[7] So Landnámabók, Hauk’s Book, and Flatey Book: Eric’s Saga
has ‘Hvitserk’.
[8] Flatey Book and some texts of Landnámabók have ‘Eastern
Settlement’. The Eastern Settlement was near Julianehaab, the Western
near Godthaab. Both were thus on the west coast of Greenland.
[14] Hauk’s Landnámabók and some other texts have ‘Snorri’. In
fact Snorri Thorbrandson went out later, as will be seen.
[15] There must be an error in supposing this Vifil to have
been the father of Thorgeir and Thorbjörn. Even if we consider Vifil to
have been captured as a boy, and to belong to the generation of Aud’s
grandson, Olaf Feilan, we know that Thorgeir and Thorbjörn were of the
generation of Snorri Godi and Thord Horsehead, the great-grandsons
of Olaf Feilan, as their daughters married the sons of these persons
respectively. (See Genealogical Table, p. 20.) It will be seen,
moreover, later on, that Thorbjörn Vifilson looked down on the son of a
slave, which would hardly have been the case had he been one himself.
(See post, p. 32).
[18] At this point, on the voyage to Greenland, comes the
accidental discovery of Wineland by Leif, as given in this version. For
this see Appendix, p. 76.
[19] i.e. as he had formerly led the expedition to Greenland.
Finnur Jónsson sees in the word enn (‘still’) a reminiscence of
Thorstein’s voyage in Eric’s Saga; this interpretation, however, seems
unnecessarily far-fetched.
[20] Lit: ‘the sun had there eykt-place and dagmál-place on
the shortest day’. See Part II, Chapter V.
[21] The text adds:—‘Eric the Red died also that winter.’ I am
disposed to think this statement probable, but as Eric is frequently
mentioned later on in the alternative version, I omit this from the
story. (See, however, Part II, Chapter II, p. 135.)
[30] Hauk’s Book corrects this to ‘Thorvard, who married
Freydis, an illegitimate daughter of Eric the Red’, but adds ‘and
Thorvald Ericson’. Cf. Part II, Chapter II, p. 126.
[31] Plural, therefore he had been with Eric many years.
[33] Eric’s Saga says, ‘forty men of the second hundred’.
Hauk’s Book has, ‘forty men and a hundred’. As the Icelandic hundred
was 120, this means 160 in each case.
[34] From [ Hauk’s Book has: ‘Thence they coasted south for
a long while, and came to a cape’, &c.
[35]
Hauk’s Book; Eric’s Saga has ‘bjafal’. The word is clearly Gaelic. Nansen suggests an Irish word,
‘cabhail’, the body of a shirt. Or possibly ‘gioball’ = garment.
[48] Here follows this narrative’s version of the death of
Thorvald. (See Appendix, p. 77.)
[49] Following Hauk’s text. Eric’s Saga reads, ‘They intended
to explore all those mountains which were at Hóp, and those which they
found.’ It continues ‘they went back, and the third winter’, &c.
[56] A mistake. Hallfrid was the wife of Runolf, and mother of
Bishop Thorlak.
[57] The dying speech ascribed here to Thorvald is evidently
borrowed from that of Thormod Kolbrunarskald after the battle of
Stiklestad, where the point is much more easy to grasp. Thorvald means
that he has come to a land providing plenty of nourishment, otherwise
he would not be fat.
[58] Following Hauk’s text, to supply what is illegible in the
other version.
[59] Following Hauk’s text, the other version being badly
confused here.
[60] Or, ‘he lords it over all the apparitions’, etc.
[61] I have heard of a similar custom in the more remote
parts of Norway at the present day, where the visits of the priest are
infrequent. The only difference is that earth is sprinkled into the
hole when the funeral service is read, instead of holy water.
[73] Since this chapter was written, my attention has been
called to W. Hovgaard’s Voyages of the Norsemen to America
(1915), in which the Flatey Book is defended.
[74] This was written before the appearance of Professor
Steensby’s monograph, which will be dealt with later (p. 237). This
author brings his explorers into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but I adhere
to my opinion.
[75] If the statement of the Flóamanna Saga can be relied on,
Eric as a young man, already grown up, was with Haakon Jarl in Norway
at the time when the latter ‘took the kingdom’, i.e. immediately after
Harald Greyfell’s death (c. 970). The passage refers to Eric as
an ‘Icelander’, but must almost necessarily relate to the period before
Eric’s emigration from Norway.
[76] According to the Fóstbraeðra Saga, when Thormod
Kolbrunarskald visited Greenland about five years before his death at
Stiklestad (1030) Eric’s grandson, Thorkel Leifson, had succeeded to
Brattahlid.
[85] ‘There were then Christian men here, those whom the
Norsemen call Papar, but they went away afterwards, because they would
not live here with heathen men, and they left behind them Irish books
and bells and croziers: from which it might be inferred that they were
Irishmen.’
[87] Cf. Frobisher’s first voyage, in Hakluyt, ‘And so with
a white cloth brought one of their boates with their men along the
shoare, rowing after our boate.’
[90] The most that can be said is that the ‘lld’ sound
occurring in three of the four words was probably characteristic of the
language. Mr. Thalbitzer permits himself an unrestricted range through
the Eskimo vocabulary for words resembling in sound those cited in the
saga. This obviously leaves room for a considerable chance of merely
accidental resemblance. Mr. Thalbitzer’s equivalents for ‘Vætilldi’ and
‘Uvægi’ are ‘uwätille’ and ‘uwätje’, meaning ‘wait a little, please’
and ‘wait a little’. The ‘ll’ we are told is strongly aspirated, and
may be represented by ‘tl’. By a curious coincidence, which shows the
danger of arguing on these lines, these Eskimo words have almost the
same sound as their English rendering—‘you wait a little’, ‘you wait’.
[98] Though there are woods at Nain, and were formerly more,
it must be remembered that there is an intricate barrier of sterile
islands between the coast and the open sea, in and about these latitudes.
[99] Cf. Hakluyt, A briefe relation of the New found
lande:—‘That which we doe call the New found lande ... is an iland,
or rather, after the opinion of some, it consisteth of sundry ilands
and broken lands.’
[100] It is also possible, as Mr. Hovgaard suggests, that
Karlsefni had to sail north to penetrate the ice round the coast.
[101] Since writing this, I find that the same emendation has
been suggested by Finnur Jónsson.
[102] Unless we accept the story told to account for the name,
Keelness. Even this would only be a very temporary landing, on the beach.
[104] In an article on the fauna of Greenland by Herluf
Winge (Meddelelser om Grönland, vol. xxi, p. 322), the author
cites a list of furs said by Archbishop Erik Walkendorff of Trondhjem
(circa 1516) to be obtained from Greenland. Many of the animals
therein referred to are not properly attributable to Greenland, and
Winge suggests that these skins may have found their way via Greenland
to Trondhjem from America.
[105] It is perhaps rash for an amateur to criticize the
interpretation of an expert, but the numerous ‘ands’ in the early part
of the inscription suggest to my mind that the words between them
should be names of persons. The stereotyped form for a memorial runic
inscription usually begins with a list of the persons responsible for
it, separated by ‘and’ (auk = ok). The original, as read by Bugge, runs
‘út ok vitt ok þurfa þerru ok ats’, &c.
Transcriber’s Notes
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.