Chapter IV: Part I: Translation (2)

Thorstein looked for lodgings for the party, and got them for all his crew, but he and his wife were houseless. So they remained behind by the ship some two nights. Christianity was still new then in Greenland. One day some men came to their tent early in the morning. So these men who were there asked what persons were in the tent. Thorstein replied: ‘Two persons,’ he said, ‘but who are you who ask?’ ‘My name is Thorstein,’ (said one of the men), ‘and I am called Thorstein the Black, but my errand here is to invite both of you to lodge with me.’ Thorstein said that he wished to consult his wife, but she told him to decide, whereupon he accepted. ‘Then,’ (said the man), ‘I will come for you to-morrow with a carthorse, for I have plenty of room to take you in; but it is very dull to stay with me, for there are just the two of us, my wife and I, and I am of a very obstinate disposition. I hold a different faith from you, though I consider that which you hold is superior.’ So then he came for them in the morning with a horse, and they went to lodge with Thorstein the Black, and he treated them well. Gudrid was a woman of striking appearance, and a clever woman who could get on well with strangers. Early in the winter a plague attacked Thorstein Ericson’s party, and many of his companions died there. Thorstein ordered coffins to be made for the bodies of those who died, and directed that they should be taken to the ship and looked after, ‘for’, he said, ‘I wish to remove all the bodies to Ericsfjord in the summer.’ Now after a short interval plague attacked Thorstein’s house, and his wife, whose name was Grimhild, was the first to fall ill. She was very energetic, and as strong as a man, yet the plague got the better of her, and soon afterwards Thorstein Ericson caught the plague, and they were both laid up at the same time: and Grimhild, wife of Thorstein the Black, died. Now when she was dead Thorstein (the Black) went out of the room for a plank to lay the body on. Then Gudrid spoke: ‘Do not stay away long, my Thorstein,’ she said. He said it should be as she wished. Then said Thorstein Ericson, ‘Wonderful things are happening to our hostess now, for she is raising herself up with her elbows, and moving her feet from the bench, and groping for her shoes’: and with that Thorstein the owner of the place came in, whereupon Grimhild laid herself down, and every beam in the room creaked. Now Thorstein made a coffin for Grimhild’s body, and took it away and made preparations. He was a big man and strong, but he needed all this before he got her out of the house. Now the illness of Thorstein Ericson grew worse, and he died. Gudrid his wife hardly realized it. They were all in the room at the time. Gudrid had seated herself on a chair before the bench on which Thorstein her husband had been laid. Then Thorstein the owner of the house took Gudrid from the chair in his arms, and sat on another bench with her opposite Thorstein’s corpse, and spoke to her about it in many ways, and comforted her, promising her that he would go with her to Ericsfjord with the bodies of Thorstein her husband and his companions, and said, ‘I will also engage more servants here to console and entertain you.’ She thanked him. Then Thorstein Ericson sat up and cried, ‘Where is Gudrid?’ Three times he said this, but she remained silent. Then she said to Thorstein of the house, ‘Shall I answer his speech or not?’ He told her not to answer. Then Thorstein of the house crossed the floor, and sat on the chair with Gudrid on his knees, and then he spoke, saying, ‘What do you want, namesake?’ A moment passed, and the other answered: ‘I am anxious to tell Gudrid her fortune, so that she can the better bear my death, for I have come to a good resting-place. Now there is this to tell you, Gudrid, that you will be married to a man of Iceland, and your life together will be long, and a great line of men will spring from you, vigorous, bright and good, sweet and of a good savour. You will travel from Greenland to Norway, and thence to Iceland, where you will build a home. There the two of you will live long, and you will survive him. You will go abroad and make a pilgrimage to Rome (lit.: go south), and come back home to Iceland, and then a church will be built there where you will remain and take the vows of a nun, and there you will die.’ Upon this Thorstein sank back, and his body was prepared and carried to the ship. Thorstein of the house thoroughly performed all that he had promised Gudrid. He sold his land and livestock in the spring, and accompanied Gudrid to the ship with all that was his; he made the ship ready and engaged a crew, and then sailed away to Ericsfjord. The bodies were now buried by the church. Gudrid went to Leif at Brattahlid, while Thorstein the Black built a house on Ericsfjord, where he stayed during his life, being considered the most chivalrous of men.

§10. THE EXPEDITION OF THORFIN KARLSEFNI

Translation from the text of the saga of Eric the Red collated with
that of Hauk’s Book. Passages in italics from Hauk’s Book only.

There was a man named _Thord, who lived at Höfda in Höfdastrand. He married Fridgerda, daughter of Thori Hyma and of Fridgerda daughter of Kjarval king of the Irish. Thord was a son of Björn Byrdusmör, son of Thorvald Hrygg, son of Asleik, son of Björn Ironside, son of Ragnar Shaggy-Breeches. They had a son called Snorri: he married Thorhild Rype, a daughter of Thord Gelli: their son was Thord Horsehead. Thord Horsehead had a son called_ Thorfin Karlsefni, who lived in the north at Reynisness in Skagafjord, as it now is called. Besides being of a good stock Karlsefni was a wealthy man. His mother’s name was Thorunn. He was in the cruising trade, and had a good reputation as a sailor.

One summer Karlsefni made ready his ship for a voyage to Greenland. Snorri Thorbrandson from Alptafjord joined him,[24] and they had forty men with them. A man named Bjarni Grimolfson from Breidafjord, and another called Thorhall Gamlison[25] from Eastfjord both made ready their ship the same summer as Karlsefni to go to Greenland; they had forty men on board. They put to sea with these two ships, when they were ready. We are not told how long they were at sea; suffice it to say that both these ships arrived at Ericsfjord in the autumn. Eric and other settlers rode to the ships, where they began to trade freely: the skippers told Gudrid[26] to help herself from their wares, but Eric was not behindhand in generosity, for he invited the crews of both ships to his home at Brattahlid for the winter. The traders accepted this offer and went with Eric. Thereupon their stuff was removed to the house at Brattahlid, where there was no lack of good large out-buildings in which to store their goods, and the merchants had a good time with Eric during the winter.

But as it drew towards Christmas Eric began to be less cheerful than usual. One day Karlsefni came to speak to Eric, and said: ‘Is anything the matter, Eric? It seems to me that you are rather more silent than you used to be; you are treating us with the greatest generosity, and we owe it to you to repay you so far as lies in our power, so tell us what is troubling you.’ ‘You have been good and courteous guests,’ replied Eric, ‘my mind is not troubled by any lack of response on your part, _it is rather that I am afraid it will be said when you go elsewhere that you never passed a worse Christmas than when you stayed with Eric the Red at Brattahlid in Greenland_.’[27] ‘That shall not be so,’ replied Karlsefni, ‘we have on our ships malt and meal and corn, and you are welcome to take of it what you will, and make as fine a feast as your ideas of hospitality suggest.’ Eric accepted this offer, and a Christmas feast was prepared, which was so splendid that people thought they had hardly ever seen so magnificent a feast _in a poor country_.

And after Christmas Karlsefni asked Eric for Gudrid’s hand, since it appeared to him to be a matter under Eric’s control, and moreover he thought her a beautiful and accomplished woman. Eric answered, saying that he would certainly entertain his suit, but that she was a good match; that it was likely that she would be fulfilling her destiny if she was married to him, and that he had heard good of Karlsefni. So then the proposal was conveyed to her, and she left it to Eric to decide for her. And now it was not long before this proposal was accepted, and the festivities began again, and their wedding was celebrated. There was a very merry time at Brattahlid in the winter with much playing at draughts and story-telling, and a great deal to make their stay pleasant.

[At this time there was much discussion at Brattahlid during the winter[28] _about a search for Wineland the Good, and it was said that it would be a profitable country to visit_; Karlsefni and Snorri resolved to search for Wineland, and the project was much talked about, so it came about that Karlsefni and Snorri made ready their ship to go and look for the country in the summer.[29] The man named Bjarni, and Thorhall, _who have already been mentioned_, joined the expedition with their ship, and the crew which had accompanied them. There was a man named Thorvald[30] (evidently Thorvard), who was connected by marriage with Eric the Red. _He also went with them, and_ Thorhall _who was called the Hunter_, he had been long engaged with Eric as hunter in the summer,[31] and had many things in his charge. Thorhall was big _and strong_ and dark, and like a giant: he was rather old, of a temper hard to manage, taciturn and of few words as a rule, cunning but abusive, and he was always urging _Eric to_ the worse course. He had had little dealings with the faith since it came to Greenland. Thorhall was rather unpopular, yet for a long time Eric had been in the habit of consulting him. He was on the ship with Thorvald’s men,[32] for he had a wide experience of wild countries. They had the ship which Thorbjörn had brought out there, and they joined themselves to Karlsefni’s party for the expedition, and the majority of the men were Greenlanders. The total force on board their ships was 160 men.[33] After this they sailed away to the Western Settlement and the Bear Isles. They sailed away from the Bear Isles with a northerly wind. They were at sea two days. Then they found land, and rowing ashore in boats they examined the country, and found there a quantity of flat stones, which were so large that two men could easily have lain sole to sole on them: there were many arctic foxes there. They gave the place a name, calling it Helluland. Then they sailed for two days with north wind, _and changed their course from south to south-east_, and then there was a land before them on which was much wood and many beasts. An island lay there off shore to the south-east, on which they found a bear, and they called it Bjarney (Bear Island), but the land where the wood was they called Markland (woodland).

[Then when two days were passed they sighted land, up to which they sailed. There was a cape where they arrived.[34] They beat along the coast, and left the land to starboard: it was a desolate place, and there were long beaches and sands there. They rowed ashore, and found _there on the cape_ the keel of a ship, so they called the place Keelness: they gave the beaches also a name, calling them Furdustrands (the Wonder Beaches) because the sail past them was long. Next the country became indented with bays, into _one of_ which they steered the ships.]

Now when Leif was with king Olaf Tryggvason and he commissioned him to preach Christianity in Greenland, the king gave him two Scots, a man called Hake and a woman Hekja. The king told Leif to make use of these people if he had need of speed, for they were swifter than deer: these people Leif and Eric provided to accompany Karlsefni. Now when they had coasted past Furdustrands they set the Scots ashore, telling them to run southward along the land to explore the resources of the country and come back before three days were past. They were dressed in what they called a ‘_kjafal_’,[35] which was made with a hood above, and open at the sides without sleeves: it was fastened between the legs, where a button and a loop held it together: otherwise they were naked. They cast anchor and lay there in the meanwhile. And when three days were past they came running down from the land, and one of them had in his hand a grape-_cluster_ while the other had a wild (lit: self-sown[36]) ear of wheat. They told Karlsefni that they thought that they had found that the resources of the country were good. They received them into their ship, and went their ways, till the country was indented by a fjord. They took the ships into the fjord. There was an island outside, about which there were strong currents, so they called it Straumsey (Tide or Current Island). There were so many birds[37] on the island that a man’s feet could hardly come down between the eggs. They held along the fjord, and called the place Straumsfjord, and there they carried up their goods from the ships and prepared to stay: they had with them all sorts of cattle, and they explored the resources of the country there. There were mountains there, and the view was beautiful. They did nothing but explore the country. There was plenty of grass there. They were there for the winter, and the winter was severe, but they had done nothing to provide for it, and victuals grew scarce, and hunting and fishing deteriorated. Then they went out to the island, in the hope that this place might yield something in the way of fishing or jetsam. But there was little food to be obtained on it, though their cattle throve there well. After this they cried to God to send them something to eat, and their prayer was not answered as soon as they desired. Thorhall disappeared and men went in search of him: that lasted three successive days. On the fourth day Karlsefni and Bjarni found Thorhall on a crag; he was gazing into the air with staring eyes, open mouth, and dilated nostrils, and scratching and pinching himself and reciting something. They asked him why he had come there. He said it was no business of theirs, told them not to be surprised at it, and said that he had lived long enough to make it unnecessary for them to trouble about him. They told him to come home with them, and he did so. Soon afterwards there came a whale, and they went to it and cut it up, but no one knew what sort of whale it was. Karlsefni had a great knowledge of whales, but still he did not recognize this one. The cooks boiled this whale, and they ate it, but were all ill from it: then Thorhall came up and said: ‘Was not the Red-Beard (Thor) more useful than your Christ? This is my reward for chanting of Thor my patron; seldom has he failed me.’ But when they heard this none of them would avail themselves of the food, and they threw it down off the rocks and committed their cause to God’s mercy: _the state of the weather then improved and_ permitted them to row out, and from that time there was no lack of provision during the spring. They went into Straumsfjord, and got supplies from both places, hunting on the mainland, and eggs and fishing from the sea.

Now they consulted about their expedition, and were divided. Thorhall the Hunter wished to go north by Furdustrands and past Keelness, and so look for Wineland, but Karlsefni wished to coast south [and off the east coast, considering that the region which lay more to the south was the larger, and it seemed to him the best plan to explore both ways.[38] So then Thorhall made ready out by the islands, and there were no more than nine men for his venture, the rest of the party going with Karlsefni. And one day as Thorhall was carrying water to his ship he drank it, and recited this verse:

_They flattered my confiding ear
With tales of drink abounding here:
My curse upon the thirsty land!
A warrior, trained to bear a brand,
A pail instead I have to bring,
And bow my back beside the spring:
For ne’er a single draught of wine
Has passed these parching lips of mine._[39]

After this they set out, and Karlsefni accompanied them by the islands.

Before they hoisted their sail Thorhall recited a verse:

_Now let the vessel plough the main
To Greenland and our friends again:
Away, and leave the strenuous host
Who praise this God-forsaken coast
To linger in a desert land,
And boil their whales in Furdustrand._[40]

Afterwards they parted, and they sailed north past Furdustrands and Keelness, and wished to bear westward; but they were met by a storm and cast ashore in Ireland, where they were much ill-treated and enslaved. There Thorhall died, _according to the reports of traders_.

Karlsefni coasted south with Snorri and Bjarni and the rest of their party. They sailed a long time, till they came to a river which flowed down from the land and through a lake into the sea: there were great shoals of gravel there in front of the estuary and they could not enter the river except at high tide. Karlsefni and his party sailed into the estuary, and called the place Hóp.

They found there wild (lit: self-sown) fields of wheat wherever the ground was low, but vines wherever they explored the hills. Every brook was full of fish. They made pits where the land met high-water mark, and when the tide ebbed there were halibut in the pits. There was a great quantity of animals of all sorts in the woods. They were there a fortnight, enjoying themselves, without noticing anything further: they had their cattle with them.

And one morning early, as they looked about them, they saw nine skin canoes, on which staves were waved with a noise just like threshing, and they were waved with the sun. Then Karlsefni said, ‘What is the meaning of this?’ Snorri answered him, ‘Perhaps this is a sign of peace, so let us take a white shield and lift it in answer,’ and they did so. Then these men rowed to meet them, and, astonished at what they saw, they landed. They were _swarthy_[41] men and ugly, with unkempt hair on their heads. They had large eyes and broad cheeks. They stayed there some time, showing surprise. Then they rowed away south past the cape.

Karlsefni and his men had made their camp above the lake, and some of the huts were near the mainland while others were near the lake. So they remained there that winter; no snow fell, and their cattle remained in the open, finding their own pasture. But at the beginning of spring they saw one morning early a fleet of skin canoes rowing from the south past the cape, so many that the sea was black with them,[42] and on each boat there were staves waved. Karlsefni and his men raised their shields, and they began to trade: the (strange) people wanted particularly to buy red cloth, _in exchange for which they offered skins and grey furs_. They wished also to buy swords and spears, but Karlsefni and Snorri forbade this. _The savages got for a dark skin a spans length of red cloth, which they bound round their heads._[43] Thus things continued for awhile, but when the cloth began to give out they cut it into pieces so small that they were not more than a finger’s breadth. The savages gave as much for it as before, or more.

It happened that a bull belonging to Karlsefni’s party ran out of the wood, and bellowed loudly: this terrified the savages, and they ran out to their canoes, and rowed south along the coast, and there was nothing more seen of them for three consecutive weeks. But when that time had elapsed they saw a great number of the boats of the savages coming from the south like a rushing torrent, and this time all the staves were waved widdershins, and all the savages yelled loudly. Upon this Karlsefni’s men took a red shield and raised it in answer. _The savages ran from their boats and_ thereupon they met and fought; there was a heavy rain of missiles; the savages had war-slings too. Karlsefni and Snorri observed that the savages raised up on a pole a _very_ large globe, _closely resembling a sheep’s paunch_ and dark in colour, and it flew _from the pole_ up on land over the party, and made a terrible noise where it came down. Upon this a great fear came on Karlsefni and his party, so that they wished for nothing but to get away up stream, _for they thought that the savages were setting upon them from all sides, nor did they halt till they came_ to some rocks where they made a determined resistance.

Freydis came out, and seeing Karlsefni’s men retreating she cried out, ‘Why are such fine fellows as you running away from these unworthy men, whom I thought you could have butchered like cattle? Now if I had a weapon it seems to me that I should fight better than any of you.’ They paid no attention to what she said. Freydis wished to follow them, but was rather slow because she was not well; yet she went after them into the wood, pursued by the savages. She found before her a dead man, Thorbrand Snorreson, with a flat stone standing in his head: his sword lay beside him. This she took up, and prepared to defend herself with it. Then the savages set upon her, but she drew out her breast from beneath her clothes and beat the sword upon it: with that the savages were afraid, and running back to their ships they withdrew. Karlsefni’s men came up to her and praised her courage. Two men of Karlsefni’s force fell, but four[44] of the savages, although the former were outnumbered. So then they went back to their huts, _and bound their wounds_, and considered what that force could have been which set upon them from the land side; it now appeared to them that the attacking party consisted solely of those who came from the ships, and that the others must have been a delusion.

Moreover the savages found a dead man with an axe lying beside him. _One of them took up the axe and cut at a tree, and then each of the others did so, and they thought it a treasure and that it cut well. Afterwards_ one of them cut at a stone, and the axe broke, whereupon he thought that it was useless, since it did not stand against the stone, and threw it down.

It now appeared to Karlsefni’s party that though this country had good resources yet they would live in a perpetual state of warfare and alarm on account of the aborigines. So they prepared to depart, intending to return to their own country. They coasted northward, and found five savages in skins sleeping _by the sea_; these had with them receptacles in which was beast’s marrow mixed with blood. They concluded that these men must have been sent from the country[45]: they killed them. Later on they discovered a promontory and a quantity of beasts: the promontory had the appearance of a cake of dung, because the beasts lay there in the winter.[46] Now they came to Straumsfjord, where there was plenty of every kind.

Some men say that Bjarni and Freydis[47] stayed there with a hundred men and went no further, while Karlsefni and Snorri went south with forty men, staying no longer at Hóp than a scant two months, and returning the same summer.[48]

* * * * *

_They considered that those mountains which were at Hóp and those which they now found were all one, and were therefore close opposite one another, and that the distance from Straumsfjord was the same in both directions._[49] They were at Straumsfjord the third winter.

At this time the men were much divided into parties, _which happened because of the women_, the unmarried men claiming the wives of those who were married, which gave rise to the greatest disorder. There Karlsefni’s son, Snorri, was born the first autumn, _and he was three winters old when they left_.[50]

_On sailing from Wineland_ they got a south wind, and came to Markland, where they found five savages, one of whom was bearded. There were two women and two children: Karlsefni’s men caught the boys, but the others escaped, disappearing into the ground. But they kept the two boys with them, and taught them speech, and they were christened. They called their mother Vætilldi and _their father_ Uvægi. They said that the savages’ country was governed by kings, one of whom was called Avalldamon and the other Valldidida. They said that there were no houses there: people lived in dens or caves. They reported that another country lay on the other side, opposite to their own, where people lived who wore white clothes, and uttered loud cries, and carried poles, and went with flags. It is thought that this was Hvítramannaland, _or Ireland the Great_. So then they came to Greenland, and stayed with Eric the Red for the winter.

Then Bjarni Grimolfson was carried into the sea of Greenland,[51] and came into a sea infested by the teredo, and the first thing they noticed was that the ship beneath them was worm-eaten. So they discussed what plan should be adopted. They had a boat which was coated with seal-tar. It is said that the teredo does not eat wood which is coated with seal-tar. The majority declared in favour of the proposal to man the boat with such men as she would accommodate. But when this was tested the boat would not accommodate more than half the crew. Bjarni then said that the manning of the boat should be by lot, and not by rank. But every man who was there wished to go in the boat, and she could not take them all. For this reason[52] they agreed to the course of drawing lots for the manning of the boat from the ship. So the result of the drawing was that Bjarni drew a seat in the boat, and about half the crew with him. So those who had been chosen by the lots went from the ship into the boat. When they had got into the boat, a young Icelander, who had been one of Bjarni’s companions, said, ‘Do you mean, Bjarni, to desert me here?’ Bjarni replied, ‘So it has turned out.’ ‘This is not what you promised me’, said he, ‘when I left my father’s house in Iceland to go with you.’ ‘But still’, said Bjarni, ‘I do not see any other course in this predicament: but answer me, what course do you advise?’ ‘The course I see’, said he, ‘is that we change places, and you come here while I go there.’ Bjarni answered, ‘Be it so. For I see that you cling greedily to life, and think it a hard thing to die.’ Thereupon they changed places. This man went down into the boat, while Bjarni got on board the ship, and men say that Bjarni was lost there in the teredo sea, with those men who were on board with him. But the boat and those on board of her went their ways, till they came to land, _at Dublin in Ireland_, where they afterwards told this story.

NOTE. _Snorri Thorbrandson comes to Greenland._ The Eyrbyggja Saga
(chap. 48) mentions this emigration of Snorri Thorbrandson as an
event taking place ‘after the reconciliation of the men of Eyr
and Alptafjord’. The ingenuity of commentators in constructing a
difficulty is well exemplified in connexion with this passage.