island in Broad Firth, on the northwestern coast of Iceland. Bishop Brynjolf, an enthusiastic collector, got possession of this vellum, "the most extensive and most perfect of Icelandic manuscripts," and sent it, in 1662, with other vellums, as a gift to King Frederick III. of Denmark, where it still is one of the great treasures of the Royal Library.

On account of the beauty of the Flat Island vellum, and the number of sagas that it contained (when printed it made 1700 octavo pages), it early attracted the attention of Old Norse collectors and scholars, and hence the narrative relating to Vinland that it contained came to be better known than the vellum called Hauk's Book, containing the "Saga of Eric the Red," and was the only account of Vinland that received any particular attention from the scholars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries The Flat Island Book narrative was also given first place in Rafn's _Antiquitates Americanae_ (Copenhagen, 1837). This ponderous volume contained all the original sources, but it has given rise to much needless controversy on the Norse voyages, for many of the author's conclusions were soon found to be untenable. He failed to winnow the sound historical material from that which was unsubstantiated or improbable. And so far as the original sources are concerned, it was particularly unfortunate that he followed in the footsteps of seventeenth and eighteenth century scholars and gave precedence to the Flat Island Book narrative. In various important respects this saga does not agree with the account given in the "Saga of Eric the Red," which modern scholarship has pronounced the better and more reliable version, for reasons that we shall consider later.

The Flat Island Book consists of transcripts of various sagas made by the Icelandic priests Jon Thordsson and Magnus Thorhallsson. Very little of their lives is known, but there is evidence to show that the most important portion of the copying was completed about 1380. There is, however, no information concerning the original from which the transcripts were made. From internal evidence, however, Dr. Storm of the University of Christiania thinks that this original account was a late production, possibly of the fourteenth century.[4-1] It is, moreover, evident that this original account was quite different from the one from which the existing "Saga of Eric the Red" was made, so that we have two distinct accounts of the same set of events, both separately derived from oral tradition, a fact which, on account of the lack of harmony in details, has been the source of much confusion, but which nevertheless gives strong testimony concerning the verity of the Vinland tradition in its general outlines.

The saga which has best stood the test of modern criticism, namely the "Saga of Eric the Red," has beyond this fact the additional advantage of having come down to us in two different vellums. The one is found in Hauk's Book, No. 544 of the Arne-Magnaean Collection in Copenhagen, and the other is in No. 557 of the same collection. These two narratives (in vellums 544 and 557) tell the same story. They are so closely allied that the translation which appears in this volume has been made from a collation of both texts, that of Hauk's Book (544) having been more closely followed.[5-1] The Hauk's Book text is clearly legible; No. 557 is not in such good condition.

Many facts in the life of Hauk Erlendsson, who with the assistance of two secretaries made Hauk's Book, are known. He was in 1294 made a "lawman" in Iceland, and died in Norway in 1334. There are reasons for believing that the vellum bearing his name was written a number of years before his death, probably during the period 1310-1320. Hauk was particularly interested in the "Saga of Eric the Red," as he was descended from Thorfinn Karlsefni, the principal character of the saga, a fact that perhaps lends a certain authority to this version as against that of the Flat Island Book. Hauk brings the genealogical data of the saga down to his own time, which is not done in No. 557, one fact among others which shows that 557 is not a copy of 544.

The early history of AM. 557 is not known. The orthography and hand indicate that it was made later than Hauk's Book, probably in the early part of the fifteenth century. Vigfusson considered it a better text than the Hauk's Book version, though rougher and less carefully written.[5-2] Other critics (Jonsson and Gering) consider 544 the safer text.

In regard to the date of composition of the archetype, it may be remarked that both 544 and 557 speak of Bishop Brand "the Elder," which presupposes a knowledge of the second Bishop Brand, whose accession occurred in 1263. Before this date, therefore, the originals used in making 544 and 557 could not have been written. But this mention of Bishop Brand "the Elder" does not, we think, give an adequate basis for fixing the date of the _composition_ of the saga, as Dr. Storm believes, who places it somewhere between 1263 and 1300, with an inclination toward the earlier date. Dr. Finnur Jonsson,[6-1] who accepts Dr. Storm's opinion in other respects, says on this point: "The classic form of the saga and its vivid and excellent tradition surely carry it back to about 1200.... To assume that the saga was first written down about 1270 or after, I consider to be almost an impossibility." Nor does this conservative opinion by Dr. Jonsson preclude the possibility, or even probability, that written accounts of the Vinland voyages existed before this date. John Fiske's[6-2] well-considered opinion of this same saga (544 and 557) has weight: "Its general accuracy in the statement and grouping of so many remote details is proof that its statements were controlled by an exceedingly strong and steady tradition,--altogether too strong and steady, in my opinion, to have been maintained simply by word of mouth." And Vigfusson,[6-3] in speaking of the sagas in general, says: "We believe that when once the first saga was written down, the others were in quick succession committed to parchment, some still keeping their original form through a succession of copies, others changed. The saga time was short and transitory, as has been the case with the highest literary periods of every nation, whether we look at the age of Pericles in Athens, or of our own Elizabeth in England, and that which was not written down quickly, in due time, was lost and forgotten forever."

The absence of contemporary record has caused some American historians to view the narratives of the Vinland voyages as ordinary hearsay. But it is important to remember that before the age of writing in Iceland there was a saga-telling age, a most remarkable period of intellectual activity, by means of which the deeds and events of the seething life of the heroic age were carried over into the age of writing.[7-1] The general trustworthiness of this saga-telling period has been attested in numerous ways from foreign records. Thus Snorri Sturlason's "The Sagas of the Kings of Norway," one of the great history books of the world, written in Iceland in the thirteenth century, was based primarily on early tradition, brought over the sea to Iceland. Yet the exactness of its descriptions and the reliability of its statements have been verified in countless cases by modern Norwegian historians.[7-2]

With reference to the Vinland voyages, there is proof of an unusually strong tradition in the fact that it has come down from two sources, the only case of such a phenomenon among the Icelandic sagas proper. It does not invalidate the general truth of the tradition that these two sources clash in various matters. These disagreements are not so serious but that fair-minded American scholars have found it "easy to believe that the narratives contained in the sagas are true in their general outlines and important features." It lies within the province of Old Norse scholarship to determine which of the two Vinland sagas has the better literary and historical antecedents. After this point has been established, the truthfulness and credibility of the selected narrative in its details must be maintained on the internal evidence in conjunction with the geographical and other data of early America. And here American scholarship may legitimately speak.

These sagas have in recent years been subjected, especially by Dr. Gustav Storm of Christiania,[8-1] to most searching textual and historical criticism, and the result has been that the simpler narrative of Hauk's Book and AM. 557 is pronounced the more reliable account.[8-2] In respect to literary quality, it has the characteristics of the Icelandic sagas proper, as distinguished from the later sagas by well-known literary men like Snorri. Where it grazes facts of Northern history it is equally strong. Thus, there is serious question as to the first sighting of land by Biarni Herjulfson, who is mentioned only in the Flat Island narrative, and nowhere else in the rich genealogical literature of Iceland, although his alleged father was an important man, of whom there are reliable accounts. On the other hand, the record of the "Saga of Eric the Red," giving the priority of discovery to Leif Ericson, can be collaterally confirmed.[8-3] The whole account of Biarni seems suspicious, and the main facts, viewed with reference to Leif's discovery, run counter to Northern chronology and history. There are, however, two incidental touches in the Flat Island Book narrative, which are absent from the other saga, namely, the observation concerning the length of the day in Vinland, and the reference to finding "three skin-canoes, with three men under each." The improbabilities of the Flat Island Book saga are easily detected, if one uses as a guide the simpler narrative of the "Saga of Eric the Red," the only doubtful part of which is the "uniped" episode, a touch of mediaeval superstition so palpable as not to be deceptive.

Aside from such things as picking grapes in the spring, sipping sweet dew from the grass, and the presence of an apparition, the Flat Island Book account, when read by itself, with no attempt to make it harmonize with the statements of the "Saga of Eric the Red" or other facts of Scandinavian history, is a sufficiently straightforward narrative. The difficulty begins when it is placed in juxtaposition to these facts and statements. It should not be and need not be discarded, but in giving an account of the Vinland voyages it must be used with circumspection. From an historical standpoint it must occupy a subordinate place. If Rafn in his _Antiquitates Americanae_ had given emphatic precedence to the saga as found in Hauk's Book and AM. 557, had left to American scholars the Dighton Rock and the Newport Tower, and had not been so confident in the matter of identifying the exact localities that the explorers visited, he might have carried conviction, instead of bringing confusion, to American scholars.

The general results of the work of the Norwegian scholar Dr. Storm, together with a unique presentation of the original narratives, are accessible in _The Finding of Wineland_ (London, 1890 and 1895), by an American scholar, the late Arthur Middleton Reeves. This work contains a lucid account of the important investigations on the subject, photographs of all the vellum pages that give the various narratives, a printed text accompanying these, page by page and line by line, and also translations into English. There is one phase of the subject that this work does not discuss: the identifications of the regions visited by the Northmen. Dr. Storm, however, has gone into this subject, and is convinced that Helluland, Markland, and Vinland of the sagas, are Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia.[10-1] The sailing directions in the "Saga of Eric the Red" are given with surprising detail. These, with other observations, seem to fit Nova Scotia remarkably well. Only one thing appears to speak against Storm's view, and that is the _abundance_ of grapes to which the Flat Island Book account testifies. But coupled with this testimony are statements (to say nothing of the unreliability of this saga in other respects) that indicate that the Icelandic narrators had come to believe that grapes were gathered in the spring, thus invalidating the testimony as to abundance.

Whether the savages that the sagas describe were Indians or Eskimos is a question of some interest. John Fiske[10-2] believes that the explorers came in contact with American Indians; Vigfusson, on the other hand, believes that the sagas describe Eskimos. Here, however, the American has the better right to an opinion.

On this point, it is of importance to call attention to the fact that the Norse colonists in Greenland found no natives there, only vestiges of them. They were at that time farther north in Greenland; the colonists came in contact with them much later,--too late to admit of descriptions of them in any of the classical Icelandic sagas, in which the Greenland colonists play no inconspicuous part. Ari, the great authority on early Norse history, speaking of the Greenland colonists, says in his _Libellus Islandorum_:[11-1] "They found there men's habitations both east and west in the land [_i.e._, in both the Eastern and Western settlements] both broken cayaks and stone-smithery, whereby it may be seen that the same kind of folk had been there as they which inhabited Vinland, and whom the men of Greenland [_i.e._, the explorers] called Skrellings."

A sort of negative corroboration of this is offered by a work of high rank, the famous _Speculum Regale_, written in Old Norse in Norway in the middle of the thirteenth century. It contains much trustworthy information on Greenland; it tells, "with bald common sense," of such characteristic things as glaciers and northern lights, discusses the question as to whether Greenland is an island or a peninsula, tells of exports and imports, the climate, the means of subsistence, and especially the fauna, _but not one word concerning any natives_. Moreover Ivar Bardsen's account[11-2] of Greenland, which is entirely trustworthy, gives a distinct impression that the colonists did not come into conflict with the Eskimos until the fourteenth century.

There is consequently no valid reason for doubting that the savages described in the sagas were natives of Vinland and Markland. But whether it can ever be satisfactorily demonstrated that the Norse explorers came in contact with Algonquin, Micmac, or Beothuk Indians, and just where they landed, are not matters of essential importance. The incontrovertible facts of the various Norse expeditions are that Leif Ericson and Thorfinn Karlsefni are as surely historical characters as Christopher Columbus, that they visited, in the early part of the eleventh century, some part of North America where the grape grew, and that in that region the colonists found savages, whose hostility upset their plans of permanent settlement.

According to the usually accepted chronology, Leif's voyage from Norway to Greenland (during which voyage he found Vinland) was made in the year 1000, and Karlsefni's attempt at colonization within the decade following. On the basis of genealogical records (so often treacherous) some doubt has recently been cast on this chronology by Vigfusson, in _Origines Islandicae_[12-1] (1905). Vigfusson died in 1889, sixteen years before the publication of this work. He had no opportunity to consider the investigations of Dr. Storm, who accepts without question the first decade of the eleventh century for the Vinland voyages. Nor do Storm's evidences and arguments on this point appear in the work as published. Therefore we are obliged to say of Vigfusson's observations on the chronology of the Vinland voyages, that they stand as question-marks which call for confirmation.

We are surprised, moreover, to find that _Origines Islandicae_ prints the Flat Island Book story first, apparently on account of the belief that this story contains the "truer account of the first sighting of the American continent" by Biarni Herjulfson.[12-2] It is impossible to believe that this would have been done, if the editors (Vigfusson and Powell) had known the results of Dr. Storm's work, which is not mentioned. There is, furthermore, no attempt in the _Origines Islandicae_ to refute or explain away an opinion on AM. 557 expressed by the same authorities, in 1879,[12-3] to the effect that "it is free from grave errors of fact which disfigure the latter [the Flat Island Book saga]." We are almost forced to the conclusion that a hand less cunning than Vigfusson's has had to do with the unfinished section of the work.

In regard to the extract from Adam of Bremen, which we print, it should be observed that its only importance lies in the fact that it corroborates the Icelandic tradition of a land called Vinland, where there were grapes and "unsown grain," and thus serves to strengthen faith in the trustworthiness of the saga narrative. The annals and papal letters that follow need no further discussion, we think, than that contained in the annotations.

Besides the texts in Icelandic, already described, by Rafn, Reeves, Vigfusson and Powell, and Storm, it may be mentioned that the Flat Island text is given in Vol. I. of _Flateyjar-bok_, ed. Vigfusson and Unger, Christiania, 1860. There are translations of both texts in Beamish, _Discovery of North America by the Northmen_ (London, 1841), in Slafter, _Voyages of the Northmen_ (Boston, 1877), and in De Costa, _Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen_ (Albany, 1901). But most of these are confused in arrangement, and the best is that by the late Mr. Reeves, which by the kind consent of his representatives we are permitted to use in this volume.

JULIUS E. OLSON.

FOOTNOTES:

[4-1] _Eiriks Saga Raudha_ (Copenhagen, 1891), p. xv.

[5-1] A translation, with the title "The Story of Thorfinn Carlsemne," based on AM. 557, may be found in _Origines Islandicae_, II. 610.

[5-2] _Origines Islandicae_, II. 590.

[6-1] _Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs Historie_ (Copenhagen, 1901), II. 648.

[6-2] _The Discovery of America_, p. 212.

[6-3] Prolegomena, _Sturlunga Saga_, p. lxix.

[7-1] Snorri, the Icelandic historian, says that "it was more than 240 years from the settlement of Iceland (about 870) before sagas began to be written" and that "Ari (1067-1148) was the first man who wrote in the vernacular stories of things old and new."

[7-2] "Among the mediaeval literatures of Europe, that of Iceland is unrivalled in the profusion of detail with which the facts of ordinary life are recorded, and the clearness with which the individual character of numberless real persons stands out from the historic background.... The Icelanders of the Saga-age were not a secluded self-centred race; they were untiring in their desire to learn all that could be known of the lands round about them, and it is to their zeal for this knowledge, their sound historical sense, and their trained memories, that we owe much information regarding the British Isles themselves from the ninth to the thirteenth century. The contact of the Scandinavian peoples with the English race on the one hand, and the Gaelic on the other, has been an important factor in the subsequent history of Britain; and this is naturally a subject on which the Icelandic evidence is of the highest value." Prefatory Note to _Origines Islandicae_.

[8-1] _Studies on the Vinland Voyages_ (Copenhagen, 1889) and _Eiriks Saga Raudha_ (Copenhagen, 1891).

[8-2] Of the same opinion are Professor Hugo Gering of Kiel, _Zeitschrift fuer deutsche Philologie_, XXIV. (1892), and Professor Finnur Jonsson of Copenhagen, _Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs Historie_, II. 646.

[8-3] The Kristni-Saga, which tells of the conversion of Iceland, says: "That summer [1000] King Olaf [of Norway] went out of the country to Wendland in the south, and he sent Leif Eric's son to Greenland to preach the faith there. It was then that Leif discovered Vinland the Good. He also discovered a crew on the wreck of a ship out in the deep sea, and so he got the name of Leif the Lucky." For passages from other sagas that corroborate Leif's discovery on his voyage from Norway to Greenland (_i.e._, in the year that Olaf Tryggvason fell, namely, 1000), see Reeves, _The Finding of Wineland the Good_ (London, 1895), pp. 7-18.

[10-1] See, in support of Storm, Juul Dieserud's paper, "Norse Discoveries in America," _Bulletin of the American Geographical Society_, Feb., 1901.

[10-2] _Discovery of America_, p. 182.

[11-1] See _Origines Islandicae_, I. 294.

[11-2] See notes 6 and 8 to Papal Letters, p. 71 of this volume.

[12-1] See note 1, p. 43.

[12-2] In other respects the editors speak highly of the saga as found in Hauk's Book and AM. 557: "This saga has never been so well known as the other, though it is probably of even higher value. Unlike the other, it has the form and style of one of the 'Islendinga Sogor' [the Icelandic sagas proper]; its phrasing is broken, its dialogue is excellent, it contains situations of great pathos, such as the beautiful incident at the end of Bearne's self-sacrifice, and scenes of high interest, such as that of the Sibyl's prophesying in Greenland...." II. 591.

[12-3] _Icelandic Prose Reader_ (where AM. 557 is printed), notes, p. 377.

THE SAGA OF ERIC THE RED

ALSO CALLED THE SAGA OF THORFINN KARLSEFNI[14-1]

_The Saga of Eric the Red, also called the Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefni and Snorri Thorbrandsson._[14-2]--Olaf was the name of a warrior-king, who was called Olaf the White. He was the son of King Ingiald, Helgi's son, the son of Olaf, Gudraud's son, son of Halfdan Whiteleg, king of the Uplands-men.[14-3] Olaf engaged in a Western freebooting expedition and captured Dublin in Ireland and the Shire of Dublin, over which he became king.[14-4] He married Aud the Wealthy, daughter of Ketil Flatnose, son of Biorn Buna, a famous man of Norway. Their son was called Thorstein the Red. Olaf was killed in battle in Ireland, and Aud and Thorstein went then to the Hebrides; there Thorstein married Thurid, daughter of Eyvind Easterling, sister of Helgi the Lean; they had many children. Thorstein became a warrior-king, and entered into fellowship with Earl Sigurd the Mighty, son of Eystein the Rattler. They conquered Caithness and Sutherland, Ross and Moray, and more than the half of Scotland. Over these Thorstein became king, ere he was betrayed by the Scots, and was slain there in battle. Aud was at Caithness when she heard of Thorstein's death; she thereupon caused a ship to be secretly built in the forest, and when she was ready, she sailed out to the Orkneys. There she bestowed Groa, Thorstein the Red's daughter, in marriage; she was the mother of Grelad, whom Earl Thorfinn, Skull-cleaver, married. After this Aud set out to seek Iceland, and had on board her ship twenty freemen. Aud arrived in Iceland, and passed the first winter at Biarnarhoefn with her brother, Biorn. And afterwards took possession of all the Dale country between Doegurdar river and Skraumuhlaups river. She lived at Hvamm, and held her orisons at Krossholar, where she caused crosses to be erected, for she had been baptized and was a devout believer. With her there came out [to Iceland] many distinguished men, who had been captured in the Western freebooting expedition, and were called slaves. Vifil was the name of one of these: he was a highborn man, who had been taken captive in the Western sea, and was called a slave, before Aud freed him; now when Aud gave homesteads to the members of her crew, Vifil asked wherefore she gave him no homestead as to the other men. Aud replied, that this should make no difference to him, saying, that he would be regarded as a distinguished man wherever he was. She gave him Vifilsdal, and there he dwelt. He married a woman whose name was...;[15-1] their sons were Thorbiorn and Thorgeir. They were men of promise, and grew up with their father.[15-2]

_Eric the Red finds Greenland._--There was a man named Thorvald; he was a son of Asvald, Ulf's son, Eyxna-Thori's son. His son's name was Eric. He and his father went from Jaederen[15-3] to Iceland, on account of manslaughter, and settled on Hornstrandir, and dwelt at Drangar. There Thorvald died, and Eric then married Thorhild, a daughter of Jorund, Atli's son, and Thorbiorg the Ship-chested, who had been married before to Thorbiorn of the Haukadal family. Eric then removed from the North, and cleared land in Haukadal, and dwelt at Ericsstadir by Vatnshorn. Then Eric's thralls caused a land-slide on Valthiof's farm, Valthiofsstadir. Eyiolf the Foul, Valthiof's kinsman, slew the thralls near Skeidsbrekkur above Vatnshorn. For this Eric killed Eyiolf the Foul, and he also killed Duelling-Hrafn, at Leikskalar. Geirstein and Odd of Jorva, Eyiolf's kinsmen, conducted the prosecution for the slaying of their kinsmen, and Eric was, in consequence, banished from Haukadal. He then took possession of Brokey and Eyxney, and dwelt at Tradir on Sudrey, the first winter. It was at this time that he loaned Thorgest his outer dais-boards;[16-1] Eric afterwards went to Eyxney, and dwelt at Ericsstad. He then demanded his outer dais-boards, but did not obtain them. Eric then carried the outer dais-boards away from Breidabolstad, and Thorgest gave chase. They came to blows a short distance from the farm of Drangar. There two of Thorgest's sons were killed and certain other men besides. After this each of them retained a considerable body of men with him at his home. Styr gave Eric his support, as did also Eyiolf of Sviney, Thorbiorn, Vifil's son, and the sons of Thorbrand of Alptafirth; while Thorgest was backed by the sons of Thord the Yeller, and Thorgeir of Hitardal, Aslak of Langadal and his son, Illugi. Eric and his people were condemned to outlawry at Thorsness-thing. He equipped his ship for a voyage, in Ericsvag; while Eyiolf concealed him in Dimunarvag, when Thorgest and his people were searching for him among the islands. He said to them, that it was his intention to go in search of that land which Gunnbiorn, son of Ulf the Crow, saw when he was driven out of his course, westward across the main, and discovered Gunnbiorns-skerries.[16-2] He told them that he would return again to his friends, if he should succeed in finding that country. Thorbiorn, and Eyiolf, and Styr accompanied Eric out beyond the islands, and they parted with the greatest friendliness; Eric said to them that he would render them similar aid, so far as it might lie within his power, if they should ever stand in need of his help. Eric sailed out to sea from Snaefells-iokul, and arrived at that ice-mountain which is called Blacksark. Thence he sailed to the southward, that he might ascertain whether there was habitable country in that direction. He passed the first winter at Ericsey, near the middle of the Western Settlement.[17-1] In the following spring he proceeded to Ericsfirth, and selected a site there for his homestead. That summer he explored the western uninhabited region, remaining there for a long time, and assigning many local names there. The second winter he spent at Ericsholms beyond Hvarfsgnipa. But the third summer he sailed northward to Snaefell,[17-2] and into Hrafnsfirth. He believed then that he had reached the head of Ericsfirth; he turned back then, and remained the third winter at Ericsey at the mouth of Ericsfirth. The following summer he sailed to Iceland, and landed in Breidafirth. He remained that winter with Ingolf at Holmlatr. In the spring he and Thorgest fought together, and Eric was defeated; after this a reconciliation was effected between them. That summer Eric set out to colonize the land which he had discovered, and which he called Greenland, because, he said, men would be the more readily persuaded thither if the land had a good name.[17-3]

_Concerning Thorbiorn._--Thorgeir, Vifil's son, married, and took to wife Arnora, daughter of Einar of Laugarbrekka, Sigmund's son, son of Ketil Thistil, who settled Thistilsfirth. Einar had another daughter named Hallveig; she was married to Thorbiorn, Vifil's son, who got with her Laugarbrekkaland on Hellisvellir. Thorbiorn moved thither, and became a very distinguished man. He was an excellent husbandman, and had a great estate. Gudrid was the name of Thorbiorn's daughter. She was the most beautiful of her sex, and in every respect a very superior woman. There dwelt at Arnarstapi a man named Orm, whose wife's name was Halldis. Orm was a good husbandman, and a great friend of Thorbiorn, and Gudrid lived with him for a long time as a foster-daughter. There was a man named Thorgeir, who lived at Thorgeirsfell; he was very wealthy and had been manumitted; he had a son named Einar, who was a handsome, well-bred man, and very showy in his dress. Einar was engaged in trading-voyages from one country to the other, and had prospered in this. He always spent his winters alternately either in Iceland or in Norway.