[1] Skal or skoal was the Norwegian word used in drinking a health.
[2] The description of the Norse galley is taken from Du Chaillu's "Land
of the Midnight Sun," in which the construction of one which was
unearthed at Nydam in Jutland is described (Vol. I. 380). The galley
"Viking" built in Norway on the model of an actual Viking ship of the
early Middle Ages, was taken across the Atlantic in 1893 by a Norwegian
crew of fourteen, anchoring in Lake Michigan, after a voyage in which
they had no shelter except an awning and cooked their own food as best
they could.
[3] The question of the actual whereabouts of Leif Ericsson's booths and
Thorfin Karlsefne's later settlement has never been positively decided.
The Knutson expedition to Greenland is an historical fact. It left
Norway about 1354 and returned about 1364. It is not positively known
that Knutson attempted the rediscovery of Vinland, unless what is known
as the Kensington Rune Stone is evidence of it. The writer has adopted
the theory that he did take a party southward, landing at Halifax, and
left a part of his men there, intending to return with more colonists;
that on returning to Norway he found the country in the throes of war
and abandoned any thought of further settlement, leaving his men to find
their way back as they could.
[4] The Indian phrases and legends referred to as learned by the
Wind-wife are Abenaki.
[5] According to historians the region along the St. Lawrence and the
Great Lakes was for a long time inhabited by tribes belonging to the
great Ojibway nation. Their territory extended nearly to the western
boundary of what is now Minnesota. Southward were the tribes later known
as Iroquois.
[6] Accounts of the open galleys of the Northmen agree in describing
them as small and light compared with the later decked ships. The open
"sea-serpent" of forty-two feet, with her mast unshipped was heavier but
not much bigger than the largest Indian carrying-canoes such as were
used in the fur-trade, and these were taken from the St. Lawrence
through the Great Lakes. Vikings landing in Europe were prepared not
only to return by a new route but even to take their boats apart or
build new ones if necessary.
[7] Bayard Taylor, visiting the Saguenay and the St. Lawrence
immediately after a sojourn in Norway, speaks of his inability to be
impressed as others had been, by the height of the cliffs and waterfalls
of Canada, although fully appreciating the beauty of the scenery.
[Footnote 8: The Sioux or Dakotas, who occupied the Great Plains, were
hereditary enemies of the Ojibways. In the Ojibway language one name for
these Plains Indians indicated that they were in the habit of mutilating
their victims.]
[9] The monument known as the Kensington Rune Stone was found near
Kensington, Minnesota, and is fully described in the reports of the
Minnesota Historical Society. It was the subject of many arguments at
first. Well known authorities pronounced it a forgery, while other well
known authorities declared it genuine. It was pointed out that the
language used was not that of the time of Leif Ericsson, but much more
modern; but later it was found that the inscription was exactly such as
would have been written about the middle of the fourteenth century, when
Knutson's expedition was in Greenland. Aside from the obvious lack of
motive for a forgery, investigation showed that neither the farmer nor
any one who might have been in a position to bury the stone where it was
found had any knowledge of Runic writing. Moreover, if the stone had
been a forgery it would seem that the forger would have used the name of
some well known leader, whereas no name is mentioned. If Knutson had
been with the expedition he would certainly have seen to it that his
presence was recorded.
Otter Tail Lake, just north of the place where the stone was discovered,
was one of the points marking the boundary between the Ojibway and
Dakota country. The position of the runes on the stone is precisely what
it would be if the inscription had been finished, or nearly finished, as
a guide to future exploration, and the account of the massacre added as
a warning.
A song commonly sung at the time of the Black Death contains the lines:
"The Black Plague sped over land and sea
And swept so many a board.
That will I now most surely believe,
It was not with the Lord's will.
Help us God and Mary,
Save us all from evil."