Now the next event to be recorded (after the death of Olaf Tryggvason, September 1000) is that Bjarni Herjulfson came over from Greenland to Earl Eric (who became the ruler of a large part of Norway after Olaf’s death), and the earl gave him a good reception. Bjarni told the story of his voyage when he saw the (strange) lands, but people thought that he had been lacking in curiosity, since he had nothing to report about those countries, and some fault was found with him on this account. Bjarni was made an officer of the earl’s court, but the following summer he went out to Greenland.

There was now much talk of exploration. Leif, Eric the Red’s son from Brattahlid, went to Bjarni Herjulfson and bought a ship of him, and engaged a crew of thirty-five men. Leif asked his father Eric still to be leader of the expedition.[19] Eric excused himself, saying that he was now an old man, and less fitted to bear all the hardships than formerly. Leif said that he was still the member of the family who would bring the best luck; Eric thereupon gave way to Leif, and as soon as they were ready for it he rode from home, and came to within a short distance of the ship. The horse which Eric was riding stumbled, and he fell off and hurt his foot. Then Eric said, ‘I am not fated to discover more countries than this in which we are now settled, and we ought not to bear one another company any longer.’ So Eric went home to Brattahlid, but Leif went on board with his companions, thirty-five men. There was a southerner (German) on the expedition called Tyrker.

Now they prepared their ship, and when they were ready they put to sea, and they found first the country which Bjarni found last. There they sailed up to the land, and having cast anchor and lowered a boat went ashore, and saw no grass there. The background was all great glaciers, and all the intermediate land from the sea to the glaciers was like one flat rock, and the country seemed to them destitute of value. Then Leif said, ‘We have not failed to land, like Bjarni; now I will give this country a name, and call it Helluland (the land of flat stone).’ Thereupon they returned on board, after which they sailed to sea and discovered the second land. Again they sailed up to the land and cast anchor, then lowered the boat and went ashore. This land was low-lying and wooded, and wherever they went there were wide stretches of white sand, and the slope from the sea was not abrupt. Then Leif said, ‘This land shall be given a name from its resources, and shall be called Markland (woodland),’ after which they returned to the ship as quickly as possible. And they sailed after that in the open sea with a north-east wind, and were out two days before they saw land, towards which they sailed, and having come to an island which lay to the north of the mainland they landed on it, the weather being fine, and looked round; and they perceived that there was a dew on the grass, and it came about that they put their hands in the dew, and carried it to their mouths, and thought that they had never known anything so sweet as that was. Then they went back to the ship, and sailing into the sound which lay between the island and the cape which ran north from the mainland they steered a westerly course past the cape. It was very shallow there at low tide, so that their ship ran aground, and soon it was a long way from the ship to the sea. But they were so very eager to get to land that they would not wait for the tide to rise under their ship, but hurried ashore where a river came out of a lake; but when the sea had risen under their ship they took the boat and rowed to the ship, and took her up the river and afterwards into the lake, where they cast anchor, and carrying their leather kitbags ashore they put up shelters, but later, on deciding to pass the winter there, they made large houses.

There was no want of salmon, either in the river or the lake, and bigger salmon than they had seen before; the amenities of the country were such, as it seemed to them, that no cattle would need fodder there in the winter; there came no frost in the winter, and the grass did not wither there much. Day and night were more equally divided there than in Greenland or Iceland: on the shortest day the sun was up over the (Icelandic) marks for both nones and breakfast time.[20]

Now when they had finished building their houses, Leif said to his men, ‘Now I will divide our party into two, and have the country explored: and one half shall stay at home in camp while the other explores the country, going no further than they can return by the evening, and not separating.’ And so for a time they did this, Leif sometimes going with the explorers and at others staying at home in camp. Leif was a big, strong man, the handsomest of men in appearance, and clever; in fact he was in all respects an excellent commander.

It happened one evening that a man of their party was missing, and this was Tyrker the southerner. Leif was much distressed at this, for Tyrker had been long with his father and him, and had been very fond of Leif as a child: so now Leif, after finding great fault with his men, prepared to look for him, taking a dozen men with him. But when they had got a little way from camp Tyrker came towards them, and was received with joy. Leif saw at once that his foster-father was in good spirits.

Tyrker had a projecting forehead and a very small face with roving eyes; he was a small and insignificant man, but handy at every kind of odd job.

Then Leif said to him, ‘Why are you so late, my foster-father, and why did you separate from your companions?’ Tyrker at this spoke for a long time in German, rolling his eyes and grimacing, but the others did not distinguish what he was saying. But a little later he said in Norse, ‘I did not go much further than you, (but) I have found something fresh to report. I found vines and grapes.’ ‘Is that true, foster-father?’ said Leif. ‘Certainly it is true,’ he replied, ‘for I was born where there was no lack of vines or grapes.’

Now they slept that night, but in the morning Leif said to his crew, ‘We will now do two things, keeping separate days for each; we will gather grapes and cut down vines, and fell wood, to make a cargo for my ship,’ and this suggestion was adopted. The story goes that their pinnace was full of grapes. So a cargo was cut for the ship, and in spring they made ready and sailed away, and Leif gave the country a name according to its resources, and called it Wineland.

So after this they put to sea, and the breeze was fair till they sighted Greenland, and the mountains under its glaciers. Then a man spoke up and said to Leif, ‘Why are you steering the ship so much into the wind?’ ‘I am paying attention to my steering,’ replied Leif, ‘but to something else as well: what do you see that is strange?’ They said they could see nothing remarkable. ‘I do not know’, said Leif, ‘whether it is a ship or a reef that I see.’ Then they saw it, and said that it was a reef. But Leif was longer sighted than they, so that he saw men on the reef. ‘Now,’ said Leif, ‘I wish that we should beat up wind, so as to reach them if they need our help and it is necessary to assist them, and if they are not peaceably disposed we are masters of the situation and they are not.’ So they came up to the reef, and lowered their sail and cast anchor: and they launched a second dinghy that they had with them. Then Tyrker asked who was the captain (of the shipwrecked party). ‘His name is Thori,’ was the reply, ‘and he is a Norseman, but what is your name?’ Leif told his name. ‘Are you a son of Eric the Red of Brattahlid?’ said Thori. Leif assented. ‘Now,’ said Leif, ‘I will take you all on board my ship, and as much of your stuff as the ship can hold.’ They agreed to these terms, and afterwards they sailed to Ericsfjord with this freight, until they came to Brattahlid where they unloaded the ship. After that Leif invited Thori and Gudrid his wife, and three other men to stay with him, and procured lodgings for the rest of the crews, both Thori’s men and his own. Leif took fifteen men from the reef; he was subsequently called Leif the lucky. So Leif gained both wealth and honour. That winter Thori’s folk were much attacked by sickness, and Thori and a great part of his crew died.[21]