This voyage is recorded in the _Flatö Manuscript_, and is given in
_Antiquitates Americanæ_, pp. 26-40. It contains the account of the
voyage of Leif, son of Eric the Red, who, following out the hints of
Biarne, sailed to discover the new land, which he called Vinland, on
account of the quantity of vines that he found growing wild. Several
extracts are appended, because of interest in connection with the
subject.
* * * * *
[A. D. 984.] It is next to be told that Biarne Heriulfson came over from
Greenland to Norway, on a visit to Earl Eric, who received him well.
Biarne tells of this expedition of his, in which he had discovered
unknown land; and people thought he had not been very curious to get
knowledge, as he could not give any account of those countries, and he
was somewhat blamed on this account. [A. D. 986.] Biarne was made a
Court man of the earl, and the summer after he went over to Greenland;
and afterwards there was much talk about discovering unknown lands.
Leif, a son of Eric Red of Brattahlid, went over[94] to Biarne
Heriulfson, and bought the ship from him, and manned the vessel, so that
in all, there were thirty-five men on board. Leif begged his father Eric
to go as commander of the expedition; but he excused himself, saying he
was getting old, and not so able as formerly to undergo the hardship of
a sea voyage. Leif insisted that he among all their relations was the
most likely to have good luck on such an expedition; and Eric consented,
and rode from home with Leif, when they had got all ready for sea; but
when they were coming near to the ship,[95] the horse on which Eric was
riding, stumbled, and he fell from his horse[96] and hurt his foot. "It
is destined," said Eric, "that I should never discover more lands than
this of Greenland, on which we live; and now we must not run hastily
into this adventure."[97] Eric accordingly returned home to Brattahlid,
but Leif, with his comrades, in all thirty-five men, rigged out their
vessel. There was a man from the south country called Tyrker,[98] with
the expedition. [A. D. 1000.] They put the ship in order, and put to sea
when they were ready. They first came to the land which Biarne had last
discovered, sailed up to it, cast anchor, put out a boat and went on
shore; but there was no grass to be seen. There were large snowy
mountains[99] up the country; but all the way from the sea up to these
snowy ridges, the land was one field of snow, and it appeared to them a
country of no advantages. Leif said: "It shall not be said of us, as it
was of Biarne, that we did not come upon the land; for I will give the
country a name, and call it Helluland."[100] Then they went on board
again and put to sea, and found another land. They sailed in towards it,
put out a boat, and landed. The country was flat,[101] and overgrown
with wood; and the strand far around, consisted of a white sand, and low
towards the sea. Then Leif said: "We shall give this land a name
according to its kind, and called it Markland."[102] Then they hastened
on board, and put to sea again with the wind from the northeast, and
were out for two days and made land. They sailed towards it, and came to
an island[103] which lay on the north side of the land, where they
disembarked[104] to wait for good weather. There was dew upon the grass;
and having accidentally gotten some of the dew upon their hands and put
it in their mouths, they thought that they had never tasted anything so
sweet as it was.[105] Then they went on board and sailed into a
sound[106] that was between the island and a ness[107] that went out
northwards from the land, and sailed westward[108] past the ness. There
was very shallow[109] water in ebb tide, so that their ship lay dry; and
there was a long way between their ship and the water. They were so
desirous to get to the land that they would not wait till their ship
floated, but ran to the land, to a place where a river comes out of a
lake. As soon as their ship was afloat they took the boats, rowed to the
ship, towed her up the river,[110] and from thence into the lake,[111]
where they cast anchor, carried their beds out of the ship, and set up
their tents. They resolved to put things in order for wintering there,
and they erected a large house. They did not want for salmon,[112] both
in the river and in the lake; and they thought the salmon larger than
any they had ever seen before. The country appeared to them of so good a
kind, that it would not be necessary to gather fodder for the cattle for
winter.[113] There was no frost in winter,[114] and the grass was not
much withered. Day and night were more equal than in Greenland and
Iceland; for on the shortest day the sun was in the sky between
Eyktarstad[115] and the Dagmalastad. Now when they were ready with
their house building, [A. D. 1001.] Leif said to his fellow travellers:
"Now I will divide the crew into two divisions, and explore the
country. Half shall stay at home and do the work, and the other half
shall search the land; but so that they do not go farther than they can
come back in the evening, and that they do not wander from each other."
This they continued to do for some time. Leif changed about, sometimes
with them, and sometimes with those at home. Leif was a stout and strong
man, and of manly appearance; and was, besides, a prudent and sagacious
man in all respects.
It happened one evening that a man of the party was missing; and it was
the south country man, Tyrker. Leif was very sorry for this, because
Tyrker had long been in his father's house, and he loved Tyrker in his
childhood. Leif blamed his comrades very much, and proposed to go with
twelve men on an expedition to find him; but they had gone only a short
way from the station when Tyrker came to meet them, and he was joyfully
received. Leif soon perceived that his foster father[116] was quite
merry.[117] Tyrker had a high forehead, sharp eyes, with a small face,
and was little in size, and ugly; but was very dexterous in all feats.
Leif said to him, "Why art thou so late, my foster-father? and why didst
thou leave thy comrades?" He spoke at first long in German, rolled his
eyes and knit his brows; but they could not make out what he was saying.
After a while, and some delay, he said in Norse, "I did not go much
farther than they; and yet I have something altogether new to relate,
for I found vines and grapes."[118] "Is that true, my foster-father?"
said Leif. "Yes, true it is," answered he, "for I was born where there
was no scarcity of grapes." Now they slept all night, and the next
morning Leif said to his men, "Now we shall have two occupations to
attend to, and day about; namely, to gather grapes or cut vines, and to
fell wood in the forest to lade our vessel." And this advice was
followed. It is related that their stern boat was filled with grapes,
and then a cargo of wood was hewn for the vessel.[119] Towards spring
they made ready and sailed sway, and Leif gave the country a name from
its products, and called it Vinland.[120] They now sailed into the open
sea and had a fair wind until they came in sight of Greenland and the
lands below the ice mountains.[121] Then a man put in a word and said to
Leif, "Why do you steer so close on the wind?" Leif replied: "I mind my
helm and tend to other things too; do you notice anything?" They said
that they saw nothing remarkable. "I do not know," said Leif, "whether I
see a ship or a rock." Then they looked and saw that it was a rock. But
he saw so much better than they, that he discovered men upon the rock.
"Now I will," said Leif, "that we hold to the wind, that we may come up
to them if they should need help; and if they should not be friendly
inclined, it is in our power to do as we please and not theirs." Now
they sailed under the rock, lowered their sails, cast anchor, and put
out another small boat which they had with them. Then Tyrker asked who
their leader was. He said his name was Thorer, and said he was a
Northman;[122] "But what is your name?" said he. Leif told his name.
"Are you the son of Eric the Red of Brattahlid?" he asked. Leif said
that was so. "Now I will," said Leif, "take ye and all on board my ship,
and as much of the goods as the ship will store." They took up this
offer, and sailed away to Ericfiord with the cargo, and from thence to
Brattahlid, where they unloaded the ship. Leif offered Thorer and his
wife, Gudrid, and three others, lodging with himself, and offered
lodging elsewhere for the rest of the people, both of Thorer's crew and
his own. Leif took fifteen men from the rock, and thereafter was called,
Leif the Lucky. After that time Leif advanced greatly in wealth and
consideration. That winter, sickness came among Thorer's people, and he
himself, and a great part of his crew, died. The same winter Eric Red
died. This expedition to Vinland was much talked of, and Leif's brother,
Thorvald, thought that the country had not been explored enough in
different places. Then Leif said to Thorvald, "You may go, brother, in
my ship to Vinland if you like; but I will first send the ship for the
timber which Thorer left upon the rock." And so it was done.