THE DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF ICELAND, GREENLAND, AND AMERICA.
Causes leading to the discovery of Iceland—Naddod’s expedition—The
expedition of Gardar Svavarson—Those of Floki, Ingolf, and
Leif—Iceland so named by Floki—Settlers in Iceland—Discovery of
Greenland—Thorvald and Eirek the Red—Discovery of America—Bjarni’s
voyage—Leif’s voyage—Thorvald’s voyage—Attacked by plague—Thorfinn
Karlsefni’s voyage—Description of the inhabitants.
From the Sagas and ancient records which relate to the earlier events of
the North, we find that the people spread westward and southward to the
Mediterranean. Later we see this maritime race seeking out new lands,
and crossing the broad Atlantic and discovering a New World.
The policy of the Norwegian King Harald Fairhair, which led to the
subjection of many lesser chieftains about the middle of the ninth
century, gave rise to an emigration of the more high-spirited chiefs in
search of other lands, and resulted in the discovery of Iceland, called
in some Sagas Snowland, and afterwards of Greenland and Vinland, or
America. The hero of the discovery of Iceland was a sea-rover called
Naddod, about the year 861.
“Owing to his (Harald Fairhair) oppression, many people fled from the
country, and many uninhabited lands were then settled—Jamtaland,
Helsingjaland, and the western lands, Sudreyjar (the Hebrides),
Dyflinnar Skiri (the shire of Dublin in Ireland), Katanes (Caithness) in
Scotland, and Hjaltland (the Shetlands), Normandi in Valland, Fœreyjar
(the Faroes). At that time Iceland was discovered” (Egil’s Saga, c. 4).
DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF ICELAND.
Iceland was discovered by Naddod about 861, and he was followed by Floki
about 867. Later Ingolf and Leif, powerful men from Norway, settled
there permanently. Their example was followed by many others afterwards.
“It is said that some men were going from Norway to the _Fœreyjar_
(Faroes), Some say it was Naddod Viking. They were driven westward into
the sea, and there found a large land. They went up on a high mountain
in the eastern fjords, and looked far and wide for smoke or some token
that the land was inhabited. They saw none. They went back to the Faroes
in the autumn, and when they set sail much snow fell on the mountains,
and therefore they called the country _Snœland_ (Snow land). They
praised the land much. The place where they landed is now called
Reydarfjall in the Austfjords” (Landnáma, i. c. 1).
Naddod’s example was soon followed by others, amongst whom was Gardar
Svavarson, a Swede, who called the island Gardarshólmi.
“A man called Gardar Svavarson, of Swedish kin, went in search of
Snowland at the advice of a foreknowing (foresighted) mother. He landed
east of the eastern Horn. There was a harbour. Gardar sailed round the
land, and saw it was an island. He stayed over the winter at Húsauik, in
Skjálfandi, and built a house there. In the spring, when he was ready to
sail, a man called Náttfari with a thrall and a bondmaid were driven off
in a boat. They settled in Náttfaravik. Gardar went to Norway, and
praised the land greatly. He was the father of Uni, the father of Hróar
Tungugodi. Thereafter the land was called Gardarshólmi (Gardar’s
island); there was at that time forest from mountain to shore”
(Landnáma, c. 1).
The name _Iceland_ was first given to the island by Flóki,[439] but
neither he, Naddod, nor Gardar, settled there. The first settlers were
the foster brothers Ingólf and Leif, who with their followers landed
about the year 870.
“The foster brothers made ready a large ship which they owned, and went
in search of the land which Hrafna-Flóki (Raven-Flóki) had discovered,
and which was then called Iceland. They found the land and stayed in
Austfjords, in the southern Alptafjord. The south of the land seemed to
them better than the north. They stayed one winter there, and then went
back to Norway.
“Thereafter Ingólf prepared for a voyage to Iceland, while Leif went on
warfare in the west. He made war in Ireland, and there found a large
underground house; he went down into it, and it was dark until light
shone from a sword in the hand of a man. Leif killed the man, and took
the sword and much property. Thereafter he was called Hjörleif
(Sword-Leif). He made war widely in Ireland, and got much property. He
took ten thralls; their names were Dufthak, Geirrod, Skjaldbjörn,
Haldór, Drafdrit; more names are not given. Then he went to Norway and
met his foster brother there. He had before married Helga, Ingólf’s
sister. This winter Ingólf made a great sacrifice, and asked what his
luck and fate would be, but Hjörleif was never willing to sacrifice. The
answer pointed out Iceland to Ingólf. After this both made a ship ready
for the voyage. Hjörleif had his booty on board, and Ingólf their foster
brotherhood property. When ready they sailed out to sea.
“In the summer when Ingólf and Leif went to settle in Iceland Harald
Fairhair had been twelve years king over Norway; 6,073 winters had
elapsed since the beginning of this world, and since the incarnation of
our Lord 874 years. They sailed together until they saw Iceland, then
they and their ships parted. When Ingólf saw Iceland he threw overboard
his high-seat pillars for luck. He said that he would settle where the
pillars landed. He landed at a place now called Ingólfshöfdi (Ingólf’s
cape). But Hjörleif was driven westward along the land, and suffered
from want of water. The Irish thralls there kneaded together meal and
butter, saying these caused no thirst. They called the mixture
_minnthak_, and when it had been made there came a heavy rain, and they
took water into their tents. When the _minnthak_ began to get mouldy
they threw it overboard, and it came ashore at a place now called
Minnthakseyr. Hjörleif landed at Hjörleifshöfdi (Hjörleif’s cape), where
there was a fjord. Hjörleif had two houses (skáli) made there; the walls
of one are 18 fathoms, and those of the other 19 fathoms high. Hjörleif
remained there that winter. In the spring he wanted to sow (corn); he
had one ox, and let the thralls drag the plough. When Hjörleif was in
his house Dufthak (one of the thralls) suggested that they should kill
the ox, and say that a bear of the forest had slain it, and then they
would slay Hjörleif if he searched for the bear. Then they told Hjörleif
this. When they each went different ways in search of the bear in the
forest, the thralls attacked them singly and murdered all the ten. They
ran away with their women and loose property and the boat. The thralls
went to the islands which they saw south-west off the land, and stayed
there a while. Ingólf sent his thralls, Vífil and Karli, westward along
the shore to search for his high-seat pillars. When they came to
Hjörleifshöfdi they found Hjörleif dead; they then returned and told
Ingólf these tidings. He was very angry at the slaying of Hjörleif”
(Landnáma, i. cc. 4–6).
“Iceland was first settled from Norway in the days of Harald Fairhair,
son of Halfdan the black....
“Ingolf was the name of a Northman, of whom it is truly said that he
went first from Norway to Iceland, when Harald Fairhair was sixteen
years old, and a second time a few winters later. He settled south in
Reykjarvik. In that time was Iceland covered with wood between the
mountains and the fjord.
“Then were there Christian men, whom the Northmen call _Papa_, but
afterwards they went away because they would not remain with the
heathens, and left behind them Irish books, and croziers and bells, from
which it could be seen that they were Irishmen” (Islendingabok, c. i.).
“At the time when Iceland was discovered and settled from Norway,
Adrianus was Pope at Rome, and John, who was the eighth of that name, in
the apostolic seat; Louis (Hlödver), son of Louis, Emperor north of the
mountains (i.e. the Alps), and Leo, as well as his son Alexander, of
Mikligard. Harald Fairhair was King of Norway; Eirik Eymundsson of
Sweden and his son Bjorn; Gorm the old in Denmark; Aelfred (Elfrad) the
powerful in England, as well as his son Edward (Jatvard); Kjarval in
Dublin (Dyflin); and Sigurd the powerful, jarl of the Orkneys” (Landnama
c. i. part i.).
From many places in Landnama we find that people from England, Ireland,
Scotland, and Flanders, and from different countries of the North,
settled in Iceland.
“Fridleif was from Gautland on his father’s side, while his mother,
Bryngerd, was Flemish.... Fridleif settled in Iceland. Thord Knapp was a
Swede, son of Bjorn of Haug. He went with another man, named Nafarhelgi,
to Iceland” (Landnama, c. xi. part iii.).
“Örlyg was fostered by the holy bishop Patrek (Patrick) in the Hebrides.
He desired to go to Iceland, and asked the bishop to help him. He gave
him timber for a church, and also a _plenarium_, an iron bell, and
consecrated earth, that he might put it under the corner-stave. (This
shows they had stave churches in those days). The Bishop Patrick: ‘Thou
must land at a place where thou seest two mountains run out into the
sea, and a valley in each mountain. Thou shalt settle at the foot of the
most southerly mountain; there thou shalt build a church, and dwell
there’” (Landnama, c. xii. part 1).
DISCOVERY OF GREENLAND.
About one hundred years later the descendants of these roving Vikings,
animated by the same restless spirit and love of freedom so
characteristic of their race, set out in search of new lands, and
discovered and settled Greenland in A.D. 985. The heroes of this new
settlement were a Norwegian chief Thorvald and his son Eirek the Red.
“Thorvald and his son Eirek the Red went from Jadar (Jœderen, in Norway)
to Iceland, outlawed on account of manslaughter. Iceland was then to a
great extent settled. They first lived at Drangar, in Hornstrandir.
Thorvald died there. Eirek then married Thorhild, daughter of Jorund and
Thorbjörg Knarrarbringa, who was then married to Thorbjörn of Haukadal.
Eirek thereupon moved south and lived at Eireksstadir, near Vatnshorn.
The son of Eirek and Thorhild was called Leif. After Eirek had slain
Eyjulf Saur and Holmgöngu-Hrafn he was outlawed from Haukadal. He moved
westward to Breidifjord, and lived at Eireksstadir in Öxney (Ox-island).
He lent Thorgest his _seat-pillars_, and did not get them back when he
asked for them. Hence arose quarrels and battles between him and
Thorgest, as is told in the Saga of Eirek.[440] Styr Thorgrimsson,
Eyjulf of Sviney, the sons of Thorbrand of Alftafjord and Thorbjörn
Vifilsson, supported Eirek. But the family of Thorgest was supported by
the sons of Thord Gellir and Thorgeir of Hitardal. Eirek was outlawed at
the Thornes-thing. Thereupon he made his ship ready for sea in Eirek’s
bay. When he was ready Styr and the others followed him out past the
island to bid him farewell. Eirek told them that he intended to search
for the land which Gunnbjörn,[441] son of Ulf Kráka (crow), saw when he
was driven westward across the sea and found Gunnbjarnarsker
(Gunnbjörn’s rock). He (Eirek) said he would come back to his friends if
he found this land. Eirek sailed from Snœfellsjökul. He found the land,
and came to it at a place which he called Midjökul (Mid-glacier), and
which is now[442] called Bláserk (Blue shirt). He sailed thence
southward along the coast to see if the land could be settled on. He
stayed the first winter in Eireksey (Eirek’s island), near the middle of
what later was called the eastern settlement. Next spring he went to
Eireksfjord, and there took up his abode. In the summer he went to the
western part of the country, and in many places gave names to it. The
following winter he stayed at Hólmar, near Hrafnsgnípa, and the third
summer he went north to Snœfell all the way to Hrafnsfjord. Then he said
he had got into the inmost part of Eireksfjord. He went home (in
Greenland), and stayed the third winter in Eireksey at the mouth of
Eireksfjord. The next summer he went to Iceland, and landed with his
ship in Breidifjord. He called the land which he had found _Grœnland_,
for he said it would make men’s minds long to go there if it had a fine
name. Eirek stayed in Iceland that winter, and the next summer he went
to settle on the land. He lived at Brattahlid in Eireksfjord. Wise men
say that during the summer when Eirek the Red went to settle in
Greenland, thirty-five ships from Breidifjord and Borgartjord went
there, fourteen got there, while some were driven back and others were
lost. This was fifteen winters before Christianity was enacted as law in
Iceland”[443] (Flateyjarbók, i. 429).
“On this voyage Eirek discovered Greenland, and remained there three
winters, and then went to Iceland, where he remained one winter before
he returned to settle in Greenland, (Grænland), and that was fourteen
winters before Christianity was established by law in Iceland”
(Eyrbyggja Saga, c. 24).
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
Between the years 985 and 1011 these enterprising mariners, in the
course of their expeditions from the remote and rough coasts of the
North, discovered the great continent of America, with the inhabitants
of which they seem to have had some struggles; but such was the
transient nature of their expeditions that the benefit of this discovery
was for a time lost both to them and to the rest of the civilised world;
yet a remarkable destiny has willed that their descendants, in whose
veins the blood of the old Norsemen still runs, should people the
country.
Five distinct expeditions are related in the Sagas, the most famous one
being that of Thorfinn Karlsefni, who about 1007 determined to settle a
colony in the new land, and who on his return to Norway sold some of the
wood which he had brought home for a large sum to a merchant from
Bremen.
_First Journey._
“Herjúlf was the son of Bárd, the son of Herjúlf, who was a kinsman of
Ingólf, the settler. Ingólf gave Herjúlf land between Vog and Reykjanes.
Herjúlf first lived at Drepstokk. His wife was Thorgerd, and their son
Bjarni was a most promising man. When quite young he longed to go
abroad. He acquired much property and honour, and alternately spent a
winter abroad and a winter with his father. He soon had a trading ship,
and the last winter he was in Norway Herjúlf determined to go to
Greenland with Eirek, and made ready. Herjúlf had on board a man from
the Hebrides, a Christian, who composed the Hafgerdinga drápa.[444]
Herjúlf lived at Herjúlfsnes. He was a man of high birth. Eirek the Red
lived in Brattahlid; he was held in the greatest honour there, and all
obeyed him. His children were Leif, Thorvald, Thorstein, and Freydís,
who was married to Thorvard, who lived at Gardar, where now is a
bishop’s see. She was very overbearing, and Thorvard was weak minded.
She was married to him chiefly for the sake of his property. The people
of Greenland were heathen at that time. Bjarni landed with his ships at
Eyrar the summer after his father had sailed (in the spring).
“Bjarni thought this important news (the departure of his father), and
did not wish to unload his ship. Then his sailors asked what he meant to
do, and he answered he wanted to continue his custom of staying over
winter with his father. ‘I will sail to Greenland on my ship if you will
follow me,’ said he to his men. All answered they would do as he liked.
He said, ‘Our voyage will be considered unwise, as none of us have been
before in the Greenland Sea.’ Nevertheless, when they were ready, they
set out to sea, and after three days’ sailing land was out of sight, and
the fair winds ceased, and northern winds with fog blew continually, so
that for many days they did not know in what direction they were
sailing. Then the sun came into sight, and they could distinguish the
quarters of heaven. They hoisted sail and sailed all day before they saw
land. They wondered what land this could be, and Bjarni said he did not
think it was Greenland. The men asked if he wished to sail towards it,
and he answered that he wanted to go near it; this they did, and soon
saw that it had no mountains, but low hills, and was forest-clad. They
kept the land on their left, but the corners of the sail were towards
the land. Then they sailed for two days before they saw other land. They
asked Bjarni if he did not think this was Greenland. He answered: ‘No,
it is very unlike, I thought, for very large glaciers are said to be in
Greenland.’ They soon approached the land, and saw that it was flat and
covered with woods. Then the fair wind fell, and the sailors said they
thought it best to land as they lacked both wood and water, but Bjarni
did not want to land, and said they had enough left; at this the men
grumbled somewhat. He told them to set sail, which they did, and turned
the prow seaward, and sailed in that direction with a southwesterly wind
for three days, and then more land came in view which rose high with
mountains and a glacier. They asked Bjarni if he would like to go ashore
there, but he answered he would not do so as the land had an
inhospitable look. They did not furl their sail, but sailed along the
shore, and saw it was an island. They once more turned the prow of the
ship from the shore, and set to sea with the same fair wind, but the
gale increased, and Bjarni told them to take in a reef, and not sail so
fast, for the ship and its rigging could not stand it. They sailed four
days, until they saw land for the fourth time. They asked Bjarni if he
thought this Greenland. He answered: ‘This most resembles Greenland from
what I have been told, and here we will land. They landed in the evening
at a cape where a boat was lying. Herjúlf, Bjarni’s father, lived on the
cape, and it is called Herjúlfsnes after him. Bjarni now stayed with his
father, left off sea-journeys, and dwelt there during his father’s
lifetime, and after his death” (Flateyjarbók, i. 430–32).
DISCOVERY OF VINLAND.
“Now it is related that Bjarni Herjúlfsson came from Greenland to Eirek
Jarl (son of the great Hákon, 1000–1015) who received him well. Bjarni
described his voyage and the lands that he had seen. People thought he
had shown a lack of interest as he had nothing to tell about them, and
he was somewhat blamed for it. He became the Jarl’s hirdman, and went to
Greenland the following summer. Now there was much talk about land
discoveries. Leif, son of Eirek the Red, of Brattahlid, went to Bjarni
Herjúlfsson and bought his ship, and gathered together thirty-five
sailors. He asked his father Eirek to lead the expedition as before.
Eirek declined it, saying he was too old, and was less able to bear
hardship than formerly. Leif answered that even were this so he would
still have with him more luck than the rest of his kinsmen. Eirek
yielded, and when ready they rode from home. Not far from the ship
Eirek’s horse stumbled,[445] and he fell and hurt his foot. Then he
said: ‘It cannot be my fate to be the discoverer of any other lands than
the one on which we now live. I will follow you no further.’ Eirek went
home to Brattahlid and Leif with his thirty-five companions went on
board. There was a man from the south with them called Tyrker. When they
had made their ship ready they set out to sea. The first land they found
was that which Bjarni had found last. They sailed towards it, cast
anchor, put out a boat and went ashore, but saw no grass. The whole
interior consisted of glaciers, and the land between them and the sea
was like a plain of ice, and this seemed to them barren of good things.
Leif said: ‘Now we have not acted with this land like Bjarni, who did
not come ashore. I will give a name to the land and call it
Helluland.[446] Then they went on board and sailed out to sea, and found
another land. They approached it, cast anchor, pushed off a boat, and
went ashore. This land was flat and forest-clad, and the beach was low,
and covered with white sand in many places. Leif said: ‘This land shall
be named after its properties, and be called Markland (Woodland). They
then went on board again as quickly as they could. They sailed thence
out to sea with a north-east wind for two days before they saw land.
They sailed towards it, and came to an island lying north of it, and
went ashore in fine weather and looked round. They found dew on the
grass, and touched it with their hands, and put it into their mouths,
and it seemed to them they had never tasted anything so sweet as this
dew. Then they went on board and sailed into the channel, which was
between the island and the cape, which ran north from the mainland. They
passed the cape sailing in a westerly direction. There the water was
very shallow, and their ship went aground, and at ebb-tide the sea was
far out from the ship. But they were so anxious to get ashore that they
could not wait till the high-water reached their ship, and ran out on
the beach where a river flowed from a lake. When the high-water set
their ship afloat they took their boat and rowed to the ship, and towed
it up the river into the lake. There they cast anchor, and took their
leather-bags (hudfat) ashore, and there built booths. They resolved to
stay there over winter, and built large houses. There was no lack of
salmon in the river and lake, and they were larger than any they had
seen before. The land was so fertile that it seemed to them that no
barns would be needed to keep fodder for the cattle during the winter.
There was no frost there during the winter, and the grass lost little of
its freshness. The length of night and day was more equal than in
Greenland or Iceland. The sun set there at eykt[447] and rose at
dagmál[448] on the shortest day. When they had finished building their
houses, Leif said to his men: ‘I will divide you into two parties, as I
wish to explore the land. One half shall stay in the _skali_ (house),
and the other explore the country, but not go so far that they cannot
get home in the evenings, and not separate from each other. They did
this for some time. Leif sometimes went with them, but at other times
remained in the _skali_. He was a large and strong man, of imposing
looks, and wise and moderate in everything.
“One evening it happened that they missed one of their men, Tyrker, the
southerner. Leif was much grieved at this, for Tyrker had long been with
him, and his foster father had been very fond of Leif in his childhood.
He upbraided his men harshly, and made ready to go and search for him
with twelve men. A short way from the house Tyrker met them, and was
welcomed back. Leif soon saw that his foster father was in high spirits.
He had a projecting forehead, unsteady eyes, a tiny face, and was little
and wretched, but skilled in all kinds of handicraft. Leif said to him:
‘Why art thou so late, foster father, and why hast thou parted from thy
followers?’ He then spoke for a long time in Thyrska, and rolled his
eyes in many directions and made wry faces. They did not understand what
he said. After a while he spoke in the northern tongue (Norrœna), and
said: ‘I did not go much farther than you, but I can tell some news. I
found a vine and grapes.’ ‘Is this true, foster-father?’ Leif asked.
‘Certainly it is,’ he answered, ‘for I was born where there was neither
lack of vine nor grapes.’ They slept there that night, and in the
morning Leif said to his sailors: ‘Now we will do two kinds of work, one
day you shall gather grapes or cut vines, the other you shall fell trees
so that I may load my ship.’ This they did, and their boat is said to
have been filled with grapes, and a ship’s load of timber was cut. When
spring came they made ready and left, and Leif named the land after its
fruits, and called it _Vinland_. They sailed out to sea and got fair
winds till they saw Greenland and its glaciers. Then a man said to Leif:
‘Why dost thou steer the ship so close to the wind?’ Leif answered: ‘I
am attending to my steering, but I am also looking at something else; do
you see anything remarkable?’ They answered they did not. Leif said: ‘I
do not know whether it is a ship or a rock which I see.’ Then they saw
it, and said it was a rock. His sight was so much better than theirs
that he saw men on the rock. He said: ‘Now I want to keep closer to the
wind, so that we may get to them, and we must give them help if they
need it. If they are not peaceful they are in our power, but we are not
in theirs.’ They approached the rock, cast anchor, lowered their sail,
and set out a little boat which they had with them. Then Tyrker asked
these men who their leader was. The leader answered that his name was
Thórir, and he was a Norwegian, but what, he said, is thy name? Leif
told his name. ‘Art thou the son of Eirek, the Red, of Brattahlid?’ Leif
answered: ‘I am. Now I offer to you all to come on board my ship with as
much cargo as it can hold.’ They accepted the offer, and sailed to
Brattahlid, in Eiriksfjord, with the cargo, where they unloaded the
ship. Leif invited Thórir to stay with him, and also his wife Gudrid and
three other men, and for his own sailors and those of Thórir he got
quarters. Leif took fifteen men from the rock, and was afterwards called
Leif the Lucky. He was now rich and respected; that winter a disease
came among the men of Thórir, and he and the greater part of his men,
and also Eirek, the Red, died. There was much talk about Leif’s Vinland
journey, and his brother Thorvald thought the land had been explored too
little. Leif then said to him: ‘Thou shalt go with my ship, brother, if
thou likest, to Vinland, but it shall first fetch the timber of Thórir
from the rock. This was done” (Flateyjarbók, i. 538).
_Third Voyage._
“Now Thorvald made ready (in Greenland, where his father Eirek lived),
with the help of his brother Leif, for this voyage with thirty men. They
prepared their ship and sailed to sea, and nothing is told of their
journey till they came to Vinland, to the booths of Leif.... They sat
quiet that winter and caught fish for food. In the spring Thorvald told
them to make the ship ready, and sent the boat with some men to go west
and explore the land during the summer. The country seemed to them fair
and covered with forests; there was a short space between the forest and
the sea, and the sands were white. There were shallows and many small
islets. They found no abodes of men or animals, except in a westerly
island, where they found a corn barn of wood. They found no other traces
of men, and went back and came to the booths of Leif in the autumn. The
next summer Thorvald went with his ship north-east along the coast. A
strong gale burst on them off a cape, where they were driven ashore, and
the keel of the ship was broken. They stayed there long and repaired it.
Thorvald said to his followers: ‘I want you to raise the keel upright
here on the ness, and call it Kjalarnes (Keel cape). This they did. Then
they sailed thence in an easterly direction off the land, into the fjord
mouths nearest the cape, which projected there, and which was covered
with trees. They cast anchor and took their gangways ashore, and
Thorvald walked up with all his followers. He said: ‘This is a fine
country, and here I should like to raise my bœr.’ Then they walked down
to the ship, and saw three marks on the sand inside the cape, where they
found three _skin-boats_ (canoes) with three men under each. They
divided their men and took them all, except one who escaped with his
boat. They killed the other eight, and then again went to the cape and
looked round, and saw some eminences in the inner part of the fjord,
which they thought were houses. Thereupon such drowsiness came over them
that they could not keep awake, and all fell asleep. Then they heard a
voice shouting which roused them all, saying: ‘Wake Thorvald and all thy
men if thou wishest to save thy life. Go on board thy ship with all thy
men, and leave the land as quickly as you can.’ Innumerable skin-boats
came out along the fjord and attacked them. Thorvald said: ‘Let me put
war hurdles on the sides, and defend ourselves as best we can, but kill
few of them.’ This they did, and the Skrœlingjar[449] shot at them for a
while, and then fled, each one as quickly as he could. Thorvald asked
his men if they were wounded. They said they were not. ‘I have got a
wound under my arm,’ he said, ‘an arrow flew between the gunwale and the
shield under my arm, and here is the arrow; this will cause my death. I
advise you to prepare to go back as soon as you can, but you shall take
me to the cape, which appeared to me to be the most habitable. It may be
that truth has come out of my mouth, and that I shall live there for a
while. You shall bury me there, and put crosses at my head and feet, and
henceforward call it Krossanes’ (Cross Cape). Greenland was then
Christian, though Eirek, the Red, died before the introduction of
Christianity. Thorvald died, and they carried out his wish, and then
went to their other companions,[450] and told each other the tidings
they knew. They lived there that winter, and took grapes and vines on
board with them. In the spring they made ready for Greenland, and landed
in Eireksfjord, and had great tidings to tell Leif” (Flateyjarbók, i.
541).
“Thorstein, son of Eirek, the Red, desired to go to Vinland to fetch the
body of his brother Thorvald. He made the same ship ready, and took on
board picked men as to strength and size, twenty-five men, and his wife,
Gudrid. They sailed to sea when ready, and the land disappeared. They
were thrown hither and thither all the summer, and knew not where they
were. When a week had passed of the winter they landed in Lysufjord, in
the western settlement of Greenland. Thorstein searched for houses, and
got lodgings for all his men, while he and his wife had no lodgings.
They two remained on board for some nights. Christianity was then still
young in Greenland.”
Thorstein the Black, a heathen man, offered them lodgings.
“Early in the winter a disease came among the men of Thorstein, and many
of them died. He had coffins made for the corpses, and had them brought
on board and prepared, ‘for I want to take them all to Eireksfjord in
the summer,’ said he. After a short time the disease came into the house
of Thorstein the Black, and first his wife Grimhild fell sick. She was
very large and strong, like men, but nevertheless the disease laid her
up. Soon after Thorstein Eireksson fell sick, and they were in their
beds, and Grimhild died. When she was dead, Thorstein the Black walked
out of the room to fetch a board, and lay the body on it. Gudrid said:
‘Do not be long away, my good Thorstein.’ He answered he would not.
Thorstein Eireksson said: ‘Strange does our housewife look now, for she
rises on her elbow, draws up her feet, and searches for her shoes with
her hand.’ Then Thorstein came in, Grimhild lay down, and every timber
of the room creaked. Thorstein made a coffin for the body, took it away,
and prepared it. He was large and strong, but needed it to take it away.
Thorstein Eireksson’s illness grew worse, and he died. His wife, Gudrid,
did not like it well. They were all in one room. Gudrid sat on a chair
in front of the bench on which lay her husband, Thorstein. Thorstein the
Black took her off the chair in his arms, and sat on another bench with
her opposite Thorstein’s body. He talked much, and consoled her, and
promised to go with her to Eireksfjord with the bodies of her husband
and his men, and to have more people stay there for her entertainment
and consolement. She thanked him. Then Thorstein Eireksson rose and
said: ‘Where is Gudrid?’ Three times he said this, but she was silent,
and said to Thorstein: ‘Shall I answer or not.’ He said, ‘Do not.’ He
walked across the floor and sat on the chair with Gudrid on his knee. He
said: ‘What dost thou want, namesake?’ Thorstein answered after a while:
‘I long to tell her fate.’”
The dead man proceeds to tell that he is in heaven himself, and that she
will be married in Iceland. Thereupon these two who were alive,
Thorstein the Black and Gudrid, went home to Eirek the Red.[451]
_Fourth Voyage._
“This summer a ship came from Norway to Greenland. Thorfinn Karlsefni
steered it. He was the son of Thórd Hesthöfdi (horse-head), son of
Snorri, son of Thórd. Thorfinn was very wealthy, and during the winter
stayed in Brattahlid (West Greenland) with Leif Eireksson. He soon fell
in love with Gudrid (widow of Thorstein Eireksson), and asked her in
marriage, but she referred the answer to Leif. Then she was betrothed to
him, and their wedding took place that winter. The voyages to Vinland
were talked over as they had been before, and both Gudrid and others
strongly urged Karlsefni to go. He resolved to go, and manned the ship
with sixty men and five women. Karlsefni and his men made an agreement
that they would divide equally all goods which they might acquire. They
took all kinds of cattle with them, for they intended, if possible, to
settle in the land. Karlsefni asked Leif for his houses in Vinland, and
Leif answered he would lend him the houses, but not give them. Thereupon
they sailed out to sea, arrived safely at Leif’s booths, and carried
their _skin-bags_ ashore. They soon found good and plentiful provisions,
for a large and fine whale had been driven ashore. They went there and
cut up the whale, and there was no lack of food. The cattle walked up on
land, and the male cattle soon became wild, and caused a deal of
trouble. They had taken with them a bull. Karlsefni had trees felled and
cut for his ship, and spread them on a rock to dry them. They used all
the produce of the land, grapes, and all kinds of fish and good things.
After this first winter the summer came, and they became aware of the
presence of the _Skrœlingjar_. A large host of men came out of the
forest, near the place where their cattle were. The bull began to bellow
out ... very loudly, and the Skrœlingjar got scared and fled with their
burdens, which consisted of grey fur and sable, and all kinds of skins.
They went to Karlsefni’s house, and wanted to get in. Karlsefni had the
door guarded. Neither understood the other’s speech. The Skrœlingjar
took down their burdens and untied them, and offered to exchange them,
chiefly for weapons. Karlsefni forbade his men to sell weapons; but
tried a new way, and told the women to carry the produce of the cattle
out to them. As soon as they saw it they wanted to buy it and nothing
else. The end of the bargaining of the Skrœlingjar was that they carried
the produce away in their stomachs, and Karlsefni and his companions
kept their loads and skins. Then they went away. Karlsefni now had a
strong palisade-wall made round his house, and they made themselves
comfortable inside. About this time Gudrid, his wife, bore a boy, who
was called Snorri. At the beginning of the second winter the Skrœlingjar
came to them in much larger numbers than before, and with the same
goods. Karlsefni said to the women: ‘Now you shall carry out the same
food which was so abundant the last time, and nothing else.’ When the
Skrœlingjar saw this, they threw their loads in over the wall. Gudrid
sat in the door with the cradle of her son Snorri. A shadow appeared on
the wall, and a woman entered in a black kirtle, rather short, with a
lace round her head, with light brown hair, and a pale face. Gudrid had
never seen such large eyes in a human head. She walked to her seat and
said: ‘What is thy name?’ ‘I am called Gudrid, but what is thy name?’
said Gudrid. ‘I am called Gudrid,’ she answered. Gudrid, housewife,
stretched out her hand to seat her at her side, but at the same moment
she heard a loud crack, and the woman disappeared, and a Skrœlingi was
slain by one of Karlsefni’s men, for he wanted to take their weapons.
The Skrœlingjar hurried away, leaving their clothes and weapons there.
No one except Gudrid had seen this woman. Karlsefni said: ‘Now we must
make our plans, for I think they will visit us a third time with war and
many men. Now let ten men go out on this ness and show themselves there,
and the rest of our men shall go into the forest and make a clearing for
our cattle, in order to attack the foe when they come out of the forest.
We will also take our bull and let it walk in front of us.’ On one side
of this place to which they were going was a lake, and on the other a
forest. They followed Karlsefni’s advice. The Skrœlingjar came to the
place which Karlsefni intended for battle. A fight ensued, and many of
the Skrœlingjar fell. There was a large and fine man in the Skrœlingjar
host, and Karlsefni thought him to be their chief. One of the
Skrœlingjar took an axe, looked at it for awhile, aimed a blow at one of
his own companions, and struck him so that he fell dead at once. The
large man took the axe, looked at it for a while, and then threw it into
the sea as far as he could. Then each fled into the forest as quickly as
he could, and thus the fight ended. Karlsefni stayed there all that
winter. In the spring he declared he would not stay there any longer,
but wanted to go to Greenland. They made themselves ready, and took with
them many good things, vines, grapes, and skins. They set sail, and
landed with their ship safe in Eireksfjord, and stayed there during the
winter” (Flateyjarbók, i.).
In another account we read:
“At Brattahlid in Greenland (about 1006–1007) there was great talk about
going to look for Vinland the good, for it was said that good choice of
land was to be had there. It went so far that two Icelanders, Karlsefni
and Snorri prepared their vessel to seek for it in the spring. With them
went two men before mentioned, Bjarni and Thorhall, in their own
ship.... They had altogether one hundred and sixty men when they sailed
from Greenland. They sailed southwards for two days and then saw land,
put out their boat, and examined the country. They found there large
slabs (hella), many of them twenty-four feet wide; there were also a
great many foxes. They gave it the name of Helluland (Slab-land). Thence
they sailed for two days, and turning from south to south-east, found a
wooded country in which there were many animals. To the south-east of it
there lay an island, where they killed a bear, and therefore called it
Bjarney (Bear Island), and the land itself Markland (Forestland) (Nova
Scotia?)” (Thorfinn Karlsefni’s Saga, c. vii.).
“One of the men who went with Thorfinn Karlsefni to Vinland was called
Thorhall the Hunter. He had long been with Eirek (the Red, who
discovered Greenland), and was his hunter in the summer and his bailiff
(= bryti) in the winter” (See Volva. Thorfinn Karlsefni’s Saga, 408;
Grönland’s Historiske Mindesmœrker, i.).
The fifth voyage to America, mentioned in the Sagas, is of least
interest: Freydis, a sister of Leif, persuaded two brothers, Helgi and
Finnbogi, to go over with her; when they reached America a quarrel broke
out among them, and after the brothers had been killed by Freydis’ men,
she returned to Greenland without having explored the country.
-----
Footnote 439:
For the story of Flóki taking three ravens with him in order to guide
him on his expedition to Iceland.
Footnote 440:
A lost Saga.
Footnote 441:
There is no account of Gunnbjorn’s journey.
Footnote 442:
Fourteenth century.
Footnote 443:
The laws were, according to Landnáma, enacted A.D. 1000.
Footnote 444:
Hafgerding = the walls of the ocean, monster waves on the ocean.
Footnote 445:
Cf. Harald Hardrádi at Stamfordbridge.
Footnote 446:
Hella = a plain of ice, a cover of ice.
Footnote 447:
_Eykt_—the word is found in the early Christian laws—Kristinrett of
Thorlak and Ketil, two bishops in Iceland—where it is defined as the
time of the day when the sun has passed two parts of the south-west
and the other third is left.
Footnote 448:
_Dagmál_, the early meal in Iceland, which is now from 8.30 A.M. to
9.00 A.M.
Footnote 449:
Probably Indians, as Esquimaux did not live so far south.
Footnote 450:
I.e., who had been left at the booths.
Footnote 451:
Evidently the Christian writer, abhorring the heathen people,
attributed the plague to them and also the unnatural talk of the dead,
which was, perhaps, invented by him.