Part 5

Heriulf took possession of Heriulfsfiord, and became one of the chief men. Eric Red took to himself Ericsfiord, and lived in Brattahlid, and Leif, his son, after his death. Those men who at the same time went away with Eric took possession of the following pieces of land: Heriulf Heriulfsfiord, and he lived in Heriulfness, Ketil Ketilsfiord, Rafn Rafnsfiord, Sölve Sölvedale, Snorro Thorbrandson Alptefiord, Thorbiornglora Siglefiord, Einar Einarsfiord, Havgrim Havgrimsfiord and Vatnahverf, Arnlaug Arnlaugfiord; but some went to the west bygd. A man named Thorkel Forsark, cousin to Eric Red on their mother's side, went to Greenland with Eric, and took possession of Hvalsöfiord, together with the greater part of the piece of land between Eyolfsfiord and Einarsfiord, and lived in Hvalosöfne. From him came the Hvalsöfiord people. He was very strong. Once Eric Red visited him, and he would welcome his guest in the best way possible, but he had no boats at hand which he could use. He was compelled to swim out to Hvalsö, and get a full-grown sheep,[93] and carry it on his back home to his house. It was a good half mile. Thorkel was buried in a cave in the field of Hvalsöfiord.

IV. LEIF'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND.

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.

SECOND NARRATIVE.

The same spring, King Olaf, as said before, sent Gissur[123] and Hialte[124] to Iceland. The king also sent Leif to Greenland to proclaim Christianity there. The king sent with him, a priest, and some other religious men, to baptize the people and teach them the true faith. Leif sailed the same summer to Greenland; he took up out of the ocean, the people of a ship who were on a wreck completely destroyed, and in a perishing condition. And on this same voyage he discovered Vinland the Good,[125] and came at the close of summer to Brattahlid, to his father Eric. After that time the people called him, Leif the Fortunate; but his father Eric said that these two things went against one another; that Leif had saved the crew of the ship, and delivered them from death, and that he had [brought] that bad man into Greenland, that is what he called the priest; but after much urging, Eric was baptized,[126] as well as all the people of Greenland.

THIRD NARRATIVE.

The same winter, Leif, the son of Eric the Red, was in high favor with King Olaf, and embraced Christianity. But the summer that Gissur went to Iceland, King Olaf sent Leif to Greenland, to proclaim Christianity. He sailed the same summer for Greenland. He found some men in the sea on a wreck, and helped them; the same voyage,[127] he discovered Vinland the Good, and came at harvest time to Greenland. He brought with him a priest and other religious[128] men, and went to live at Brattahlid with his father Eric. He was afterwards called, Leif the Fortunate. But his father Eric said, that these two things were opposed to one another, because Leif had saved the crew of the ship, and brought evil men to Greenland, meaning the priests.

V. THORVALD ERICSON'S EXPEDITION.

The greater portion of this voyage appears to have been performed during two summers, the expedition finally returning to Greenland on account of the death of their leader. The narrative is taken from _Codex Flatöiensis_, as given in _Antiquitates Americanæ_.

* * * * *

Now Thorvald [A. D. 1002.] made ready for his voyage with thirty men, after consulting his brother Leif. They rigged their ship, and put to sea. Nothing is related of this expedition until they came to Vinland, to the booths put up by Leif, where they secured the ship and tackle, and remained quietly all winter and lived by fishing. In spring [A. D. 1003.] Thorvald ordered the vessel to be rigged, and that some men should proceed in the long-boat westward along the coast, and explore it during the summer. They thought the country beautiful and well wooded, the distance small between the forest and the sea, and the strand full of white sand. There were also many islands and very shallow water. They found no abode for man or beast, but on an island far towards the west, they found a corn barn constructed of wood. They found no other traces of human work, and came back in autumn to Leif's booths. The following spring, [A. D. 1004.] Thorvald, with his merchant ship, proceeded eastwards, and towards the north along the land.[129] Opposite to a cape[130] they met bad weather, and drove upon the land and broke their keel, and remained there a long time to repair the vessel. Thorvald said to his companions: "We will stick up the keel here upon the ness, and call the place Kialarness," which they did. Then they sailed away eastward along the country, to a point of land,[131] which was everywhere covered with woods. They moored the vessel to the land, laid out gangways to the shore, and Thorvald with all his ship's company, landed. He said, "Here it is beautiful, and I would willingly set up my abode here." They afterwards went on board, and saw three specks upon the sand within the point, and went to them and found there were three skin boats with three men under each boat. They divided their men and took all of them prisoners, except one man, who escaped with his boat. They killed eight of them, and then went to the point and looked about them. Within this bay they saw several eminences, which they took to be habitations. Then a great drowsiness came upon them and they could not keep themselves awake, but all of them fell asleep. A sudden scream came to them, and they all awoke; and mixed with the scream they thought they heard the words: "Awake, Thorvald, with all thy comrades, if ye will save your lives. Go on board your ship as fast as you can, and leave this land without delay." In the same moment an innumerable multitude, from the interior of the bay, came in skin boats and laid themselves alongside. Then said Thorvald, "We shall put up our war screens[132] along the gunwales and defend ourselves as well as we can, but not use our weapons much against them." They did so accordingly. The Skrællings[133] shot at them for a while, and then fled away as fast as they could. Then Thorvald asked if anyone was wounded, and they said nobody was hurt. He said: "I have a wound under the arm.[134] An arrow flew between the gunwale and the shield under my arm: here is the arrow, and it will be my death wound. Now I advise you to make ready with all speed to return; but ye shall carry me to the point which I thought would be so convenient for a dwelling. It may be that it was true what I said, that here would I dwell for a while. Ye shall bury me there, and place a cross at my head and one at my feet, and call the place Crossness." Christianity had been established in Greenland at this time;[135] but Eric Red was dead[136] before Christianity was introduced. Now Thorvald died, and they did everything as he had ordered. Then they went away in search of their fellow voyagers; and they related to each other all the news. They remained in their dwelling all winter, and gathered vines and grapes, and put them on board their ships. Towards spring, they prepared to return to Greenland, where they arrived with their vessel, and landed at Ericsfiord, bringing heavy tidings to Leif.

VI. THORSTEIN ERICSON'S ATTEMPT TO FIND VINLAND.

This version is from _Codex Flatöiensis_, and is given in _Antiquitates Americanæ_, pp. 47-55. The expedition was wholly unsuccessful, and the leader finally died without reaching the desired land. One cannot help feeling, notwithstanding the marvellous events recorded, that the basis of this account, is formed of solid fact. The main narrative is not one likely to have been invented by an impostor.

* * * * *

In the meantime it had happened in Greenland, that Thorstein of Ericsfiord had married, and taken to wife, [A. D. 1005.] Gudrid, the daughter of Thorbiorn, who had been married, as before related, to Thorer, the Eastman.[137] Thorstein Ericsson bethought him now, that he would go to Vinland, for his brother Thorvald's body. He rigged out the same vessel, and chose an able and stout crew. He had with him, twenty-five men, and his wife Gudrid; and as soon as they were ready he put to sea, and they quickly lost sight of the land. They drove about on the ocean the whole summer, without knowing where they were; and in the first week of winter,[138] they landed at Lysifiord in Greenland, in the western settlement. Thorstein looked for lodgings for his men, and got his whole ship's crew accommodated, but not himself and wife; so that for some nights they had to sleep on board. At that time Christianity was but recent in Greenland. One day, early in the morning, some men came to their tent, and the leader asked them what people were in the tent? Thorstein replies, "Two; who is it that asks?" "Thorstein," was the reply, "and I am called Thorstein the Black, and it is my errand here, to offer thee and thy wife lodging beside me." Thorstein said he would speak to his wife about it; and as she gave her consent, he agreed to it. "Then I shall come for you to-morrow with my horses,[139] for I do not want means to entertain you; but few care to live in my house, for I and my wife live lonely, and I am very melancholy. I have also a different religion[140] from yours, although I think the one you have, the best." Now the following morning he came for them with horses; and they took up their abode with Thorstein Black, who was very friendly towards them. Gudrid had a good outward appearance, and was knowing, and understood well how to behave with strangers. Early in the winter, a sickness prevailed among Thorstein Ericsson's people, and many of his ship men died. He ordered that coffins should be made for the bodies of the dead, and that they should be brought on board, and stowed away carefully; for he said, "I will transport all the bodies to Ericsfiord in summer." It was not long before sickness broke out in Thorstein Black's house, and his wife, who was called Grimhild, fell sick first. She was very stout, and as strong as a man, but yet she could not bear up against the illness. Soon after, Thorstein Ericksson also fell sick, and they both lay ill in bed at the same time; but Grimhild, Thorstein Black's wife died first. When she was dead, Thorstein went out of the room for a skin to lay over the corpse. Then Gudrid said, "My dear Thorstein, be not long away;" which he promised. Then said Thorstein Ericsson, "Our housewife is wonderful, for she raises herself up with her elbows, moves herself forward over the bed-frame, and is feeling for her shoes." In the same moment, Thorstein the Goodman, came back, and instantly, Grimhild laid herself down, so that it made every beam that was in the house, crack. Thorstein now made a coffin for Grimhild's corpse, removed it outside, and buried it. He was a stout and strong man, but it required all his strength to remove the corpse from the house. Now Thorstein Ericsson's illness increased upon him, and he died, which Gudrid his wife took with great grief. They were all in the room, and Gudrid had set herself upon a stool before the bench on which her husband Thorstein's body lay. Now Thorstein the goodman took Gudrid from the stool in his arms, and set himself with her upon a bench just opposite to Thorstein's body,[141] and spoke much with her. He consoled her, and promised to go with her in summer to Ericsfiord, with her husband Thorstein's corpse, and those of his crew. "And," said he, "I shall take with me many servants to console and assist." She thanked him for this. Thorstein Ericsson then raised himself up and said, "Where is Gudrid?" And thrice he said this; but she was silent. Then she said to Thorstein the Goodman, "Shall I give answer or not?" He told her not to answer. Then went Thorstein the Goodman across the room, and sat down in a chair, and Gudrid set herself on his knee; and Thorstein the Goodman said: "What wilt thou make known?" After a while the corpse replies, "I wish to tell Gudrid her fate beforehand, that she may be the better able to bear my death; for I have come to a blessed resting place. And this I have now to tell thee, Gudrid, that thou wilt be married to an Iceland man, and ye will live long together; and from you will descend many men, brave, gallant and wise, and a well pleasing race of posterity. Ye shall go from Greenland to Norway, and from thence to Iceland, where ye shall dwell. And long will ye live together, but thou wilt survive him; and then thou shalt go abroad, and go southwards, and shall return to thy home in Iceland. And there must a church be built, and thou must remain there and be consecrated a nun, and there end thy days."[142] And then Thorstein sank backwards, and his corpse was put in order and carried to the ship. Thorstein the Goodman did all that he had promised. He sold in spring [A. D. 1006.] his land and cattle, and went with Gudrid and all her goods; made ready the ship, got men for it, and then went to Ericsfiord. The body was buried at the church.[143] Gudrid went to Leif's at Brattahlid, and Thorstein the Black took his abode in Ericsfiord, and dwelt there as long as he lived; and was reckoned an able man.

VII. THORFINN KARLSEFNE'S EXPEDITION TO VINLAND.

This was in many respects the most important expedition to New England, both as regards the numbers engaged, and the information and experience derived. We have three different accounts of this expedition. The first is from the somewhat lengthy Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefne, from the _Arnæ-Magnæan Collection_; the second is from the Saga of Eric the Red, being called "The Account of Thorfinn:" while the third is a briefer relation from _Codex Flatöiensis_. The two first may be found in Rafn's _Antiquitates Americanæ_, pp. 75-200; while the last is also given in the same work, on pp. 55-64.

The Saga of Karlsefne is occupied largely at the beginning with accounts of various matters connected with social life; yet, as such subjects are not essential to the treatment of the subject, they are all omitted, except the account of Thorfinn's marriage with the widow of Thorstein Ericson.

The notes to the narrative of Leif's expedition, which precedes this in the chronological order, supersede the necessity of treating a number of important points suggested again in the present narrative.

It is believed that the principal manuscript of Thorstein Karlsefne is a genuine autograph by one of his descendants, the celebrated Hauk Erlander, the Governor or Lagman of Iceland, in 1295, who was also one of the compilers of the _Landnama-bok_. Erlander was the ninth in descent from Thorfinn. Torfæus, who supposed that this manuscript was lost, knew it only through corrupt extracts in the collection of Biörn Johnson.