Part 7

They came to anchor and lay by, until the three days passed, when they returned, one having in his hand a vine, and the other, self-sown wheat. Karlsefne said that they had found a fruitful land. Afterwards they were received into the ship, and they went on their way until a bay intersected the land. They steered the ship into the bay. On the outside was an island, and there was a great tide around the island. This they called, Straumey.[190] There was a great number of birds, and it was scarcely possible to find a place for their feet among the eggs. Then they steered into a long bay which they called Straumfiord, where they landed from their ships and began to prepare habitations. They brought with them all kinds of cattle, and they found sufficient pasturage. There were mountains, and the prospect was pleasant. But they cared for nothing, except to explore the land; there was a great abundance of grass. Here they wintered, and the winter was severe, and they did not have stores laid up, they began to be in want of food, and failed to catch fish. So they sailed over to the island,[191] hoping that they might find means of subsistence, either on what they could catch, or what was cast ashore. But they found but little better fare, though the cattle were better off. [A. D. 1008.] Afterwards they prayed to God, to send them food; which prayer was not answered as soon as desired. Then Thorhall disappeared, and a search was made, which lasted three days. On the morning of the fourth day, Karlsefne and Biarne found him lying on the top of a rock; there he lay stretched out, with open eyes, blowing through his mouth, and muttering to himself. They asked him why he had gone there. He replied that it did not concern them and not to wonder, as he was old enough to take care of himself, without their troubling themselves with his affairs. They asked him to go home with them; this he did. After that a whale was cast up, and they ran down to cut it up; nevertheless they did not know what kind it was. Neither did Karlsefne, though acquainted with whales, know this one. Then the cooks dressed the whale, and they all ate of it, and it made them all sick. Then Thorhall said, "It is clear now that the Red-beard is more prompt to give aid than your Christ. This food is a reward for a hymn which I made to my god Thor, who has seldom deserted me." When they heard this, none would eat any more, and threw what was left from the rock, committing themselves to God. After this the opportunity was given of going after fish, and there was no lack of food. They sailed into Straumfiord, and had abundance of food and hunting on the mainland, with many eggs, and fish from the sea.

And now they began to consider where they should settle next. Thorhall the Hunter wished to go northward around Wonder-strand and Kiarlarness to explore Vinland, but Karlsefne wished to go southwest, thinking likely that there would be larger tracts of country the further they went south. Thorhall made ready at the island, and only nine men went with him, all the rest of the ship folk went with Karlsefne. One day Thorhall was carrying water to his ship; he drank it and sang this verse:

"People promised me when hither I Came, then the best drink I should have; but the country I must denounce to all; Here you are forced by hand To bear the pail to the water, I must bend me down to the spring; Wine did not come to my lips."

Afterwards they left the land, and Karlsefne went with them to the island. Before they hoisted sail, Thorhall sang these verses:

"Let us return Home to our countrymen, Let the vessel try The broad path of the sea; While the persevering Men, who praise the land Are building, and boil the whales Here on Wonder-strand."

Thereupon they sailed northward around Wonder-strand and Kialarness. But when they wished to cruise westward, a storm came against them, and drove them to Ireland, where they were beaten and made slaves. There Thorhall passed his life.[192]

Karlsefne, with Snorre and Biarne and the rest of his comrades, sailed south. They sailed long until they came to a river, which flowed from the land through a lake, and passed into the sea. Before the mouth of the river were great islands, and they were not able to enter the river except at the highest tide.[193] Karlsefne sailed into the mouth of the river, and called the land Hop. There they found fields, where the land was low, with wild corn, and where the land was high, were vines. And every river was full of fish. They made pits in the sand, where the tide rose highest, and at low tide, sacred fish were found in these pits, and in the woods was a great number of all kinds of beasts. Here they stayed half a month, enjoying themselves, but observing nothing new. Early one morning, on looking around, they saw nine skin boats, in which were poles that, vibrating towards the sun, gave out a sound like reeds shaken by the wind. Then Karlsefne said: "What, think you, does this mean?" Snorre said: "It is possible that it is a sign of peace; let us raise up a white shield and hold it towards them:" this they did. Then they rowed towards them, wondering at them, and came to land. These men were small of stature and fierce, having a bushy head of hair, and very great eyes and wide cheeks. They remained some time wondering at them, and afterwards rowed southward around the cape. They built dwellings beyond the lake, others made houses near the mainland, and others near the lake. Here they spent the winter. No snow fell,[194] and all their cattle fed under the open sky. They decided to explore all the mountains[195] that were in Hop; which done, they [A. D. 1009.] went and passed the third winter in Straum bay. At this time they had much contention among themselves, and the unmarried women vexed the married. The first autumn, Snorre, Karlsefne's son, was born, and he [was three years old] when they went away. They had a south wind, and came to Markland, and found five Skrællings, of whom one was a man, and two women, and two were boys. Karlsefne took the boys, and the others escaped and sank down into the earth. They carried the boys away with them, and taught them the language, and they were baptized. And the name of their mother was Vatheldi, and their father, Uvæge. They said that two kings ruled over the Skrællinger's land, one was named Avalldania, and the other, Valldidia; that they had no houses, but lived in dens and caves. In another part of the country, there was a region where the people wore white clothes, and shouted loud, and carried poles with flags. This they thought to be White-man's land. After this they came into Greenland, and passed the winter with Leif, son of Eric Red. Biarne Grimolfson was carried out into the Greenland[196] sea, and came into a worm sea, which they did not observe, until their ship was full of worm holes. They considered what should be done. They had a stern boat, smeared with oil; they say that wood covered with oil, the worms will not bore. The result of the council was, that as many should go into the boat as it would hold. It then appeared that the boat would not hold more than one-half of the men. Then Biarne ordered that the men should go in the boat by lot, and not according to rank. And as it would not hold all, they accepted the proposition, and when the lots were drawn, the men went out of the ship into the boat. And the lot was that Biarne should go down from the ship to the boat with one-half of the men. Then those to whom the lot fell, went down from the ship to the boat. And when they had come into the boat, a young Icelander, who was the companion of Biarne, said: "Now thus do you intend to leave me, Biarne?" Biarne replied, "That now seems necessary." He replied with these words: "Thou art not true to the promise made when I left my father's house in Iceland." Biarne replied: "In this thing I do not see any other way;" continuing, "What course can you suggest?" He said, "I see this, that we change places and thou come up here and I go there." Biarne replied: "Let it be so, since I see that you are so anxious to live, and are frightened by the prospect of death." Then they changed places, and he descended into the boat with the men, and Biarne went up into the ship. And it is related that Biarne, and the sailors with him in the ship, perished in the worm sea. Those who went in the boat, went on their course until they came to land, where they told all these things.

After the next summer, Karlsefne went to Iceland with his son Snorre, and he went to his own home at Reikianess. The daughter of Snorre, son of Karlsefne, was Hallfrida, mother to Bishop Thorlak Runolfson. They had a son named Thorbiorn, whose daughter was named Thoruna, mother of Bishop Biarne. Thorgeir was the name of the other son of Snorre Karlsefne's son, father to Ingveld, and mother of the first bishop of Brand. And this is the end of the history.

THIRD NARRATIVE.

That same summer came a ship from Norway to Greenland. The man was called Thorfinn Karlsefne, who steered the ship. He was a son of Thord Hesthöfde, a son of Snorre Thordarson, from Höfda. Thorfinn Karlsefne was a man of great wealth, and was in Brattahlid with Leif Ericsson. Soon he fell in love with Gudrid, and courted her, and she referred to Leif to answer for her. Afterwards she was betrothed to him, and their wedding was held the same winter. At this time, as before, much was spoken about a Vinland voyage; and both Gudrid and others persuaded Karlsefne much to that expedition. Now this expedition was resolved upon, and they got ready a crew of sixty men, and five women;[197] and then they made the agreement, Karlsefne and his people, that each of them should have equal share in what they made of gain. They had with them all kinds of cattle,[198] having the intention to settle in the land, if they could. Karlsefne asked Leif for his houses in Vinland, but he said he would lend them, but not give them. Then they put to sea with the ship, and came to Leif's houses[199] safe, and carried up their goods, They soon had in hand a great and good prize, for a whale had been driven on shore, both large and excellent.[200] They went to it and cut it up, and had no want of food. Their cattle went up into the land; but soon they were unruly, and gave trouble to them, They had one bull with them. Karlsefne let wood be felled and hewed for shipping it, and had it laid on a rock to dry. They had all the good of the products of the land, which were these: both grapes and wood, and other products. After that first winter, and when summer came, [A. D. 1008.] they were aware of Skrællings being there; and a great troop of men came out of the woods. The cattle were near to them, and the bull began to bellow and roar very loud, and with that the Skrællings were frightened, and made off with their bundles--and these were of furs and sables and all sorts of skins; and they turned and wanted to go into the houses, but Karlsefne defended the doors. Neither party understood the language of the other. Then the Skrællings took their bundles and opened them, and wanted to have weapons in exchange for them, but Karlsefne forbade his men to sell weapons. Then he adopted this plan with them, that he told the women to bear out milk and dairy products to them; and when they saw these things, they would buy them and nothing else. And now the trade for the Skrællings was such, that they carried away their winnings in their stomachs; and Karlsefne and his comrades got both their bags and skin goods, and so they went away. And now it is to be told, that Karlsefne let a good strong fence be made around the habitation, and strengthened it for defense. At this time, Gudrid,[201] Karlsefne's wife, lay in of a male child, and the child was called Snorre. In the beginning of the next winter, came the Skrællings again to them, and in much greater numbers than before, and with the same kind of wares. Then said Karlsefne to the women, "Now ye shall carry out the same kind of food as was best liked the last time, and nothing else." And when they saw that they threw their bundles in over the fence: and Gudrid sat in the door within, by the cradle of Snorre, her son. Then came a shadow to the door, and a woman went in with a black kirtle on, rather short, with a snood around her head; clear, yellow hair; pale; with large eyes, so large that none ever saw such eyes in a human head. She went to where Gudrid was sitting, and said: "What art thou called?" "I am called Gudrid; and what art thou called?" "I am called Gudrid, said she." Then the goodwife, Gudrid, put out her hand to her, that she might sit down beside her. And at the same time Gudrid heard a great noise, and the woman had vanished;[202] and at the same time one of the Skrællings was killed by one of Karlsefne's house men, because he was about to take one of their weapons; and they made off as soon as possible, leaving behind them goods and clothes. No one had seen this woman but Gudrid. "Now," says Karlsefne, "we must be cautious, and take counsel; for I think they will come the third time with hostility and many people. We shall now take the plan, that ten men go out to the ness and show themselves there, and the rest of our men shall go into the woods and make a clearance for our cattle against the time the enemy comes out of the forest; and we shall take the bull before us, and let him go in front." And it happened so that at the place where they were to meet, there was a lake on the one side, and the forest on the other. The plan which Karlsefne had laid down, was adopted. The Skrællings came to the place where Karlsefne proposed to fight; and there was a battle there, and many of the Skrællings fell. There was one stout, handsome man among the Skrællings people, and Karlsefne thought that he must be their chief. One of the Skrællings had taken up an axe and looked at it awhile, and wielded it against one of his comrades and cut him down, so that he fell dead instantly. Then the stout man took the axe,[203] looked at it awhile, and threw it into the sea as far as he could. They then fled to the woods as fast as they could, and so ended the fight. Karlsefne stayed there with his men the whole winter; but towards spring he made known that he would not stay there any longer, and would return to Greenland.[204] Now they prepared for their voyage and took much goods from thence--vines, grapes and skin wares. They put to sea, and their ship came to Ericsfiord, and they there passed the winter.

The following summer,[205] [A. D. 1011.] Karlsefne went to Iceland and Gudrid with him, and he went home to Reikianess. His mother felt that he had made a poor match, and for this reason Gudrid was not at home the first winter. But when she saw that Gudrid was a noble woman, she went home, and they got on well together. Halfrid was the daughter of Snorre Karlsefnesson, mother to Bishop Thorlak Runolfson. Their son was named Thorbiorn, and his daughter, Thoruna, mother to Bishop Biorne. Thorgeir was the son of Snorre Karlsefnesson, father to Ingveld, mother of the first Bishop Brand. Snorre Karlsefnesson had a daughter, Steinun, who married Einar, son of Grundarketil, son of Thorvald Krok, the son of Thorer, of Espihol; their son was Thorstein Rauglatr. He was father to Gudrun, who married Jorund of Keldum. Halla was their daughter, and she was mother to Flose, father of Valgerda, who was mother of Herr Erland Sterka, father of Herr Hauk, the Lagman.[206] Another daughter of Flose was Thordis, mother of Fru Ingigerd the Rich; her daughter was Fru Hallbera, Abbess of Stad, in Reikianess. Many other distinguished men in Iceland are the descendants of Karlsefne and Thurid, who are not here mentioned. God be with us. Amen.

VIII. THE VOYAGE OF FREYDIS, HELGE AND FINBOGE.

This narrative is found in _Antiquitates Americanæ_, p. 65. It shows that history, among the Icelanders, was not made subservient to family interests. At the conclusion we have a (supplementary) notice of Thorfinn and Gudrid, after their return to Iceland.

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Now the conversation began again to turn upon a Vinland voyage, as the expedition was both gainful and honorable. The same summer [A. D. 1010.] that Karlsefne returned from Vinland, a ship arrived in Greenland from Norway. Two brothers commanded the ship, Helge and Finboge; and they remained that winter in Greenland. The brothers were of Icelandic descent from Earlfiord. It is now to be told, that Freydis, Eric's daughter, came home from Garda,[207] and went to the abode of Finboge and Helge, and proposed to them that they should go to Vinland with their vessel, and have half with her of all the goods they could get there. They agreed to this. Then she went to the abode of her brother Leif, and asked him to give her the houses he had built in Vinland; and he answered as before, that he would lend, but not give the houses. It was agreed upon between the brothers and Freydis, that each should have thirty fighting men, besides women. But Freydis broke this, and had five men more, and concealed them; and the brothers knew nothing of it until they arrived in Vinland.[208] They went to sea, and had agreed beforehand to sail in company, if they could do so: and the difference was little, although the brothers came a little earlier, and had carried up their baggage to Leif's houses. And when Freydis came to the land, her people cleared the ship, and carried her baggage also up to the house. Then said Freydis: "Why are you carrying your things in here?" "Because we thought," said they, "that the whole of the agreement with us should be held." She said, "Leif lent the houses to me, not to you." Then said Helge, "In evil, we brothers cannot strive with thee:" and bore out their luggage and made a shed, and built it farther from the sea, on the borders of a lake,[209] and set all about it in order. Freydis let trees be cut down for her ship's cargo. Now winter set in, and the brothers proposed to have some games for amusement to pass the time. So it was done for a time, till discord came among them, and the games were given up, and none went from one house to the other; and things went on so during a great part of the winter. It happened one morning that Freydis got out of her berth, and put on her clothes, but not her shoes; and the weather was such that much dew had fallen. She took the cloak of her husband over her, and went out, and went to the house of the brothers, and to the door. A man had gone out a little before and left the door behind him, half shut. She opened the door, and stood in the doorway a little, and was silent. Finboge lay the farthest inside the hut, and was awake. He said: "What wilt thou have here, Freydis?" She said, "I want thee to get up and go out with me, for I would speak with thee." He did so: they went to a tree that was lying under the eaves of the hut, and sat down. "How dost thou like this place?" said she. He said, "The country, methinks, is good; but I do not like this quarrel that has arisen among us, for I think there is no cause for it." "Thou art right," says she, "and I think so too; and it is my errand to thy dwelling, that I want to buy the ship of your brothers, as your ship is larger than mine, and I would break up from hence." "I will let it be so," said he, "if that will please thee." Now they parted so, and she went home, and Finboge to his bed. She went up into her berth, and with her cold feet awakened Thorvard, who asked why she was so cold and wet. She answered with great warmth, "I went to these brothers," said she, "to treat about their ship, for I want a larger ship;[210] and they took it so ill, that they struck and abused me. And, thou, useless man! wilt neither avenge my affront, nor thy own; and now must I feel that I am away from Greenland, but I will separate[211] from thee if thou dost not avenge this." And now he could not bear her reproaches, and told his men to rise as fast as possible, and take their weapons. They did so, and went to the tents of the brothers, and went in as they lay asleep, and seized them all, bound them, and led them out bound, one after the other, and Freydis had each of them put to death, as he came out. Now all the men were killed; but the women were left, and nobody would kill them. Then said Freydis, "Give me an axe in my hand." This was done, and she turned on those five women, and did not give over until they were all dead. Now they returned to their own hut after this evil deed; and the people could only observe that Freydis thought she had done exceedingly well; and she said to her comrades, "If it be our lot to return to Greenland, I shall take the life of the man who speaks of this affair; and we shall say that we left them here when we went away." Now they got ready the ship early in spring [A. D. 1011.] which had belonged to the brothers, with all the goods they could get on, that the ship would carry, sailed out to sea, and had a good voyage; and the ship came early in the summer to Ericsfiord. Karlsefne was there still,[212] and had his ship ready for sea, but waited a wind; and it was a common saying that never a richer ship sailed from Greenland than that which he steered.