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The chief aim of this work is to place within the reach of the English-reading public every portion of the Icelandic Sagas relating to the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen, and to the steps by which that discovery was preceeded. The reader will, therefore, find in this volume material from the Sagas not to be found in any other work in an English form.

The Sagas have been left, in the main, to tell their own story, though the necessary notes and explanations have been added.

So long ago as the year 1838, a distinguished writer in the North American Review, in closing a valuable and appreciative article on the Sagas relating to America, said: "We trust that some zealous student of these subjects will be immediately found, who will put the Icelandic authorities into an English dress, and prepare then, with proper literary apparatus, for the perusal of the general reader."

More than twenty years ago this suggestion was acted upon by the writer. Availing himself of the studies of those who had preceeded him, he brought out a volume devoted to the subject. That work, however, owing to an unexpected demand, soon went out of print; while the progress of discussion, and the nearness of the propesed Columbian Celebration, seem to justify a new publication.

In treating the Sagas, the writer has not felt called upon to modify his views on any important point, and, substantially, his interpretation of these documents is the same as that undertaken in the original work. Time has only served to strengthen his belief in the historical character of the Sagas, while all his geographical studies point now as formerly to New England as the scene of the Northman's exploits, many of which have left no record, though valuable traces of Icelandic occupation may yet be found between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia.

The author is strengthened in his opinions, not only by his own studies, but by the growing favor with which the profoundest scholars in Europe regard the Icelandic historical literature. Everywhere societies, as well as distinguished students of history, are in one way or another expressing their belief in the authenticity of the Sagas relating to the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America. Speaking of the Icelandic voyagers, and their acquaintance with America, Professor Max Muller says: "I have not met with nothing to shake my belief in the fact that the Northmen possessed such knowledge." (1) *

This work is not issued with any intention of seeking to detract from the glory of the achievements of Columbus, though we should remember that the time is rapidly approaching when history will summon us to honor the Cabots, the great fellow countrymen of the Genoese, who saw the Continent of America before Columbus himself viewed it. The desire is to place before the reader the story which precedes that of 1492, and which is so interesting and important.

The author hopes that the text of the Sagas has not been misinterpreted, or left obscure, especially as the Sagas relating to the Pre-Columbian voyages are given in Professor Rafn's work on the Antiquities of America, accompanied by helpful notes and versions in Latin and Danish. In every thing relating to the latter tongue, the author has had the invaluable assistance and advice of one who has spoken it from childhood. He has also had most important and indispensable aid in connection with the Icelandic.

The grammatical structure of the Icelandic is simple, and the aim has been throughout to maintain this simplicity in the translations, so far as the genius of our own tongue would permit. This work being strictly historical, both in spirit and design, the poetical extracts which occur here and there are translated as literally as possible, without any attempt to garnish them with metre and rhyme. Nevertheless examples in rhyme are given in the Notes.

It will be seen that the author differs on some points from Professor Rafn; yet it is believed that if that great student of Northern Antiquities could have gone over the subject again, studying it on the ground, and amid the scenes in which so many of the exploits of the Northmen were performed, he would have modified some of his views.

On the other hand, the author has sought to strengthen several of the conclusions of that noble and laborious investigator, and particularly by bringing out more fully the truthfulness of the Icelandic descriptions of the coast of Cape Cod, which centuries ago presented an aspect that it does not now possess.

Let us remember, too, that in vindicating the Northmen we honor those who not ony gave us the first knowledge possessed of the American Continent, but to whom we are indebted for much beside that we esteem valuable. In reality we fable in a great measure when we speak of our "Saxon inheritance." It is rather from the Northmen that we have derived our vital energy, our freedom of thought, and, in a measure that we do not yet suspect, our strength of speech. Yet, happily, the people are fast becoming conscious of the indebtedness; so that it is to be hoped that the time is not far distant when the Northmen may be recognized in their right social, political and literary characters, and at the same time, as navigators, assume their true position in the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America.

____________________

1. Letter to the Author, August 14, 1889.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

HISTORIC FANCIES

Before the plains of Europe rose above the primeval seas, the Continent of America emerged from the watery waste that encircled the whole globe, and became the scene of animate life. The so-called New World is in reality the Old, and bears abundant proofs of hoary age. But at what period it became the abode of man we are unable even to conjecture. Down to the close of the tenth century of the Christian era it had no written history. Traces of a rude civilization that suggest a high antiquity are by no means wanting. Monuments and mounds remain that point to periods the contemplation of which would cause Chronos himself to grow giddy; yet among all these great and often impressive memorials there is no monument, inscription or sculptured frieze that satisfactorily explains their origin. Tradition itself is dumb, and the theme chiefly kindles when brought within the realm of imagination. We can only infer that age after age nations and tribes rose to greatness and then fell into decline, barbarism and a rude culture holding alternate sway. (1)

Nevertheless, men have enjoyed no small degree of satisfaction in conjuring up theories to explain the origin of the early races on the Western Continent. What a charm lingers around the supposed trans- Atlantic voyages of the hardy Phenician, the luxurious sailors of Tyre, and later, of the bold Basque. What stories might the lost picture- records of Mexico and the chronicles of Dieppe tell. Now we are presented with the splendid view of great fleets, the remnant of some conquered race, bearing across the ocean to re-create in new and unknown lands the cities and monuments they were forever leaving behind; and now it is simply the story of some storm-tossed mariner, who blindly drives across the sea to the western strand, and lays the foundation of empire. Again it is the devotee of mammon, in search of gainful traffic or golden fleece. How romantic is the picture of his little solitary bark setting out in the days of Roman greatness, or in the splendid age of Charlemagne, sailing trustingly away between the pillars of Hercules, and tossing toward the Isles of the Blessed and the Fountains of Eternal Youth. In time the Ultima Thule of the known world is passed, and favoring gales bear the merchant-sailor to new and wondrous lands. We see him coasting the unknown shores, passing from cape to cape, and from bay to inlet, gazing upon the marvels of the New World, trafficking with the bronzed Indian, bartering curious wares for barbaric gold; and then shaping his course again for the markets of the distant East, to pour strange tales into incredulous ears. Still this may not be all fancy. (2)

THE SEA OF DARKNESS

In early times the Atlantic ocean, like all things without known bounds, was viewed by man with mixed feelings of fear and awe. It was called the Sea of Darkness. Yet, nevertheless, there were those who professed to have some knowledge of its extent, and of what lay beyond. The earliest reference to this sea is that by Theopompus, in the fourth century before the Christian era, given in a fragment of aelian, (3) where a vast island is described, lying far in the west, and peopled by strange races. To this we may add the reference of Plato (4) to the island called Atlantis, which lay west of the Pillars of Hercules, and which was estimated to be larger than Asia and Africa combined. Aristotle (5) also thought that many other lands existed beyond the Atlantic. Plato supposed that the Atlantis was sunk by an earthquake, and Crantor declares that he found the same account related by the Priests of Sais three hundred years after the time of Solon, from whom the grandfather of Critias had his information. Plato says, that after the Atlantis disappeared, navigation was rendered too difficult to be attempted on account of the slime which resulted from the sinking of the land. It is probable that he had in mind the immense fields of drifting sea-weed found in that locality, estimated by Humboldt to cover a portion of the Atlantic ocean six times as large as all Germany.

It is thought that Homer (6) obtained the idea of his Elysium in the Western ocean from the voyages of the Phenicians, who, as is well known, sailed regularly to the British Islands. They are also supposed by some to have pushed their discoveries as far as the Western Continent. Cadiz, situated on the shore of Andalusia, was established by the Tyrians twelve centuries before the birth of Christ; and when Cadiz, the ancient Gadir, was full five hundred years old, a Greek trader, Colaeus, there bought rare merchandise, a long and severe gale having driven his ships beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

THE PHENICIANS

In the ninth century before the Christian era, the Phenicians had established colonies on the western coast of Africa; and three hundred years later, according to Herodotus, Pharaoh Necho, son of Psammitieus, sent an expedition, manned by Phenician sailors, around the entire coast of Africa. Vivien de St. Martin fixes the date of the expedition at 570 before Christ. St. Martin, inhis account of the voyage, improves slightly upon the views of Carl Muller, and is followed by Bougainville . (7) A notice of this voyage, performed by Hanno under the direction of Pharaoh, was inscribed in the Punic language on a Carthagenian temple, being afterward translated into Greek.

That the Canary Islands were discovered and colonized by the Phenicians, there need be no doubt. Tradition had always located islands in that vicinity. Strabo speaks of the Islands of the Blessed, as lying not far from Mauritania, opposite Gadir or Cadiz. He distinctly says, "That those who pointed out these things were the Phenicians, who, before the time of Homer, had possession of the best part of Africa and Spain." (8) When we remember the the Phenicians sought to monopolize trade, and hold the knowledge of their commercial resorts a secret, it is not surprising that we should hear no more of the Fortunate Isles until about eighty-two years before Christ, when the Roman Sertorius met some Lusitanian sailors on the coast of Spain who had just returned from the Fortunate Isles. They were described as two delightful islands, separated by a narrow strait, distant from Africa five hundred leagues. Twenty years after the death of Sertorius, Statius Sebosus drew up a chart of a group of five islands, each mentioned by name, and which Pliny calls the Hesperides, including the Fortunate Isles. This mention of the Canaries was sixty-three years before Christ.

JUBA'S EXPEDITION

When King Juba II returned to Mauritania, he sent an expedition to the Fortunate Isles. A fragment of the narratives of this expedition is found in the works of Pliny. The islands are described as lying south-west, six hundred and twenty-five miles from Purpurariae. To reach them from the latter place, they first sailed two hundred and fifty miles westward, and then three hundred and seventy-five miles eastward. Pliny says: "The first is called Ombrios, and affords no traces of buildings. It contains a pool in the midst of mountains, and trees like ferules, from which water may be pressed. It is bitter from the black kinds, but from the light kinds pleasant to drink. The second is called Junonia, and contains a small temple built entirely of stone. Near it is another smaller island having the same name. Then comes Capraria, which is full of large lizards. Within sight of these is Nivaria, named from the snow and fogs with which it is always covered. Not far from Nivaria is Canaria, called thus on account of the great number of large dogs therein, two of which were brought to King Juba. There were traces of buildings in these islands. All the islands abound in apples, and in birds of every kind, and in palms covered with dates, and in the pine nut. There is also plenty of fish. The papyrus grows there, and the silurus fish is found in the rivers." (9)

The author of Prince Henry the Navigator, (10) says that in Ombrios, we recognize the Pluvialia of Sebosus. Convallis of Sebosus, in Pliny, becomes Nivaria, the Peak of Teneriffe, which lifts itself up to the majestic height of nine thousand feet, its snow-capped pinnacle seeming to pierce the sky. Planaria is displaced by Canaria, which term, first applied to the great central island, now gives the name to the whole group. Ombrios or Pluvialia, evidently means the island of Palma, which had "a pool in the midst of mountains," now represented by the crater of an extinct volcano. This the sailors of King Juba evidently saw. Major says: "The distance of this island [Palma] from Fuerteventura, agrees with that of the two hundred and fifty miles indicated by Juba's navigators as existing between Ombrios and the Purpurariae. It has already been seen that the latter agree with Lancerote and Fuerteventura, in respect of their distance from the Continent and from each other, as described by Plutarch. That the Purpurariae are not, as M. Bory de St. Vincent supposed, the Madeira group, is not only shown by the want of inhabitants in the latter, but by the orchil, which supplies the purple dye, being derived from and sought for especially from the Canaries, and not from the Madeira group, although it is to be found there. "Junonia," he continues, "the nearest to Ombrios, will be Gomera. It may be presumed that the temple found therein was, like the island, dedicated to Juno. Capraria, which implies the island of goats, agrees correctly with the island of Ferro,......for these animals were found there in large numbers when the island was invaded by Jean de Bethencourt, in 1402. But a yet more striking proof of the identity of this island with Capraria, is the account of the great number of lizards found therein. Bethencourt's chaplains, describing their visit to the islands, in 1402, state: 'There are lizards in it as big as cats, but they are harmless, although very hideous to look at.' " (11)

We see, then, that the navigators of Juba visited the Canaries (12) at an early period, as did the Phenicians, who doubtless built the temple in the island of Junonia. For aught we know, early navigators may have passed over to the Western Continent and laid the foundation of those strange nations whose monuments still remain. Both Phenician and Tyrian voyages to the Western Continent have been advocated; while Lord Kingsborough published his magnificent volumes on the Mexican Antiquities, to show that the Jews settled this Continent at an early day. (13) If it is true that all the tribes of the earth sprang from one central Asiatic family, it is more than likely that the original inhabitants of the American Continent crossed the Atlantic, instead of piercing the frozen regions of the north, and coming in by the way of Behring Straits. From the Canaries to the coast of Florida, it is a short voyage, and the bold sailors of the Mediterranean, after touching at the Canaries, need only spread their sails before the steady-breathing monsoon, to find themselves wafted safely to the western shore.

TRADITIONS

There was even a tradition that America was visited by St. Columbia (14), and also by the Apostle St. Thomas, (15) who penetrated even as far as Peru. This opinion is founded on the resemblance existing between certain rites and doctrines which seem to have been held in common by Christians and the early inhabitants of Mexico. The first Spanish missionaries were surprised to find the Mexicans bowing in adoration before the figure of the cross, and inferred that these people were of a Christian origin. Yet the inference has no special value, when we remember that Christianity is far less ancient than the symbol of the cross, which existed among the Egyptians and other ancient people.

Claims have also been made for the Irish. Broughton brings forward a passage in which St. Patrick is represented as sending missionaries to the Isles of America. (16) Another claim has been urged of a more respectable character, which is supported by striking, though not conclusive allusions in the chronicles of the North, in which a distant land is spoken of as "Ireland the Great." The Irish, in the early times, might easily have passed over to the Western Continent, for which voyage they undoubtedly had the facilities. Professor Rafn, after alluding to the well-known fact that the Northmen were preceded in Iceland by the Irish, says, that it is by no means improbable that the Irish should also have anticipated them in America. The Irish were a sea-faring people, and have been assigned a Phenician origin by Moore and others who have examined the subject. (17) If this is so, the tradition would appear to be somewhat strengthened. Even as early as the year 296, the Irish are said to have invaded Denmark with a large fleet. In 396, Niall made a descent upon the coast of Lancashire with a considerable navy, where he was met by the Roman, Stilicho, whose achievements were celebrated by Claudian in the days of the Roman occupation of England. At that period the Irish were in most respects in advance of the Northemen, not yet having fallen into decline, and quite as likely as any people then existing to brave the dangers of an ocean voyage. (18) The Icelandic documents, clearly referring to the Irish, will be given in their proper place, and, in the meanwhile, it need only to be added, that the quotations given by the rather credulous Beamish from such an authority as the Turkish Spy will hardly tend to strengthen their claims, especially where its author, John Paul Marana, says that in Mexico "the British language is so prevalent," that "the very towns, bridges, beasts, birds, rivers, hills, etc., are called by the British or Welsh (19) names." (20) In truth, as the wish, is so often father to the thought, it would be an easy task to find resemblance in the languages of the aborigines to almost any language that is spoken in our day so far as mere sounds may be concerned.

But, notwithstanding the probabilities of the case, we have no solid reason for accepting any of these alleged voyages as facts. Much labor has been given to the subject, yet the early history of the American Continent is still veiled in mystery, and it is not until near the close of the tenth century of the present era that we can point to a genuine trans-Atlantic voyage.

THE NORTHMEN

The first voyage to America, of which we have any account, was performed by Northmen. But who were the Northmen?

The Northmen were the descendants of a race that in early times migrated from Asia and travelled toward the north, settling down in what is now the kingdom of Denmark. From thence they overran Norway and Sweden, and afterward colonized Iceland and Greenland. Their language was the old Danish ( Donsk tunga ) once spoken all over the north, (21) but which is now preserved in Iceland alone, being called the Icelandic or old Northern, (22) upon which is founded the modern Swedish, Danish and Norse or Norwegian.

After the Northmen had pushed on from Denmark to Norway, the condition of public affairs gradually became such that a large portion of the better classes found their life intolerable. In the reign of Harold Harfagr (the Fair-haired), an attempt was made by the king to deprive the petty jarls of their ancient udol or feudal rights, and to usurp all authority for the crown. To this the proud jarls would not submit; and, feeling themselves degraded in the eyes of their retainers, they resolved to leave those lands and homes which they could now hardly call their own. Wither, then, should they go?

THE COLONIZATION OF ICELAND

In the cold North sea, a little below the Arctic circle, lay a great island. As early as the year 860, it had been made known to the Northmen by a Dane of Swedish descent named Gardar, who called it Gardar's Island, and four years later by the pirate Nadodd, who sailed thither in 864 and called it Snowland. Presenting in the main the form of an irregular ellipse, this island occupies an area of about one hundred and thirty-seven thousand square miles, affording the dull diversity of valleys without verdure and mountains without trees. (23) Desolation has there fixed its abode. It broods among the dells, and looks down upon the gloomy fiords. The country is threaded with streams and dotted with tarns, yet the geologist finds but little evidence in the structure of the earth to point to the action of water. On the other hand, every rock and hillside is covered with signs that prove their igneous origin, and indicate that the entire island, at some distant period, has already seethed and bubbled in the fervent heat, in anticipation of the long promised Palingenesia. Even now the ground trembles in the throes of the earthquake, the Geyser spouts scalding water, and the plain belches mud; while the great jokull, clad in white robes of eternal snow-true priest of Ormuzd-brandishes aloft its volcanic torch, and threatens to be the incendiary of the sky.

The greater portion of the land forms the homestead of the reindeer and the fox, who share their domain with the occasional white bear that may float over from Greenland on some berg. Only two quadrupeds, the fox and the moose, are indigenous. Life is here purchased with a struggle. Indeed the neighboring ocean is more hospitable than the dry land. Of the thirty four species of mammalia, twenty-four find their food in the roaring main. The same is true of the feathered tribes, fifty-four out of ninety being water-fowl. Here and there may be seen patches of meadow and a few sheep pastures and tracts of arable land warmed into fruitfulness by the brief summer's sun; yet, on the whole, so poor is the soil that man, like the lower orders, must eke out a scanty subsistence by resorting to the sea.

It was toward this land, which the settlers called Iceland, that the proud Norwegian jarl turned his eyes, and there he resolved to found a home. The first settler was Ingolf. He approached the coast in the year 875, threw overboard his sea-posts, (24) and waited to see them touch the land. But in this he was disappointed, and those sacred columns, carved with the images of the gods, drifted away from sight. He nevertheless landed on a pleasant promontory at the south-eastern extremity of the island, and built his habitation on the spot which is called Ingolfshofdi to this day. Three years after, his servants found the sea-posts in the south-western part of the island, and hither, in obedience to what was held to be the expressed wish of the gods, (25) he removed his household, laying the foundation of Reikiavik, the capital of this ice-bound isle. He was rapidly followed by others, and in a short time no inconsiderable population was gathered here.

But the first Scandinavian settlers did not find this barren country entirely destitute of human beings. Ari Frode, (26) than whom there is no higher authority, says: "Then were here Christian people whom the Northmen called papas, but they afterward went away, because they would not be here among heathens; and left behind them Irish books, and bells, and croziers, from which it could be seen that they were Irishmen." He repeats substantially the same thing in the Landanama Book, the authority of which, no one acquainted with the subject, will question, adding that books and other relics were found in the island of Papey and Papyle, and that the circumstance is also mentioned in English books. The English writings referred to are those of the venerable Bede. (27) This is also stated in an edition of King Olaf Tryggvesson's Saga, made near the end of the fourteenth century.

The monks or Culdees, who had come hither from Ireland and the Isles of Iona, to be alone with God, took their departure on the arrival of the heathen followers of Odin and Thor, and the Northmen were thus left in undisputed possession of the soil. In about twenty years the island became quite thickly settled, though the tide of immigration continued to flow in strongly for fifty years, so that at the beginning of the tenth century Iceland possessed a population variously estimated from sixty to seventy thousand souls. But few undertook the voyage who were not able to buy their own vessels, in which they carried over their own cattle, thralls, and household goods. So great was the number of people who left Norway, that King Harold tried to prevent emigration by royal authority, though, as might have been predicted, his efforts were altogether in vain. Here, in Iceland, therefore, was formed a large community, taking the shape of an aristocratic republic, which framed its own laws, and for a long time maintained a genuine independence, in opposition to all the assumptions and threats of the Norwegian king.

THE SETTLEMENT OF GREENLAND

But as time passed on, the people of Iceland felt a new impulse for colonization in strange lands, and the tide of emigration began to tend toward Greenland in the west. This was chiefly inaugurated by a man named Eric the Red, born in Norway in the year 935. On account of manslaughter, he was obliged to flee from Jardar and take up his abode in Iceland. The date of removal to Iceland is not given, though it is said that at that time the island was very generally inhabited. Here, however, he could not live in peace, and early in the year 982, he was again outlawed for manslaughter by the Thing, and condemned to banishment. He accordingly fitted out a ship, and announced his determination to go in search of the land lying in the ocean at the west, which it was said, Gunnbiorn, (28) Ulf Krage's son, saw when, in the year 876, he was driven out to sea by a storm. Eric sailed westward and found land, where he remained and explored the country for three years. At the end of this period he returned to Iceland, giving the newly discovered land the name of Greenland, (29) in order, as he said, to attract settlers, who would be favorably impressed by so pleasing a name, which, however, did not originate with him.

The summer after his return to Iceland, he sailed once more for Greenland, taking with him a fleet of thirty-five ships, only fourteen of which reached their destination, the rest being either driven back or lost. This event took place, as the Saga says, fifteen winters (30) before the introduction of Christianity into Iceland, which we know was accomplished in the year A.D. 1000. The date of Eric's second voyage must, therefore, be set down as 985. (31)

But, before proceeding to the next step in Icelandic adventure, it will be necessary to give a brief sketch of the progress of the Greenland colony, together with a relation of the circumstances which led to its final extinction.

THE PROGRESS OF THE GREENLAND COLONIES

There is but little continuity in the history of the Icelandic occupation of Greenland. We have already seen that the second voyage of Eric the Red took place in the year 985. Colonists appear to have followed him in considerable numbers, and the best portions of the land were soon appropriated by the principal men, who gave the chief bays and capes names that indicated the occupants, following the example of Eric, who dwelt in Brattahlid, in Ericsfjord.

In the year 999, Leif, son of Eric, sailed out of Greenland to Norway, and passed the winter at the court of King Olaf Tryggvesson, where he accepted the Christian faith, which was then being zealously propagated by the king. He was accordingly baptized, and, when the spring returned, the king requested him to undertake the introduction of Christianity in Greenland, urging the consideration that no man was better qualified for the task. Accordingly he set sail from Norway, with a priest and several members of a religious order, arriving at Brattahlid, in Greenland, without any accident (32) His pagan father was incensed by the bringing in of the Christian priest, which act he regarded as pregnant with evil; yet after some persuasion on the part of Leif, he renounced heathenism and nominally accepted Christianity, being baptized by the priest. His wife Thorhild made less opposition, and appears to have received the new faith with much willingness. One of her first acts was to build a church, which was known far and wide as Thorhild's church. These examples appear to have been adopted in both Iceland and Greenland at about the same period, (33) though its acceptance did not immediately produce any very radical change in the spiritual life of the people. In course of time a number of churches were built, the ruins of which remain down to our day. (34)

In the year 1003, the Greenlanders became tributary to Norway. The principle settlement was formed on the western coast. What was known as the eastern district did not extend farther than the southern extremity toward Cape Farewell. For a long time it was supposed that the east district was located on the eastern coast of Greenland; but the researches of Captian Graah, whose expedition went out under the auspices of the Danish government, proved very conclusively that no settlement ever existed on the eastern shore, which for centuries has remained blocked up by vast accumulations of ice that floated down from the Artic seas. In early times, as we are informed by the Sagas, the eastern coast was more accessible, yet the western shores were so superior in their attractions that the colonist fixed his habitation there. The site of the eastern settlement is that included in the modern district of Julian's Hope, now occupied by a Danish colony. The western settlement is represented by the habitation of Frederikshab, Godthaab, Sukkertoppen and Holsteinborg.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH

In process of time the Christians in Greenland multiplied to such an extent, both by conversions and by the immigration from Iceland, that it was found necessary, in the beginning of the twelfth century, to take some measures for the better government of the church, especially as they could not hope much for regular visits from the bishops of Iceland. They, therefore, resolved to make an effort to secure a bishop of their own. Eric Gnupson, of Iceland, was selected for the office, and proceeded to Greenland about the year 1112, without being regularly consecrated. He returned to Iceland in 1120, and afterward went to Denmark, where he was consecrated in Lund, by Archbishop Adzer. Yet he probably never returned to his duties in Greenland, but soon after resigned that bishopric and accepted another, (35) thus leaving Greenland without a spiritual director.

In the year 1123, Sokke, one of the principal men of Greenland, assembled the people and represented to them that both the welfare of the Christian faith and their own honor demanded that they should follow the example of other nations and maintain a bishop. To this view they gave their unanimous approval; and Einar, son of Sokke, was appointed a delegate to the court of King Sigurd, of Norway. He carried a present of ivory and fur, and a petition for the appointment of a bishop. His mission was successful, and in the year 1126 Arnald, the successor of Eric, (36) came into Greenland, and set up the Episcopal seat at Gardar. (37) Torfaeus and Baron Holberg (38) give a list of seventeen bishops who ruled in Greenland, ending with Andrew. The latter was consecrated and went thither in 1408, being never heard of afterward.

The history of Old Greenland is found in the Ecclesiastical Annals, and consists of a mere skeleton of facts. As in Iceland and Norway there was no end of broils and bloodshed. A very considerable trade was evidently carried on between that country and Norway, which is the case at the present time with Denmark. As the land afforded no materials for ships, they depended in a great measure upon others for communication with the mother countries, which finally proved disastrous.

MONUMENTS AND RUINS IN GREENLAND

The villages and farms of the Northmen in Greenland were numerous. They probably numbered several hundred, the ruins now left being both abundant and extensive. Near Igaliko, supposed to be the same as the ancient Einarsfiord, are the ruins of a church, probably the Cathedral of Gardar. It is called the Kakortok Church. It was of simple but massive architecture, and the material was taken from the neighboring cliffs. The stone is rough hewn, and but few signs of mortar are visible. It is fifty-one feet long and twenty-five wide. The north and south walls are over four feet thick, while the end walls are still more massive.

Nor are other monuments wanting. At Igaliko, nine miles from Julian's Hope, a Greenlander being one day employed in obtaining stones to repair his house, found among a pile of fragments a smooth stone that bore, what seemed to him, written characters. He mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Mathieson, the colonial director at Julian's Hope, who inferred that it must be a runic stone. The man was so fortunate to find it afterward, and Mr. Mathieson accordingly sent it to Copenhagen, where it arrived in the year 1830. The runes which were perfectly distinct, showed that it was a tombstone. The inscription was translated as follows:

"Vigdis Mars Daughter Rests Here.

May God Gladden Her Soul."

Another, found in 1831, by the Rev. Mr. De Fries, principal of the Moravian Mission, bore the following inscription in the runic letter:

"Here Rests Hroar Kolgrimsson."

This stone, now in the museum at Copenhagen, was found built into the wall over the entrance of a Greenland house, having been taken for that purpose from a heap of ruins, about two miles north of Friederichsthal. The stone is more than three feet long, being eighteen inches wide in the narrowest part, and about five inches thick. It bears every sign of a high antiquity.

One of the most interesting remains proving the Icelandic occupation of Greenland, is the runic stone found by Parry, in 1824, in the island of Kingiktorsoak, lying in 72 degrees 55' N. and 56 degrees 51' W. It contained a somewhat lengthy inscription. Copies of it were sent to three of the first scholars of the age, Finn Magnusson, Professor Rask, and Dr. Bryniulfson, who, without consulting one another, at once arrived at the same conclusion, and united in giving the following translation:

"Erling Sighvatson and Biorn Thordarson and

Eindrid Oddson, on Saturday Before

Ascension Week, Raised These

Marks and Cleared

Ground. 1135. (39)

The Icelandic colonists in Greenland do not appear to have been confined to a small portion of territory. We find considerable relating to this subject in the chronicle attributed to Ivar Bardsen, (40) the steward of one of the bishops of Greenland; yet, though used extensively by Torfaeus in his " Greenlandia " (41) modern researches in the country prove that it is in some minor respects faulty. In this chronicle, as in the Sagas, the colonists are spoken of as possessing horses, sheep and oxen; and their churches and religious houses appear to have been well supported.

EXPLORATION OF GREENLAND

Much was done, it appears, in the way of exploring the extreme northern portions of the country known as Nordrsetur. In the year 1266, a voyage was made under the auspices of some of the priests, and the adventurers penetrated north of Lancaster Sound, reaching about the same latitude that was attained by Parry in 1827. This expedition was of sufficient importance to justify some notice of it here. The account is found in Antiquitates Americanae (p. 269), and it sets out with the statement, that the narrative of the expedition was sent by Haldor, a priest, to Arnald, the Chaplain of King Magnus of Norway. They sailed out of Kroksfiardarheidi in an open boat, and met with southerly winds and thick weather, which forced them to let the boat drive before the wind. When the weather cleared, they saw a number of islands, together with whales and seals and bears. They made their way into the most distant portion of the sea, and observed glaciers south of them as far as the eye could reach. They also saw indications of the natives, who were called Skraellings, but they did not land, on account of the number of bears. They, therefore, put about, and laid their course southward for nearly three days, finding more islands, with traces of the natives. They saw a mountain which they called Snaefell, and on St. James' day, July 25, they had a severe weather, being obliged to row much and very hard. It froze during the night in that region, but the sun was above the horizon both day and night. When the sun was on the southern meridian, and a man lay down crosswise in a six-oared boat, the shadow of the gunwale toward the sun would reach as far as his feet, which, of course, indicates that the sun was very low. Afterward they all returned in safety to Gardar. (42) Rafn fixes the position of the point attained by the expedition in the parallel of 75 degrees 46'. Such an achievement at that day indicates a degree of boldness quite surprising.

THE DECLINE OF GREENLAND

Of the reality and importance of the Greenland colony there exists no doubt, notwithstanding, the records are so meagre and fragmentary. (43) It maintained its connection with the mother countries for a period of not less than four hundred years; yet it finally disappeared and was almost forgotten.

Many causes led to the suspension of communication, though it is difficult to account for the extinction of the colony, if it actually became extinct. It does not appear ever to have been in much danger from the Skraellings, though, on one occasion, in 1349 or later, the natives attacked the western settlement, it is said, and killed eighteen Greenlanders of Icelandic lineage, carrying away two boys captives. (44)

We hear from the eastern colony as late as the middle of the fifteenth century. Trade was carried on with Denmark until nearly the end of the fourteenth century, although the voyages were not regular. The last bishop, Andreas, was sent out in 1406, and Professor Finn Magnussen has established the fact that he officiated in the cathedral at Gardar in 1409. (45)

From this time the trade between Norway and Greenland appears to have been given up, though Wormius told Peyrere of his having read in a Danish manuscript, that down to the year 1484, there was a company of more than forty sailors at Bergen, in Norway, who still traded with Greenland. (46) But as the revenue at that time belonged to Queen Margaret of Denmark, no one could go to Greenland without the royal permission. One company of sailors who were driven upon the Greenland coast, came near suffering the penalty of the law on their return. Crantz (47) says, that "about the year 1530, Bishop Amund of Skalholt in Iceland is said to have been driven by a storm, on his return from Norway, so near the coast of Greenland by Heriulfness, that he could see the people driving in their cattle. But he did not land, because just then a good wind arose, which carried the ship the same night to Iceland. The Icelander, Biaernvon Skardfa, who relates this, also says further, that a Hamburgh mariner, Jon Greenlander by name, was driven three times on the Greenland island, where he saw such fisher's huts for drying fish as they have in Iceland, but saw no men; further, that pieces of shattered boats, nay, in the year 1625, an entire boat, fastened together with sinews and wooden pegs, and pitched with seal blubber, have been driven ashore at Iceland from time to time; and since then they found once an oar with a sentence written in Runic letters: ' Oft var ek dasa, dur elk drothik,' that is, 'Oft was I tired when I drew thee.'" (48)

LOST GREENLAND FOUND

But, whatever may be the value of the preceding statements of Skardfa, it is clear that Greenland was never wholly forgotten. The first person who proposed to reopen communication was Eric Walkendorf, Archbishop of Drontheim, who familiarized himself with the subject, and made every preparation necessary in order to re-establish the colony; but, having fallen under the displeasure of King Christian II, he left the country and went to Rome, where he died in the year 1521. Thus his plans came to nothing. (49) Christian III abrogated the decree of Queen Margaret, prohibiting trade with Greenland without the royal permission, and encouraged voyages by fitting out a vessel to search for Greenland, which, however, was not found. In 1578, Frederic II sent out Magnus Henningsen. He came into sight of the land, but does not appear to have had the courage to proceed further. Crantz, in his work on Greenland, gives an account of a number of voyages undertaken to the coast, but says that "at last Greenland was so buried in oblivion that one hardly would believe that such a land as Greenland was inhabited by Christian Norwegians." (50)

It remained, therefore, for Hans Egede, (51) in 1721, to re-open communication. Columbus himself did not endure much greater mortification than did this good man for the space of eleven years, during which period he labored to persuade the Danish and Norwegian authorities to undertake the re-discovery. But his faith and zeal finally overcame all hostility and ridicule. On the 2nd day of May, 1721, he went on board the Hope, with his wife and four young children, and landed at Ball's river in Greenland on the third of the following month. Here he spent the best portion of his life in teaching the natives Christianity, which had been first introduced seven centuries before, and in making those explorations the results of which filled the mind of Europe with surprise, and afforded a confirmation of the truthfulness of the Icelandic Sagas.

THE CHARACTER AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NORTHMEN

Let us now return to the consideration of the Icelandic voyages to the American Continent, though not without first seeking a better acquaintance with the men by whome they were performed.

We have already seen that the Northmen were a people of no inferior attainments. Indeed, they constituted the most enterprising portion of the race, and, on general principles, we should, therefore, view them as fitted, even above all the men of their time, for the important work of exploration beyond the seas. They had made themselves known in every part of the civilized world (52) by their daring as soldiers and navigators. Straying away into the distant east whence they originally came, we see them laying the foundation of the Russian empire, swinging thier battle-axes in the streets of Constantinople, carving their mystic runes upon the Lions of the Areopagus, and filling the heart of even the great Charlemagne with dismay. Says Dasent, when summing up their achievements: "In Byzantium they are the leaders of the Greek emperor's body guard, and the main support of his tottering throne. From France, led by Rollo, they tear away her fairest province and found a long line of kings. In Saxon England they are the bosom friends of such kings as Athelstane, and the sworn foes of Ethelred the Unready. In Danish England they are the foremost among the thanes of Canute, Swein and Hardicanute, and keep down the native population with an iron heel. In Norman England," he continues, "the most serious opposition the conqueror meets with is from the colonists of his own race settled in Northumbria. He wastes their lands with fire and sword, and drives them across the border, where we still find their energy, their perseverance, and their speech existing in the lowland Scotch. In Norway they dive into the river with King Olaf Tryggvesson, the best and strongest champion of his age, and hold him down beneath the waves so long that the bystanders wonder whether either king or Icelander will ever reappear on the surface. (53) Some follow Saint Olaf in his crusades against the old [pagan] faith. (54) Some are his obstinate foes and assist at his martyrdom. Many follow Harold the Stern to England, and almost to a man they get their portion of the same soil, while their names grow bright in song and story." Finally, "From Iceland as a base, they push on to Greenland and colonize it: nay, they discover America in those half-decked barks." (55)

THE SHIPS OF THE NORTHMEN

The Northmen were excellent navigators. They were, moreover, it has been claimed, the first to learn the art of sailing on the wind. They had good sea-going vessels, some of which were of large size. We have an account in the Saga of Olaf Tryggvesson of one that in some respects was remarkable. It is said that "the winter after King Olaf Tryggvesson came from Halegoland, he had a great ship built at Ledehammer, (56) which was larger than any ship in the country, and of which the beam-knees are still to be seen. The length of the keel that rested upon the grass was seventy-four ells. Thorberg Skafting was the man's name who was the master builder of the ship, but there were many others besides; some to fell the wood, some to shape it, some to make nails, some to carry timber, and all that was used was the best. The ship was both long and broad and high sided, and strongly timbered.......The ship was a dragon, built after the one that the king had captured in Halegoland, but it was far longer and more carefully put together in all her parts. The Long Serpent [her name] had thirty-four benches for rowers. The head and arched tail were both gilt, and the bulwarks were as high as in sea-going ships. This ship was the best and most costly ever built in Norway." (57)

Laing computes the tonnage of this ship at about nine hundred and forty-two tons, thus giving a length of about one hundred feet, which is nearly the size of a forty-two gun ship. By steam tonnage it would give one a capacity of a little less than three hundred tons, and one hundred and twenty horse power. We apprehend, however, that the estimate is sufficiently large; yet we are not concerned to show any great capacity for the Icelandic ships. All the vessels employed in the early times on the American coasts were small. The Anna Pink, a craft that accompanied Lord Anson in his expedition around the world, measured only sixteen tons. (58) The vessels of the Northmen were every way adapted for ocean voyages.

In nautical knowledge, also, they were not behind the age. The importance of cultivating the study of navigation was fully understood. The Raudulf of Oesterdal, in Norway, taught his son to calculate the course of the sun and moon, and how to measure time by the stars. In 1520 Olaus Magnus complained that the knowledge of the people in this respect had been diminished. In that noble work called Speculum regale , the Icelander is taught to make an especial study of commerce and navigation, of the divisions of time and the movements of the heavenly bodies, together with arithmetic, the rigging of vessels and morals (59). Without a high degree of knowledge they could never have achieved their many voyages.

THE SAGAS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

We find that the Northmen were well acquainted with other parts of the world, and that they possessed all the means of reaching the Continent in the west. We come, therefore, to the question: Did the Northmen actually discover and explore the coast of the country now known as America?

No one can say that the idea wears any appearance of improbability ; for there is certainly nothing wonderful in the exploit. After conceding the fact that colonies of the Northmen existed in Greenland for at least three hundred years, we must prepare ourselves for something of this kind. Indeed it is well nigh, if not altogether unreasonable, to suppose that a sea faring people like the Northmen could live for three centuries within a short voyage of this Continent, and never become aware of its existence. A supposition like this implies a rare credulity, and whoever is capable of believing it must be capable of believing almost anything.

But on this point we are not left to conjecture. The decision, in the absence of proofs like those furnished by Greenland, turns upon a question of fact. The point is this: Do the manuscripts which describe these voyages belong to the pre-Columbian age? If so, then the Northmen are entitled to the credit of the prior discovery of America. That these manuscrips belong to the pre-Columbian age is as capable of demonstration as the fact that the writings of Homer existed prior to the age of Christ. Before intelligent persons deny either of these points they must first succeed in blotting out numberless pages of well-known history. The manuscript in which we have versions of all the Sagas relating to America is found in the celebrated Codex Flatoiensis , a work that was finished in the year 1387, or 1395 at the latest. This collection, made with great care and executed in the highest style of art, is now preserved in its integrity (60) in the archives of Copenhagen. These manuscripts were for a time supposed to be lost, but were ultimately found safely lodged in their repository in the monastery library of the island of Flato, from whence they were transferred to Copenhagen with a large quantity of other literary material collected from various localities. If these Sagas which refer to America were interpolations, it would have early become apparent, as abundant means exist for detecting frauds; yet those who have examined the whole question do not find any evidence that invalidates their historical statements. In the absence, therefore, of respectable testimony to the contrary, we accept it as a fact that the Sagas relating to America are the productions of the men who gave them in their present form nearly, if not quite, an entire century before the age of Columbus.

It might also be argued, if it were at all necessary, that, if these Sagas were post-Columbian compositions drawn up by Icelanders who were jealous of the fame of the Genoese navigator, we should certainly be able to point out something either in their structure, bearing, or style by which it would be indicated. Yet such is not the case. These writings reveal no anxiety to show the connection of the Northmen with the great land lying at the west. The authors do not see any thing remarkable or meritorious in the explorations, which were conducted simply for the purpose of gain. Those marks which would certainly have been impressed by a more modern writer forging a historical composition designed to show an occupation of the country before the time of Columbus, are wholly wanting. There is no special pleading or rivalry, and no desire to show prior and superior knowledge of the country to which the navigators had from time to time sailed. We only discover a straightforward, honest endeavor to tell the story of certain men's lives. This is done in a simple, artless way, and with every indication of a desire to mete out even-handed justice to all. Candid readers who come to the subject with minds free from prejudice will be powerfully impressed with the belief that they are reading authentic histories written by honest men. (61)

THE LITERATURE OF ICELAND

Before speaking particularly of the substance of the Sagas it will be necessary to trace briefly the origin and history of Icelandic literature in general.

We have already mentioned the fact that Iceland was mainly settled by Norwegians of superior qualities. This superiority was always maintained, though it was somewhat slow in manifesting itself in the form of literature. Prior to the year 1000, the Runic alphabet had existed in Iceland, but it was generally used for the simplest purposes . (62) History and literature derived no advantage, as the runes were used chiefly for monumental inscriptions, and for mottoes and charms on such things as drinking cups, sacrificial vessels and swords. Yet the people were not without a kind of intellectual stimulus. It had long been the custom to preserve family and general histories, and recite them from memory as occasion seemed to warrant. This was done with a wonderful degree of accuracy and fidelity, by men more or less trained for the purpose, and whose performances at times were altogether surprising. They also had their scalds or poets, who were accustomed both to repeat the old songs and poems and extemporize new ones. Every good fighter was expected to prove himself a poet when the emergency required it. The poet was strongly encouraged. When Eyvind Skialdespilder sang his great song in praise of Iceland every peasant in the island, it is said, contributed three pieces of silver to buy a clasp for his mantel of fifty marks weight. These scalds were sometimes employed by the politicians, and on one occasion a satire so nettled Harold, king of Denmark, that he sent a fleet to ravage Iceland, and made the repetition an offense punishable with death. The Icelandic poets also went to England, to the Orkneys and to Norway, where, at the king's court, they were held in the highest estimation, furnishing poetical effusions on every public or private occasion which demanded the exercise of their gifts. The degree to which they had cultivated their memories was surprising. Old Blind Skald Stuf could repeat between two and three hundred poems. The Saga-men had the same power of memory. This we know may be improved to almost any extent by cultivation. But with the advent of Christianity came the Roman alphabet, which proved an easy method of expressing thought. Christianity, however, did not stop here. Its services was a reasonable service, and demanded of its votaries a high intelligence. The priest of Odin need do no more than to recite a short vow, or mutter a brief prayer. He had no divine records to read and to explain. But the minister of the new religion came with a system that demanded broader learning and culture than that implied in extemporaneous songs. His calling required the aid of books, and the very sight of such things proved a mental stimulus to this hard-brained race. Besides, Christianity opened to the minds of the people new fields of thought. These rude sons of war soon began to understand that there were certain victories, not to be despised, that might be gained through peace, and erelong letters came to be somewhat familiar to the public mind. The earliest written efforts very naturally related to the lives of the Saints, which on Sundays and holy days were read in public for the edification of the people. During the eleventh century these exercises shared the public attention with those of the professional Saga-man, who still labored to hand down the oral versions of the national history and traditions. In the beginning of the twelfth century the use of letters was extended, and at last the Saga-man found his occupation gone, the national history now being diligently gathered up by zealous students and scribes and committed to the more lasting custody of the written page. Among the writers was Ari Frode, who began the compilation of the Icelandic Dooms-day Book, which contained a record of the early settlers. Scarcely less useful was Saemund the Wise, who collected the poetical literature of the North and arranged it in a goodly tome. The example of these great men was followed, and by the end of the twelfth century all the Sagas relating to the pagan period of the country had been reduced to writing. This was an era of great literary activity, and the century following showed the same zeal. Finally Iceland possessed a body of prose literature superior in quantity and value to that of any other modern nation of its time. (63) Indeed, the natives of Europe at this period had no prose or other species of literature hardly worthy of the name; and, taken altogether, the Sagas formed the first prose literature in any modern language spoken by the people. (64) Says Sir Edmund Head, "No doubt there were translations in Anglo-Saxon from the Latin, by Alfred, or an earlier date, but there was in truth no vernacular literature. I cannot name," he says, "any work in high or low German prose which can be carried back to this period. In France, prose writing cannot be said to have begun before the time of Villehardouin (1204), and Joinville (1202). Castilian prose certainly did not commence before the time of Alfonso X (1252). Don Juan Manvel, the author of the Conde Lucanor, was not born till 1282. The Cronica General de Espana was not composed till at least the middle of the thirteenth century. About the same time the language of Italy was acquiring that softness and strength which was destined to appear so conspicuously in the prose of Boccaccio, and the writers of the next century. (65)

Thus, while other nations were without a literature, the intellect of Iceland was in active exercise, and works were produced like the Eddas and the Heimskringla, works inspired by a lofty genius and which will rank with the writings of Homer and Herodotus while time endures.

In the beginning of the sixteenth century, however, the literature of Iceland reached the period of its greatest excellence, and began to decline. Books continued to be written, but works of positive genius were wanting. Yet in Iceland there has never been an absence of literary industry, while during the recent period the national reputation has been sustained by Finn Magnussen and similar great names. One hundred years before the Plymouth colonists, following in the track of Thorwald Ericson, landed on the sands of Cape Cod, the people of Iceland had set up the printing press, and produced numerous works in the native language and the Latin tongue.

It is to this people, whom Saxo Grammaticus points out as a people distinguished for their devotion to letters, that we are indeted for the narratives of the pre-Columbian voyages to America. Though first arranged for oral recitation, the Sagas, as we have seen, were afterward committed to manuscript, the earliest of which do not now exist, while the latest were those preserved in the celebrated Flato collection nearly a century before the re-discovery of America by Columbus.

It is no longer necessary to spend much time in this connection, since the character and value of the Icelandic writings have come to be generally acknowledged, and especially since scholars and antiquaries like Humboldt and Max Muller have fully acknowledged their authenticity and authority.

COLUMBUS AND THE NORTH

It is proper to notice here the fact not a few have imagined that the claims of the Northmen have been brought forward to detract from the fame of Columbus; yet, nothing could be farther from the truth, since no one denies that it was by the discovery of America by Columbus that the Continent became of great value to the Old World, though we must always remember that North America is chiefly indebted to the Cabots, who led the way for English supremacy.

EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES TO ICELAND

But nothing should deter us from inquiring into the relation held by Columbus to the pilots and geographers of the North, (66) especially since so many fancy that the northern regions were little visited at the period of his activity. Still we find that in the fourteenth century the fisheries were commonly pursued around Iceland, whose people were in regular communciation with Greenland. The English also must have known of Greenland at the time, though, in common with the people of Iceland and Norway, they did not appreciate the importance of this knowledge. In the fourteenth century, proof is found both in the Icelandic and English annals, of the connection between the two countries. The Icelandic contains indications of the arrival of English ships, but it is clear that their coming was so well known as to gain only a casual allusion, the interest standing connected with the news brought. The entries were made at the time, and are now set down in chronological order in accordance with the language of the original. Let us, therefore, notice these entries.

In 1348, news reached Iceland that in England the mortality was so great that 200,000 persons had died. (67) The next year the death of English sailors at Bergen, in Norway, opposite Iceland, was reported, and recorded in the Sagas. (68) This is all that we find at present in connection with the fourteenth century in Iceland; but the reference of the Saga to the great mortality in England is confirmed by Stow's "Annales," which state that the plague reached England in 1348, touching the seaports first. Thence, no doubt, the news was at once carried by fishermen to Iceland. (69) If the voyages of the English to Iceland had possessed greater interest, there would have been some more definite notice in the Sagas. We are free, however, to admire that, early in this century, the merchant trade may have been small, as in 1328 Edward III does not mention Iceland in his " Pro Mercatoribus Extraneis." Nor does he mention Denmark or Norway, but these are included in the general language, " Omnium aliarum Terrarum et locorum extranorunt." (70) Nevertheless, the mandate of Edward III, dated March 18, 1354, recognizes the fact that the king maintained a fleet for service in the "parts Boreal," John de Haddon being the Admiral. (71) It was probably designed to protect the fishermen and merchants from pirates around the north of Britain.

In the Icelandic annals of the fifteenth century, the first clear entry is that of 1407, when news was received of the death of the Archbishop of York. (72) In 1412, it was recorded that five English sailors had separated from their ship and wintered in the island. (73) In 1413, "thirty more fishing vessels came from England." Some of them were blown to the northern part of Iceland, and possibly to the Greenland coast. (74)

In 1415, six English ships sailed to Iceland, and made their port in the Westmann Islands (75) In 1416, six ships anchored in Hafnafiord, in the south-west of Iceland. (76) In 1419, many English ships were wrecked on the coast of Iceland, and a large number of lives were lost . (77) The "Annals," in the present compilation, end with the year 1430, and these six entries are all that we find. If carefully considered, however, it will appear that these mentions really form memorabilia. This will be seen by turning to the English annals for the corresponding period. The first reference to Iceland in the Faedera is that of 1415, when Henry V, for the satisfaction of the King of Denmark, ordered that during the year none of his subjects should presume to visit any of "the coasts of the islands belonging to Denmark and Norway, and especially to the island of Iceland," for the purpose of fishing or trading, "otherwise than according to the ancient custom" ( aliter quam antiquitus fieri consuevit.") (78) This notice was served upon the authorities of the various seaports of England. Here, then, we learn, in connection with 1415, that in the ancient times voyages to Iceland had become frequent. It is clear from the complaint of the Danish king that the old rules respecting traffic had been broken habitually, and that they were now to be observed, at least for one year. Of the exact nature of the ancient law we cannot speak, but it would appear as though the prohibition related to the shore fisheries, which they were not to intrude upon, and hence, when the English went to Iceland, in 1415, they harbored off the coast of the Westmann Islands. The arrival of the ships, under the circumstances, formed a noticeable event, and for this reason it was recorded. The Icelandic Annals add, immediately after mentioning their arrival, that "the ships brought letters from the King of England to the people and chief men of Iceland."

There is, then, a complete agreement between the English and the Icelandic Annals, both showing that an English fleet visited Iceland in 1415-a circumstance which should go very far to establish the general value and credibility of those records of a distant age. (79)

In 1416, the English were again in Iceland, but the Faedera does not mention voyages until 1436, when Henry VI issued a license to John, the Icelandic Bishop of Holem, then in London, authorizing him to engage John May, with his ship "Catherine," for a voyage to Iceland, where May, evidently an old voyager, was to act as his attorney, and transact certain business for him, the Bishop himself not wishing to undertake the voyage. (80) In 1436, Richard Weston, of London, a "stockfishmonger," was well known by the Icelanders (81) In 1440, Henry VI sent two ships to Iceland, with supplies. It was feared that without this aid from England, the sacraments even would be omitted, there being neither wine nor salt in the country, and only milk and water ( lac et aquam ). (82)

In connection with the year 1445, another voyage is indicated by the Admiralty "Black Book," action having been taken against William Byggeman, and two men of Lynn, who visited Iceland in a "dogger," called the "Trinity." They kidnapped a boy whom they brought to Swetesham and held in servitude, contrary to law. (83)

In 1450, a treaty was made between the Kings of Denmark and England, which prohibited trading in Iceland; but a special provision of Parliament exempted Thomas Canynges, Mayor of Bristol, from the prohibition, in consideration of his great services to Iceland. He was accordingly allowed to send two ships thither to load with fish or other commodities. His trade with Iceland was a matter of general knowledge, and thrown additional light upon a certain remark by Columbus.

It should be remembered also, that the Zeno Brothers made their voyage to Greenland, and a part of the American coast called Estotiland, and Drogeo, in 1400; but it is not desirable to dwell upon such a familiar theme here. It suffices to say: The Zeno Map, published with the narrative in 1558, shows that the Zeno family had a knowledge of Greenland that could have been obtained only during the pre-Columbian times. (84)

In this connection the investigator must not overlook the voyage of Skolnus the Pole, which took place in 1476. Hakluyt says that this voyage is mentioned by Gemma Frisius and Girava. (85) It is certainly referred to on an ancient globe of about 1540, preserved in Paris, and known as "The Rouen Globe," whereon, near the north-west coast of Greenland, is a legend declaring that Skolnus reached that point in 1476. This globe seems to antedate Gomara (1553), the earliest author that the writer has been able to consult.

Next, attention should be directed to the voyage of Columbus, of which the Genoese himself gives the following account:

"In the month of February, 1477, I sailed a hundred leagues beyond the island of Thyle, the southern part of which is distant from the equinoctial 73 degrees, and not 63 as some wish it to be; nor does it lie upon the line where Ptolemy's west begins, but much more toward the west. And to this island, which is as large as England, the English come for traffic, and especially those of Bristol. And at the time I was there the sea was not frozen, but in some places the tide rose 26 fathoms (feet), and fell the same." (86) Whoever wrote the life of the Admiral, there is no question but that he made the voyage. Finn Magnussen has pointed out an interesting confirmation of the statement of Columbus respecting the mild weather in 1477, where he shows from the "Annals," the remarkable fact, that, in 1477, snow had not been seen at Eyafjord, in the north of Iceland, as late as March (87).

To this period belongs the voyage of Robert Alcock, of Hull, who, in 1478, was commissioned by Edward IV to send a ship of 240 tons to Iceland, which was "to reload with fish or other goods." (88) He was licensed again in 1483.

Chaucer in the prologue to the Canterbury Tales, shows by his "shipman" something of the activity of the British sailor at this period.

An indication more to our present purpose is found in the poem on "The Policie of Keeping the Sea," which belongs to the middle of the fifteenth century. At that time the northern region was so well known that the author of the poem disposes of the subject briefly:

"Of Island to write is little nede,

Save of stockfish; yet forsooth, indeed,

Out of Bristowe, and costes many one,

Men have practiced the needle and stone

Thider twelve yere, and without perill

Gon and come, as men were wont of old

Of Scarborough unto the costes cold." (89)

Thus, at the time when the poet wrote, Bristol had revived her old enterprise. The maritime enterprise of this period is greatly underrated by Mr. Froude. The sketch now given of voyages toward the north, especially during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is quite general. It would be easy to swell the citations from various sources, among which may be mentioned the voyages to the west of Ireland so well known to Columbus, as his biography proves. Yet enough has been said to show the real character of the period. The times, both before and after the general date assigned to the voyage of Columbus, were marked by great activity, and expeditions to the north were so common that neither the English nor the Icelanders took the trouble to mention them, except when they stood connected with circumstances of particular interest. The intercourse between Iceland and England was so frequent, that sailors like John May, who served as the representative of the Bishop of Holem, must have acquired a fair knowledge of the language spoken in that distant isle. Indeed, at one time, under the Normans, the Icelandic tongue gave a person the advantage at the courts of both England and France. (90)

But enough has been said to prove that the voyage of Columbus, in 1477, formed no novelty. His actions take their place with entire naturalness in the annals of his age, there being nothing in the nature of the voyage to challenge belief.

Columbus had the most ample opportunities for learning of the voyages of the Northmen. He could not associate with the English sailors without hearing more or less about Iceland, and presumably of Greenland. He must have known that voyages were made to the west, though it is probable that he did not appreciate the importance of the information and failed to put it to use in the traditional connections. He argued, no doubt, that the land at the west visited by the Icelanders, was not the Indies, of which he was in search. (91) This led him to take the Southern route across the Atlantic. (92) In this connection, however, the author has no interest in the work of lessening the deserved fame of Columbus. That Columbus knew of the westward voyages of the Icelanders is sufficiently evident. He clearly believed, as the Northmen did, namely, that Greenland was an extension of Norway, and that Vinland lay contiguous, while what he desired was to reach the eastern coast of Asia. (93)

THE PRESENT STATE OF THE DISCUSSION

About fifty years have passed since the publication of Rafn's work on the antiquities of America, which gives the Icelandic text of the Sagas, accompanied translations in Latin and Danish. The appearance of that remarkable work excited surprise in many intelligent circles, though a general knowledge of the Icelandic voyages had long been in the possession of scholars, especially through the writings of Torfaeus. The volume was favorably reviewed by Edward Everett, and, both in America and Europe, at once commanded the attention of historians and antiquaries. (94) While some of the more enthusiastic conclusions of Prof. Rafn have been disallowed, his main proposition has steadily gained favor, it being conceded that voyages were made by the Northmen to New England in the eleventh century.

On this subject Humboldt speaks most emphatically, saying with regard to "the undoubted first discovery of America, in its northern portion by the Northmen," that, "whilst the Caliphate was under the dominion of Samanides, whose age was so favorable to poetry, America was discovered in the year 1000 by Leif, son of Eric the Red, by the northern route as far 41 degrees 30' north latitude." (95)

Turning to our own country we have the testimony of a laborious and painstaking investigator like Palfrey, who examined the whole subject, and gives us as his final conclusion respecting the Sagas, that "their antiquity and genuineness appear to be well established, nor is there any thing to bring their credibility into question beyond the general doubt which always attaches to what is new or strange." (96)

As the result, historical writers in general accept the Sagas as authority, and usually locate Leif Ericson's settlement in New England . (97)

A large proportion of the American school histories give the voyages of the Northmen to America, and there is now being raised up a generation that will be free from that old bias, which formerly gave Columbus the field, to the exclusion not only of the Northmen, but of the Cabots, who saw the American Continent before Columbus could possibly have done so. (98)

In New England the study of the Icelandic Sagas has resulted in the erection of a statue to Leif Ericson in the City of Boston. This was not accomplished without opposition, the movement having been opposed by a class of men, small in numbers, but whose general attainments and devotion to the study of historical subjects entitle any opinion they may present to respectful consideration. They represent what, in some respects, may, perhaps, be regarded as a conservative element, an element of value in connection with historical study, even as when joined to politics, theology and sociology. It often, however, misses its aim, and helps forward, rather than hinders, the progress of a new line of thought. Certain it is in the present case, that opposition has stimulated investigation and advanced the influence of the Sagas as historical documents. It is, therefore, in vain that those to whom reference is made undertake to declare, that "There is the same sort of reason for believing in the existence of Leif Ericson that there is for believing in the existence of Agamemnon; they are both traditions accepted by later writers."

It is sufficiently evident that local feeling, which often vitiates the studies of the most accomplished men, enters into this singular declaration. It serves no special purpose, beyond proving a feeling of irritation on the part of men accustomed to have every utterance received with deference, but who have discovered a certain inability to control public opinion in connection with historical monuments. The people have moved on, and left them behind. But, notwithstanding their opposition, the study of the whole subject of Pre-Columbian Discovery is indebted to their efforts, and the student of the Sagas should regard it as fortunate, that the opposition has come from so influential a source, since, in the future, when these compositions shall have gained unanimous belief, it may prove a source of satisfaction to know that the veracity of the old Icelandic chronicler was established in the face of preserving and determined organized opposition. (99) The future of the Icelandic Sagas relating to America is plain. Their simple, unaffected statements, all uncolored either by personal vanity or national ambition, will find in these statements, committed to writing, as all the testimony proves, in Pre-Columbian times, convincing and unanswerable proof of the fact that Leif Ericson and other adventurers found America and visited New England during the times and under the circumstances described. (100)

THE ICELANDIC NARRATIVES

It now remains to give the reader some general account of the contents of the narratives which relate more or less to the discovery of the Western continent. It may be well first, however, to notice an attempt at criticism made in the North American Review, (101) which assumes that the Sagas are simply reductions of old ballads, because Sturleson admits that a part of his "Heimskringla" was so produced. As it happens, however, the Vinland Sagas contain only four poetical fragments, while in the Heimskringla they abound. A few verses are also found in Landanama, in its second part, the origin of which is absolutely known. The first part was composed in the eleventh century and the second in the fourteenth, when the ballad theory becomes positively absurd. This work likewise contains two more extracts from the poem "Havgerdinger," which is also quoted in the Saga relating to the first voyage of Biarne to America, proving clearly that it was a well-known and popular song, quoted by the different writers just as Shakespere is quoted today. Sometime, too, these quotations have no real relation to the subject, having been introduced on the principle which governs the introductions of songs and hymns on oratorical occasions in our times.

Nevertheless empty theories like this one are devised, showing that the critic has no proper conception of the nature of the Icelandic literature, either in prose or verse. (102)

In speaking of these records the order followed will be that which is indicated by the table of contents at the beginning of the volume.

The first extracts given are very brief. They are taken from the Landanama Book, and relate to the report in general circulation, indicating one Gunnbiorn as the discoverer of Greenland, an event which has been fixed at the year 876. These fragments also give an account of a voyage to what was called Gunnbiorn's Rocks, where the adventurers passed the winter, and found in a hole, or excavation, a sum of money, which indicated that others had frequented the place before them.

The next narrative relates to the re-discovery of Greenland by the outlaw, Eric the Red, in 983, who there passed three years in exile, and afterwards returned to Iceland. About the year 986, he brought out to Greenland a considerable colony of settlers, who fixed their abode at Brattahlid, in Ericsfiord.

Then follow two versions of the voyage of Biarne Heriulfson, who, in the same year, 986, when sailing for Greenland, was driven away during a storm, and saw a new land at the southward, which he did not visit. He was complained of because he did not describe it carefully, so that Leif had only the most vague reports for his guidance.

Next follows three accounts of the voyage of Leif, son of Eric the Red, who, in the year 1000, sailed fro Brattahlid to find the land which Biarne saw. Two of these accounts are hardly more than notices of the voyage, but the third is of considerable length, and details the successes of Leif, who found and explored this new land, where he spent the winter, returning to Greenland the following spring. With his descriptions we find ourselves on solider ground than the voyage of Biarne.

After this follows the voyage of Thorvald Ericson, brother of Leif, who sailed to Vinland from Greenland, which was the point of departure in all these voyages. This expedition was begun in 1002, and it cost him his life, as an arrow from one of the natives pierced his side.

Thorstein, his brother, went to seek Vinland, with the intention of bringing home his body, but failed in the attempt, and was driven back, passing the winter in a part of Greenland remote from Brattahlid, where he died before the spring fully opened.

The most distinguished explorer was the great Thorfinn Karlsefne, an Icelander whose genealogy runs back in the old Northern annals, through Danish, Swedish, and even Scotch and Irish ancestors, some of whom were of royal blood. In the year 1006 he went to Greenland, where he met Gudrid, widow of Thorstein, whom he married. Accompanied by his wife, who urged him to the undertaking, he sailed for Vinland in the spring of 1007, with three vessels and one hundred and sixty men. He remained in Vinland three years. Here his son Snorre was born. This Snorre afterwards became the founder of a great family in Iceland, which gave the island several of its earlier bishops. Thorfinn finally left Vinland because he found it difficult to sustain himself against the attacks of the natives. He seems to have spent the most of the time in the vicinity of Mount Hope Bay in Rhode Island. Of this expedition we have three narratives, all of which are given.

The next to undertake a voyage was a wicked woman named Freydis, sister of Leif Ericson, who went to Vinland in 1011, where she lived for a time with her two ships' crews in the same places occupied by Leif and Thorfinn. Before she returned, she caused the crew of one ship to be cruelly murdered, assisting in the butchery with her own hands.

After this we have what are called the Minor Narratives, which are not essential, yet they are given, that the reader may be in the possession of all that relates to the subject. The first of these refers to a voyage of Are Marson to a land south-west of Ireland, called Hvitrammana-land, or Great Ireland. This was prior to Leif's voyage to Vinland, or New England, taking place in the year 983. Biorn Asbrandson is supposed to have gone to the same place in 999. The voyage of Gudleif, who went thither, is assigned to the year 1027. The narrative of Asbrandson is given for the sake of the allusion at the close.

Finally we have a few scraps of history which speak of a voyage of Bishop Eric to Vinland in 1121, of the re-discovery of Helluland (Newfoundland) in 1285, and of a voyage to Markland (Nova Scotia) in 1347, whither the Northmen came to cut timber. With such brief notices the accounts come to an end.

THE TRUTHFULNESS OF THE NARRATIVES

The reader will occasionally find in these narratives instances of a marvelous and supernatural character, but there is nothing at all mythological, as persons ignorant of narratives have supposed. Besides there are multitudes of narratives of a later date, to be found in all languages, which contain as many statements of a marvelous nature as these Sagas, which, nevertheless, contain a substantial ground-work of truth. All early histories abound in the supernatural, and these things are so well known that illustrations are hardly needed here. The relation of prodigies in nowise destroys the credibility of historical statement. If this were not so, we should be obliged to discard the greater portion of well-known history, and even suspect plain matters of fact in the writings of such men as Dr. Johnson, because that great scholar fully believed in the reality of an apparition known in London as the Cock-Lane Ghost. The Sagas are as free from superstition and imagination as most other narratives of that age, and are just as much entitled to belief.

There will also, in certain cases, be found contraditions. The statements of the different narratives do not always coincide. The disagreements are, however, neither very numerous nor remarkable. The discrepancies are exactly what we should expect to find in a series of narratives written at different tmes and by different lands. The men who recorded the various expeditions to New England in the eleventh century agree, on the whole, quite as well as the writers of our own day, who, with vastly greater advantages, undertake to narrate the events of the colonization of America in the seventeenth century. (103)

Therefore these marvelous statements and occasional contradictions in nowise detract from the historic value of the documents themselves, which, even in their very truthfulness to the times, give every evidence of authenticity and great worth. To this general appearance of truthfulness we may, however, add the force of those undesigned coincidences between writers widely separated and destitute of all means of knowing what had been already said. The same argument may be used with the Sagas which had been so powerfully employed by Paley and others in vindicating the historical character of the New Testament. (104) In thse narratives, as in those of SS. Paul and John, it may be used with overwhelming effect. Yet we should not fear to dispense with all auxiliary aids. We are willing to rest the whole question of the value of these narratives upon their age; for if the Sagas date back to a period long prior to the voyage of Columbus, then the Northmen are entitled to the credit of having been the first Europeans to land upon these shores. But the date of these narratives has now been settled beyond reasonable question. The doubts of the ablest critical minds, both in Europe and America, have been effectually laid to rest, and at the end of all the years that have passed since the first edition of this work came from the press, we are obliged to repeat that the reply now given to the Northern Antiquary is often "some feeble paragraphs pointed with a sneer."

We need not, therefore, appear before the public to cry, "Place for the Northmen!" They can win their own place, as of old. They are as strong today in ideas, as anciently in arms.

MONUMENTS AND REMAINS

That the Northmen left no pronounced architectural remains in New England may be true. Professor Rafn supposed that he found in the celebrated Dighton Rock (105) and the stone mill at Newport, evidences of the Icelandic occupation. Any serious effort to identify the Dighton inscription and the Newport Mill with the age of the Northmen can only serve to injure a good cause. If Professor Rafn could have seen these memorials himself, he would doubtless have been among the first to question the truth of the theory which he set forth.

In regard to the structure at Newport, Professor Rafn says that he is inclined to believe "that it had a sacred destination, and that it belonged to some monastery or Christian place of worship of one of the chief parishes in Vinland. In Greenland," he says, "there are to be found ruins of several round buildings in the vicinity of the churches. One of this description, in diameter about twenty-six feet, is situated at the distance of three hundred feet to the eastward of the great church in Igalliko; another of forty-four feet to the eastward of the church in Karkortok;........a third, of thirty-two feet in diameter amongst the ruins of sixteen buildings at Kanitsok." (106) He supposes that all these ancient remains of the Icelanders, which are to be seen in Greenland today, are baptisteries, similar to those of Italy.

According to this view, there must have been a considerable ecclesiastical establishment in Vinland, which is not clearly indicated by the Sagas, from which we learn no more than the simple fact that Bishop Eric sailed on a voyage to this place in the year 1121. But it is probable that the Northmen would have erected a baptistery like this, and, at the same time, left no other monument? It seems hardly reasonable. Besides, whoever examines this ancient structure must be impressed by its modern aspect, so especially apparent in the mortar, which has been analyzed and found to be substantially the same as the mortar used in some of the early structures of Newport. The displacement of a portion of the masonry might perhaps reveal some peculiarity that would effectually settle the question of its antiquity to the satisfaction of all if any question remains. (107)

In Greenland the evidences of the Northmen's occupation are abundant, because they were regularly established on the ground for generations, and formed their public and private edifices of the only material at hand, which was well nigh imperishable. But their visits to New England were comparatively few, and were scattered over many years. Owing to the weakness of their numbers, they found permanent colonies impracticable. Thorfinn Karlsefne deliberately gave up the attempt at the end of a three years' experiment, saying that it would be impossible to maintain themselves against the more numerous bands of natives. Their habitations were temporary. The various companies that came into Vinlind, instead of building stone houses occupied temporary huts or booths, like Leif's booths, and simply added others similar to them when they afforded insufficient quarters. To ask for monumental proofs of the occupation of the Northmen is, therefore, unreasonable, since their wooden huts and timber crosses must soon have disappeared. The memorial we have a right to expect is some relic, a coin or amulet, perhaps, that chance may yet throw in the antiquary's way, (108) or some excavation, it may be a trench, conduit, cellar, or incipient fortress. In the meanwhile, among scholars, the Icelandic narratives are steadily winning their way to unquestioned belief. This is all the more gratifying in an age like the present, in which large portions of history are being dismissed to the realms of hoary fable, and all the annals of the past are being studied in a critical spirit, with true aims and a pure zeal.

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1*. Of course we must not overlook the recent researches into the history of Central America, and especially the studies in connection with Yucatan.

2. Proceedings of "The United States Catholic Historical Society," 1886, for October 29, 1885. The Rev. Joshua P. Bodfish has a paper on "The Discovery of America by the Northmen," in which (pp.2-3-4-5) he helps himself to the author's Introduction without giving due credit.

3. Var. Hist. lib. III, cap. XVIII.

4. See Plato's "Critias and Timaeas."

5. De Mundo, cap. III. See "Prince Henry the Navigator," chap. VII, by Major, London, 1868.

6. "Odyssey," book IV, 1. 765.

7. See "Prince Henry the Navigator," p.90.

8. Strabo, lib. III.

9. Pliny's "Natural History," lib. VI cap. XXXVII.

10. See p.137

11. " Prince Henry the Navigator," p. 137

12. After this mention by Pliny, the Canaries, or Fortunate Isles, are lost sight of for a period of thirteen hundred years. In the reign of Edward III of England, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, one Robert Machin sailed from Bristol for France, carrying away a lady of rank, who had eloped with him, and was driven by a storm to the Canaries, where he landed, and thus re-discovered the lost Fortunate Isles. This fact is curiously established by Major, in the " Life of Prince Henry," so that it can no longer be regarded as an idle tale (see pp. 66-77). In 1341, a voyage was also made to the Canaries, under the auspices of King Henry of Portugal. The report, so widely circulated by De Barros, that the islands were re-discovered by Prince Henry is, therefore, incorrect. His expedition reached Porto Santo and Madeira in 1418-1420.

13. He also speculates upon the probability of this Continent having been visited by Christian missionaries. The Hebrew theory is hardly tenable, and must be classed with the speculations of the famous Major Noah. See vol. VI, p. 410

14. Kingsborough's " Mexican Antiquities," vol. VI, p. 285.

15. Ibid, p. 332.

16. " Monastikon Britannicum," pp. 131-132, 187-188. The fact that the word America is here used, seems quite sufficient to upset the legend. Speaking of the claims to Pre-Columbian discovery at the west by the various eastern peoples, Mr. Winsor admits that "there is no good reason why any one of them may not have done all that is claimed." " Narrative and Critical History of America," vol. I, p. 59.

17. The Irish were early known as Scots, and O'Halloran derives the name from Scota, high priest of Phaenius, and ancestor Mileseuis.

Me quoque vicins pereuntem gentibus, inquit,

Munivit Stilicho. Totam cum Scotus Iernem,

Movit et infesto spumavit remige Thetys.

By him defended, when the neighboring hosts

Of warlike nations spread along our coasts;

When Scots came thundering from the Irish shores,

And the wilde ocean foamed with hostile oars.

18. Speaking of Britain and Ireland, Tacitus says of the latter, that "the approaches and harbors are better known, by reason of commerce and the merchants."-Vit. Agri., c. 24. The Irish, doubtless, mingled with the Carthagenians in mercantile transactions, and from them they not unlikely received the rites of Druidism.

19. There is a tradition of a Welsh voyage to America under Prince Madoc, which relates to a period following the Icelandic voyages. This voyage by the son of Owen Gwyneth is fixed for the year 1170, and is based on a Welsh chronicle of no authority. See Hackluyt, vol. III, p. 1. See, also, " America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170," by Bowen, Philadelphia, 1876; " An Enquiry into the Truth of the Tradition, concerning the Discovery of America by Prince Madog ab Owen Gwyneth, about the year 1170 by John Williams," etc., London, 1791, p. 85; and " Farther Observations on the Discovery of America by Prince Madog ab Owen Gwyneth," etc., 1792, p. 51. The following from the London Standard, September 6, 1888, is timely: "Great interest was excited yesterday in North Wales by the announcement that the tomb of Madoc ap Gryffyddmaelor, a great Welsh warrior in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, grandson of Owen Gwynedd, Prince of Wales, had been discovered in the ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey, Llangollen. The Rev. H. T. Owen, warden of the abbey, who is now engaged upon some excavations, was searching for old stained glass in the dormitory, when he disinterred a large stone slab, bearing the name of Madoc, and an inscription, which has not yet been fully deciphered. Down the center of the stone is an incised sword in sheath. Further excavations led to the discovery of four other stones, each about five feet by eighteen inches; two bear floriated crosses, one an inscribed spear, and the other a Grecian ornament. The stones form part of the vaulting of the corridor leading to the old burial ground of the monks. Madoc ap Gryffydd founded the abbey, which was a Cistercian Monastery, about the year 1200. After the venerable building became a ruin, the chapter-house and scriptorium were used for several generations as a farmstead, and were practically destroyed by fire. During the repairs it is conjectured that the stones of Madoc's tomb were used to complete the vaulting. In 1851 the debris covering the area of the abbey was removed by Lord Dungannon, and the tombs of benefactors buried in front of the high altar, the figure of a knight in chain armour, and a stone coffin were laid bare. During the excavations of last year the monk's well and spring were discovered. Sir Theodore and Lady Martin and many others visited the ruins yesterday."

20. Turkish Spy, vol. VIII, p. 159.

21. See "Northmen in Iceland," Societe des Antiquaries du Nord, Seance du 14 Mai, 1859, pp. 12-14.

22. It is sometimes, though improperly, called the Norse. Societe des Antiquaries, etc., 1840-44, p. 165.

23. In the time when the Irish monks occupied the island, it is said that it was "covered with woods between the mountains and the shores."

24. Setstakkar. These were wooden pillars carved with images, usually of Thor and Odin. In selecting a place for a settlement these were flung overboard, and wherever they were thrown up on the beach, there the settlement was to be formed.

25. In another case a settler did not find his posts for twelve years, nevertheless he changed his abode then. In Frithiof's Saga (American edition) chap. III, p. 18, we find the following allusion:

"Through the whole length of the hall shone forth the table of oak wood,

Brighter than steel, and polished; the pillars twain of the high seats

Stood on each side thereof; two gods deep carved out of elm wood:

Odin with glance of a king, and Frey with the sun on his forehead."

26. Ari Hinn Frode, or the Wise. The chief compiler of the famous landanama book, which contains a full account of all the early settlers in Iceland. It is of the same character, though vastly superior to the English " Doomsday Book," and is probably the most complete record of the kind ever made by any nation. It contains the names of 3,000 persons, and 1,400 places. It gives a correct account of the genealogies of the families, and brief notices of personal achievements. It was begun by Frode (born 1067, died 1148), and was continued by Kalstegg, Styrmer and Thorsden, and completed by Hauk Erlandson, Lagman, or Governor of Iceland, who died in the year 1334.

27. "Thus saith the holy priest Bede.......Therefore learned men think that it is Iceland which is called Thule.....But the holy priest Bede died DCCXXXV years after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, more than a hundred years before Iceland was inhabited by the Northmen." Antiquitates Americanae, p. 202. This extract is followed by the statement of Ari Frode, and shows that the Irish Christians retired to Iceland, at a very early day. The Irish monk Dicuil also refers to this solitary island, which, about the year 795, was visited by some monks with whom he had conversed.

The earliest known movement northward from England was that inaugurated by King Arthur, about the year 505. The authority on this subject is Geoffrey of Monmouth, who was bishop of Saint Asaph in 1152, and who wrote the Historia Britonum, a work which afforded a basis for the fables and romances of the "Knights of the Round Table." Nevertheless, whoever inclines to turn from all the statements of Geoffrey, for the reason that they contain much that is untrue, should ponder the well-considered words of Hume ("England," I, 38, ed. 1822), who says of the Prince of Silures: "This is that Arthur so much celebrated in the songs of Thaliessin and the other British bards, and whose military achievements have been blended with so many fables as even to give occasion for entertaining a doubt of his real existence. But poets," he continues, "though they disfigure the most certain history of their fictions, and use strange liberties with truth, where they are the sole historians, as among the Britons, have commonly some foundation for their wildest exaggerations." The Bishop of Saint Asaph, who was not a poet, may be credited, therefore, when he states such simple facts as that, about the year 505, King Arthur, after the conquest of Ireland, received the submission of the Orkneys and sailed to Iceland, "which he also subdued;" at a subsequent period overcoming his foes in Norway. (B. IX, c. 10) The conquest of Ireland cost much bloodshed, but that of Iceland, if he went there, must have been made without a struggle, since at that period there could not have been men enough to make any great resistance.

Hakluyt (I, 1), treating this matter, quotes from Galfridus Monumetensis, who says that, after subduing Ireland, Arthur went to Iceland, and "brought it and the people thereof under his subjection." The same author mentions "Maluasius" as "King" of Iceland, and tells of soldiers that he furnished.

The "King," however, may be reduced to a figure of speech, while there could have been no soldiers, unless, indeed, Arthur, as elsewhere stated, transported people to the north. See " Inventio Fortunata. Artic Exploration, with an account of Nicholas of Lynn," etc. By B. F. De Costa, New York, 1861, p. 5.

28. All the information which we possess relating to the discovery by Gunnbiorn is given in the body of this work, in extracts from Landanama Book.

29. Claudius Christophessen, the author of some Danish verses relating to the history of Greenland, supposes that Greenland was discovered in the year 770, though he gave no real reason for his belief. M. Peyrere also tells us of a Papal Bull, issued in 835, by Gregory IV, which refers to the conversion of the Icelanders and Greenlanders.

30. The Northmen reckoned by winters.

31. See the Saga of Eric the Red.

32. The statement, found in several places, that he discovered Vinland while on his way to Greenland, is incorrect. The full account of his voyages shows that his Vinland voyage was an entirely seperate thing.

33. Gissur the White and Hialte went on the same errand to Iceland in the year 1000, when the new religion was formally adopted at the public Thing.

34. See Bradford's work on Greenland with an introduction by the present writer.

35. It will be seen hereafter that he went and established himself in Vinland.

36. See " Memoires des Antiquaires du Nord," p. 383.

37. The location of Gardar is now uncertain. At one time it was supposed to have been situated on the eastern coast; but, since it became so clear that the east coast was never inhabited, that view has been abandoned, though the name appears in old maps.

38. See Crantz's " Greenland," vol. I, p. 252.

39. These inscriptions are all in fair runic letters, about which there can be no mistake, and are totally unlike the imaginary runes.

40. See Egede's " Greenland," p. XXV; Crantz's " Greenland," vol I, pp. 247-88; Purchas, " His Pilgrimes," vol. III, p. 518; " Antiquitates Americanae," p. 300. See the Chronicle in " Sailing Directions of Henry Hudson," Munsell, 1869.

41. Historia Vinlandiae Antiquae seu Partes Americae Septentrionalis, ubi Nominis ratio recenfetur situs terrae ex dierumbiu malium Spatio expenditur, Soli fertilatis nicolarum barbaries, peregrinorum temporarius incolatus gesta, vicinarum terrarum nomina and facies Antiquitatibus Islandicis in lucem producta exponunta per Thormodum Torfaeum Rerum Norvegicarum Historiographum Regium. Havniae Ex Typographeo Regiae Magist, and Universit 1705. Impensis Authoris.

Gronlandia Antiqua seu Gronlandiae descriptio, ubi coeli marisqve natura, terrae, locorum villarum situs, animalum terrestrium aqvatilivmqve varia genera, Gentis origo incrementa, status Politicus Ecclesiasticus, gesta memorabilia vicissitudines, ex antiqvis memoriis, præcipue Islandicis qva fieri potuit industria collecta exponuntur, authore Thormo Torfaeo, Rerum Norvegicarum Historiographo Regio, Haviae iapud Hieron: Christ: Paulli Reg: Universit: Bibliopolam. Anno 1715.

42. " Antiquitates Americanae," p. xxxix.

43. For the account of the manuscripts upon which our knowledge of Greenland is founded, see " Antiquitates Americanae," p. 255.

44. " Islenzkir Annaler."

45. In that year parties are known to have contracted marriage at Gardar, from whom Finn Magnussen and other distinguished men owe their descent. Hakluyt quotes Lambord, to the effect that Arthur made his way to Greenland; but we can understand how the statement originated, since the map of Ptolemy made Greenland a western extension of Norway, the position of the country being misunderstood. The Icelandic chronicles distinctly say that, half a century before the voyage of Eric, a great country was known at the west, being called "Ireland the Great." It would seem that this country was first reached by the Irish, whose prior discovery was conceded by the Icelanders. The Irish had described it, evidently, as a land of verdure, while the Saga says that Eric applied the name of "Greenland" to the part he visited, not from any peculiar fitness but from motives of policy, saying that "men would be persuaded to go to a land with so good a name." Possibly the term "Greenland" was originally applied to the whole of North America, as were other names that finally came to have a local meaning. See "Verranzano the Explorer."

46. Egede's " Greenland," p. xlvii.

47. Ibid., xlviii.

48. Crantz's " Greenland," vol. I, p. 264

49. Crantz's " Greenland," p. 274.

50. Ibid., p. 279.

51. Hans Egede was a clergyman in priest's orders, and minister of the congregation at Vogen in the northern part of Norway, where he was highly esteemed and beloved. He spent fifteen years as a missionary in Greenland, and died at Copenhagen, 1758. Reference here is exclusively to the Scandinavians, as we remember voyages like those of Davis and Frobisher from England.

52. The motto on the sword of Roger Guiscard was: " Appulus et Calaber Siculus mihi Servit et Afer."

53. See Laing's Heimskringla, vol. II, p. 450. This refers to his swimming match with Kiarten the Icelander, in which the king was beaten.

54. See Saga of Saint (not king) Olaf.

55. Des Antiquaires du Nord, 1859.

56. Ledehammer. The point of land near the house of Lede, just below Drontheim.

57. Laing's Heimskringla, vol. I, p. 457. It is related that while they were planking the ship, "it happened that Thorberg had to go home to his farm upon some urgent business; and as he stayed there a long time, the ship was planked upon both sides when he came back. In the evening the king went out and Thorberg with him, to see how the ship looked, and all said that never was seen so large and fine a ship of war. Then the king went back to the town. Early the next morning the king came back again to the ship, and Thorberg with him. The carpenters were there before them, but all were standing idle with their hands across. The king asked, 'What is the matter?' They said the ship was ruined; for somebody had gone from stem to stern, and cut one deep notch after another down one side of the planking. When the king came nearer he saw that it was so, and said with an oath, 'The man shall die who has thus ruined the ship out of malice, if he can be found, and I will give a great reward to him who finds him out.' 'I can tell you, king,' says Thorber, 'who has done this piece of work.' 'I don't think that any one is so likely to find it out as thou art.' Thorberg says: 'I will tell you, king, who did it, I did it myself.' The king says, 'Thou must restore it all to the same condition as before, or thy life shall pay for it.' Then Thorberg went and chipped the planks until the deep notches were all smoothed and made even with the rest; and the king and all present declared that the ship was much handsomer on the side of the hull which Thorberg had chipped, and bade him shape the other side in the same way and gave him great thanks for the improvement."

58. A few years ago two very ancient vessels which probably belonged to the seventh century, were exhumed on the coast of Denmark, seven thousand feet from the sea, where they were scuttled and sunk. The changes in the coast finally left them imbedded in the sand. One vessel was seventy-two feet long, and nine feet wide amidships. The other was forty-two feet long, and contained two eight-sided spars, twenty-four feet long. The bottoms were covered with mats of withes for the purpose of keeping them dry. Among the contents was a Damascened sword, with runes, showing that the letter existed among the Northmen in the seventh century. See Horsford's notice of an ancient ship, " Address at the unveiling of the Statue of Lief Erickson," p. 21. Also illustrations in " Narrative and Critical History," I, 62-4.

59. The people of Iceland were always noted for thier superiority in this respect over their kinsmen in Denmark and Norway. There is one significant fact bearing on this point, which is this: that, while a few of the people of Iceland went at an early period to engage in piratical excursions with the vikings of Norway, not a single pirate ship ever sailed from Iceland. Such ways were condemned altogether at an early day, while various European nations continued to sanction piracy down to recent periods. Again it should be remembered that in Iceland duelling was also solemnly declared illegal as early as 1011, and in Norway the following year; while in England it did not cease to be a part of the judicial process until 1818. See Sir Edmund Head's " Viga-Glum Saga," p. 120.

60. Those who imagine that these manuscripts, while of pre-Columbian origin, have been tampered with and interpolated, show that they have not the faintest conception of the state of the question. The accounts of the voyages of the Northmen to America form the framework of the Sagas which would actually be destroyed by the elimination of the narratives. There is only one question to be decided, and that is the date of the compositions.

61. The fact that Mr. Bancroft has in times past expressed opinions in opposition to this view will hardly have weight with those familiar with the subject. When that writer composed the first chapter of his History of the United States, he might have been excused for setting down the Icelandic narratives as shadowy fables; but, with all the knowledge shed upon the subject at present, we have a right to look for something better. It is, therefore, unsatisfactory to find him perpetuating his early views in each successive edition of the work, which show the same knowledge of the subject betrayed at the beginning. He tells us that these voyages "rest on narratives mythological in form, and obscure in meaning," which certainly cannot be the case. Furthermore they are "not contemporary;" which is true, even with regard to Mr. Bancroft's own work. Again, "The chief document is an interpolation in the history of Sturleson." This cannot be true in the sense intended, for Mr. Bancroft conveys the idea that the principal narrative first appeared in Sturleson's history when published at a late day. It is indeed well known that one version, but not the principal version, was interpolated in Peringskiold's edition of Sturleson's Heimskringla, printed at Copenhagen. But Bancroft teaches that these relations are of a modern date, while it is well known that they were taken verbatim from Codex Flatoiensis, finished in the year 1395. He is much mistaken in supposing that the northern antiquaries think any more highly of the narratives in question, because they once happened to be printed in connection with Sturleson's great work. He tells us that Sturleson "could hardly have neglected the discovery of a continent," if such an event had taken place. But this, it should be remembered, depends upon whether or not the discovery was considered of any particular importance. This does not appear to have been the case. The fact is nowhere dwelt upon for the purpose of exalting the actors. Besides, as Laing well observes, the discovery of land at the west had nothing to do with his subjects, which was the history of the kings of Norway. The discovery of America gave rise to a little traffic, and nothing more. Moreover the kings of Norway took no part, were not the patrons of the navigators, and had no influence whatever in instituting a single voyage. Mr. Bancroft's last objection is that Vinland, the place discovered, "has been sought in all directions from Greenland and the St. Lawrence to Africa." This paragraph also conveys a false view of the subject, since the location of Vinland was as well known to the Northmen as the situation of Ireland, with which island they had uninterrupted communication.

Washington Irving has expressed doubt in his Life of Columbus, written as he says, before the means of examining this question were placed within his reach, and in the appendix of his work he mixes the idle tales of St. Brandan's Isle with the authentic histories of the Northmen. A very limited inquiry would have led him to a different estimate.

62. The word rune comes from ryn, a furrow. Odin has the credit of the invention of runes, yet they are probably of Phenician origin. They were sometimes used for poetical purposes. Halmund, in the Grettir Saga (see Sabing Baring Gould's Iceland ), says to his daughter: "Thou shalt now listen whilst I relate my deeds, and sing thereof a song, which thou shalt afterward cut upon a staff." This indicates the training the memory must have undergone among the Northmen.

63. For a list of many Icelandic works, see the Introduction of Laing's " Heimskringla." See also Horn's " History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North." Translated by Anderson, Chicago, 1884. Also the work of William and Mary Howitt.

64. See Sir Edmund Head's Viga Glum Saga, pp. viii and ix.

65. Ibid, Of course there was more or less poetry, yet poetry is early developed among the rudest nations, while good prose proves that a people have become highly advanced in mental culture.

66. Bulletin de Geographie, 1858, p. 177. Are Frode, in 1608, speaking of the visit paid to Iceland by Floke Vilgerderson, says that in those times seamen had no loadstones in the northern countries. The Bible Guyot, 1150, speaks of the loadstone as "un pierre laida et brumiere."

67. " Islenzkir Annalar," Hafniae, 1847, p. 276. The Icelandic is as follows: "Mannfall ogurlegt a Englendi sva at tvo hundred thousand datt nidr."

68. Ibid., 278.

69. Stow's " Annalar," p. 245, Ed. 1631.

70. Rymer's Faedera, IV, 361.

71. Ibid., V, 778.

72. Annalar, p. 382.

73. Ibid., p. 386.

74. Ibid., p. 388.

75. Ibid., p. 390.

76. Ibid., p. 392.

77. Ibid., p. 394.--In this connection the author employs material given to him in his " Inventio Fortunata," devoted to the subject of Arctic Discovery.

78. " Faedera," IX, 322.

79. This agreement between the English and Icelandic authorities was pointed out now for the first time, in " Inventio Fortunata."

80. " Faedera," X, 645 and 659, Ed. 1877.

81. Ibid., X, 762. These supplies were sent to the Bishop of Skalholt, who alone was authorized by the Synod of Denmark to supply the elements of the sacraments to the churches. See " Kirchengefchichte von Danemark und Norwegan " (munter), III, 16.

82. Ibid., X, 645.

83. "Item quod Willelums Byggemane de Suetesham magister cujusdem navis vocatae le Trinyte, dictae vulgariter dogger, Johannis Pigot et Henrici Sorysbi de Lenna Episcopi, circa festum Exultacionis Sanctae Crucis anno dicti regis vicesimo tertio, cepit unum pueram in partibus de Islandia, et ipsum duxit in dictu navi ad ibidem usque Suetsham, adsibi serviendum, contra statuta regia in hoc parte facta."- Monumenta Juridicia (Black Book), I, 273.

84. On Zeno, see " The Sailing Directions of Henry Hudson," p. 5; " The Northmen in Maine," p. 30. Also a full discussion of the subject in the Hakluyt Society's edition of the voyage, edited by Major.

85. Hakluyt makes his reference in a general way, giving neither chapter nor page. Frisius published "De Principius Astonomiae Cosmographiæ," in 1530. The "Cosmographaiæ," of Hieronimo Girava was printed in 1556. Gomara mentions Skolnus in his "Historia," c, xxxvii, Ed. 1553. See " The Sailing Directions of Henry Hudson," p. 23, in connection with Wytfliet and Pontanus. For Hakluyt, see Maine Coll., S. 2, vol. II, p. 148.

86. The Italian runs as follows: "Io navigai I'anno 1477, nel mese di Febraio oltra Tile isola cento leghe, la ciu parte Australe e lontana dall' Equinottiale settantatre gradi, et non sessantra, come alcuni vogliono: ne giace dentro della linea, che include l'Occidente di Tolomeo, ma e molto piu Occidentale. Et a quest' isola, che e tanto grande come l'Inghilterra, vanno gl'Inglesi con le loro mercatantie, specialmente quelli di Bristol. Et al tempo, che io vi andai, non era congelelate il mare che in alcuni luoghi ascendena ventesi braccia, et discendena altro tanti in altezza." (Historia del S. D. Fernando Colombo, 1571, e. iv.) "Braccia" is evidently a clerical error, as the original Spanish will doubtless show, if ever found. That Columbus was familiar with the map in the Ptolemy of 1486, showing the northern regions, with Greenland as an extension of Europe, can hardly be doubted. His remark respecting Thyle appears to be intended almost as a correction of that map, on which the Orcades and Thyle are laid down north of Scotland, Thyle being in 63 degrees N., while it appears again further north as "Islandia." This double representation of Iceland on the map was a blunder, the island being laid down first according to Ptolemy, and then according to the prevailing ideas of the day. This peculiarity of the map entitles it to interest as a Columbian map, though the feature referred to does not appear to have been remarked upon hitherto by any except the writer.

87. The fact was produced from the Annals by Finn Magnussen, in " Nordisk Tidskrift for Olkyndighed," vol. II, p. 128. It has been suggested, though without reason, that the voyage of Columbus was made in 1467. See Barrow's " Chronological History," p. 26. Columbus gives the wrong latitudes for the places visited, but this may be the fault of the editor; while Humboldt says that they were not the result of his own observations during a rough wintry voyage. See " Examen Critique," II, 115, and v, 214, n. In 1550 a Bristol ship was lost at Iceland. See Barrett's Bristol.

88. " Faedera," XII, 94.

89. Hakluyt, vol. I, p. 201. Ed. 1599-1600.

90. Laing's " Heimskringla," vol. I, chap. viii, p. 61.

91. When at the western end of Cuba on his second voyage, so certain was Columbus that he had reaced the eastern coast of Asia that he required his companions, under oath, to declare that Cuba was not an island but the continent, under penalty of 10,000 maravedis, and having their tongues cut out. See document in Navarrete's " Collecion," vol. II, p. 155. See, also, Gravier's translation of the Author's Treatise on the Lenox Globe, " Le Globe Lenoz de 1511. Traduit de Anglaies par Babriel Gravier," Rouen, 1880, p. 25.

92. See the author's " Columbus and the Geographers of the North." Hartford, 1872. Those who are interested in belittling the work of Columbus can consult Goodrich's " Life of Columbus." See also, " An Inglorious Columbus," by Ed. P. Vining, New York, 1885, a somewhat remarkable book; together with "America not Discovered by Columbus." "An Historical Sketch of the Discovery of America by the Norsemen, in the Tenth Century, by Rasmus B. Anderson, A. M., with an Appendix on the Historical, Linguistic and Scientific Value of the Scandinavian Languages. New and Improved Edition. Chicago, 1877." On the routes across the Atlantic, see "Narrative and Critical History," III, 172.

93. The author does not find evidence of any plan or even any desire on the part of the authorities of the Roman church to suppress knowledge of the Icelandic voyages, in order to exalt Columbus. When invited to canonize Columbus, the body to which the subject was referred, reported adversely, one reason being that they had "grave doubts" concerning the private character of Columbus, a subject that historical writers do no care to concern themselves about. Besides, in this country writers of the Roman church incessantly use the establishment of the Icelanders in New England as a ground of their own ecclesiastical priority. See Roman Catholic writers in general, and especially Dr. John Gilmary Shay and Dr. Clarke. On this point see the work of Miss Marie A. Brown on the Northmen, and the four numbers of her Journal, "Leif Ericson."

94. " North American Review."

95. " Cosmos," vol. II, p. 603. " Examen Critique."

96. History of New England, vol. II, p. 53

97. See such works as the Bryant-Gay "History of the United States."

98. See author's article on the Claim of Cabot in the Independent, and Dr. Deane's discussion of the Cabot question, Narrative and Critical History, vol. III, and separate, Cambridge, 1888.

99. Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, December, 1887. The opinion of so distinguished an Icelandic scholar as Professor Dasent alone would be accepted in critical circles as disposing of any opinion propounded by the Committee responsible for the above statement.

100. Pp. 76-132, vol. I, " Narrative and Critical History," contain a large amount of matter relating to this subject, and the contribution is one of much value; though it is to be regretted that the labor should be employed, largely, it would seem, for the purpose of belittling the subject. Yet, with unequalled facilities at the Editor's command, it cannot be said that the authority of the Sagas has been shaken. We find, substantially, opinion arrayed against argument, and the wealth of bibliography and illustration simply renders more apparent the weakness of the Editor's cause. Adverse criticism cannot grapple successfully with the subject, and may be considered as having done its worst, while unfortunately the effect leaves behind on the pages of a noble work what in the future will be recognized not only as a useful and stimulating contribution, but a scar.

101. July, 1869, pp. 265-72.

102. The critic in question was replied to by the author in " Notes on a review of the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen ." Charlestown, Mass., 1869.

103. The liability of the best historians to fall into error is illustrated by Paley, who shows the serious blunders in the accounts of the Marquis of Argyle's death, in the reign of Charles II: "Lord Clarendon relates that he was condemned to be hanged, which was performed the same day; on the contrary, Burnet, Woodrow, Heath and Echard concur in stating that he was beheaded, and that he was condemned upon Saturday and executed on Monday."--Evidences of Christianity, part III, chap. i. So Mr. Bancroft found it impossible to give with any accuracy the location of the French colony of St. Savior, established on the coast of Maine, by Saussaye, in 1613. Bancroft tells us that it was on the north bank of the Penobscot, while it is perfectly well known that it was located on the island of Mount Desert, a long way off, in the Atlantic ocean.

104. This is the language held in the first edition of the work, though one might infer from the language employed by Diman in his review of the book in the North American Review (July, 1869) that the author was at that time wholly unacquainted with the fact. Our language seems to have escaped the attention of the reviewer.

105. Dighton Rock, known as the Writing Rock, is situated six and a half miles south of Taunton, Mass., on the east side of Taunton river, formed by Assonnet Neck. It lies in the edge of the river, and is left dry at low water. It is a boulder of fire graywack, twelve feet long and five feet high, and faces the bed of the river. Its front is now covered with chiseled inscriptions of what appear to be letters and outlines of men, animals and birds. As early as the year 1680, Dr. Danforth secured a drawing of the upper portion; Cotton Mather made a full copy in 1712; and in 1788, Professor Winthrop, of Harvard College, took a full-sized impression on prepared paper. Various other copies have been made at different times, all of which present substantially the same features. Yet in the interpretation of the inscription there has been little agreement. The old rock is a riddle. A copy of the inscription was shown to a Mohawk chief, who decided that it was nothing less than the representation of a triumph by indians over a wild beast, which took place on this spot. Mr. Schoolcraft also showed a copy to Chingwank, an Algonquin well versed in picture-writing, who gave a similar interpretation. The Roman characters in the central part of the composition he was finally induced to reject, as having no connection with the rest. Whoever compares this inscription with those of undeniably Indian origin found elsewhere, cannot fail to be impressed with the similarity. Nevertheless, members of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, to whose notice it was brought by the Rhode Island Historical Society, felt strongly persuaded that the rock bore evidence of the Northman's visit to these shores. Mr. Laing, the accomplished translator of the Heimskringla, in discussing the theories in regard to the inscription, says, that the only resemblance to letters is found in the middle of the stone, in which antiquaries discover the name of Thorfinn, that is, Thorfinn Karlsefne, the leader of the expedition which came to New England in 1007. Just over these letters is a character, supposed to be Roman also, which may signify NA, or MA, the letter A being formed by the last branch of M. Now MA in Icelandic is used as an abbreviation of Madr, which signifies the original settler of a country. Close to these two letters are several numerals, construed to name one hundred and fifty-one. According to the account of the voyage, Thorfinn lost nine of the one hundred and sixty men with whom it is presumed he started, and therefore one hundred and fifty-one would exactly express the number with him at the time he is supposed to have cut the inscription. This, then, would mean altogether, that Thorfinn Karlsefne established himself here with one hundred and fifty-one men. Yet, as the testimony of this rock is not needed, we may readily forego any advantage that can be derived from its study. Besides, the history of similar cases should serve to temper our zeal. In the time of Saxo Grammatticus (1160), there was a stone at Hoby, near Runamoe, in the Swedish province of Bleking, which was supposed to be sculptured with runes. At a late day copies were furnished the antiquary, who came to the conclusion, as Laing tells us, that it was a genuine inscription, referring to the battle of Braaville, fought in the year 680. It afterward turned out that the apparent inscription was made by the disintegration of veins of a soft material existing in the rock. Yet the Dighton inscription is beyond question the work of a man. Mr. A. E. Kendal, writing in 1807, says that there was a tradition that Assonnet Neck, on which tongue of land the rock is situated, was once a place of banishment among the Indians. He states, further, that the Indians had a tradition to the effect that in ancient times some white men in a bird landed there and were slaughtered by the aborigines. They aslo said thunder and lightning issued from the bird, which fact indicates that this event, if it occured at all, must be referred to the age of gunpowder, suggesting the visit made by Verranzano to New England, but very likely pointing to some later navigator. Mr. Kendal mentions the story of a ship's anchor having been found there at an early day. In former years the rock was frequently dug under by the people, in the hope of finding concealed treasures. It is said that a small rock once existed near by, which also bore the marks of human hands. The Portsmouth and Tiverton Rocks, described by Mr. Webb ( Antiquitates Americanae, pp. 355-71), are doubtless Indian inscriptions; while that on the island of Monhegan, off the coast of Maine, may perhaps be classed with the rock of Hoby. After all, it is possible that the central portion of the inscription on the Dighton Rock may be the work of the Northmen. That two distinct parties were concerned in making the inscriptions is clear from the testimony of the Indians, who did not pretend to understand the portion thought to refer to Karlsefne. For the full discussion, see Antiquitates Americanae, p. 378, et seq.

106. Memoirs des Antiquaires du Nord, 1839-9, p. 377.

107. See Mag. American History, vol, III, p. 541. The old mill at Newport stands on an eminence in the center of the town, being about twenty four feet high, and twenty three feet in diameter. It rests upon eight piers and arches. It has four small windows, and, high up the wall, above the arches, was a small fireplace. It is first distinctly mentioned in the will of Governor Benedict Arnold, of Newport, where it is called, "my stone-built wind mill." It is known that during the eighteenth century it served as a mill and powder house. Edward Pelham, who married Governor Arnold's grand-daughter, in 1740 also called it "an old stone mill." Peter Easton, who early went to live in Newport, wrote in 1663, that "this year we built the first windmill;" and August 28, 1675, he says, "a storm blew down our windmill." What Easton relates occurred before Governor Arnold writes about his stone windmill, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that when the one spoken of by Easton was destroyed he built something more substantial. Yet we cannot say that this was actually the case. Some old tower may have been adapted by him for the purposes of a mill, when the one mentioned by Easton was destroyed. The family of the Governor is said to have come from Warwickshire, England. One of his farms was called the Leamington Farm, as is supposed, from the place by than name near Warwick. In addition to this, in the Chesterton Parish, three miles from Leamington, there is an old windmill similar in construction to that at Newport. It is supposed that it was erected on pillars for pneumatic reasons, and, also, that carts might thus go underneath to be loaded and unloaded with greater ease. It has been suggested, that if Gov. Arnold came from Warwickshire, of which the proof is not given, and if the Chesterton Mill was standing at the time of his departure for New England, he might have built a mill at Newport after the same model. Yet this is something we know little about. Whence came the Chesterton Mill itself? There was a tradition that it was built after a design by Inigo Jones, but this is only a tradition. That structure also might have belonged to the class of Towers, of which one at least was built by Northmen in Greenland. All is, therefore, in a measure, doubtful. It will hardly help the Northmen to class this Newport relic with their works. See Palfrey's New England, vol. I, pp. 57-59. Scribner's Monthly, March, 1879.

108. Many have supposed that the skeleton in armor, dug up near Fall River, was a relic of the Northmen, being the remains of one of those men killed by the natives in the battle with Karlsefne. But it would be far more reasonable to look for traces of the Northmen among the Indians of Gaspe, who, at an early day, were distinguished for an unusual degree of civilisation. Malte Brun tells us that they worshipped the sun, knew the points of the compass, observed the position of some of the stars, and traced maps of their country. Before the French missionaries went among them they worshipped the figure of the cross, and had a tradition that a venerable person once visited them, during an epidemic, curing many by the use of that symbol. See Malte Brun's Geography (English edition), vol. V, p. 135. Malte Brun's authority is Father Leclerc's " Nouvelle Relations de la Gaspesie," Paris, 1672. See on the Skeleton in Armour Mass. Hist. Coll. 1837; also Williams, "the Northmen in Maine," Hist. Mag., Jan., 1869, p. 30. At Pittston, Me., trees three feet in diameter and with six hundred annular rings, were found associated with brick work, which, so far as appearances went, antedated the trees. In connection with things of this sort we may also consult such curious compositions as "Traces of the Northmen in America," 1861, by Abner Morse.

MAJOR NARRATIVES

I. FRAGMENTS FROM LANDANAMA-BOOK

The following extracts from the Landanama, (1) give us the earliest information on record, in regard to the westward movements of the Icelanders. The men referred to were well-known, and the mention of their names and exploits in this great work, than which no higher authority could be produced, is gratifying. These extracts, which are given in the order in which they stand in vol. I, of Gronland's Historiske Mindesmaerker, "The Historical Monuments of Greenland," the greater portion of which work is the labor of Finn Magnussen, have probably never appeared before in an English dress. The first extract simply mentions Gunnbiorn and his Rocks; the second shows that Eric the Red obtained at least a portion of his knowledge of Greenland through this person; the third again gives the name of Gunnbiorn; while the fourth furnishes a brief account of an early voyage to the Rocks. It appears from these references, that, previous to the sailing of Eric the Red, the existence of land at the west was well understood. The report of Gunnbiorn's adventure was quite generally circulated amongst the people. Are Mason's voyage to the West, we shall see, was 983, or three years earlier.

1. There was a man named Grimkel [A.D. 876], son of Ulf Hreiparson, called Krage, and brother to Gunnbiorn, (2) after whom Gunnbiorn's Rocks (3) are named. He took possession of that piece of land that extends from Berevigs Roin to Ness Roin, and out round the point of the cape. He lived on Saxahval. He drove away Saxe, a son of Alfarin Valeson, and he lived on the Roin of Saxahval. Alfarin Valeson had first taken possession of the cape between Berevigs Roin and Enne.

2. Eric Red [A.D. 983] said that he intended to find the land that was seen by Gunnbiorn (4), Ulf Krage's son, when he was driven by a storm west from Iceland, and found Gunnbiorn's Rocks. [A.D. 876] At the same time he said if he did not find the land he would return to his friends.

3. Two sons of Gunnbiorn, Ulf Krage's son, after whom Gunnbiorn's Rocks were named, were called Gunstein and Haldor. They took possession of Skotufiorden, Loigardelen and Ogursvigen to Mjorfiord. Berse was Haldor's son, father to Thormod Kalbrunarskald.

4. Snaebiorn (Holmstein's son), called Galte, owned a ship [A.D. 970], that lay in the mouth of Grimsar (in Borgafiorden). Rolf, from Rodesand, bought a half of the ship. Each of the parties mustered twelve men. With Snaebiorn was Thorkel and Sumarlide, sons of Thorgier Red, son of Einar, from Stafholdt.

Snaebiorn also took Thorod from Thingness, his step-father and his five sons, and Rolf took Staerbiorn. The last named recited the following verse, after he had a dream:

Both ours

dead I see;

all empty

in Northwestern Sea;

cold weather

great suffering,

I expect

Snaebiron's death. (5)

They sought Gunnbiorn's Rocks and found land. Snaebiorn would not permit any one to go ashore in the night. Staerbiorn landed, notwithstanding, and found a purse (6) with money in an earth hole, and concealed it. Snaebiorn hit him with an axe so that the purse dropped.

They built a cabin to live in, and it was all covered with snow. Thorkel Red's son found that there was water on a shelf that stood out of the cabin window. This was in the month of Groe. (7) They shoveled the snow away. Snaebiorn rigged the ship; Thorod and five of his party were in the hut, and Staerbiorn and several men of Rolf's party. Some hunted. (8) Staerbiorn killed Thorod, but both he and Rolf killed Snaebiorn. Red's sons and all the rest were obliged to take the oath of allegiance to save their lives. They arrived on their return to Helgeland, Norway and later at Vadil in Iceland. (9)

II. THE COLONIZATION OF GREENLAND

The first document relating to the settlement of Greenland by the Northmen, is taken from the Saga of Eric the Red, as given in Professor Rafn's "Antiquitates Americanae". Besides the historyof Eric and his sons, that Saga contains notices of other voyages. The following are simply extracts. The whole Saga does not necessarily apply to the subject under examination-the Discovery of America. The second extract, which gives more of the particulars, is from "Gronland's Historiske Mindesmaerker," vol. II, p. 201. The third is also taken from the same great historical depository.

FIRST NARATIVE

There was a man named Thorvald, son of Osvald, son of Ulf-Oexna Thorerisson. Thorvald and his son were obliged to leave Jardar (10) and go to Iceland, on account of manslaughter. At that time Iceland was generally colonized. (11) They first lived in Drangey, where Thorvald died. Then Eric married Thorhild, daughter of Jorund and Thorbiarg Knarrabringa, whom afterward Thorbiorn of Haukdale married. Eric moved from the north, and fixed his abode in Ericstad opposite Vatshorn. The son of Eric and Thorhold was named Leif. But after Eyulf Soers and Holm-Gang Rafn's murder, Eric was banished from Haukdale. Eric went westward to Breidafiord and lived at Oexney in Ericstad. He lent Thorgest his seat-posts (12) and he could not get them again. He then demanded them. Then came disputes and hostility between him and Thorgest, which is told in the history of Eric. Styr Thorgrim's son, Eyulf of Svinoe, the sons of Brand of Aptelfiord and Thorbiorn Vifilsson plead the cause of Eric; Thorder Gellurson and Thorgeir of Hitardale plead for Thorgest. Eric was declared outlawed by the Thing, and prepared his ship for sea in Eric's Bay. Styr and the others went with him beyond the island. [A.D. 982] Then Eric declared it to be his resolution to seek the land which Gunnbiorn, Ulf Krage's son, saw [A.D. 876] when driven into the Western Ocean, where he found Gunnbiorn's Rocks, saying, that if he did not find the land he would return to his friends. Eric set sail from Snaefellsjokul, and found land which from its height he called Midjokul, now called Blaaserk. Thence he sailed along the shore in a southerly direction, seeking for the nearest habitable land. The first winter he passed in Ericseya, (13) near the middle of the east district. The following year he came into Ericsfiord, where he fixed his seat.

The same summer he explored the western desert, and gave names to many places. The following winter he passed on a holm opposite Rafnsgnipa, and the third year he came into Iceland and brought his ship into Breidafiord. The land which he found, he named Greenland, saying that men would be persuaded to go to a land with so good a name (14) Eric stayed in Iceland that winter, and the summer after he went over to the land which he had found, and fixed his abode in Brattahlid in Ericsfiord. [A.D. 986] Men acquainted with affairs, say that this same summer in which Eric went to settle in Greenland, thirty five ships sailed from Breidafiord and Bogafjord, of which only fourteen arrived, and the rest were driven back or lost. This event took place fifteen winters (15) before the Christian religion was established in Iceland. The same summer, Bishop Frederick and Thorvald Kodranson went from Iceland. (16) Among those who emigrated with Eric and established themselves, were Heriulf Heriulfsfiord who took Heriulfsness, and abode in Heriulfsness, Ketil Ketilsfiord, Rafn Rafnsfiord, Solvi Solvidale, Helgi Thorbrandson Alptafiord, Thorbjornglora Siglefjord, Einar Einarsfiord, Haf grim, Hafgrimsfiord and Vatnahver, Arnlaug, Arnlaugsfiord and other men went to the west district.

THE BAPTISM OF LEIF THE FORTUNATE

When the sixth winter had passed [A.D. 999], since Eric Red went to live in Greenland, Leif, son of Eric, went over from Greenland to Norway, and in the autumn arrived in Throndheim, and came north to King Olaf Trygvesson, (17) from Hegeland. He brought his ship to Nidaros and went at once to King Olaf. The king commanded Leif and some other pagan men to come to him. They were exhorted to accept religion, which the king easily arranged with Leif, when he and all his sailors were baptized, and passed the winter with the king, being liberally entertained.

SECOND NARRATIVE

Thorvald the son of Usvold, son of Ulf, son of Oexne-Thorer, and his son, Eric Red, left Jardar in Norway on account of manslaughter, and took possession of a piece of land on Hornastrand [Iceland], and lived there at Drangey. There Thorvold died. Eric then married Thorhild, daughter of Jorund Atleson and Thorbiarg Knarrabringa, whom Thorbiorn of Haukdale afterward married. Then Eric went from the north and ploughed the fields in Haukdale. Then he lived in Ericstadt by Vatshorn. There his thralls (18) let a piece of rock tumble down over Valthiof's house in Valthiosfstadt. But his relation, Eyulf Soirs, killed the thralls at Kneide-Brinke above Vatshorn. For this cause, Eric killed Eyulf Soirs. He also killed Holm-Gang Rafn at Leikskaale. Geirstein and Odd at Jorund. Eyulf Soirs' relations brought a suit against the slayer. Eric was then banished from Haukdale and took possession of the islands, Broko and Oexno, but lived in Todum at Sydero, the first winter. Then he loaned Thorgest his seatposts. Eric moved to Oexno and lived in Ericstadt. Then he demanded his seat-posts, but did not get them. Eric took them thereafter from Bredobolstad, but Thorgest followed him. They fought near the house at Drangey. Two sons of Thorgest fell, and some other men. Thereafter they both kept their followers with them. Styr, Eyulf of Svino, Thorbrand's sons of Alptefiord, and Thorbion Vifilsson, were of Eric's party. But Thord Gelleirson, Thorgeir from Hitardale, Aslak of Langedale, and Illuge's son helped Thorgest. Eric and his party were sentenced to be banished at Thorsness Thing. He fitted out a ship in Ericsfiord, but Eyulf concealed him in Dimonsvaag, while Thorgest and his men sought after him on the highlands. Thorbiorn, Eyulf and Styr followed with Eric out to sea beyond the islands. He said that he meant to seek the land Gunnbiorn, Ulf Krage's son, saw [A.D. 876] when he was driven by a storm west from Iceland and found Gunnbiorn's Rocks; though he said at the same time if he discovered the land he would return to his friends. [A.D. 982] Eric laid his course to the west from Snaefieldness, and approached [Greenland] from the sea to land at Midjokul, in that place that is called Blaesark. (19) From thence he went along the coast to the south, to see if the land was fit to live in. The first year he stayed all winter in Erickso, nearly in the middle of the west bygd. The next spring [A.D. 983] he went to Ericsfiord and there found a dwelling. Next summer he went to the west bygd and gave certain names to many places. The second winter he lived in Ericsholm, at Hvarfo Fiedspidae, and at the third summer [A.D. 984] he went north to Snaefield, inside of Rafnsfiord. He thought then that the place where Ericsfiord bent was opposite the place where he came. He then returned and spent the third winter in Erickso opposite the mouth of Ericsfiord. The next summer [A.D. 985] he went to Iceland and landed at Breidafiord. The next winter he stayed at Holmstater with Ingolf. Next spring he fought with Thorgest and lost the battle. That summer Eric began to settle the land which he had discovered [A.D. 986], and which he called Greenland, because he said that the people would not like to move there if the land did not have a good name. (20) Learned men say that twenty-five ships went that summer to Greenland from Breidafiord and Borgafjord, but only fourteen arrived. Of the rest, some were driven back and others were wrecked. This happened fifteen winters before Christianity was introduced into Iceland.

THIRD NARRATIVE

The land some call Greenland, was discovered and settled from Iceland. Eric the Red was the name of the Breidafiord man who [A.D. 986] went from here [Iceland] to there, and took possession of that part of the land which later was called Ericsfiord. He named the land and called it Greenland, (21) and said it would encourage people to come there if the land had a good name. They found there both east and west, ruins of houses and pieces of boats, and begun stonework. (22) From which it is to be seen what kind of people have lived in Vinland, and which the Greenlanders call Skraelings and who had been there. He [Eric] began to settle the land fourteen or fifteen years before the introduction of Christianity in Iceland. Afterward this was told of Greenland to Thorkel Gelleirson, by a man who had himself followed Eric Red.

III. THE VOYAGE OF BIARNE

The voyage of Biarne to Greenland was attended by many hardships. His vessel was blown away from the course during a storm, at which time he saw the shores of the American Continent, yet he made no attempt to land. Of this voyage we have two versions. The first is a translation of a passage from Codex Flatoiensis, given in Antiquitates Americanae, p. 17. The second is taken from Gronland's Historiske Mindesmaerker, or "Greenland's Historical Monuments, I, 180-1." The date of this voyage is fixed by the fact that Biarne sailed the same season that his father settled in Greenland, which, as we learn from the narrative of Eric, was in the year 985. There is a complete agreement, in the main points, between this account and the preceding.

FIRST NARRATIVE

Heriulf was the son of Bard, Heriulf's son, who was a relation of Ingolf the Landnamsman. (23) Ingolf gave Heriulf land between Vog and Reikianess. Heriulf dwelt first at Dropstock. His wife was called Thorgird, and their son was called Biarne. (24) He was a promising young man. In his earliest youth he had a desire to go abroad, and he soon gathered property and reputation; and was by turns a year abroad, and a year with his father. Biarne was soon in possession of a merchant ship of his own. The last winter [A.D. 985] while he was in Norway, Heriulf prepared to go to Greenland with Eric, and gave up his dwelling. There was a Christian man belonging to the Hebudes along with Heriulf, who composed the Lay called the Hafgerdingar (25) Song, in which is this stave:

May he whose hand protects so well

The simple monk in lonely cell,

And o'er the world upholds the sky.

His own blue hall, still stand me by. (26)

Heriulf settled at Heriulfness [A.D. 985] and became a very distinguished man. Eric Red took up his abode at Bratthalid, and was in great consideration, and honored by all. These were Eric's children: Leif, Thorvold, and Thorstein; and his daughter was called Freydis. She was married to a man called Thorvald, and they dwelt at Gardar, which is now a bishop's seat. (27) She was a haughty, proud woman; and he was but a mean man. She was much given to gathering wealth. The people of Greenland were heathen at this time. Biarne came over the same summer [A.D. 985] with his ship to the strand (28) which his father had sailed abroad from in the spring. He was much struck with the news, and would not unload his vessel. When his crew asked him what he intended to do, he replied that he was resolved to follow his old custom by taking up his winter abode with his father. "So I will steer for Greenland if ye will go with me." They one and all agreed to go with him. Biarne said, "Our voyage will be thought foolish, as none of us have been on the Greenland sea before." Nevertheless they set out to sea as soon as they were ready, and sailed for three days, until they lost sight of the land they left. But when the wind failed, a north wind with fog set in, and they knew not where they were sailing to; and this lasted many days. At last they saw the sun, and could distinguish the quarter of the sky; so they hoisted sail again, and sailed a whole day and night, when they made land. They spoke among themselves what this land could be, and Biarne said that, in his opinion, it could not be Greenland. On the question, if he should sail nearer to it, he said, "It is my advice that we sail up close to the land." They did so; and they soon saw that the land was without mountains, was covered with woods, and that there were small hills inland. (29). They left the land on the larboard side, and had their sheet on the land side. Then they sailed two days and nights before they got sight of land again. They asked Biarne if he thought this would be Greenland; but he gave his opinion that the land was no more Greenland than the land they had seen before. "For on Greenland, it is said there are great snow mountains." They soon came near to the land, and saw that it was flat and covered with trees. (30) Now, as the wind fell, the ship's people talked of its being advisable to make for the land; but Biarne would not agree to it. They thought that they would need wood and water; but Biarne said: "Ye are not in want of either." The men blamed him for this. He ordered them to hoist the sail, which was done. They now turned the ship's bow from the land, and kept the sea for three days and nights, with a fine breeze from south-west. Then they saw a third land, which was high and mountainous, and with snowy mountains. Then they asked Biarne if he would land here; but he refused altogether: "For in my opinion this land is not what we want." (31) Now they let the sails stand and kept along the land and saw it was an island. (32) Then they turned from the land and stood out to sea with the same breeze; but the gale increased, and Biarne ordered a reef to be taken in, and not to sail harder than the ship and her tackle could easily bear. After sailing three days and nights, they made, the fourth time, land; and when they asked Biarne if he thought this was Greenland or not, Biarne replied: "This is most like what has been told me of Greenland; and here we shall take to the land." They did so, and came to the land in the evening, under a ness, where they found a boat. On this ness dwelt Biarne's father, Heriulf; and from that it is called Heriulfness. Biarne went to his father's, gave up sea-fearing, and after his father's death, continued to dwell there when at home.

SECOND NARRATIVE

A man named Heriulf, son of Bard, son of Heriulf, (33) a relation to Landnamsman Ingolf, who gave the last-named Heriulf the piece of land that lies between Vaag and Reikianess. The younger Heriulf went to Greenland, when Eric Red began to settle there, and on his ship was a Christian man from the South Islands [the Hebrides] who was the author of the poem, Havgerdingar, in which was the following verse:

I to the monk's protector pray

That he will give my voyage luck!

The heaven's great Ruler

Save me from danger.

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, Solve Solvedale, Snorro Thorbrandson Alptefiord, Thorbiornglora Siglefiord, Einar Einarsfiord, Havgrim Havgrimsfiord and Vatnahverfe, Arnlaug Arnlaugfiord; but some went to the west bygd. A man named Thorkel Farserk, cousin to Eric Red on their mother's side, went to Greenland with Eric, and took possession of Hvalsofiord, together with the greater part of the piece of land between Eyolfsfiord and Einarsfiord, and lived in Hvalosofirde. From him came the Hvalsofiord 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 had to swim out to Hvalso, and get a full-grown sheep, (34) 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 Hvalsofiord.

IV. LEIF'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND

This voyage is recorded in the Flato Manuscript, and is given in Antiquitates Americanae, 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. The Saga of Eric was written in Greenland, a fact not to be overlooked, that of Thorfinn having been composed in Iceland. (35)

[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 afterward there was much talk about discovering unknown lands. Leif, a son of Eric Red of Brattahlid, went over (36) 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 as they were getting near the ship, (37) the horse on which Eric was riding, stumbled, and he fell from his horse (38) 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." (39) 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, (40) with the expedition [A.D. 1000] They put the ship in order, and went to sea when they were ready. They first came to the land which Biarne had last [first] discovered, (41) 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 (42) 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. (43) Then they went on board again and put to sea, and found another land. They sailed in toward it, put out a boat and landed. The country was flat, and overgrown with wood; and the strand far around, consisted of white sand, and low toward the sea. Then Leif said: "We shall give this land a name according to its kind, and called it Markland. (44) Then they hastened on board, and put to sea again with the wind from the north-east, and were out for two days and made land. They sailed toward it, and came to an island (45) which lay on the north side of the land, where they disembarked (46) to wait for good weather. There was dew upon the grass; and, having accidently gotten some of the dew upon their hands and put it in their mouths, they thought that they had never tasted any thing so sweet as it was. (47) Then they went on board and sailed into a sound (48) that was between the island and a ness (49) that went out northward from the land, and sailed westward (50) past the ness. There was very shallow (51) 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, (52) and from thence into the lake, (53) 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, (54) 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. (55) There was no frost in winter, (56) and the grass was not much wilthered. Day and night were more equal than in Greenland and Iceland; for on the shortest day the sun was in the sky between Eyktarstad (57) and the Dagmalastad. Now when they were ready with their house building, [A.D. 1001] Leif said to his fellow travelers: "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 countryman, 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 (58) was quite merry. 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. (59) 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 further than they; and yet I have something altogether new to relate, for I found vines and grapes." (60) "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." 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." 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. (61) Towards spring they made ready and sailed away, and Leif gave the country a name from its products, and called it Vinland. (62) 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. 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; (63) " But what is your name?" said he. Leif told him 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 offering 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." So it was done.

SECOND NARRATIVE

The same spring King Olaf, as said before, sent Gissur (64) and Hialte (65) 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. On this same voyage he discovered Vinland the Good , (66) 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, (67) 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, (68) he discovered Vinland the Good, and came at harvest time to Greenland. He brought with him a priest and other religious (69) men, and went to live at Brattahlid with his father Eric. He was afterward 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, after visiting the Bay of Boston, finally returning to Greenland on account of the death of their leader. The narrative is taken from Codex Flatoiensis, as given in Antiquitates Americanae.

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 quiet all winter and lived by fishing. In the 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. (70) 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 toward the west they found a corn barn constructed of wood. (71) They found no other traces of human work, and came back in the autumn to Leif's booths. The following spring [A.D. 1004] Thorvald, with his merchant ship, proceeded eastward, and toward the north along the land. Opposite to a cape (72) they met bad weather, and drove upon the land and broke the 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, entering the mouths of the bays, to a point of land which was every where 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 so beautiful, and I would willingly set up my abode here." (73) They afterward 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. (74) 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 (75) along the gunwales and defend ourselves as well as we can, but not use our weapons much against them." They did so accordingly. The Skraellings (76) 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. (77) 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; (78) but Eric Red was dead (79) 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, (80) and they related to each other all the news. They remained in their dwelling all winter, and gathered vines and grapes, (81) and put them on board their ships. Toward 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 Flatoiensis, and is given in Antiquitates Americanae, pp. 47-55. The expedition was wholly unsuccessful, and the leader finally died without reaching the desired land. One cannot help believing, not withstanding the marvellous events recorded, that the basis of this account is formed of solid fact. The narrative is not one likely to have been invented by an imposter, especially as there was no motive suggesting impostur.

In the meantime it had happened in Greenland that Thorstein of Ericsfiord had married and taken to wife [A.D. 1005] Gudrid, (82) the daughter of Thorbiorn, who had been married, as before related, to Thorer, the Eastman. (83) Thorstein Ericson 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. They quickly lost sight of the land. They drove about on the ocean the whole summer without knowing where they were, (84) and in the first week of winter (85) they landed at Lysifiord in Greenland, in the western settlement. Thorstein looked for lodgings for his men and got his whole ship's crew accomodated, 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 tomorrow with my horses, (86) for I do not want means to entertain you; but few care to live in my house; I and my wife live lonely, and I am very gloomy. I have also a different religion (87) 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 toward 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 Ericson's people, and many of his shipmen 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." (88) 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 Ericson 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 Ericson, "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 Ericson'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, (89) 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 Ericson 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. 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. Long will ye live together, but thou wilt survive him; and then thou shalt go abroad, and go southward, (90) 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." (91) And then Thorstein sank backward, 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. (92) 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 the expedition. The first is from the somewhat lengthy Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefne, in the Arnae-Magnaean 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 Flatoiensis. The first two may be found in Rafn's Antiquitates Americanae, 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 voyage, 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 precede this Saga in the chronological order, do away with the necessity of treating a number of important points suggested again in the present narrative.

It is believed that the principal manuscript of Thorfinn Karlsefne is an autograph by one of his descendants, the celebrated Hauk Erlander, the Governor of Lagman of Iceland, in 1295, who also was one of the compilers of the Landnama-bok. Erlander was the ninth in descent from Thorfinn. Torfaeus, who supposed that this manuscript was lost, knew it only through corrupt extracts in the collection of Biorn Johnson.

There will be found a substantial agreement between the different accounts, notwithstanding they may not have been composed by eye witnesses. The differences are evidently such as would not appear in the case of three writers who had banded together for the purpose of carrying out a historical fraud. The Saga of Thorfinn, we may again remind the student, was written in Iceland, while that of Eric was composed in Greenland. The account from the Flato Manuscript was, of course, written in the island which bears that name, and is extremely brief, wanting many essential particulars. Indeed it is time that we had done talking about fraud in connection with the work of the Icelanders, who knew no spirit of rivalry and were not competing with any foreign claimants.

NARRATIVE OF THORFINN KARLSEFNE

There was a man named Thord who dwelt at Hofda, in Hofda-Strand. He married Fridgerda, daughter of Thorer the Idle, and of Fridgerda the daughter of Kiarval, King of the Irish. Thord was the son of Biarne Butter-(93) Tub, son of Thorvald, son of Aslak, son of Biarne Ironsides, son of Ragnar Lodbrok. They had a son named Snorre, who married Thorhild the Partridge, daughter of Thord Geller. They had a son named Thord Horsehead. Thorfinn Karlsefne (94) was his son, whose mother's name was Thoruna. Thorfinn occupied his time in merchant voyages and was thought a good trader. One summer he fitted out his ship for a voyage to Greenland, attended by Snorre Thorbrandson of Alptafiord, and a crew of forty men. There was a man named Biarne Grimolfson of Breidafiord, and another named Thorhall Gamlason of Austfiord. These men fitted out a ship at the same time to voyage to Greenland. They also had a crew of forty men. This ship and that of Thorfinn, as soon as they were ready, put to sea. It is not said how long they were on the voyage; it is only told that both ships arrived at Ericsfiord in the autumn of that year. Leif (95) and other people rode down to the ships and friendly exchanges were made. The captians requested Leif to take whatever he desired of their goods. Leif, in return entertained them well and invited the principal men of both ships to spend the winter with him at Brattahlid. The merchants accepted his invitation with thanks. Afterward their goods were moved to Brattahlid, where they had every entertainment that they could desire; therefore their winter quarters pleased them much. When the Yule feast began, Leif was silent and more depressed than usual. Then Karlsefne said to Leif: "Are you sick, friend Leif? you do not seem to be in your usual spirits. You have entertained us most liberally, for which we desire to render you all the service in our power. Tell me what it is that ails you." "You have received what I have been able to offer you," said Leif, "in the kindest manner and there is no idea in my mind that you have been wanting in courtesy; but I am afraid lest when you go away it may be said that you never saw a Yule (96) feast so meanly celelbrated as that which draws near at which you will be entertained by Leif of Brattahlid." "That shall never be the case, friend," said Karlsefne, "we have ample stores in the ship; take of these what you wish and make a feast as splendid as you please." Leif accepted this offer and the Yule began. So well were Leif's plans made, that all were surprised that such a rich feast could be prepared in so poor a country. After the Yule feast, Karlsefne began to treat with Leif, as to the marriage of Gudrid, Leif being the person to whom the right of betrothal belonged. Leif gave a favorable reply, and said she must fulfill that destiny which fate had assigned, (97) and that he had heard of none except a good report of hm; and in the end it turned out that Karlsefne married Gudrid, and their wedding was held at Brattahlid, this same winter.

[A.D. 1007] The conversation often turned at Brattahlid, on the discovery of Vinland the Good, and they said that a voyage there had great hope of gain. (98) After this Karlsefne and Snorre made ready for going on a voyage there the following spring. Biarne and Thorhall Gamlason, before mentioned, joined with a ship. There was a man named Thorvard, who married Freydis, natural daughter of Eric Red, and he decided to go with them, as did also Thorvald, son (99) of Eric. Thorhall, commonly called the Hunter, who had been the huntsman of Eric in the summer, and his steward in the winter, also went. This Thorhall was a man of immense size and of great strength, and dark complexion and taciturn, and when he spoke, it was always jestingly. He was always inclined to give Leif evil advice. He was an enemy to Christianity. He knew much about desert lands; and was in the same ship with Thorvord and Thorvald. These used the ship which brough Thorbiorn from Iceland. There was in all, forty men and a hundred. (100) They sailed to the West district [of Greenland], and thence to Biarney; (101) hence they sailed south a night and a day. Then land was seen, and they launched a boat and explored the land; they found flat stones, many of which were twelve ells broad. There were a great number of foxes there. They called the land Helluland. (102) Then they sailed a day and a night in a southerly course, and came to aland covered with woods, in which there were many wild animals. Beyond this land to the southeast, lay an island on which they slew a bear. They called the island Bear island, (103) and the land, Markland. Thence they sailed long south by the land and came to a cape. The land lay on the right [starboard] side of the ship, and there were long shores of sand. They came to land, and found on the cape, the keel of a ship, from which they called the place Kiarlarness, (104) and the shores they also called Wonder-strand, because it seemed so long sailing by. (105) Then the land became indented with coves, and they ran the ship into a bay, (106) wither they directed their course. King Olaf Tryggvesson had given Leif two Scots, (107) a man named Haki and a woman named Hekia; they were swifter of foot than wild animals. These were in Karlsefne's ship. When they had passed beyond Wonder-strand, they put these Scots ashore, and told them to run over the land to the south-west, three days, and discover the nature of the land, and then return. They had a kind of garment that they called kiafal, that was so made that a hat was on top, and it was open at the sides, and no arms; fastened between the legs with a button and strap, otherwise they were naked. When they returned, one had in his hand a bunch of grapes, and the other a spear of wheat. They went on board, and afterward the course was obstructed by another bay. Beyond this bay was an island, (108) on each side of which was a rapid current, that they called the Isle of Currents. (109) There was so great a number of eider ducks (110) there, that they could hardly step without treading on their eggs. They called this place Stream Bay. (111) Here they brought their ships to land, and prepared to stay. They had with them all kinds of cattle. The situation of the place (112) was pleasant, but they did not care for any thing, except to explore the land. Here they wintered without sufficient food. The next summer [A.D. 1008], failing to catch fish, they began to want food. Then Thorhall the Hunter disappeared.

They found Thorhall, whom they sought three days, on the top of a rock, where he lay breathing, blowing through his nose and mouth, and muttering. They asked why he had gone there. He replied that this was nothing that concerned them. (113). They said that he should go home with them, which he did. Afterward a whale was cast ashore (114) in that place; and they assembled and cut it up, not knowing what kind of whale it was. They boiled it with water, and ate it, and were taken sick. Then Thorhall said: "Now you see that Thor (115) is more prompt to give aid than your Christ. This was cast ashore as a reward for the hymn which I composed to my patron Thor, who rarely forsakes me." (116) When they knew this, they cast all the remains of the whale into the sea, and commended their affairs to God. After which the air became milder, and opportunities were given for fishing. From that time there was an abundance of food; and there were beasts on the land, eggs in the island, and fish in the sea.

They say that Thorhall desired to northward around Wonder-strand to explore Vinland, but Karlsefne wished to go along the shore south. Then Thorhall prepared himself at the island, (117) but did not have more than nine men in his whole company, and all the others went in the company of Karlsefne. When Thorhall was carrying water to his ship, he sang this verse:

"People said when hither I

Came, that I the best

Drink would have, but the land

It justly becomes me to blame;

I, a warrior, am now obliged

To, bear the pail;

Wine touches not my lips,

But I bow down to the spring."

When they had made ready and were about to sail, Thorhall sang:

"Let us return

Thither where [our] country-men rejoice,

Let the ship try

The smooth ways of the sea;

While the strong heroes

Live on Wonder-strand

And there boil whales,

Which is an honor to the land." (118)

Afterward he sailed north to go around Wonder-strand and Kiarlarness, but when he wished to sail westward, they were met by a storm from the west and driven to Ireland, where they were beaten and made slaves. As merchants (119) reported, there Thorhall died.

It is said that Karlsefne, with Snorre and Biarne and his comrades, sailed along the coast south. They sailed long until they came to a river flowing down from the land through a lake into the sea, where there were sandy shoals, where it was impossible to pass up, except with the highest tide. Karlsefne sailed up to the mouth of the river with his folk, and called the place Hop. (120) Having come to the land, they saw that where the ground was low corn (121) grew, and where it was higher, vines were found. Every river was full of fish.

They dug pits where the land began, and where the land was highest; and when the tide went down, there were sacred fish (122) in the pits. There were a great number of all kinds of wild beasts in the woods. They stayed there half a month and enjoyed themselves, and did not notice anything; they had their cattle with them. Early one morning, when they looked around, they saw a great many skin boats, and poles were swung upon them, and it sounded like reeds shaken by the wind, and they pointed to the sun. (123) Then said Karlsefne, "What may this mean?" Snorre Thorbrandson replied, "It may be that this is a sign of peace, so let us take a white shield and hold it toward them" They did so. Thereupon they rowed toward them, wondering at them, and came to land. These people were swarthy and fierce, and had bushy hair on their heads; they had very large eyes and broad cheeks. They stayed there for a time, and gazed upon those they met, and afterward rowed away southward around the ness.

Karlsefne and his people had made their houses above the lake, and some of the houses were near the lake, and others more distant. They wintered there, and there was no snow, and all their cattle fed themselves on the grass. (124) But when spring came [A.D. 1009] they saw one morning early, that a number of canoes rowed from the south around the ness; so many, as if the sea were sown with coal; poles were also swung on each boat. Karlsefne and his people then raised up the shield, and when they came together they began to trade. These people would rather have red cloth; for this they offered skins and real furs. They would also buy swords and spears, but this, Karlsefne and Snorre forbade. For a whole fur skin, the Skraellings took a piece of red cloth, a span long and bound it round their heads. Thus went on their traffic for a time. Next the cloth began to be scarce with Karlsefne and his people, and they cut it up into small pieces, which were not wider than a finger's breath, and yet the Skraellings gave just as much as before and more.

It happened that a bull, which Karlsefne had, ran out of the wood and roared aloud; this frightened the Skraellings, and they rushed to their canoes and rowed away toward the south. After that they were not seen for three whole weeks. But at the end of that time, a great number of Skraelling's ships were seen coming from the south like a rushing torrent, all the poles turned from the sun, and they all yelled very loud. Then Karlsefne's people took a red (125) shield and held it toward them. The Skraellings leaped out of their vessels, and after this, they went against each other and fought. There was a hot shower of weapons, because the Skraellings had slings. (126) Karlsefne's people saw that they raised upon a pole, a very large ball, something like a sheep's paunch, and of a blue color; this they swung from the pole over Karlsefne's men, upon the ground, and it made a great noise as it fell down. (127) This caused great fear with Karlsefne and his men, so that they only thought of running away; and they retreated along the river, for it seemed to them that the Skraellings pressed them on all sides. They did not stop until they came to some rocks where they made a bold stand. Freydis came out and saw that Karlsefne's people fell back, and she cried out, "Why do you run, strong men as you are, before these miserable creatures whom I thought you would knock down like cattle? If I had arms, methinks I could fight better than any of you." They gave no heed to her words. Freydis would go with them, but she was slower because she was pregnant; still she followed after them in the woods. She found a dead man in the woods; it was Thorbrand Snorreson, and there stood a flat stone stuck in his head; the sword lay naked by his side. THis she took up and made ready to defend herself. Then came the Skraellings toward her; she drew out her breasts from under her clothes and dashed them against the naked sword. By this the Skraellings became frightened and ran off to their ships and rowed away. (128) Karlsefne and his men then came up and praised her courage. Two men fell on Karlsefne's side, but a number of the Skraellings. Karlsefne's band was overmatched. Next they went home to their dwelling and bound up their wounds, and considered what crowd that was that pressed upon them from the land side. It now seemed to them that it could have hardly been real people from the ships, but that these must have been optical illusions. The Skraellings also found a dead man and an axe lay by him; one of them took up the axe and cut wood with it, and then after another did the same and thought it was a fine thing and cut well. After that one took it and cut at a stone so that the axe broke, and then they thought that it was of no use because it would not cut stone, and they cast it away. (129)

Karlsefne and his people now thought they saw, that although the land had many good qualities, they still would always be exposed to the fear of attacks from the original dwellers. They decided, therefore, to go away and to return to their own land. They coasted northward along the shore, (130) and found five Skraellings clad in skins, sleeping near the sea. They had with them vessels containing animal marrow mixed with blood. (131) Karlsefne's people thought that these men had been banished from the land; they killed them. After that they came to a ness, and many wild beasts were there, and the ness was covered all over with dung from the beasts which had lain there during the night. Now they came back to Straumfiord, and there was a plenty of everything that they wanted to have. [It is thus that some men say that Biarne and Gudrid stayed behind and one hundred men with them, and did not go farther; but that Karlsefne and Snorre went southward with forty men with them, and were no longer in Hop than barely two months, and the same summer came back.] (132) Karlsefne then went with one ship to seek Thorhall the Hunter, but the rest remained behind, and they sailed northward past Kiarlarness, and thence westward, and the land was upon their larboard hand. There were wild woods over all, as far as they could see, and scarcely any open places. When they had sailed long a river ran out of the land east and west. They sailed into the mouth of the river, and lay by its bank. (133)

It chanced one morning that Karlsefne and his people saw opposite in an open place in the woods, a speck which glittered in their sight, and they called out towards it, and it was a Uniped, (134) which thereupon hurried down to the bank of the river, where they lay. Thorvald Ericson stood at the helm, and the Uniped shot an arrow into his bowels. Thorvald drew out the arrow and said: "It has killed me! To a rich land we have come, but hardly shall we enjoy any benefit from it." Thorvald soon after died (135) of his wound. Upon this the Uniped ran away to the northward. Karlsefne and his people went after him, and saw him now and then, and the last time they saw him, he ran out into a bay. Then they turned back, and a man sang these verses:

The people chased

A uniped

Down to the beach,

Behold he ran

Straight over the sea-

Hear thou, Thorfinn!

They drew off to the northward, and saw the country of the Unipeds, but they would not then expose their men any longer. They looked upon the mountain range that was at Hop, and that which they now found, (136) as all one, and it also appeared to be of equal length from Straumfiord to both places. The third winter they were in Straumfiord. They now became much divided by party feeling, and the women were the cause of it, for those who were unmarried would injure those who were married, and hence arose great disturbance. There was born the first autumn, Snorre, Karlsefne's son, and he was three years old when they went away. When they sailed from Vinland they had a south wind, and then came to Markland, and found there, five Skraellings, one was bearded; two were females, and two boys; they took the boys, but the others escaped, and the Skraellings sank down in the ground. (137) These boys they took with them; they taught them the language, and they were baptized. They called their mother Vathelldi, and their father, Uvaege. They said that two kings ruled over the Skraellings, and that one was named Avalldania, but the other Valldidia. (138) They said that no houses were there. People lived in caves or in holes. They said there was a land on the other side, just opposite their country, where people lived who wore white clothes, and carried poles before them, and to these were fastened flags, and they shouted loud; and the people think that this was White-man's land, or Great Ireland. (139)

Biarne Grimolfson was driven with his ship into the Irish ocean, and they came into a worm sea, (140) and soon the ship began to sink under them. They had a boat which was smeared with sea oil, for the worms do not attack that. They went into the boat, and then saw that it could not hold them all. Then said Biarne: "As the boat will not hold more than half of our men, it is my counsel that lots should be drawn for those to go in the boat, for it shall not be according to rank." This, they all thought so generous an offer, that no one would oppose it. They then did so that lots were drawn, and it fell to Biarne to go in the boat, and the half of the men with him, for the boat had not room for more. But when they had gotten into the boat, an Icelandic man that was in the ship, and had come with Biarne from Iceland, said: "Dost thou mean, Biarne, to leave me here?" Biarne said: "So it seems." Then said the other: "Very different was the promise to my father, when I went with thee from Iceland, than thus to leave me, for thou said that we should both share the same fate." Biarne said, "It shall not be thus; go down into the boat, and I will go up into the ship, since I see that thou art so anxious to live." (141) Then Biarne went up into the ship, and this man down into the boat, and after that they went on their voyage, until they came to Dublin, in Ireland, and there told these things; but it is most people's belief that Biarne and his companions were lost in the worm sea, for nothing was heard of them after that time.

THE ACCOUNT OF THORFINN

That same winter [A.D. 1006-7], there was much discussion about the affairs of Brattahlid; and they set up the game of chess, and sought amusement in the reciting of history, (142) and in many other things, and were able to pass life joyfully. Karlsefne and Snorre resolved to seek Vinland, but there was much discussion about it. It turned out that Karlsefne and Snorre prepared their ships to seek Vinland the following summer. [A.D. 1007]. In this enterprise Biarne and Thorhall joined as comrades with their own ship and crew, who were their followers. There was a man named Thorvald, a relation (143) of Eric. Thorhall was called the Hunter. He long had hunted with Eric in summer, and had the care of many things. Thorhall was of great stature, large and swarthy face, of a hard nature, taciturn, saying little of affairs, and nevertheless crafty and malicious, always inclined to evil, and opposed in his mind to the Christian religion, from its first introduction into Greenland. Thorhall indulged in trifling, but nevertheless Eric was used to his familiarity. He went in the ship with Thorvald, and was well acquainted with uninhabitable places. He used the ship in which Thorbiorn came; and Karlsefne engaged comrades for the expedition; and the best part of the sailors of Greenland were with him. They carried in their ships, forty and a hundred men. Afterward they sailed to West bygd and Biarney-isle. They sailed from Biarney-isle with a north wind, and were on the sea a day and night, when they found land, and, sending a boat to the shore, explored the land, where they found many flat stones of such great size, that they exceeded in length the size of two men. There were foxes there. They gave the land a name, and called it Helluland. After this, they sailed a night and a day with a north wind. They came to a land in which were great woods and many animals. South-west, opposite the land, lay an island. Here they found a bear, and called the island, Bear island. This land, where there were woods, they called Markland. After a voyage of a day and a night, they saw land, and they sailed near the land and saw that it was a cape; they kept close to the shore with the wind on the starboard side, and left the land upon the right side of the ship. There were places without harbors, long shores and sands. (144) When they went to the shore with a boat, they found the keel of a ship, and they called the place Kiarlarness; (145) and they gave the shore a name, and called it Wonder-strand, because they were so long going by. Then another bay extended into the land, and they steered into the bay. (146) When Leif was with King Olaf Tryggvesson, he sent him to establish the Christian religion in Greenland; then the king gave him two Scots-folk, a man named Hake, and a woman named Hekia. The king told Leif to take them with his men, if he would have his commands done quickly, as they were swifter than beasts. These folk, Leif and Eric gave to Karlsefne, as followers. When they were come opposite Wonder-strand, they put the Scots on the shore, and told them to run southward and explore the country, and return before the end of three days. They were thus clothed having a garment called a Biafal; (147) it was made so that a hat was on top, open at the sides, without arms, buttoned between the legs, and fastened with a button and a strap; and the rest was bare.

They came to anchor and lay by, until the three days passed, (148) 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. Afterward 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, (149) and there was a great tide around the island. This they called Straumey. (150) 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. (151) They brought with them all kinds of cattle, and they found sufficient pasturage. There were mountains and the prospect was pleasant; but the 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, (152) 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]. Afterward 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 (153) and had abundance of food and hunting on the mainland, with many eggs and fish from the sea.

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 south-west, thinking likely that there would be larger tracts of country the further they went south. Thorhall made ready at the island (154) 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."

Afterward 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 (155) and boil the whales

Here on Wonder-strand."

There upon 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. (156)

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. (157) 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. 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 toward 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 toward them:" this they did. Then they rowed toward 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 afterward rowed southward around the cape. (158) 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, (159) and all their cattle fed under the open sky. They decided to explore all the mountains (160) 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 Skraellings, of whome one was a man, and two women, and two were boys. Karlsefne took the boys, and the others escaped and sank into the earth. They carried the boys away with them, and taught them the language, and they were baptized. The name of their mother was Vatheldi, and their father, Uvaege. They said that two kings ruled over the Skraellinger's land; one was named Avalldania, and the other, Valldidia; (161) 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 (162) 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 the 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. As it would not hold all, they accepted the saying, and when the lots were drawn, the men went out of the ship into the boat. 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. 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 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 down 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. 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 . (163)

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 Hesthofde, a son of Snorre Thordarson, from Hofda. 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. Afterward 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 ; (164) 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, (165) 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 (166) 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. (167) 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 Skraellings 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. With that the Skraellings 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 Skraellings took their bundles and opened them, and wanted to have weapons in exchange for them, but Karlsefne forbade his men to sell weapons. Next he adopted this plan with them, that he told the women to bear out milk and dairy products to them. When they saw these things, they would buy them and nothing else. (168) Now the trade for the Skraellings 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. Next it is to be told, that Karlsefne let a good strong fence be made around the habitation, and strengthened it for defense. (169) At this time Gudrid, (170) Karlsefne's wife, lay in of a male child, and the child was called Snorre. In the beginning of the next winter, came the Skraellings 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. Then they saw that they threw their bundles in over the fence, while Gudrid sat in the door within, by the cradle of Snorre, her son. There 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. At the same time Gudrid heard a great noise, and the woman had vanished. (171) At the same time one of the Skraellings 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." So it happened, 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 Skraellings came to the place where Karlsefne proposed to fight; and there was a battle there, and many of the Skraellings fell. There was one stout, handsome man among the Skraelling people, and Karlsefne thought that he must be their chief. One of the Skraellings had taken up an axe and looked at it a while, 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, (172) looked at it awhile, and threw it into the sea as far as he could. They then fled to the woods as fast as possible, and so ended the fight. Karlsefne stayed there with his men the whole winter; but toward spring he made known that he would not stay there any longer, and would return to Greenland. (173) 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 (174) [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 Karlsefneson, mother to Bishop Thorlak Runolfson. Their son was named Thorbiorn, and his daughter, Thoruna, mother to Bishop Biorne. Thorgeir was the son of Snorre Karlsefneson, father to Ingveld, mother of the first Bishop Brand. Snorre Karlsefneson had a daughter, Steinun, who married Einar, son of Grundarketil, son of Thorvald Krok, the son of Thorer, or 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 the mother of Herr Erland Sterka, father of Herr Hauk, the Lagman. (175) 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, (176) who are not here mentioned. God be with us. Amen. (177)

VIII. THE VOYAGE OF FREYDIS, HELGE AND FINBOGE

This narrative is found in Antiquitates Americanae, p. 65. It shows that history, among the Icelanders, was not made subservient to family interests, and the truth was told without respect to persons. At the conclusion we have a (supplementary) notice of Thorfinn and Gudrid, after thier return to Iceland.

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, (178) 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. He answered as before, that he would lend, but not give the houses. (179) 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. The brothers knew nothing of it until they arrived in Vinland. (180) They went to sea, and had agreed beforehand to sail in company, if they could do so. The difference was little, although the brothers came a little earlier, and had carried up their baggage to Leif's houses. When Freydis came to the land, her people cleared the ship, and carried her luggage 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 baggage and made a shed, and built it farther from the sea, on the borders of a lake, (181) and set all about it in order. Freydis had trees cut down for her ship's cargo. Now winter set in, and the brothers proposed to have some game 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 Thorvald, 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, (182) and they took it so ill that they struck and abused me. And thou, useless man! will neither avenge my affront nor thy own. Now must I feel that I am away from Greenland, but I will separate (183) from thee if thou dost not avenge this." Then 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 huts 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 one 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 to ship early in spring [A.D. 1011], which had belonged to the brothers, with all the goods they could get on that the ship wold carry, sailed out to sea, and had a good voyage, and the ship came early in the summer to Ericsfiord. Karlsefne was there still (184) 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.

Freydis went home now to her house which had stood without damage in the meanwhile. She bestowed many gifts on her followers that they might conceal her wickedness, and she remained now on her farm. All were not so silent about thier misdeeds and wickedness that something did not come up about it. This came at last to the ears of Leif, her brother, and he thought this report was very bad. Leif took three men of Freydis's followers and tortured them to speak, and they acknowledged the whole affair and their tales agreed together. "I do not care," says Leif, "to treat my sister as she deserves; but this I will foretell them that their posterity will never thrive." So it went that nobody thought any thing of them save evil, from that time. (185) Now we have to say that Karlsefne got ready his ship and sailed out to sea. (186) He came on well, reached Norway safely, and remained there all winter and sold his wares. He and his wife were held in esteem by the best people in Norway. In the following spring, he fitted out is ship for Iceland, and when he was quite ready, and his ship lay outside the pier waiting a wind, there came to him a south-country man, from Bremen, in Saxon land, who would deal with him for his house-bar. (187) "I will not sell it," said he. "I will give thee half a mark of gold for it," said the south-country man. Karlsefne thought it was a good offer, and sold it accordingly. The south-country man went away with his house-bar, and Karlsefne did not know what wood it was. It was massur-wood (188) from Vinland. Now Karlsefne put to sea [A.D. 1012], and his ship came to land north of Skagafiord, (189) and there he put up his vessel for winter. In spring he purchased Glambaeirland, (190) where he took up his abode, and dwelt there as long as he lived, and was a man of great consideration. Many men are descended from him and his wife Gudrid, and it was a good family. When Karlsefne died, Gudrid took the management of his estates, and of Snorre, her son, who was born in Vinland. When Snorre was married, Gudrid went out of the country, and went to the south, (191) and came back again to Snorre's estate, and he had built a church at Glambae. Afterward Gudrid became a nun, and lived a hermit's life, and did so as long as she lived. (192) Snorre had a son called Thorgeir, who was father to Bishop Brand's mother, Ingveld. The daughter of Snorre Karlsefneson was called Halfrid. She was mother of Runolf, the father of Bishop Thorlak. Karlsefne and Gudrid also had a son called Biorn. He was father of Thoruna, the mother of Bishop Biorn. Many people are descended from Karlsefne, and his kin have been lucky; and Karlsefne has given the most particular accounts of all these travels, of which something is here related.

_________________________

1. The Landanama-book. This is probably the most complete record of the kind ever made by any nation. It is of the same general character as the English Doomsday Book, but vastly superior in interest and value. It contains the names of three thousand persons and one thousand four hundred places. It gives a correct account of genealogies of the first settlers, with brief notices of their achievements. It was commenced by the celebrated Frode, the Wise, who was born 1067, and died 1148, and was continued by Kalstegg, Styrmer and Thordson, being completed by Hauk Erlendson, Lagman, or Governor of Iceland, who died in the year 1334.

2. Gunnbiorn appears to have been a Northman who settled in Iceland at an early day. Nothing more is known of him.

3. Torfaeus says that these rocks lie six sea miles out from Geirfuglesker, out from Reikiavek, and twelve miles south of Garde in Greenland, yet they cannot now be found. It is not too much to suppose that they have been sunk by some of those fearful convulsions which have taken place in Iceland; yet it is quite as reasonable to conclude that these rocks were located elsewhere, probably nearer the east coast, which was formerly more accessible than now. In the version of the Account of Greenland, by Ivar Bardson (see "Antiquitates Americanae," p. 301), given from a Faroese Manuscript, and curiously preserved by Purchas, "His Pilgrimagae," vol. III, p. 518, we read as follows: "Item, men shall know, that, between Island and Greenland, lyeth a Risse called Gornbornse-Skare. There were they wont to haue their passage for Gronland. But as they report there is Ice upon the same Risse, come out of the Long North Bottome, so that we cannot use the same old Passage as they thinke." See "Sailing Directions of Henry Hudson."

4. Torfaeus says (Greenlandia, p. 73) that "Eric the Red first lived in Greenland, but it was discovered by the man called Gunnbiorn. After him Gunnbiorn's Rocks are called" (2nd ed. 1755).

5. The translation is literal or nearly so, and the sense is obscure.

6. The place of concealment appears to have been an excavation covered with stone or wood. That the people were sometimes accustomed to hide money in this way is evident. This was hidden there by Irishmen or Icelanders who may have been on their way to Greenland, though possibly hidden by pirates who early sailed the northern seas. We read in the Saga of Eric the Red, that Eric at first intended to go with his son, Leif, on his voyage to discover the land seen by Heriulf, and which Leif named Vinland. On his way to the ship, Eric's horse stumbled, and he fell to the ground seriously injured, and was obliged to abandon the voyage. He accepted this as a judgment for having, as one preparation for his absence, buried his money, where his wife, Thorhild, would not be able to find it.

7. This is believed to have been about February, affording one of many indications that the climate of that region has become more rigorous than formerly. The fact that water did not freeze indicates mild weather, which we might infer from the fact of their rigging their vessels, and from the preparation made for sea. In regard to the term "Goe," "Gronland's Historiske Mindesmaerker" (vol. I, p. 7), says: "This name was before used in Denmark, which Etatsraad Werlauf has discovered on the inscription of a Danish Rune Stone."

8. The facts that they engaged in hunting, and that they built a cabin to live in, might at first lead some to suppose that the place contained a forest or more or less trees, to supply wood. Yet this does not follow, as driftwood supplied all wants for building purposes where they could not obtain or use stones. Regarding driftwood, Crantz says, in speaking of Greenland: "For as He has denied this frigid, rocky region the growth of trees, He has bid the storms of the ocean convey to its shores a great deal of wood, which accordingly comes floating thither, part without ice, but the most part along with it, and lodges itself between the islands. Were it not for this, we Europeans should have no wood to burn there......Among this wood are great trees torn up by the roots, which by driving up and down for many years and dashing and rubbing on the ice, are quite bare of branches. A small part of this driftwood are willows, alder and birch trees, which come out of the bays in the south; also large trunks of aspen trees,.....but the greatest part is pine and fir. We find, also, a good deal of a sort of wood, finely veined, and with few branches; this, I fancy, is larchwood....There is also a solid, reddish wood of a more agreeable fragrancy than the common fir, with visible cross veins, which I take to be the same species as the beautiful silver firs, or zirbel, that have the smell of cedar, and grow on the high Grison hills, and the Switzers wainscot their rooms with them."--"History of Greenland," vol. I, p. 37.

9. If any confirmation were needed of the truth of this narrative, or of the killing of Snaebiorn and Thorod, we might look for it in the equally well-known fact, that after the return of the voyagers to Iceland, the death of these two men was fearfully revenged by their friends.

10. South-west of Norway.

11. See Colonization of Iceland, in the Introduction.

12. See notes to Introduction.

13. It is now impossible to identify these localities. The old view, that what is called the East-bygd, or District, was on the eastern coast of Greenland, is now abandoned. It is probable that no settlement was ever effected on the east coast, though formerly it was evidently more approachable than now. See Graah's "Expedition."

14. As we certainly know that Christianity was established in Iceland in the year A.D. 1000, the final settlement of Eric and his followers must have taken place during the year assigned, viz.: 985.

15. See "Antiquitates Americanae," p. 15, note a.

16. Evidently an error. See "Antiquitates Americanae," p. 15, note 3. On the state of society in Greenland at this period the reader may consult Prof. Keyser, from whose work on the Religion of the Northmen we may give the following, which is a translation of a part of the Saga of Eric that is given in Rafn's work:

"At that time there was a great famine in Greenland. Those who had gone to the wild districts (hunting and fishing) had met with little success, on account of the storms and bad paths. Some had never returned. There was a woman living in the settlement, whose name was Thorbjorg; she was a Spae-wife, and was called the little Vala or Prophetess. She had nine sisters, of whom she was the only survivor. Thorbjorg was in the habit of going around to the festivals, and she was invited chiefly by those who wished to learn their fate and the coming seasons. As Thorkel was the best man of the settlement, it seemed to be incumbent upon him to gain some information when the prevailing famine should cease. Thorkel, therefore, invites the Spae- wife to his house and prepares for her a good reception, such as was customary when a woman of her standing was expected. A cushion was prepared for her; it had to be stuffed with hen feathers. It was laid upon a high seat in the evening, when she came in with the man who had been sent out to receive her. She was dressed, on this occasion, as follows: She wore a blue cloak with fastenings of cords, set with stones around the border from top to bottom. Around her neck she had glass beads; upon her head a black lambskin hood, lined with white catskin. She carried a staff mounted with brass, with the head inlaid with stones. She was girded with a young bearskin belt, and to this hung a large pouch in which she kept the instruments of magic belonging to her occupation. On her feet she wore shaggy calfskin shoes with long, heavy thongs, on the ends of which were large brass buttons. She had catskin gloves upon her hands, white within, and shaggy. When she entered, every one felt it a duty to greet her with reverence; she returned their salutations, according to what she thought of each individually. Thorkel took the wise woman by the hand, and conducted her to the seat prepared for her. He requested her to cast her eyes over his herds, and property and house. She said but little concerning this. In the evening the tables were set, and now it shall be told what dishes were made ready for the Spae-wife. There were groats made of goat's milk; but her food was prepared from the heart of every animal in the neighborhood. She had a brass spoon and a knife of copper with a shaft of walrus tooth, and a double sheath, the point of which was broken off. When the tables were cleared Thorkell Bondi goes up to Thorbjorg and asks what she thinks of the house and the appearance of the people, and also how soon she will have a revelation concerning the things he has asked her about and which the people are all anxious to know. She answers that she cannot make this known before morning, after she has slept there over night. Early in the morning all the arrangements were made for her which belong to the incantation of Seidr. She then asked them to furnish her with women who knew the magic formulas of that ceremony, and who are called Vardlokur, i.e., the watch-guard; but none could be found who knew it, although inquiry was made at all the neighboring houses. Then Gudrid, a young girl who was present, said, 'I am not skilled in magic, nor any wise woman; but my foster-mother in Iceland taught me a formula, which she called Vardlokur.' Thorkel said, 'Thou art wiser than I thought.' Gudrid answered, 'This formula and the proceedings connected with it are of such a character that I cannot be present to assist with them; for I am a Christian.' Thorkel replied, 'Thou couldst help us in this matter without harming thyself thereby; I should be glad to furnish Thorbjorg what is necessary.' He then persuaded Gudrid so long that she at length promised to fulfill his wishes. Now Thorbjorg sat upon the witch seat, and the women formed a circle around her. Gudrid sang the song so beautifully and well that no one of the bystanders thought that they had ever heard a fairer song. Even the Spae-wife thought the song was beautiful to hear, and thanked her for it when done. 'Now,' says Thorbjorg, 'I have reflected upon the matter, how it will be both with the sickness and the seasons; and much has now been made clear to me that before was hidden from me and from others.' She then foretold that the famine and sickness, that were raging, should both disappear in the spring. To Gudrid she prophesied, in return for the services she had rendered, a very happy fate in the future, and also that a renowned family should be descended from her. Afterward, all the company went one after another to consult her about the future matters that they wished to know, and she gave them definite answers. Soon afterward she was invited to another house, and went hither; and her prophesies concerning the coming events of the year were entirely fulfilled. "The Religion of the Northmen," by Rudolph Keyser, p. 292.

17. This king propagated Christianity by physical force, and marked the course of his missionary tours with fire and blood; which might have been expected from a barbarian just converted from the worship of Odin and Thor.

18. These thralls were slaves, though slavery in Iceland assumed peculiar features. The following, from the "Saga of Gisli the Outlaw," shows the relation that slaves held to freemen. We read, that on one occasion, Gisli had borrowed a famous sword of Koll, and the latter asked to have it back, but Gisli in reply asks if he will sell it, receiving a negative reply. Then he says: "I will give thee thy freedom and goods, so that thou mayest fare whither thou wilt with other men." This is also declined, when Gisli continues: "Then I will give thee thy freedom, and lease, or give thee land, and besides I will give thee sheep, and cattle and goods, as much as thou needest." This he also declines, and Kol, when Gisli asks him to name a price, offering any sum of money, besides his freedom, and "a becoming match, if thou hast a likening for any one." But Kol refused to sell it at any price, which refusal led to a fight, and in the first onset, the slave's axe sank into Gisli's brain, while the disputed sword, Graysteel, clove the thick skull of Kol. See the "Saga of Gisli the Outlaw," p. 6, Edinburgh, 1866. Also the Saga of Eric Red, where Thorbiorn thinks it an indignity that Einar should ask for the hand of his daughter in marriage, Einar being the son of a slave.

19. Blue shirt.

20. Ante, p. 61.

21. Cartier in the Gulf of St. Lawrence gave names that had been used before.

22. The stonework would point to Europeans, say the Irish, as stonework was not the characteristic of the Skraellings. On the latter see later.

23. Original settler or freeholder, whose name and possessions were recorded in the Landanama-book.

24. Bear.

25. This poem no longer exists. Its subject, the Hafgerdingar, is described as a fearful body of water, "which sometimes rises in the sea near Greenland in such a way that three large rows of waves inclose a part of the sea, so that the ship, inside, is in the greatest danger."--Gronland's Historiske Mindismaerker, vol. I, p. 264. There does not appear to be any better foundation for this notion of the Hafgerdingar than for the old accounts of the Maelstrom, once supposed to exist on the coast of Norway. The Hafgardingar may have originated from seeing the powerful effect of a cross sea acting on the tide.

26. To this translation may be added another in metre, by Beamish:

O thou who triest holy men!

Now guide me on my way;

Lorde of the earth's wide vault, extend

Thy gracious hand to me.

This appears to be the earliest Christian prayer thus far found in connection with this period of American history.

27. See later on this subject.

28. aeyrar. This is not the name of a place---for Heriulf dwelt in Iceland at a place called Dropstock--but of a natural feature of ground; eyri, still called an ayre in the Orkney islands, being a flat, sandy tongue of land, suitable for landing and drawing up boats upon. All ancient dwellings in those islands, and probably in Iceland also, are situated so as to have the advantage of this kind of natural wharf, and the spit of land called an ayre, very often has a small lake or pond inside of it, which shelters boats.--Laing.

29. This we will accept as Labrador, and in the account we notice that in this Saga the inland elevations are not considered mountains, though Leif in his account as we shall see speaks of them as "large snowy mountains of the country." The main feature of a high region characterizes both accounts, and this undesigned coincidence will have more effect upon the mind than the narratives would have afforded, if both had used the same language. Besides we are not to suppose that Biarne and Leif saw the land in the same place, and at same point the inland hills would deserve the name of mountains more than others. Leif's narrative incorrectly calls this last point visited by Biarne before reaching Greenland. Helluland the "Great" and the "Little" were names applied to Labrador and Newfoundland. The Saga furnishes the correction. See the notes on the voyage of Leif which follow. Still it must be confessed that the statements are obscure, like many English narrations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

30. The "Markland" of Leif.

31. The details of this voyage are very simple, yet whoever throws aside his old time prejudices, and considers the whole subject with the care which it deserves, cannot otherwise than feel persuaded that Biarne was driven upon this Continent, and that the land seen was the coast of that great territory which stretches between Massachusetts and Newfoundland, for there is no other land to answer the description. Of course no particular merit can be claimed for this discovery. It was also accidental, something like the discovery of America by Columbus, who, in looking for the East Indies, stumbled upon a new world. Yet Biarne's discovery soon led to substantial results.

32. The present Island of Disco, called in the Saga of Karlsefne, "Biarney."

33. This piece makes no reference to the voyage of Biarne, but confirms important statements in the first narrative.

34. Considerable has been said at various times in opposition to these accounts, because cattle and sheep, and sometimes horses, are mentioned in connection with Greenland. Some have supposed that, for these reasons, the Saga must be incorrect. Yet, in more modern times, there has been nothing to prevent the people from keeping such animals, though it has been found better to substitute dogs for horses. Crantz says, that in "the year 1759, one of our missionaries brought three sheep with him from Denmark to new Herrnhuth. These have so increased by bringing some two, some three lambs a year, that they have been able to kill some every year since, to send some to Lichtenfels, for a beginning there, and, after all, to winter ten at present. We may judge how vastly sweet and nutritive the grass is here, from the following tokens: that tho' three lambs come from one ewe, they are larger, even in autumn, than a sheep of a year old in Germany." He says that in the summer they could pasture two hundred sheep around New Herrnhuth; and that they formerly kept cows, but that it proved too much trouble.--History of Greenland, vol. I, page 74.

35. There are discrepancies between the Saga of Eric and his son's, and those relating to Thorfinn, of such a nature as to leave no doubt that they must have come to us from two wholly distinct sources. Torfaeus was the first to direct attention to these discrepancies, at the same time remarking that they were of a nature to confirm rather than to disprove the statements. The Eric Sagas were evidently composed in Greenland, while those relating to Thorfinn had their origin in Iceland. The discrepancies are in themselves of very little consequence, but they serve to establish the important fact that the Sagas of Eric and of Thorfinn must be received as two independent authorities." North American Review, vol. CXIX, pp. 265-72. See ante, p. 63.

36. He must have gone over to Greenland from Norway then, as in the year 1000, he returned and introduced Christianity into Greenland. The language used is indefinite.

37. One recension of the Saga of Eric the Red, states that he went with Leif on his voyage to Vinland. Finn Magnussen says that the error arose from a change of one letter in a pair of short words. See Gronland's Historiske Mindesmaerker, vol. I, p. 471. In a similar way the change may have been made which incorrectly represents Leif as coming first to the last point visited by Biarne.

38. Horses could be kept in Greenland now, only with much expense. It appears that anciently it was not so. Undoubtedly there has been more or less of change in climate, during the last thousand years by the procession of the equinox. Geologists find evidence that at one period, a highly tropical climate must have existed in the northern regions. Fossil figs and tropic trees are among the wonders of Greenland.

39. Superstition was the bane of the Northman's life. He was also a firm believer in Fate. The doctrines of Fate held the finest Northern minds in a vice-like grasp, so that in many cases their lives were continually overshadowed by a great sorrow. One of the saddest illustrations of this belief may be found in the Saga of Grettir the Strong (given in Baring-Gould's work on Iceland), a Saga in which the doctrine appears with a power that is well nigh appalling.

40. Some suppose that he was a German, others claim that he was a Turk, as his name might indicate.

41. Ante, p. 86.

42. Snowy mountains, Joklar miklir, such as Chappell mentions having been seen on the coast, June 14, 1818.

43. Helluland, from Hella, a flat stone, an abundance of which may be found in Labrador and the region round about. But it should be noted that the country between the sea and the mountains or hills was level. Ante, p. 89, note 2.

44. This agrees with the general features of Nova Scotia. The North American Pilot describes the land around Halifax, as "low in general, and not visible twenty miles off; except from the quarter-deck of a seventy four. Apostogon hills have a long, level appearance, between Cape Le Have and Port Medway, the coast to the seaward being level and low, and the shores with white rocks and low, barren points; from thence to Shelburne and Port Roseway, are woods. Near Port Haldiman are several barren places, and thence to Cape Sable, which makes the south-west point into Barrington Bay, a low and woody island." Antiquitates Americanae, p. 423. Markland is therefore supposed, with great reason, to be Nova Scotia, so well described, both in the Saga, and in the Coast Pilot. Markland means woodland. Two days sail thence, brought them in view of Cape Cod, though very likely the sailing time is not correct.

45. This island has given the interpreters considerable trouble, from the fact that it is said to lie to the northward of the land. Professor Rafn, in order to identify the island with Nantucket, shows that the north point of the Icelandic compass lay toward the east. But this does not fairly meet the case. There would, perhaps, have been no difficulty in the interpretation, if the Northern Antiquaries had been acquainted with the fact, that in early times an island existed northward from Nantucket, on the opposite coast of Cape Cod. This island, together with a large point of land, which now has also disappeared, existed in the times of Gosnold, who sailed around Cape Cod, in 1602. At one time some doubt existed in regard to the truthfulness of the accounts of this island, for the reason that those portions of land described, no longer existed. Yet their positions were laid down with scientific accuracy; the outer portion of the island being called Point Care, while the other point was called Point Gilbert. Neither Archer nor Brereton in their accounts of Gosnold's voyage, give any name to the island; but Captian John Smith, in 1614, calls it "Isle Nawset." Smith's History of Virginia, vol. II, p. 183. This island was of the drift formation, and, as late as half a century ago, a portion of it still remained, being called Slut Bush. The subject has been carefully gone over by Mr. Otis, in his pamphlet on the Discovery of an Ancient Ship on Cape Cod. Professor Agassiz, writing December 17, 1863, says: "Surprising and perhaps incredible as the statements of Mr. Amos Otis may appear, they are nevertheless the direct and natural inference of the observations which may be easily made along the eastern coast of Cape Cod. Having of late felt a special interest in the geological structure of that remarkable region, I have repeatedly visited it during the past summer, and, in company with Mr. Otis, examined, on one occasion, with the most minute care, the evidence of the former existence of Isle Nauset and Point Gilbert. I found it as satisfactory as any geological evidence can be. Besides its scientific interest," he adds, "this result has some historical importance. At all events it fully vindicates Archer's account of the aspect of Cape Cod, at the time of its discovery in 1602, and shows him to have been a truthful and accurate observer." But possibly the vindication may extend back even to the Northmen, whom the learned professor and his co-laborers did not have in mind; especially as this discovery will help very materially to explain their descriptions. Now, in the accounts of Thorfinn Karlsefne's passage around this part of the Vinland, it is said that they called the shore Wonder-strand, "because they were so long going by." Any one in sailing past the coast today will be struck with its length. But by glancing at a reconstructed map of Cape Cod, the reader will find that the coast line is greatly increased, so that in order to pass around the cape, the navigator must sail a longer distance than now. Comparing the distance gained, the Northmen might well grow weary, and call it "Wonder-strand." Our knowledge of this island quite relieves the difficulty that was felt by Professor Rafn, who labored to show that the island in question was Nantucket, notwithstanding the fact that it lay too far east. For a fuller knowledge of Isle Nauset, See New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. XVIII, p. 37; and Massachusetts Historical Collections, vol. VIII, series III, pp. 72-93. "Webb's Island," which existed at the close of the last century, was the remains of Gosnold's "Point Gilbert." The people of Nantucket formerly used to cut wood there. See Morse's Universal Gazetteer, vol. I, p. 357, Ed. 1783. Capt. Vetch anchored under Webb's Island Nov. 16, 1701. See O'Callaghan's curious and interesting monograph: "The Voyage of the Sloop Mary," Munsell, Albany, 1866. O'Callaghan says that "it has since been swallowed up by the sea." "Sloop Mary," pp. ix and 27, also Mass. Mag. (111-151), which says, "The water is six fathoms deep on this spot."

46. In speaking of the immediate vicinity of wonder-strand, the second account of Thorfinn's expedition, says: "There were places without harbors," which has always been the case, this coast being dangerous; yet it is said above that "they landed to wait for good weather." This would be impracticable now, except at Chatham; yet at that day, notwithstanding the absence of harbors, they would find accomodation for their small vessel somewhere between the island and the mainland. From Bradford's History, p. 217, we learn that in 1626-7, there was at this place "a small blind harbore" that "lyes aboute ye middle of Manamoyake Bay," which today is filled up by recently formed sandy wastes and salt meadows. This "blind harbore," had at its mouth a treacherous bar of sand. If this harbor had existed in the days of the Northmen, they would not of necessity discover it; and hence while Leif might have landed here and found protection, Thorfinn, in his much larger ship, might have found it needful to anchor, as he appears to have done, in the grounds between Isle Nauset and Point Gilbert, while explorations were being made on the land.

47. "Honey dew," says Dr. Webb, "occurs in this neighborhood."- Antiquitates Americanae, p. 443.

48. This sound may have been the water between Point Gilbert and Isle Nauset.

49. Archer says in his account of Gosnold's voyage: "Twelve leages from [the end of] Cape Cod, we descried a point [Point Gilbert] with some breach, a good distance off." It is said that the ness, or cape, went out northward but we must remember that eastward is meant.

50. This is precisely the course they would steer after doubling that ness or cape which existed in Gosnold's day, and which he named Point Gilbert. The author does not agree with Professor Rafn, in making this point to be at the eastern entrance to Buzzard's bay. If he had known of the existence of the Isle Nauset, he would not have looked for the ness in that neighborhood. At that time Cape Malabar probably did not exist, as we know how rapidly land is formed in the vicinity; yet it would not have attracted notice in comparison with the great broad point mentioned by Archer.

51. After passing Point Gilbert, shoal water may almost anywhere be found, which appears to have been the case anciently.

52. The river may have been Seaconnet passage and Pocasset River.

53. This lake is thought to answer to Mount Hope Bay. The writer of the Saga passes over that part of the voyage immediately following the doubling of the ness. The tourist in traveling that way by rail will at first take Mount Hope Bay for a lake.

54. Salmon were formerly so plentiful in this vicinity, that it is said a rule was made, providing that masters should not oblige their apprentices to eat this fish more than twice a week. Still I may repeat a quotation from Henry V (1st A., sc. 4, 5): "I warrant you shall find in the comparisons between Macedon and Monmouth that the situation, look you, is both alike. There is a river in Macedon, and there is also moreover a river at Monmouth; it is called Wye at Monmouth, but it is out of my prains what is the name of the other river, but 'tis all one; 'tis alike as my fingers is to my fingers, and there is salmon in both."

55. It is well known that cattle in the vicinity can pass the winter with little or no shelter, and the sheep on Nantucket, can, when necessary, take care of themselves.

56. This is an exaggeration, or, possibly the writer, who was not with the expedition, meant to convey the idea that there was no frost, compared with what was experienced in Greenland and Iceland. The early narrator of the voyage unquestionably tried to make a good impression as regards the climate. In so doing, he has been followed by nearly all who have come after him. Eric the Red told some almost fabulous stories about the climate of Greenland; and yet, because his accounts do not agree with facts, who is so foolish as to deny that he ever saw Greenland? With as much reason we might deny that Leif came to Vinland. With equal reason, too, we might deny that Mortan was ever at Merry Mount; for he tells us, in his New English Canaan, that coughs and colds are unknown in New England. Lieutenant-Governor Dudley of Massachusetts complained of false representations in his day. "Footprints of Miles Standish," p. 24.

57. This passage was misunderstood by Torfaeus, the earliest writer who inquired into these questions. He was followed by Peringskiold, Malte-Brun and others, who, by their reckoning, made the latitude of Vinland somewhere near Nova Scotia. Yet the recent studies of Rafn and Finn Magnussen, have elucidated the point: "The Northmen divided the heavens or horizons into eight principal divisions, and the times of the day according to the sun's apparent motion through these divisions, the passage through each of which they supposed to occupy a period of three hours. The day was therefore divided into portions of time corresponding with these eight divisions, each was called an eykt, signifying an eighth part. This eykt was again divided, like each of the grand divisions of the heavens, into two smaller and equal portions, called stund or mal. In order to determine these divisions of time, the inhabitant of each place carefully observed the diurnal course of the sun, and noted the terrestial objects over which it seemed to stand. Such an object, whether artificial or natural, was called by the Icelanders dagsmark (daymark). They were also led to make these daymarks by a division of the horizon according to the principal winds, as well as by the wants of their domestic economy. The shepherd's rising time, for instance, was called Hirdis rismal, which corresponds with half-past four o'clock, A.M., and this was the beginning of the natural day of twenty four hours. Reckoning from Hirdis rismal the eight stund or eighth half eykt ended at just half- past four P.M. ; and therefore this particular period was called EYKT. This Eykt, strictly speaking, commenced at three o'clock, P.M., and ended at half-past four P.M., when it was said to be in eyktarstadr or the termination of the eykt. The precise moment that the sun appeared in this place indicated the termination of the artificial day (dagr) and half the natural day (dagr) and was therefore held especially deserving of notice; the hours of labor, also, are supposed to have ended at this time. Six o'clock, A.M. was called midr morgun; half-past seven A.M., Dagmal; nine A.M., Dagverdarmal. Winter was considered to commence in Iceland about the seventeenth of October, and Bishop Thorlacius, the calculator of the astronomical calender, fixes sunrise in the south of Iceland on the seventeenth of October, at half-past seven A.M. At this hour, according to the Saga, it rose in Vinland on the shortest day, and set at half past four P.M., which data fix the latitude of the place at 41 degrees 43' 10" being nearly that of Mount Hope Bay." See Mem. Antiq. du Nord, 1863-7, p. 165. Rafn's calculations make the position 41 degrees 24' 10". It is based on the view that the observation was made in Vinland when only the upper portion of the disc had appeared above the horizon. The difference, of course, is not important. Thus we know the position of the Icelandic settlement in New England. See Antiquitates Americanae, p. 436. Also a different view in Cleasby's Icelandic Dictionary, p. 135.

58. In those turbulent times children were not brough up at home, but were sent to be trained up in the families of trusty friends. This was done to preserve the family line. Often, in some bloody feud, a whole household would be destroyed, yet the children being out at foster, would be preserved and in due time come to represent the family. In Leif's day heathenism and lawlessness were on the decline. We have a true picture given us by Dasent, of the way in which children were treated in the heathen age. He says: "With us, an old house can stand upon a crooked as well as upon a straight support. But in Iceland, in the tenth century, as in all the branches of that great family, it was only healthy children that were allowed to live. The deformed, as a burden to themselves, their friends and to society, were consigned to destruction by exposure to the violence of the elements. This was the father's stern right, and though the mothers of that age were generally blest with robust offspring, still the right was often exercised. As soon as it was born, the infant was laid upon the bare ground, and, until the father came and looked at it, heard and saw that it was strong in lung and limb, took it up in his arms and handed it over to the nurse, its fate hung in the balance and life or death depended upon the sentence of its sire. That danger over, it was duly washed, signed with the Thunderer's [Thor's] holy hammer-the symbol of all manliness and strength-and solemnly received into the family as the faithful champion of the ancient gods. When it came to be named there was what we should call the christening ale. There was saddling, mounting and riding among kith and kin. Cousins came in bands from all points of the compass: dependents, freedmen and thralls all mustered strong. The ale is broached, the board is set, and the benches are thronged with guests; the mirth and revelry are at the highest, when in strides into the hall a being of awful power, in whom that simple age set full faith. This was the Norne, the wandering prophetess, sybil fortune teller, a woman to whom it was given to know the weirds of men, and who had come to do honor to the child, and tell his fortune.........After the child was named, he was often put out to foster with some neighbor, his father's inferior in power, and there he grew up with the children of the house, and contracted those friendships and affections which were reckoned better and more binding than the ties of blood."-- Antiquaires du Nord, 1859, pp. 8-9

59. There is nothing in this to indicate that Tyrker was intoxicated, as some have absurdly supposed. In this far off land, he found grapes, which powerfully reminded him of his native country, and the association of ideas is so strong, that when he first meets Leif, he breaks out in the language of his childhood, and, like ordinary epicures, expresses his joy, which is all the more marked on account of his grotesque appearance. Is not this a stroke of genuine nature, something that a writer, framing the account of a fictitious voyage, would not dream of? Similar cases are found in literature.

60. Grapes grow wild almost everywhere on this coast. They may be found on Cape Cod ripening among the scrub oaks, even within the reach of the ocean spray, where the author has often gathered them.

61. In Peringskiold's Heimskringla, which Laing has followed in translating Leif's voyage for his appendix, this statement of the cutting of wood is supplemented by the following statement: "There was also self-sown wheat in the fields, and a tree which is called massur. Of all these they took samples; and some of the trees were so large that they were used in houses." It is thought that the massur wood was a species of maple. Others have declared that it must have been mahogany, and that therefore the account of Leif's discovery is false. They forget that even George Popham, in writing home to his patron from Sagadahoc, in 1607, says that among the productions of the country are "nutmegs and cinnamon." Yet shall we infer from this that Popham never saw New England?

62. Olaus Magnus, who wrote 1075, after he had made a visit to the King of Denmark, at whose court he heard of the exploits of the Icelanders, says: "Besides it was stated [by the King] that a region had been discovered by many in that [Western] ocean which was called Winland, because vines grow there spontaneously, making excellent wine; for that fruits, not planted grow there of their own accord, we know not false rumors, but by the certain testimony of the Danes." See, also, Rafn's Antiquitates, etc., p. 319.

63. They were evidently Norwegian traders who were shipwrecked while approaching the coast and sailing for the Greenland ports. Here attention may be called to the truthful description of the Sagas as one proof of their authenticity and historical value. We employ the well-considered words of Henry Cabot Lodge, who says:

"The Sagas may then be accepted as authentic historical records. A detailed examination of them would result in almost complete proof of Norse visits to America. Such an examination would be impossible within the limits of a notice, but some of the most striking portions are worth attention. If one takes a map of North America, it will be seen at once that a vessel starting from Cape Farewell and steering almost due south would make the coast of Newfoundland, possibly Labrador. The first land made by the Northmen after leaving Greenland was Helluland, distinguished by its rocky appearance, like the northern Newfoundland coast. Further to the south, the next shores would be that of Nova Scotia, a thickly wooded country, and called by the Northmen Markland. Several days of open water and Cape Cod or Cape Kiarlarness would be reached. The description of the cape in the Sagas, where it is frequently mentioned, corresponds perfectly with Cape Cod. The features of the shore are accurately described, long stretches of flats and sand dunes rising up behind them. To the south of this cape a bay was entered by the Norsemen, and named from its numerous currents, for which Buzzard's Bay is remarkable. The large island covered with the eggs of seabirds lies in the southern part of the bay. The long beaches of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are famous today, as in the tenth century, for large quantities of sea fowl's eggs. In this country wild grapes grew in great profusion. Even supposing great changes of climate, this fact may be fairly taken to exclude Greenland and Labrador, in both of which countries wild grapes would be an anomaly. Grapes do grow, however, in Rhode Island. Examples might be multiplied. It is a very strong case of cumulative evidence. Vinland must have been some portion of the eastern coast of the American Continent. Nothing then is more likely than that the Norsemen visited New England. The description of the Sagas coincide exactly with the south-eastern coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The Sagas are in the main certainly accurate and truthful. If these premises are admitted, and it seems impossible to deny them, the visits of the Norsemen are sufficiently well proved."--North American Review, vol. CXIX, p. 177.

64. Gissur, called the White, was one of the greatest lawyers of Iceland. We read that "there was a man named Gissur White, he was Teit's son, Kettlebiarne the Old's son, of Mossfell [Iceland]. Bishop Isleif was Gissur's son. Gissur the White kept house at Mossfell, and was a great Chief." Saga of Burnt Nial, vol. I, p. 146.

65. Hialte was doubtless the same person who entered the swimming match with King Olaf. See Saga of Olaf Tryggvesson.

66. This is an error, unless the writer means that the voyage to Vinland, afterward undertaken, was a part of the same general expedition. Leif went to Greenland first, as we have already seen.

67. These pagans did not always yield even so readily as Eric. Some in Norway became martyrs to the faith of Odin. See Saga of Olaf Tryggvesson (passim) in vol. I, of Heimskringla.

68. See note to foregoing account.

69. These appear to have been married men or secular clergy.

70. Assuming that the expedition was located in Rhode Island, this westward exploration would indicate a movement along the shore of Connecticut, which answers well enough to the description.

71. A building of this character would point to Europeans, who, according to the minor narratives, preceeded the Icelanders in America.

72. This cape was not Point Gilbert, but the terminus of Cape Cod, known as "Race Point," a dangerous place for navigation. It would seem that this was the place referred to, for the reason that the next place mentioned is the shore near Plymouth, which is readily seen from the end of Cape Cod in a clear day. Here is a hiatus. It was the vicinity of Race Point that they called "Kialarness," or Keel Cape. From Cape Cod it would seem they crossed to Plymouth, whose heights were in view of the cape in clear weather, and then worked along eastward, though the passage across the mouth of Cape Cod Bay is not mentioned, reaching the mouth of Boston Harbor, where Thorvald said, "Here it is beautiful," even as John Smith wrote of it as "the Paradise of all these parts," and where evidently the French had been before him. Indeed everything goes to prove, that from the time of Allefonsce, 1542, down to Belligner, 1583, the French must often resorted thither. If we are correct in this view, Boston is a singularly appropriate place for a monument to the Northmen. Afterward they speak of "the bay" and habitations, all of which is in keeping with Boston Harbor. Whoever takes the trouble to analyze the language, will discover by the occasional hiatus that the writer speaks from a fullness of knowledge, and that he could have added many particulars, showing that he was writing about actual events.

73. Here, Antiquitates Americanae, p. 42, is followed, instead of Peringskiold, whose version does not mention the point of land. This place is regarded as Point Alderton, below Boston Harbor. Thorvald evidently sailed along the shore to this point, which is the most remarkable on the east coast.

74. Nothing supernatural is here intended, simply the result of fatigue.

75. These screens were made of planks which could be quickly arranged above the bulwarks, thus affording particular protection against arrows and stones.

76. These people are sometimes called Smaellingar, or small men. Others deduce their name from skraela, to dry, alluding to their shriveled aspect; and others from skraekia to shout. It is evident from the accounts of Egede and Crantz, that they formerly inhabited this part of the country, but were gradually obliged to go northward. It is well known that in other parts of America, these migrations were common. These people were more likely to take refuge in Greenland than the Northmen themselves. Critics have been concerned to know how it comes that the people met by the Northmen in New England appeared to be Esquimaux, and not Red Indians. This is because the Red Indians had not then become masters of the coast, which was held by a littoral people who once occupied the coast from Florida to Greenland, being the descendants of what may be called the "glacial man." The Indians who said that the Great Spirit gave him the country, simply wrested it from the Skraellings, whose stone implements are now found in the Trenton gravels. See author's "Glacial Man in America;" Pop. Science Review, vol. XVIII, p. 31. The skin boats of the Skraellings were in keeping with habits of the littoral people. The Red man who followed used bark, or fashioned canoes out of solid logs, as described by Sebastian Cabot, Verranzano and Lescarbot.

77. The conduct of Thorvald indicates magnanimity of character, thinking first of his men, and afterward of himself.

78. Christianity was introduced by Leif, Thorvald's brother, in 1001-2.

79. This is evidently an error, for Christianity was introduced by Leif, before he sailed on his voyage to Vinland. Errors like this abound in all early annals, and why should Icelandic chronicles be free from them? Every such case will be impartially pointed out. The treatment of this passage by Smith, in his Dialogues on the Northmen, p. 127, is far from being candid. He translates the passage thus: "But Eric the Red had died without professing Christianity," and refers the English reader to the Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefne, Antiquitates Americanae, pp. 119-20, as if he would there find a reason for his rendering of the text, which is unequivocal, and is translated literally above. On turning to the authority in question, we find nothing more said than that "Eric was slow to give up his [pagan] religion," and that the affair caused a separation between him and his wife. That he was slow to give up his pagan belief, would seem to indicate that he did give it up eventually. Moreover we have the direct statement that he was baptized. See second Narrative of Leif.

80. That is, they returned around Cape Cod to the rendezvous in Rhode Island.

81. Gathering and drying them evidently.

82. This Gudrid who was rescued from the rock in the sea by Leif Ericson, is now married the second time, and as we shall see later on, was married a third time, and became the head of a most important family, afterward going to Rome.

83. Norway lay east of Iceland, and hence the people of that country were sometimes called Eastmen.

84. If Vinland had been situated in Labrador, it would be rather idle to suppose that they could have lost the summer in trying to find it. This expedition aimed at reaching the place called "Crossaness" near the Bay of Boston.

85. Winter began October 17.

86. They probably had, at least, diminutive horses or ponies in Greenland like those of Iceland today.

87. Thorstein Black was a pagan, who nevertheless saw the superior value of the new faith.

88. See The Graves of the Northmen, Church Monthly, 1865.

89. We must here remember the simplicity of manners, which then (as now) prevailed among the Icelanders. The tourist in Iceland is always surprised by the absence of all prudery.

90. That is, visit Italy and especially Rome.

91. Whoever inclines to dismis this narrative as an idle fiction, must remember that all history is more or less pervaded by similar stories. The Rev. Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia of New England, gives the account of a great number of supernatural events of no better character than this related in the Saga. Some are ludicrous in the extreme, and others are horrible, both in their inception and end. Among other stories, is that of Mr. Phillip Smith, deacon of the church at Hadley, Mass., and a member of the General Court, who appears to have been bewitched. He was finally obliged to keep his bed. Then it is said that the people "beheld fire somtimes on the bed; and when the beholders begain to discourse of it, it vanished away. Divers people actually felt something often stir in the bed, at a considerable distance from the man; it seemed as big as a cat, but they could never grasp it. Several trying to lean on the bed's head, tho' the sick man lay wholly still, the bed would shake so as to knock their heads uncomfortably. A very strong man could not lift the sick man, to make him lie more easily, tho' he apply'd his utmost strength unto it; and yet he could go presently and lift the bedstead and a bed, and a man lying on it, without any strain to himself at all. Mr. Smith dies......After the opinion of all had pronounc'd him dead, his countenance continued as lively as though he had been alive......Divers noises were heard in the room where the corpse lay; as the clattering of chairs and stools, whereof no account could be given."--Magnalia, ed. 1853, vol. I, p. 455. The account is vouched for by the author, who was one of the most learned divines of his day. Another is given, among the multitude of which he had the most convincing proof. He writes: "It was on the 2d day of May, in the year 1687, that a most ingenious, accomplish'd and well-dispos'd young gentleman, Mr. Joseph Beacon by Name, about 5 o'clock in the morning, as he lay, whether sleeping or waking he could not say (but he judged the latter of them), had a view of his brother, then at London, although he was himself at our Boston, distanc'd from him a thousand leagues. This his brother appear'd to him in the morning (I say) about 5 o'clock, at Boston, having on him a Bengale gown, which he usually wore, with a napkin ty'd about his head; his countenance was very pale, ghastly, deadly, and he had a bloody wound on the side of his forehead. 'Brother,' says the affrighted Joseph, 'Brother,' answered the apparition. Said Joseph, 'What's the matter Brother? how came you here?' The apparition replied: 'Brother I have been most barbarously and inhumanly murdered by a debauch'd fellow, to whom I never did any wrong in my life.' Whereupon he gave a particular description of the murderer; adding, 'Brother, this fellow, changing his name, is attempting to come over to New England in Foy or Wild; I would pray you on the arrival of either of these, to get an order from the governour to seize the person whom I now have describ'd, and then do you indict him for the murder of your brother.' And so he vanished." Mather then adds an account, which shows that Beacon's brother was actually murdered as described, dying within the very hour in which his apparition appeared in Boston. He says that the murderer was tried, but, with the aid of his friends, saved his life. Joseph himself, our author says, died "a pious and hopeful death," and gave him the account written and signed with his own hand. While New England history abounds with stories like this, men incline to question an Icelandic writer, because he occasionally indulges in fancies of the same sort. Rather should we look for them to be more or less akin to what are called the "spiritual manifestations" of our modern times, and suggest the well-attested marvels that disturbed the Wesley family.

92. Thorhild's Church. See Antiquitates Americanae, p. 119.

93. "Byrdusmjor."

94. "Karl is the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon "Carl," signifying a "Man." "Efni" finds its equivalent in the Latin Materia, signifying "Stuff." "Mannsefni" stood for a "promising man," and "Karlsefni" for a "real" or "sterling" man. The name was often used in the sense of a nickname, and indicated that the person to whom it was applied was made of "good stuff."

95. Throughout this narrative of Thorfinn, the name of Eric occurs where that of Leif should be given. Eric died five years before Thorfinn came over to Greenland. This account having been written in Iceland, the author made a very natural mistake in supposing that Eric was still at the head of the family. The proper change has been made in the translation to avoid confusion.

96. Yule was a pagan festival held originally in honor of Thor, the God of War, at the beginning of February, which was the opening of the Northman's year. But as Christianity has been established in Greenland for five years, the festival was now probably changed to December, and held in honor of Christ.

97. Ante, p. 115. Widow of Thorstein Ericson. Rafn thinks, she is mentioned in this Saga by two names, Gudrid and Thurid, that one was her name in childhood, and the other in her maturer years, when Christianity came to have a practical bearing. Her father's name was Thorbiron, derived from Thor. It was supposed that those who bore the names of gods would find in these names a charm or special protection from danger.

98. It was gain, not glory. They never boasted of thier voyages.

99. This is a mistake, Eric's son was dead and buried at Crossaness in Vinland. It must have been another Thorvald.

100. The Northmen had two ways of reckoning a hundred, the short and the long. The long hundred and twenty. We read in Tegner's Frithiof's Saga:

"But a house for itself was the banquet hall, fashioned in fir wood;

Not five hundred, thought told ten dozen to every hundred,

Filled

B. F. De Costa