appears to have the form of a woman from the waist upward, for it has
large nipples on its breast like a woman, long hands and heavy hair, and
its neck and head are formed in every respect like those of a human
being. The monster is said to have large hands and its fingers are not
parted but bound together by a web like that which joins the toes of
water fowls. Below the waist line it has the shape of a fish with scales
and tail and fins. It is said to have this in common with the one
mentioned before, that it rarely appears except before violent storms.
Its behavior is often somewhat like this: it will plunge into the waves
and will always reappear with fish in its hands; if it then turns toward
the ship, playing with the fishes or throwing them at the ship, the men
have fears that they will suffer great loss of life. The monster is
described as having a large and terrifying face, a sloping forehead and
wide brows, a large mouth and wrinkled cheeks. But if it eats the fishes
or throws them into the sea away from the ship, the crews have good
hopes that their lives will be spared, even though they should meet
severe storms.
Footnote 219:
The belief that mermaids lived in the Arctic waters was one that was
long held by European navigators. Henry Hudson reports that on his
voyage into the Arctic in 1608 (June 15) some of his men saw a
mermaid. “This morning one of our companie looking over boord saw a
mermaid, and calling up some of the companie to see her, one more came
up and by that time shee was come close to the ships side, looking
earnestly on the men: a little after a sea came and overturned her:
from the navill upward her backe and breasts were like a womans, as
they say that saw her; her body as big as one of us; her skin very
white, and long haire hanging downe behind of colour blacke: in her
going downe they saw her tayle, which was like the tayle of a porposse
and speckled like a macrell.” Asher, _Henry Hudson_, 28.
Now there is still another marvel in the seas of Greenland, the facts of
which I do not know precisely. It is called “sea hedges,”[220] and it
has the appearance as if all the waves and tempests of the ocean have
been collected into three heaps, out of which three billows are formed.
These hedge in the entire sea, so that no opening can be seen anywhere;
they are higher than lofty mountains and resemble steep, overhanging
cliffs. In a few cases only have the men been known to escape who were
upon the seas when such a thing occurred. But the stories of these
happenings must have arisen from the fact that God has always preserved
some of those who have been placed in these perils, and their accounts
have afterwards spread abroad, passing from man to man. It may be that
the tales are told as the first ones related them, or the stories may
have grown larger or shrunk somewhat. Consequently, we have to speak
cautiously about this matter, for of late we have met but very few who
have escaped this peril and are able to give us tidings about it.
Footnote 220:
The Danish scientist I. Japetus S. Steenstrup has shown in his paper
“Hvad er Kongespeilets Havgjerdinger?” that this phenomenon is
produced by sea quakes. The three huge waves did not form a triangle
as the author’s account would seem to imply; they were three
successive waves rolling in toward the shore. Steenstrup argues
chiefly from the behavior of sea quakes in modern times. _Aarböger for
nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie_, 1871.
In that same ocean there are many other marvels, though they cannot be
reckoned among the prodigies. As soon as one has passed over the deepest
part of the ocean, he will encounter such masses of ice in the sea, that
I know no equal of it anywhere else in all the earth. Sometimes these
ice fields are as flat as if they were frozen on the sea itself. They
are about four or five ells thick and extend so far out from the land
that it may mean a journey of four days or more to travel across them.
There is more ice to the northeast and north of the land than to the
south, southwest, and west; consequently, whoever wishes to make the
land should sail around it to the southwest and west, till he has come
past all those places where ice may be looked for, and approach the land
on that side.[221] It has frequently happened that men have sought to
make the land too soon and, as a result, have been caught in the ice
floes. Some of those who have been caught have perished; but others have
got out again, and we have met some of these and have heard their
accounts and tales. But all those who have been caught in these ice
drifts have adopted the same plan: they have taken their small boats and
have dragged them up on the ice with them, and in this way have sought
to reach land; but the ship and everything else of value had to be
abandoned and was lost. Some have had to spend four days or five upon
the ice before reaching land, and some even longer.
Footnote 221:
The settled portion of Greenland is in the southern part on the west
coast. The author wishes to say that a ship sailing from Norway to
Greenland must round Cape Farewell and proceed some distance up the
west coast before trying to make land. For a discussion of the
conditions of settlement in Greenland and the navigation of the waters
about Greenland, see Hovgaard, _The Voyages of the Norsemen to
America_, c. ii; Nansen, _In Northern Mists_, cc. vii, viii.
These ice floes have peculiar habits. Sometimes they lie as quiet as can
be, though cut apart by creeks or large fjords; at other times they
travel with a speed so swift and violent that a ship with a fair wind
behind is not more speedy; and when once in motion, they travel as often
against the wind as with it. There is also ice of a different shape
which the Greenlanders call icebergs. In appearance these resemble high
mountains rising out of the sea; they never mingle with other ice but
stand by themselves.
In those waters there are also many of those species of whales which we
have already described. It is claimed that there are all sorts of seals,
too, in those seas, and that they have a habit of following the ice, as
if abundant food would never be wanting there. These are the species of
seals that are found there. One is called the “corse seal;” its length
is never more than four ells. There is another sort called the
“erken-seal,”[222] which grows to a length of five ells or six at the
very longest. Then there is a third kind which is called the “flett
seal,” which grows to about the same length as those mentioned above.
There is still a fourth kind, called the bearded seal, which
occasionally grows to a length of six ells or even seven. In addition
there are various smaller species, one of which is called the
saddleback;[223] it has this name because it does not swim on the belly
like other seals but on the back or side; its length is never more than
four ells. There remains the smallest kind, which is called the “short
seal” and is not more than two ells in length. It has a peculiar nature;
for it is reported that these seals can pass under flat ice masses four
or even five ells thick and can blow up through them; consequently they
can have large openings where-ever they want them.
Footnote 222:
This is called _haverkn_ in modern Norse and seems to be the same as
the grey seal: _Halichoerus gryphus_. See Nansen, _In Northern Mists_,
II. 155.
Footnote 223:
Also called the harp seal: _Phoca Grœnlandica_.
There still remains another species which the Greenlanders count among
the whales, but which, it seems to me, ought rather to be classed with
the seals.[224] These are called walrus and grow to a length of fourteen
ells or fifteen at the very highest. In shape this fish resembles the
seal both as to hair, head, skin, and the webbed feet behind; it also
has the swimming feet in front like the seal. Its flesh like that of
other seals must not be eaten on fast days. Its appearance is
distinguished from that of other seals in that it has, in addition to
the other small teeth, two large and long tusks, which are placed in the
front part of the upper jaw and sometimes grow to a length of nearly an
ell and a half. Its hide is thick and good to make ropes of; it can be
cut into leather strips of such strength that sixty or more men may pull
at one rope without breaking it. The seals that we have just discussed
are called fish because they find their food in the sea and subsist upon
other fishes. They may be freely eaten, though not like the whales, for
whale flesh may be eaten on fast days like other fish food, while these
fishes may be eaten only on the days when flesh food is allowed. Now I
know of nothing else in the waters of Greenland which seems worth
mentioning or reporting,—only those things that we have just discussed.
Footnote 224:
This observation accords with modern scientific classification.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XVII
THE ANIMAL LIFE OF GREENLAND AND THE CHARACTER OF THE LAND IN THOSE
REGIONS
_Son._ These things must seem wonderful to all who may hear of
them,—both what is told about the fishes and that about the monsters
which are said to exist in those waters. Now I understand that this
ocean must be more tempestuous than all other seas; and therefore I
think it strange that it is covered with ice both in winter and in
summer, more than all other seas are. I am also curious to know why men
should be so eager to fare thither, where there are such great perils to
beware of, and what one can look for in that country which can be turned
to use or pleasure. With your permission I also wish to ask what the
people who inhabit those lands live upon; what the character of the
country is, whether it is ice-clad like the ocean or free from ice even
though the sea be frozen; and whether corn grows in that country as in
other lands. I should also like to know whether you regard it as
mainland or as an island, and whether there are any beasts or such other
things in that country as there are in other lands.
_Father._ The answer to your query as to what people go to seek in that
country and why they fare thither through such great perils is to be
sought in man’s threefold nature. One motive is fame and rivalry, for it
is in the nature of man to seek places where great dangers may be met,
and thus to win fame. A second motive is curiosity, for it is also in
man’s nature to wish to see and experience the things that he has heard
about, and thus to learn whether the facts are as told or not. The third
is desire for gain; for men seek wealth wherever they have heard that
gain is to be gotten, though, on the other hand, there may be great
dangers too. But in Greenland it is this way, as you probably know, that
whatever comes from other lands is high in price, for this land lies so
distant from other countries that men seldom visit it. And everything
that is needed to improve the land must be purchased abroad, both iron
and all the timber used in building houses. In return for their wares
the merchants bring back the following products: buckskin, or hides,
sealskins, and rope of the kind that we talked about earlier which is
called “leather rope” and is cut from the fish called walrus, and also
the teeth of the walrus.
As to whether any sort of grain can grow there, my belief is that the
country draws but little profit from that source. And yet there are men
among those who are counted the wealthiest and most prominent who have
tried to sow grain as an experiment; but the great majority in that
country do not know what bread is, having never seen it. You have also
asked about the extent of the land and whether it is mainland or an
island; but I believe that few know the size of the land, though all
believe that it is continental and connected with some mainland,
inasmuch as it evidently contains a number of such animals as are known
to live on the mainland but rarely on islands. Hares and wolves are very
plentiful and there are multitudes of reindeer. It seems to be generally
held, however, that these animals do not inhabit islands, except where
men have brought them in; and everybody seems to feel sure that no one
has brought them to Greenland, but that they must have run thither from
other mainlands. There are bears, too, in that region; they are white,
and people think they are native to the country, for they differ very
much in their habits from the black bears that roam the forests. These
kill horses, cattle, and other beasts to feed upon; but the white bear
of Greenland wanders most of the time about on the ice in the sea,
hunting seals and whales and feeding upon them. It is also as skillful a
swimmer as any seal or whale.
In reply to your question whether the land thaws out or remains icebound
like the sea, I can state definitely that only a small part of the land
thaws out, while all the rest remains under the ice. But nobody knows
whether the land is large or small, because all the mountain ranges and
all the valleys are covered with ice, and no opening has been found
anywhere. But it is quite evident that there are such openings, either
along the shore or in the valleys that lie between the mountains,
through which beasts can find a way; for they could not run thither from
other lands, unless they should find open roads through the ice and the
soil thawed out. Men have often tried to go up into the country and
climb the highest mountains in various places to look about and learn
whether any land could be found that was free from ice and habitable.
But nowhere have they found such a place, except what is now occupied,
which is a little strip along the water’s edge.
There is much marble in those parts that are inhabited; it is variously
colored, both red and blue and streaked with green. There are also many
large hawks in the land, which in other countries would be counted very
precious,—white falcons, and they are more numerous there than in any
other country; but the natives do not know how to make any use of
them.[225]
Footnote 225:
In the thirteenth century, the century of the _King’s Mirror_,
falconry was a favorite sport of the European nobility and there seems
to have been some demand for Norwegian hawks. In the Close Rolls of
the reign of Henry III there are allusions to gifts of hawks sent by
the king of Norway to the English king. See above p. 29.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XVIII
THE PRODUCTS OF GREENLAND
_Son._ You stated earlier in your talk that no grain grows in that
country; therefore I now want to ask you what the people who inhabit the
land live on, how large the population is, what sort of food they have,
and whether they have accepted Christianity.
_Father._ The people in that country are few, for only a small part is
sufficiently free from ice to be habitable; but the people are all
Christians and have churches and priests. If the land lay near to some
other country it might be reckoned a third of a bishopric; but the
Greenlanders now have their own bishop,[226] as no other arrangement is
possible on account of the great distance from other people. You ask
what the inhabitants live on in that country since they sow no grain;
but men can live on other food than bread.[227] It is reported that the
pasturage is good and that there are large and fine farms in Greenland.
The farmers raise cattle and sheep in large numbers and make butter and
cheese in great quantities. The people subsist chiefly on these foods
and on beef; but they also eat the flesh of various kinds of game, such
as reindeer, whales, seals, and bears. That is what men live on in that
country.
Footnote 226:
The diocese of Gardar in Greenland was established about 1110. For an
account of the Norwegian colony in Greenland see Gjerset, _History of
the Norwegian People_, I, 197-204.
Footnote 227:
Cf. the papal letter of Alexander VI, written in 1492. Olson and
Bourne, _The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot_, 73-74.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XIX
THE CLIMATE OF GREENLAND; THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
_Son._ I believe I still have some questions to ask about this country.
How do you account for the fact that Greenland and the ocean that lies
about it have greater masses of ice than any other land or sea? For I
gather from what you have said that the ocean is deep and also very salt
and always in commotion; and I did not suppose that it could freeze
readily there, since, where the ocean is deep and the water is salt, ice
forms with difficulty, especially when the sea is in turmoil and the
waves roll high. But now I hear about these waters that we have just
talked about and likewise about the land, that there is never an
interval when the land or the sea is not covered with ice, except that
occasionally an opening appears here and there in the ice field; but
this is due to the stirring of the sea and not to the heat.
Now since the land is constantly frozen over in both winter and summer,
I wish to ask you to tell me exactly how the climate is in Greenland:
whether there is any warmth or fair sunshine as in other lands, or if
the weather is always unpleasant, and whether that is what causes the
excessive ice and frost. I should like to have you clear this matter up
for me along with those things that I asked about earlier in our
conversation, and what that thing is which the Greenlanders call the
northern lights.[228] All these questions I should like to have you
answer, and also this, in what part of the world you believe that
country to be located: whether it lies somewhere on the edge of the
world or about some large bend in the ocean like other extensive lands,
seeing that you think it is joined to other mainlands.
Footnote 228:
We should infer from the form of this question and from the later
discussion of the northern lights that this phenomenon was not
prominent in Norway in the thirteenth century. There seem to be
periods when these “lights” are less in evidence than at other times.
But it should also be noted that the author discusses whales in
connection with Greenland and Iceland only, though it is extremely
likely that whales were not unknown on the shores of Norway.
_Father._ The matters about which you have now inquired I cannot wholly
clear up for you, inasmuch as I have not yet found any one who has
knowledge of the entire “home-circle”[229] and its dimensions and who
has explored the whole earth on all its sides, or the nature of the
lands and the landmarks located there. If I had ever met such a man, one
who had seen and examined these things, I should have been able to give
you full information about them. But I can at least tell you what those
men have conjectured who have formed the most reasonable opinions.
Footnote 229:
The “home-circle” (_kringla heimsins_) was the Old Norse translation
for the Latin _orbis terrae_, orb of the earth.
The men who have written best concerning the nature of the earth,
following the guidance of Isidore and other learned men,[230] state that
there are certain zones on the heavens under which men cannot live. One
is very hot and, because of the glowing heat which burns everything that
comes beneath it, people cannot exist under this zone. It seems
reasonable that this is the broad path of the sun, and I believe it is
because this zone is pervaded with the sun’s flaming rays that no one
who wishes only a moderately warm dwelling place can live beneath it.
These writers have also said concerning two other zones in the sky that
under them too the land is uninhabitable; because, on account of their
frigidity, it is no more comfortable to dwell under them than under the
first mentioned where the heat is torrid. For there the cold has
developed such a power that water casts aside its nature and turns into
ice masses; in this way all those lands become ice-cold, and the seas
too, that lie under either of these two zones. From this I conclude that
there are five zones in the heavens: two under which the earth is
habitable, and three under which it is uninhabitable.
Footnote 230:
Isidore of Seville (d. 636) discusses the five zones in his
_Etymologiae_, iii, c. xliv; xiii, c. vi; and in his _De Natura
Rerum_, c. x. The editors of the Sorö edition suggest that the “other
learned men” may be Macrobius and Martianus Capella, the famous
encyclopedists of the fifth century (p. 195). But as these writers
preceded Isidore by nearly two centuries, it is unlikely that their
works were more than indirect sources for the scientific statements in
the _Speculum Regale_. It is more probable that the reference is to
such writers as Bede, Rabanus Maurus, and Honorius of Autun, though it
is impossible to specify what authority was followed.
Now all the land that lies under the zones between the hot and the cold
belts can be occupied; but it is likely that owing to location the lands
differ somewhat, so that some are hotter than others; the hottest being
those that are nearest the torrid belt. But lands that are cold, like
ours, lie nearer the frigid zones, where the frost is able to use its
chilling powers. Now in my opinion it seems most probable that the hot
zone extends from east to west in a curved ring like a flaming girdle
around the entire sphere. On the other hand, it is quite probable that
the cold zones lie on the outer edges of the world to the north and
south: and in case I have thought this out correctly, it is not unlikely
that Greenland lies under the frigid belt; for most of those who have
visited Greenland testify that there the cold has received its greatest
strength. Moreover, both sea and land bear testimony in their very
selves that there the frost and the overpowering cold have become
dominant, for both are frozen and covered with ice in summer as well as
in winter.
It has been stated as a fact that Greenland lies on the outermost edge
of the earth toward the north; and I do not believe there is any land in
the home-circle beyond Greenland, only the great ocean that runs around
the earth. And we are told by men who are informed that alongside
Greenland the channel is cut through which the wide ocean rushes into
the gap that lies between the land masses and finally branches out into
fjords and inlets which cut in between the lands wherever the sea is
allowed to flow out upon the earth’s surface.
You asked whether the sun shines in Greenland and whether there ever
happens to be fair weather there as in other countries; and you shall
know of a truth that the land has beautiful sunshine and is said to have
a rather pleasant climate. The sun’s course varies greatly, however;
when winter is on, the night is almost continuous; but when it is
summer, there is almost constant day. When the sun rises highest, it has
abundant power to shine and give light, but very little to give warmth
and heat; still, it has sufficient strength, where the ground is free
from ice, to warm the soil so that the earth yields good and fragrant
grass. Consequently, people may easily till the land where the frost
leaves, but that is a very small part.