The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen / Illustrated by Translations from Icelandic Sagas

by B. F. DeCosta

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Jones on The Tyrian Period of America.

[2] Var. Hist., lib. iii, cap. xviii.

[3] See Plato's Critias and Timæas.

[4] De Mundo, cap. iii. See Prince Henry the Navigator, chap. vii, by Major: London, 1868.

[5] Odyssey, book iv, l. 765.

[6] See Prince Henry the Navigator, p. 90.

[7] Strobo. lib. iii.—Plutarch.

[8] Pliny's Natural History, lib. vi, cap. 37.

[9] See p. 137.

[10] Prince Henry the Navigator, p. 137.

[11] 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 rediscovered 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 rediscovered by Prince Henry is therefore incorrect. His expedition reached Porto Santo and Madeira in 1418-20.

[12] He also speculates upon the probability of this continent having been visited by Christian missionaries. See vol. vi, p. 410.

[13] Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi, p. 285.

[14] Ibid., p. 332.

[15] Monastikon Britannicum, pp. 131-2-187-8. The fact that the word America is here used, seems quite sufficient to upset the legend.

[16] The Irish were early known as Scots, and O'Halloran derives the name from Scota, high priest of Phœnius, and ancestor of 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 wide ocean foamed with hostile oars.

[17] 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.

[18] As the tradition of a Welch voyage to America under Prince Madoc, relates to a period following the Icelandic voyages, the author does not deem it necessary to discuss the subject. This voyage by the son of Owen Gwyneth, is fixed for the year 1170, and is based on a Welch chronicle of no authority. See Hackluyt, vol. iii, p. 1.

[19] Turkish Spy, vol. viii, p. 159.

[20] See "Northmen in Iceland," Sociètà des Antiquaires du Nord, Seance du 14 Mai, 1859, pp. 12-14.

[21] It is sometimes, though improperly, called the Norse.

[22] 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."

[23] 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. Ingolf, the first Norse settler of Iceland, lost sight of the seat-posts after they were thrown into the water, and was obliged to live for the space of three years at Ingolfshofdi. 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 forhead."

[24] Ari Hinn Frode, or the Wise. The chief compiler of the famous Landnama 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 3000 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 Thordsen, and completed by Hauk Erlandson, Lagman, or Governor of Iceland, who died in the year 1334.

[25] "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 Americanæ, 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.

[26] All the information which we possess relating to the discovery by Gunnbiorn is given in the body of this work, in extracts from Landanamabok.

[27] 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. Yet this is beyond question fraud. Gunnbiorn was undoubtedly the first to gain a glimpse of Greenland.

[28] The Northmen reckoned by winters.

[29] See the Saga of Eric the Red.

[30] 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 separate thing.

[31] The author designs shortly to give some full account of the early Christianity on the Western Continent in a separate work, now well advanced towards completion. It will include both the Pre and Post-Columbian eras.

[32] 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 Thnig.

[33] It will be seen hereafter that he went and established himself in Vinland.

[34] See Memoires des Antiquaires du Nord, p. 383.

[35] 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.

[36] See Crantz's Greenland, vol. i, p. 252.

[37] These inscriptions are all in fair runic letters, about which there can be no mistake, and are totally unlike the imaginary runes, among which we may finally feel obliged to class those of the Dighton rock.

[38] See Egede's Greenland, p. xxv; Crantz's Greenland, vol. i, pp. 247-8; Purchas, His Pilgrimes, vol. iii, p. 518; Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 300.

[39] Antiquitates Americanæ, p. xxxix.

[40] For the account of the manuscripts upon which our knowledge of Greenland is founded, see Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 255.

[41] In that year parties are known to have contracted marriage at Gardar, from whom Finn Magnussen and other distinguished men owe their descent.

[42] Egede's Greenland, p. xlvii.

[43] Ibid., xlviii.

[44] Crantz's Greenland, vol. i, p. 264.

[45] Crantz's Greenland, p. 274.

[46] Ibid., p. 279.

[47] 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.

[48] The motto on the sword of Roger Guiscard was:

"Appulus et Calaber Siculus mihi Servit et Afer."

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

[50] See Saga of Saint (not king) Olaf.

[51] Des Antiquaires du Nord, 1859.

[52] Ledehammer. The point of land near the house of Lede, just below Drontheim.

[53] 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 the 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 Thorberg, '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."

[54] 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 amid ships. 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.

[55] The people of Iceland were always noted for their 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.

[56] 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 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 these compositions.

[57] The fact that Mr. Bancroft has in times past expressed opinions in opposition to this view will hardly have weight with those persons 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 Flatöiensis, finished in the year 1395. He is much mistaken in supposing that the northern Antiquarians 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 subject, 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. It is to be earnestly hoped that in the next edition, Mr. Bancroft may be persuaded to revise his unfounded opinions.

Washington Irving has expressed the same doubt in his Life of Columbus, written 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.

[58] The word rune comes from ryn, a furrow. Odin has the credit of the invention, 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 afterwards cut upon a staff." This indicates the training the memory must have undergone among the Northmen.

[59] For a list of many Icelandic works, see the Introduction of Laing's Heimskringla.

[60] See Sir Edmund Head's Viga Glum Saga, pp. viii and ix.

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

[62] As early as 1411, there was a considerable trade between Bristol and Iceland, and Columbus visited Iceland in the spring of the year 1477, where he might have met Magnus Eyolfson, the bishop of Skalholt, or learned from some other scholar the facts in relation to the early Icelandic discoveries. Though Rafn supposes that by his visit, his opinions, previously formed regarding the existence of the Western continent, were confirmed, this is not altogether clear, for the reason that Columbus was not seeking a new continent, but a route to the Indies, which he believed he should find by sailing west. Accordingly when he found land he called it the West Indies, supposing that he had reached the extreme boundary of the East Indies. Irving tells us that Columbus founded his theory on (1), the nature of things; (2), the authority of learned writers; (3), the reports of navigators.

[63] Adam of Bremen even heard of the exploits of the Northmen in Vinland, and made mention of that country. But as it might be said that his work did not appear until after the voyage of Columbus, and that the reference may be an interpolation, the author does not rest anything upon it. Still he unquestionably knew of the voyages of the Northmen, as he lived near the time they were made, and wrote his ecclesiastical history in about the year 1075, after he had made a visit to King Sweno of Denmark, and had accumulated much material. The passage in question is as follows: "Besides, it was stated [by the king] that a region had been discovered by many in that [the 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 by false rumor, but by the certain testimony of the Danes."

The very ancient Faroese ballad of Finn the Handsome (see Rafn's Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 319), also contains references to Vinland, which indicates that the country was known as well by the Irish as by the Icelanders.

[64] History of New England, vol. ii, p. 53.

[65] The liability of the best historians to fail 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, 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. Savion, 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.

[66] 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, dumb as the Sphinx. 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. And 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 Antiquarians, to whose notice it was brought by the Rhode Island Historical Society, felt strongly persuaded that the rock bears 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 real resemblance to letters is found in the middle of the stone, in which antiquarians 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 mean one hundred and fifty-one. And according to the account of the voyage, Thorfinn lost nine of the 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 antiquarians, 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 afterwards 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 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 also said thunder and lightening issued from the bird, which fact indicates that this event, if it occurred at all, must be referred to the age of gunpowder. 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 marks of human hands. The Portsmouth and Tiverton Rocks, described by Mr. Webb (Antiquitates Americanæ, 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. Yet 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 inscription 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 Americanæ, p. 378, et seq.

[67] Memoirs des Antiquaires du Nord, 1839-9, p. 377.

[68] The Old Mill at Newport stands on an eminence in the centre 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 fire place. 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 both as a mill and powder house. Edward Pelham, who married Governor Arnold's granddaughter, 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. The old tower existing at the beginning of the settlement 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, and one of his farms was called the Leamington farm, as is supposed, from the place by that 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 and be loaded and unloaded with greater ease. And 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. And 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 Round Towers in Ireland, of which one at least was built by Northmen. 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. 57-9.

[69] Many have supposed that the skeleton in armor, dug up near Fall River, was a relic of the Northmen, and 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 civilization. Malte Brun tells us that they worshiped 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 worshiped the figure of the Cross, and had a tradition that a venerable person once visited them, and during an epidemic cured 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 Relation de la Gaspesie, Paris, 1672.

[70] The Landnama-bok. 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 Thordsen, and completed by Hauk Erlendson, Lagman, or Governor of Iceland, who died in the year 1334.

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

[72] Torfæus 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 Bardason (see Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 301), given from a Faroese Manuscript, and curiously preserved by Purchas, His Pilgrimage, 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."

[73] Torfæus 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."

[74] The translation is literal or nearly so, and the sense is obscure.

[75] This shows that others had been there before. They were doubtless Icelanders who were sailing to Greenland. 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. We read in the Saga of Eric the Red, that this person 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.

[76] This is believed to have been about February, which affords 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 rigging of their vessels, and the preparation for sea. In regard to the term Goe, Grönland's Historiske Mindesmærker (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."

[77] 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 drift wood might supply all their wants for building purposes, where they could not obtain or use stone. Regarding drift wood, 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 to 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 drift wood 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.

[78] If any confirmation were needed of the truth of this narrative, or of the killing of Snæbiorn 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.

[79] In the southwest of Norway.

[80] See Colonization of Iceland, in the Introduction.

[81] See notes to Introduction.

[82] 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 once it was evidently more approachable than now. See Graah's Expedition.

[83] 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.

[84] See Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 15, note a.

[85] Evidently an error. See Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 15, note 3.

[86] 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.

[87] 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 liking 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.

[88] Original settler or freeholder, whose name and possessions were recorded in the Landnama-bok.

[89] 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 that finds itself inside, is in the greatest danger."—Grönland's Historiske Mindismærker, vol. i, p. 264. There does not appear to be any better foundation for this motion of the Hafgerdingar than of 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.

[90] To this translation may be added another in metre, by Beamish:

O thou who triest holy men!
Now guide me on my way;
Lord 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.

[91] Æyrar. 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.

[92] 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.

[93] 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, p. 74.

[94] 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.

[95] One recension of the Saga of Eric the Red, states that he went with Leif on his voyage to Vinland. Finn Magnusen says that the error arose from a change of one letter in a pair of short words. See Grönland's Historiske Mindesmærker, vol. i, p. 471.

[96] 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. Geologists find evidence that at one period, a highly tropical climate must have existed in the northern regions.

[97] 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.

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

[99] Snowy mountains, Jöklar miklir, such as Chappell mentions having been seen on the coast, June 14, 1818.

[100] Helluland, from Hella, a flat stone, an abundance of which may be found in Labrador and the region round about.

[101] This agrees with the general features of the country. 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 southwest point into Barrington Bay, a low and woody island."—Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 423.

[102] Markland is 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.

[103] This island has given the interpreters considerable trouble, from the fact that it is said to lie to the northward of the land. And Professor Rafn, in order to identify this island with Nantucket, shows that the north point of the Icelandic compass lay towards the east. But this does not fairly meet the case. There would, perhaps, have been no difficulty in the interpretation, if the Northern Antiquarians 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. The position of this island, together with the point of land, is delineated in the map given in the Appendix. At one time, some doubt existed in regard to the truthfulness of the accounts, 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 the name of the island; but Captain 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 very carefully gone into 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 colaborers did not have in mind; especially as this discovery will help very materially to explain their descriptions. Now, in the first account 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," Yet any one in sailing past the coast to-day will not be struck with its length. But by glancing at the reconstructed map of Cape Cod (see Appendix), 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 long distance; and, comparing this distance travelled with the distance actually gained, the Northmen might well grow weary, and call it Wonder-strand. This 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 Historic and Genealogical Register, vol. xviii, p. 37; and Massachusetts Historical Collections, vol. viii, series iii, pp. 72-93.

[104] 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 accommodation 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 y^e middle of Manamoyake Bay," which to-day 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.

[105] "Honey dew," says Dr. Webb, "occurs in this neighborhood."—Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 443.

[106] This sound may have been the water between Point Gilbert and Isle Nauset.

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

[108] 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 that vicinity; yet it would not have attracted notice in comparison with the great broad point mentioned by Archer.

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

[110] The river was evidently Seaconnet passage and Pocasset river.

[111] This lake is Mount Hope Bay. The writer of the Saga passes over that part of the voyage immediately following doubling of the ness. The tourist in travelling that way by rail will at first take Mount Hope Bay for a lake.

[112] 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.

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

[114] 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? And with as much reason we might deny that Leif came to Vinland. With equal reason, too, we might deny that Morton played the rioter 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 these false representations in his day.

[115] This passage was misunderstood by Torfæus, the earliest writer who inquired into these questions, and 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 of which 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 terrestrial 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 rismál, 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 rismál the eight stund or eighth half eykt ended at just half-past four p. m.; and therefore this particular period was called ϰατ᾿ εξοχήν, 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 calendar, fixes sun-rise 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° 43´ 10´´, being nearly that of Mount Hope Bay." See Mem. Antiq. du Nord, 1836-7, p. 165. Rafn's calculation makes the position 41° 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 Americanæ, p. 436.

[116] In those turbulent times children were not brought 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 blessed 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.

[117] 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?

[118] 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.

[119] 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?

[120] See Adam of Bremen's testimony in the Introduction.

[121] It will be noticed that they were close upon the Greenland coast.

[122] They were evidently Norwegian traders who were shipwrecked while approaching the coast and sailing for the Greenland ports.

[123] 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.

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

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

[126] 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.

[127] See note to foregoing account.

[128] These appear to have been married men or secular clergy.

[129] This clearly indicates a voyage around Cape Cod.

[130] This cape was evidently, 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 east shore, meaning the shore near Plymouth, which is readily seen from the end of Cape Cod in a clear day. It was undoubtedly the vicinity of Race Point that they called Kialarness, or Keel Cape.

[131] Here the version in Antiquitates Americanæ, 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.

[132] These screens were made of planks which could be quickly arranged above the bulwarks, thus affording additional protection against arrows and stones.

[133] These people are sometimes called Smællingar, or small men. Others deduce their name from skræla, to dry, alluding to their shriveled aspect; and others from skrækia 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. And these people were more likely to take a refuge in Greenland than the Northmen themselves.

[134] The conduct of Thorvald indicates magnanimity of character, thinking first of his men, and afterwards of himself.

[135] Christianity was introduced by Leif, Thorvald's brother, in 1001-2.

[136] 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 the 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 Americanæ, 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. Second Narrative of Leif, p. 38.

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

[138] Winter began October 17. See p. 32, note 6.

[139] They probably had diminutive horses in Greenland, like this of Iceland to-day.

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

[141] 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.

[142] Whoever inclines to dismiss this whole 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. Philip 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 sometimes on the bed; and when the beholders began 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 second 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 forhead. '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. And now, 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, as authentic contemporary signs.

[143] Thorhild's Church. See Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 119.

[144] Literally, Biarne Butter-tub, from which we may, perhaps, infer his personal peculiarity.

[145] 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.

[146] 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 had been established in Greenland for five years, the festival was now probably changed to December, and held in honor of Christ.

[147] Widow of Thorstein Ericson. Rafn thinks, as 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 Thorbiorn, 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.

[148] This is a mistake, Eric's son was dead. It must have been another Thorvald.

[149] The Northmen had two ways of reckoning a hundred, the short and the long. The long hundred was a 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, though told ten dozen to every hundred,
Filled that chamber so vast, when they gathered for Yule-tide carousing."

American ed., chap. iii, p. 13.

Professor Rafn infers that the long hundred was here meant, because he thinks that the inscription on Dighton Rock indicates CLI., the number of men Karlsefne had with him, after losing nine.

[150] The present island of Disco, also called by the Northmen, Biarney, or Bear island.

[151] The northern coast of America was called Helluland the Great, and Newfoundland, Helluland, or Little Helluland.—Antiquitates Americanæ, p. 419.

[152] Supposed from the distance to be the Isle of Sable.

[153] Leif had left the keel of his vessel here on the point of this cape, which was Cape Cod. In calling it by this name, they simply followed his example.

[154] This bay was the bay then situated between Point Gilbert and Isle Nauset, which Professor Agassiz proves to have existed. The writers do not mention this island in either of the accounts of Thorfinn's voyage; but it has been shown that Isle Nauset lay close to the shore, so that they would not know that it was an island without particular examination; and if they were aware of its existence, it was not necessary to speak of it. Leif landed upon it, therefore it was mentioned by the author who wrote the account of his voyage. Yet Thorfinn's chroniclers help to prove its existence, by showing that beyond Wonder-strand there was a bay where they could safely ride at anchor for three days.

It must be noticed that the events are not set down in their exact order, for after the writer gets the vessels into the bay, he goes back to speak of the landing of the Scots. Gosnold anchored in this same place in the night, and in the morning he remarked the number of coves, or as he calls them "breaches," in the land. The Saga mentions the same thing, saying that the land "became indented with coves." These coves have now disappeared, yet the testimony of Gosnold shows how accurately the Northmen observed this part of the coast. Like Gosnold, they found it convenient and safe to lie here for a while.

[155] This is the first time we hear of slaves being brought into Vinland. We have already seen that with the proud Northman, slavery was a reality. One of the near relatives of Ingolf, the first Northman who settled in Iceland, was murdered by his Scotch (Irish) slaves.

[156] This was Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, then probably united, forming one island.

[157] Nantucket island, which then was probably united with Martha's Vineyard.

[158] Straumey, or Straum Isle, which, perhaps, indicates their knowledge of the Gulf stream.

[159] The gull, or some similar bird is here referred to.

[160] Buzzards Bay. The general positions are fixed by the astronomical calculations from the data given in Leif's voyage. See note to p. 33.

[161] The shore opposite Martha's Vineyard.

[162] It would appear from what follows that he was engaged in a heathen invocation. This is the only instance on record of honor being paid to this heathen god on the shores of New England, yet we unwittingly recognize him every time we say Thursday, that is, Thor's Day.

[163] In olden times a certain portion of every whale cast ashore on Cape Cod, formed a perquisite of the clergy.

[164] Literally the Red-beard, as Thor is supposed to have had a beard of that color. The principal deity of the Northmen was Odin, a king who died in his bed in Sweden, and was afterwards apotheosized. He was called the "Terrible god." The souls of men slain in battle were received by him into the hall of the gods. Next was Frigga or Frey, his wife, considered the goddess of earth and mother of the gods. She finally fell into the place occupied by the classic Venus. Next was Thor the Red-beard, synonymous with Jupiter. These three composed the supreme council of the gods. Afterwards came the good and gentle Balder, the Northman's Christ; then came Brage, patron of eloquence and poetry, and his wife Iduna, charged with the care of certain apples, with Heimdal the porter of the gods and builder of the rainbow, and Loke, a kind of Satan or evil principle, aided by his children, the Wolf Fenris, the Serpent Midgard, and Hela, or Death.

[165] We shall see from another part of this work, that the trade at that period between Ireland and Iceland, was very large.

[166] This corresponds precisely to Mount Hope bay. The Taunton river runs through it, and thence flows to the sea by Pocasset river and Seaconnet passage. Hop is from the Icelandic I Hópi, to recede, hence to form a bay. The coincidence in the names is striking.

[167] Perhaps wheat. Sialfsana hveitiakrar.

[168] In Iceland the halibut is called the sacred fish. Pliny uses the same name, which indicates that the water is safe where they were found. The halibut and most of the flat fish, such as flounders, are plentiful in that vicinity. The flounders are easily taken, and those who know how, often find them in very shoal water, burrowing just under the surface of the sand like the king crab.

[169] This is language that might be employed by an Icelander, to indicate the difference between the new country and his own. It may have been an intentional exaggeration, similar to those of Eric in describing Greenland. Yet even if it were a serious attempt at history, it could not be regarded as farther from the truth, than Dr. Cotton Mather's description of the climate of New England, where he tells us that water tossed up in the air, came down ice; and that in one place in Massachusetts, it actually snowed wool, some of which, he tells us, he preserved in a box in his study.

[170] The red shield was the sign of war, and the white, of peace.

[171] This account can hardly be explained. These people, doubtless, had their own ideas of the best method of conducting a fight. They were evidently Esquimaux, and formerly, according to Crantz, appear to have lived on this coast before it was occupied by the Indians, who, being a superior race, soon drove them away.

[172] This appears childish, yet there is nothing to indicate that it was not so.

[173] Thiorfinn's experience was similar to that of most early colonists in America.

[174] This, very likely, was a short exploration up Narragansett bay.

[175] The ancient Mexicans mixed human blood with bread offered on the altar of their deities.

[176] The lines inclosed in brackets, convey what the writer understood to be a mere rumor. This report was evidently untrue, yet it shows his honest intentions.

[177] They appear to have sailed around Cape Cod, then steered across to Plymouth, coasted up the shore towards Point Alderton, and entered Scituate harbor, or some other river mouth on that coast.

[178] Einfoetingr, from ein, one, and fótr, foot. This term appears to have been given by some old writers, to one of the African tribes, on account of a peculiarity of dress, which Wormskiold describes as a triangular cloth, hanging down so low, both before and behind, that the feet were concealed. In an old work called Rimbigla, a tribe of this class, dwelling in Blaland, Ethiopia, are thus described.—Beamish's Northmen, p. 101. We do not say how far the Saga writer employs his fancy on the Uniped, yet he is quite excusable, considering the weakness of modern writers. In 1634, Hans Egede wrote as follows about a hideous monster: "July 6th, a most hideous sea monster was seen, which reared itself so high above the water, that its head overtopped our mainsail.... Instead of fins, it had broad flaps like wings; its body seemed to be overgrown like shell work.... It was shaped like a serpent behind, and when it dived, ... raised its tail above the water, a whole ship's length."—Egede's Greenland, p. 85; Crantz's Greenland, vol. iii, p. 116. Hudson even describes a mermaid.

The Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, who has before been quoted, gives among other notable facts in his Magnalia, the statement, that in June, 1682, Mary Hortado, of Salmon Falls, was going with her husband "over the river in her canoe, when they saw the head of a man, and about three foot off, the tail of a cat, swimming before the canoe, but no body to join them.... A stone thrown by an invisible hand after this, caus'd a swelling and a soreness in her head: and she was bitten on both arms black and blue, and her breast scratch'd. The impression of the teeth, which were like a man's teeth, were seen by many."—Magnalia, vol. i, p. 454.

[179] See p. 41. This may be a wrong version of the death of the son of Eric.

[180] The Blue Hills, which extend to Mount Hope.

[181] That is, they fled into their abodes.

[182] The location of this place will be discussed in the Minor Narratives.

[183] This was the teredo, which is often so destructive, and which caused Columbus to abandon a ship at Puerto Bello, because he could not keep her afloat. See Irving's Columbus, p. 287.

[184] This was truly in accordance with the noble spirit of the great Northmen, who had no fear of death, which to heroes, is the shining gate of Valhalla.

[185] This is one evidence that history was cultivated in Greenland.

[186] Here the writer is correct. See note 2, p. 51.

[187] See page 52.

[188] The same bay referred to in the previous account, and which lay between Point Gilbert and Isle Nauset. Archer, in his account of Gosnold's voyage, says, that when they rounded Point Care, the extremity of Isle Nauset, "We bore up again with the land, and in the night, came with it anchoring in eight fathoms, the ground good." Here it will be seen that the Northmen lay safely for three days.

[189] In the first account it is called a Kiafal.

[190] The agreement with the first account is substantial.

[191] This was probably Martha's Vineyard.

[192] The first narrative says substantially the same thing, that Thorhall died in Ireland.

[193] The first narrative speaks of the shoals. The islands and shoals both doubtless existed then. Since that time great changes have taken place in the physical aspects of that region.

[194] This might have been the case on some remarkable season.

[195] This range extends to the Blue Hills of Massachusetts, which indicates considerable activity in exploration.

[196] Also called the Irish sea, and the sea before Vinland.

[197] There were three ships in the expedition, and this was doubtless the company that went in one of them.

[198] These could be easily carried, especially as their cattle were small. All the early Portuguese expeditions carried their live stock with them. See Prince Henry the Navigator.

[199] The different events are here stated with some rapidity, and we seem to reach Leif's booths or huts sooner than necessary. According to the two previous accounts, they did not reach the locality of Leif's booths until the summer after they found the whale. These booths were at Mt. Hope Bay. This is either the result of confusion in the mind of the writer, or else it is founded on the fact that Leif erected habitations at both places. In the two first accounts of Thorfinn Karlsefne's expedition, they are not alluded to. There may be no real contradiction after all.

[200] The other accounts say that the whale made them sick; but that was not because the flesh of the whale was spoiled. Beamish, in his translation of the song of Thorhall, indeed makes that disagreeable pagan tell his comrades, that, if they wish, they

"Fetid whales may boil
Here on Furdustrand
Far from Fatherland;"

but there is nothing in the text to throw suspicion upon the whale. The trouble was, that a sudden overfeeding caused nausea, and the whale was thrown away afterwards in religious disgust. Yet the event is out of its chronological order, and properly belongs in the account of the next year.

[201] This event belongs to the previous year. These facts are not given in the other accounts, the writer appearing to have different information.

[202] This is another somewhat marvelous occurrence, similar to those with which Cotton Mather and others were accustomed to embellish New England history.

[203] For the previous versions of this affair of the axe, see pp. 60. This last account appears a little plainer.

[204] It is true that he decided to leave the country, but he did not carry out his intention until the following year, 1010. This narrative skips over all the events of the third year. It is nevertheless given, in order that the reader may have the fullest possible knowledge of any shortcomings that may exist in the manuscripts. This is done with the more confidence, for the reason that there is no doubt but that all the narratives contain a broad substratum of solid truth.

[205] From the statement at the end of the voyage of Freydis (see p. 80), we learn that the summer in which he returned from Iceland, Karlsefne went to Norway, and from thence the following spring, to Iceland. This does not conflict with the statement in the above narrative, though at first it may appear to. It does not say that he went the following summer from Greenland to Iceland, but that on that summer, he went to Iceland, which is perfectly true, though poorly stated, and his previous voyage to Norway being ignored.

[206] See p. 48.

[207] Garda was the Episcopal seat of Greenland. Freydis and her husband went to Vinland with Karlsefne. It was she who frightened the Skrællings.

[208] It appears that the route to Vinland had become so well known, that the Saga writers no longer thought it necessary to describe it.

[209] Mount Hope bay is still often called a lake. These waters always appear like lakes. Brereton, in his account of Gosnold's voyage, calls these same bays, lakes. He writes: "From this [Elizabeth] island, we went right over to the mayne, where we stood awhile as ravished at the beautie and dilicacy of the sweetnesse, besides divers cleare lakes, whereof we saw no end."

[210] Freydis was evidently the principal in all things.

[211] By the Icelandic law, a woman could separate from her husband for a slight cause.

[212] According to this statement, the expedition returned very early, as Karlsefne went to Norway the same season, as previously told.

[213] If this transaction had occurred during the previous century, when paganism universally prevailed, this atrocious act of the cold-blooded Freydis, would have been the prelude to almost endless strife.

[214] This account is supplementary to the foregoing, and is taken from the same work. Karlsefne, of course, sailed from Greenland.

[215] Húsasnotru has been translated "house-besom." The exact meaning is not known. A besom-shaft would be too small, however rare the wood, to be made into anything of value. The bar for securing the house door was as common as necessary in every house, and this, perhaps, is what is referred to.

[216] See note 1, p. 36.

[217] In the north of Iceland.

[218] Not far from Skagafiord.

[219] It is understood that she went to Rome. It may be asked why she did not spread the news of her son's voyage in those parts of Europe whither she went, and make known the discovery of the New World. To this it may be replied, that the Icelanders had no idea that they had found a New World, and did not appreciate the value of their geographical knowledge. Besides, there is nothing to prove that Gudrid, and others who went to Europe at this period, did not make known the Icelandic discoveries. At that time no interest was taken in such subjects, and therefore we have no right to expect to find traces of discussion in relation to what, among a very small class, would be regarded, at the best, as a curious story. See note on Adam of Bremen in the General Introduction.

[220] It will be remembered that all this was foretold by her former husband, Thorstein Ericson, when he returned to life in the house of Thorstein Black, in Greenland; from which we must infer that the voyage of Thorstein Ericson was composed after, or during, the second widowhood of Gudrid, and that the circumstance of Thorstein's prophecy, was, in accordance with the spirit of the age, imagined in order to meet the circumstances of the case. See p. 46.

[221] That is, a Norwegian.

[222] Hvitramanna-land. It will be remembered that in the Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefne (p. 63), this land was referred to by the natives whom he took prisoners. They described it as a land inhabited by a people who wore white clothes, carried poles before them, and shouted. Yet the Saga writer there says no more than that the people think that this was the place known as Ireland the Great. What the Skrællings say does not identify it with the land of Are Marson. Yet, in order to allow Professor Rafn, who held that this country was America, the full benefit of his theory, we give the following extract from Wafer's Voyage, which shows that in the year 1681, when he visited the Isthmus of Darien, there were people among the natives who answered tolerably well to the description given in Karlsefne's narrative. Wafer says: "They are white, and there are them of both sexes; yet there were few of them in comparison of the copper colored, possibly but one, to two or three hundred. They differ from the other Indians, chiefly in respect of color, though not in that only. Their skins are not of such a white, as those of fair people among Europeans, with some tincture of a blush or sanguine complexion; neither is their complexion like that of our paler people, but 'tis rather a Milk-white, lighter than the color of any Europeans, and much like that of a white horse.... Their bodies are beset all over, more or less, with a fine, short, milk-white down.... The men would probably have white bristles for beards, did they not prevent them by their custom of plucking the young beard up by the roots.... Their eyebrows are milk-white also, and so is the hair of their heads." p. 107.

He also adds, that "The men have a value for Cloaths, and if any of them had an old shirt given him by any of us, he would be sure to wear it, and strut about at no ordinary rate. Besides this, they have a sort of long cotton garments of their own, some white, and others of a rusty black, shaped like our carter's frocks, hanging down to their heels, with a fringe of the same of cotton, about a span long, and short, wide, open sleeves, reaching but to the middle of their arms.... They are worn on some great occasions.... When they are assembled, they will sometimes walk about the place or plantation where they are, with these, their robes on. And once I saw Tacenta thus walking with two or three hundred of these attending him, as if he was mustering them. And I took notice that those in the black gowns walked before him, and the white after him, each having their lances of the same color with their robes." But notwithstanding these resemblances, historians will ask for more solid proof of the identity of the two people.

[223] Professor Rafn in, what seems to the author, his needless anxiety to fix the locality of the White-man's land in America, says that, as this part of the manuscript is difficult to decipher, the original letters may have got changed, and vi inserted instead of xx, or xi, which numerals would afford time for the voyager to reach the coast of America, in the vicinity of Florida. Smith in his Dialogues, has even gone so far as to suppress the term six altogether, and substitutes, "by a number of days sail unknown." This is simply trifling with the subject. In Grönland's Historiske Mindesmærker, chiefly the work of Finn Magnussen, no question is raised on this point. The various versions all give the number six, which limits the voyage to the vicinity of the Azores. Schöning, to whom we are so largely indebted for the best edition of Heimskringla, lays the scene of Marson's adventure at those islands, and suggests that they may at that time have covered a larger extent of territory than the present, and that they may have suffered from earthquakes and floods, adding, "It is likely, and all circumstances show, that the said land has been a piece of North America." This is a bold, though not very unreasonable hypothesis, especially as the volcanic character of the islands is well known. In 1808, a volcano rose to the height of 3,500 feet. Yet Schöning's suggestion is not needed. The fact that the islands were not inhabited when discovered by the Portuguese does not, however, settle anything against Schöning, because in the course of five hundred years, the people might either have migrated, or been swept away by pestilence. Grönland's Historiske Mindesmærker, (vol. i, p. 150), says simply, that "It is thought that he (Are Marson) ended his days in America, or at all events in one of the larger islands of the west. Some think that it was one of the Azore islands."

[224] The fact that Are Marson is said to have been baptized in Ireland the Great, does not prove that the place, wherever located, was inhabited by a colony of Irish Christians. Yet this view was urged by Professor Rafn and others, who held that Great Ireland was situated in Florida. A Shawanese tradition is given to prove that Florida was early settled by white men from over the sea. We read that in 1818, "the Shawanese were established in Ohio, whither they came from Florida, Black Hoof, then eighty-five years old, was born there, and remembered bathing in the sea. He told the Indian Agent, that the people of his tribe had a tradition, that their ancestors came over the sea, and that for a long time they kept a yearly sacrifice for their safe arrival."—Archæologia Americana, vol. i, p. 273. Yet these Indians, the supposed descendants of eminently pious Christians from Ireland, were bitterly opposed to Christianity, and had no Christian traditions. This view requires altogether too much credulity. Is it not more reasonable, especially in view of the fact that this narrative is not needed in demonstrating the pre-Columbian discovery of America—to seek for the White-man's land in some island of the Atlantic; for if we were to allow that six, should mean eleven or twenty days sail, we should not be much better off, since there is so much difficulty in finding the white men for the land in question.

[225] It will appear from this genealogical account, that Are Marson was no obscure or mythological character. In 981 he was one of the principal men of Iceland, and is highly spoken of. Yet his connection with Ireland the Great, though undoubtedly real, hardly proves, what may nevertheless be true—a pre-Scandinavian discovery of America by the Irish. This, not improbable view, demands clearer proof, and will repay investigation. The other characters mentioned are equally well known. See Antiquitates Americanæ, pp. 211-12.

[226] Priest or Gode. This was the heathen priest of Iceland, whose duty was to provide the temple offerings, for which purpose a contribution was made by every farm in the vicinity. This office was also united with that of chief, judge, and advocate, and for the cases conducted by him at the Thing, he received the customary fees; yet he was obliged to depend for his support, mainly upon the products of his farm. The office was hereditary, but could be sold, assigned, or forfeited.

[227] It was west with regard to Norway, the people being accustomed to use this expression.

[228] Killed in Ireland in a battle, 1013.

[229] Literally, woman, with reference to Jörd, the Earth, one of the wives of Odin, and also mother of Thor.

[230] Funeral cups.

[231] Biörn's mother.

[232] This is a fling at Thorodd the Tribute Taker.

[233] This shows, that while Biörn killed the men in self defense, it was the opinion of the court that he did not get what he deserved.

[234] Jomsberg was the head quarters of an order of vikings or pirates, where a castle was also built by King Harold Blaatand, of Denmark. It was situated on one of the outlets of the Oder, on the coast of Pomerania. It was probably identical with Julian, founded by the Wends, and was recognized as the island of Wallin, which Adam of Bremen, in the eleventh century, described as the largest and most flourishing commercial city in Europe. Burislaus, king of the Wends, surrendered the neighboring territory into the hands of Palnatoki, a great chief of Fionia, who was pledged to his support. Accordingly he built a stronghold here, and organized a band of pirates, commonly called vikings, though it must be observed, that while every viking was a pirate, every pirate was not a viking. Only those pirates of princely blood, were properly called vikings, or sea-kings. The Jomsvikings were distinguished for their rare courage, and for the fearlessness with which they faced death. They were governed by strict laws, and hedged about by exact requirements, and were also, it is said, pledged to celibacy. Jomsberg was destroyed about the year 1175, by Waldemar the Great, of Denmark, aided by the princes of Germany and the king of Barbarrossa. Those of the pirates who survived, escaped to a place near the mouth of the Elbe, where a few years after, they were annihilated by the Danes, who in the reign of Canute VI, completely destroyed their stronghold. Accounts of their achievements may be found in the Saga of King Olaf Tryggvesson, in vol. i, of Laing's Heimskringla. The Icelanders sometimes joined the Norway pirates, as was the case with Biörn, but they did not fit out pirate ships. Palnatoki died in the year 993.

[235] Styrbiörn, son of King Olaf, ruled Sweden in connection with Eric, called the Victorious. Styrbiörn's ambition, to which was added the crime of murder, led to his disgrace. He joined the vikings, adding sixty ships to their force. He was killed, as stated, in 984, in a battle with his uncle near Upsula.

[236] Dasent says in describing the coast: "Now we near the stupendous crags of Hofdabrekka, Headbrink, where the mountains almost stride into the main."

[237] Referring to the dead man's blood.

[238] In Iceland the women are accustomed to bring travelers dry clothes.

[239] All of these verses are extremely obscure and elliptical, though far more intelligible to the modern mind than the compositions which belonged to a still older period. All the chief men of Iceland practiced the composition of verse. Chaucer makes his Parson apologize for his inability to imitate the practice.

[240] See the Saga of Burnt Nial.

[241] These sledges were used in drawing hay, as the roads were then, as now, too poor for carts.

[242] This is the only paragraph which applies directly to the subject in hand. The following narrative will bring Biörn to notice again.

[243] Few persons will infer much from this; nothing is easier than to find resemblances in language.

[244] The language indicates that they were riding horseback, though it is not conclusive. And at the period referred to, there were no horses in America, they having been introduced by the Spaniards, after the discovery by Columbus. At least, such is the common opinion.

[245] This is found in Annales Islandorum Regii, which gives the history of Iceland from the beginning down to 1307. Also in Annales Flateyensis, and in Annales Reseniini. Eric was appointed bishop of Greenland, but performed no duties after his consecration, and eventually resigned that see, in order to undertake the mission to Vinland. He is also spoken of in two works, as going to Vinland with the title of Bishop of Greenland, a title which he had several years before his actual consecration.

[246] The manuscript is deficient here.

[247] The Feather Islands are mentioned in the Lögmanns Annall, or, Annals of the Governors of Iceland, and Annales Skalholtini, or Annals of the Bishopric of Skalholt, written in the middle of the fourteenth century, long before Columbus went to Iceland. Beamish suggests that these are the Penguin and Bacaloa Islands.

[248] "The notices of Nyja land and Duneyjar, would seem to refer to a re-discovery of some parts of the eastern coast of America, which had been previously visited by earlier voyagers. The original appellation of Nyja land, or Nyjafundu-land, would have naturally led to the modern English name of Newfoundland, given by Cabot, to whose knowledge the discovery would [might?] have come through the medium of the commercial intercourse between England and Iceland in the fifteenth century."—Beamish.

[249] See the Decline of Greenland, in Introduction.

[250] Markland (Woodland) was Nova Scotia, as we know from the description of Leif and others. These vessels doubtless went to get timber. All these accounts show that the Western ocean was generally navigated in the middle of the fourteenth century.

[251] In the face of this and a multitude of similar statements, Mr. Bancroft endeavors to make his readers believe that the locality of Vinland was uncertain. He might, with equal propriety, tell us that the location of Massachusetts itself was uncertain, because, according to the original grant, it extended to the Pacific ocean.

[252] See note 1, p. 81.

[253] This is a blunder. The writer must have been more of a geographer than historian. See the Saga of Leif, p. 36.

[254] The part inclosed in brackets is an interpolation of a recent date, and without any authority.

[255] Not to be confounded with, the place of the same name at Cape Cod.

[256] This is another passage upon which Bancroft depends, to prove that the locality of Vinland was unknown, when in the Sagas the position is minutely described, the situation being as well known as that of Greenland.

---

INDEX.

---

Adalbrand, [104].
Adam of Bremen, [xlix, n], [36].
Adzer, Archbishop, [xxviii].
Ægisif, [107].
Ælian, [xiii].
Africa, [107], [108], [110].
Agassiz, Prof., [30, n].
Alf, of Dolum, [88].
Alfarin Valeson, [12].
Alfonso, [xlvii].
Alps, [107].
Alteson, Jorund, [18].
America, [iii].
Amund, Bishop, [xxxiv].
Andreas, [xxxiii].
Annales Flateyensis, [104, n].
Annales Islandorum Regii, [104, n].
Annales, Reseniini, [104, n].
Anson, Lord, [xxxviii].
Antioch, [106], [107].
Antiquarians, Royal Society of, [lv, n].
Antiquitates Americanæ, [lvii, n].
Apulia, [107].
Archæologia, Americana, [88, n].
Archer, [29, n], [31, n], [66, n].
Argyle, Marquis of, [liv, n].
Aristotle, [xiii].
Arnæ, Magnæan Collection, [48].
Arnbiorn, [89], [94], [97].
Arnlaug, [17], [25].
Arnold, [xxix], [xxxii];
Gov. Benedict, [lviii, n].
Asbrand, [92];
Biorn, of Kamb, [89].
Asia, [106];
Minor, [106];
Great, [106], [107].
Aslak, [19], [49].
Assonnet Neck, [lv, n], [lvii].
Athelstane, [xxxvii].
Atlantis, [xiii].
Atli the Red, [86], [88].
Avalldania, [63], [70].
Azore, Island, [87, n].
Babylon, [106];
new, [107].
Bacoloa, Islands of, [104, n].
Bakka, [94].
Balder, [55, n].
Ball's River, [xxxvi].
Bancroft, [108, n], [110, n];
Mr. George, [xliii];
his views controverted, [xliii], [liv, n].
Baptistery, [lvii].
Bardarson, Ivan, [12, n];
see Ivar Bert.
Bartholomew, the Apostle, [106].
Beacon, Mr. Joseph, [44, n].
Beamish, [iii], [iv], [xix], [104, n], [105, n].
Bear Island, [67].
Bede, the Venerable, [xxiv], [xxxiv, n].
Behring Straits, [xvii].
Beresvig, Roin, [12].
Bergen, [109].
Berse, Haldor's son, [13].
Bert, Ivar, [xxxi], [12, n].
Bessalangen, [105].
Bethencourts, [xvi].
Biafal, [66];
see Kiafal.
Biarne, Bishop, [71], [76], [82];
Butter-Tub, [49, n], [51].
Biarney, Isle, [65].
Biorn, Asbrandson Breidaviking, [lii], [9], [91], [92];
exiled, [93];
returns, [94], [95], [96];
goes abroad, [100], [103].
Biorneland, [108], [109].
Blaaserk, [16], [19].
Blaland, [107].
Blig, Thord, [95], [96].
Blue Hills, [62, n].
Bogafiord, [17], [20].
Borgafiord, East, [105].
Borgafiorden, [13].
Bork, the Fat, [89].
Bougainville, [xiv].
Bory, de St. Vincent, [xvi].
Braaville, [lvii, n].
Brage, [55, n].
Brattahlid, [xxvi].
Bredobolstad, [19].
Breidafiord, [17], [20].
Breidavik, [89].
Brereton, [29, n].
Brokö, [19].
Broughton, [xviii].
Brun, Malte, [lix, n], [lx, n].
Bulgaria, [107].
Bull, Papal, [xxv, n 2].

Burislaus, [93, n].
Burnet, [liv, n].
Burnt, Nial, [98, n].
Buynirlfson, Dr., [xxxi].
Buzzard's Bay, [31, n].
Byrdusmior, Biarne, [49].
Byzantium, [xxxvi].
Cabot, [xxxviii], [105, n].
Cadiz, [viii].
Canaria, [xv].
Canary Islands, [xiv], [xv], [xvi], [xvii, n].
Canute, [xxxvii].
Cape Cod, [v], [xlvii], [29, n];
old ship at, [30, n].
Cape Farewell, [xxviii].
Cape Malabar, [31, n].
Capraria, [xv], [xvi].
Carl Muller, [xiv].
Chaplains, [xvii].
Chappell, [28, n].
Chatham, [30, n].
Chaucer, [98, n].
Chingwank, [lv, n].
Christ, [55], [67].
Christophersen, Claudius, [xxv, n 2].
Cinnamon, [36, n].
Clarendon, Lord, [liv, n].
Cock Lane ghost, [liii].
Codex Flatoiensis, [xli].
Colæns, [xiii].
Colonization of Greenland, [15];
of Iceland, [xxi].
Columbus, [xlviii], [liv], [24, n], [104, n].
Constantinople, [xxxvi], [107].
Crantor, [xxii], [59, n], [61, n].
Crantz, [xxxv].
Crete, [107].
Cronica General de Espana, [xlvii].
Cross, worshiped, [lx, n].
Crossness, [42].
Culdees, [xxiv].
Cyprus, [107].
Dagmalstad, [33, n].
Danforth, Dr., [lv, n].
Darien, Isthmus of, [86, n].
Dasent, [xxxvi].
De Barros, [xvii, n].
De Fries, Rev., [xxx].
Denmark, [107], [109].
Dicuil, [xxiv, n].
Dighton Rock, [xxx, n], [lv], [lvi], [lvii, n], [12, n].
Digramula, [92].
Dimonsvaag, [19].
Disco, [32].
Dögardarness, [91].
Donsk tunga, [xx].
Drangey, [16], [19].
Drapstock, [21], [23].
Drift-wood, [14, n].
Druidism, [xix, n].
Dublin, [64], [103].
Dudley, Lieut. Gov., [32, n].
Duneyjar, [104, n].
Earl Sigvald, [100].
Early Christianity in America, traces of, [xviii];
history of, [xxvii, n 2].
Earth, brief description of, [106].
East Indies, [xlviii, n].
Easton, Peter, [lviii, n].
Echard, [liv, n].
Egede, Rev. Hans, [xxxv], [61, n].
Egypt, [107].
Einar, [13], [17], [19, n], [25].
Eindridesuden, [105].
Elysium, [xiii].
England, [106].
Enne, [12].
Ephesus, [106].
Eric, Bishop, [lvii].
Eric, the Red, [xxv], [xxvi];
accepts Christianity, [xxvii];
goes to Greenland, [li], [17], [19];
resolves to seek new land, [12], [18];
banished, [19];
returns to Greenland, [20], [22];
his accident, [28].
Ericksö, [20];
see Ericseya.
Ericseya, [16].
Ericsfiord, [xxvi], [109].
Ericson, Thovald, [xlvii], [li];
goes to Vinland, [39];
his death, [41], [62], [65];
Thorstein, [li], [22];
sails for Vinland, [43];
returns, [43];
his death, [45].
Ericstad, [16].
Erie, Bishop Upse, [liii], [104].
Erlandson, Hauk, [xxiii, n], [11, n], [48].
Espihol, [76].
Esquimaux, [59, n].
Ethelred, [xxxvii].
Euphrates, [106].
Europe, [107], [109].
Eyktarstad, [32], [33, n].
Eyolfson, Bishop Magnus, [xlviii, n].
Eyrbyggia Saga, [89].
Eyvind, [85].
Fall River, [lix, n].
Farm, Leamington, [lviii].
Faroese, Ballad of, [xlix, n].
Feather Islands, [104].
Fenris, [55, n].
Fiedspidæ, [20].
Finboge, [77];
sailed for Vinland, [77];
murdered, [79].
Finn the Handsome, [xlix, n].
Finnmark, [107], [109].

Flatö, island of, [xli].
Florida, [87, n].
Flosè, [76].
Forsark, Thorkel, swims for a sheep, [26].
Forster, J. Reinhold, [xlix].
Fortunate isles, [xiv], [xv].
Foster, Father, [34, n].
Fragments, geographical, [105].
France, [107].
Frederick, bishop, [17].
Frederikshab, [xxviii].
Frey, [55, n].
Freydis, [51], [77, n];
sailed for Vinland, [77];
quarrels with the company, [78];
murders the brothers and their company, [79];
returns to Greenland, [80].
Fridgerda, [49].
Friederichstal, [xxxi].
Frisland, [107].
Frithiof's Saga, [xxiii, n], [52, n].
Froda, [91], [95].
Frode, Ari, [xxiii], [xxiv, n], [xlvi].
Fuerteventura, [xvi].
Furderstrand, [73];
see Wonder-strand.
Furdustrandur, [110].
Galdrakin, Thorgrim, [96].
Games, [64].
Gamlason, Thorhall, [49].
Ganges, [106].
Gardar, [xxi];
location of, [xxix, n];
cathedral of, [xxx];
marriage in, [xxxiii, n], [77], [109].
Gardaridge, [109].
Gaspe, [lix, n].
Geir, the Priest, [98].
Gellarson, Thorgeir, [16].
Geller, Thord, [49];
Thorkel, [88].
Geon, [107].
Germany, [107].
Geyser, [xxii].
Gilbert, [29, n 3].
Gisli, the Outlaw, [18, n].
Gisser, [38].
Gissur, the White, [xxxii, n].
Glambærland, [81].
Gnupson, Bishop Eric, [xxviii].
Gode, [89, n].
Godthaab, [xxviii].
Goe, Month of, [14].
Gomera, [xvi].
Gornbornese-Skare, [12, n];
see Gunnbiorn's Rocks.
Gosnold, [29, n], [53, n].
Gottland, [108].
Gould, Sabine-Baring, [xliv, n].
Graah, Captain, [xxviii].
Grammaticus, Saxo, [lvi, n].
Grapes, [54].
Graysteel, [19, n].
Great Ireland, [64], [86], [87, n].
Greece, [107].
Greenland, discovery of, [xxv];
progress of, [xxvi];
tributary to Norway, [xxvii];
church organized in, [xxviii];
monuments and ruins, [xxx];
explorations in, [xxxii];
trade of, [xxxiii];
last bishop of, [xxxiii];
decline of, [xxxiii];
lost Greenland found, [xxxv];
Queen Margaret prohibits trade, [xxxv];
ruins in, [21];
cattle, [26];
Christianity introduced, [108], [109].
Greenlander, Jon., [xxxiv].
Gregory, [iv], [xxv, n 2].
Grettir, Saga, [xliv, n], [28, n].
Grimhild, her death, [44].
Grimkel, [12].
Grimolfson, Biarne, [49], [51];
lost in the Worm Sea, [63, n].
Gripla, [106], [109].
Gudlaug the Rich, [100].
Gudlaugson, Gudleif, [lii];
goes to Dublin, [100];
carried to sea, [101], [102].
Gudrid, [37], [44], [45];
second marriage, [57], [72];
goes to Vinland, [51], [64], [72];
goes to Rome, [81, n];
a nun, [82].
Gudrun, [76].
Gunnbiorn, [xxv];
his rocks, [li], [11], [12], [13];
money found at, [14].
Gunnstein, [13].
Gunthorm Stale, [105].
Hafgerdingar, [22, n], [25].
Hafrafell, [85].
Haki, [53], [66].
Haldor, [xxxiii], [13].
Halifax, [29].
Halla, [76].
Hallbera, Fru, Abbess of Stad, [76].
Hallfrida, [71], [76], [82].
Halmond, [xliv, n].
Halogaland, [xxxviii].
Hanno, [xiv].
Harald Harfagr, [xxi].
Hardicanute, [xxxvii].
Harold, The Stern, [xxxvii].
Harvard college, [lv, n].
Hauk, Herr, [76].
Haukdal,

[16], [18], [19].
Havgrim, [17], [22].
Head brink, [94].
Head, Sir Edmund, [xl, n], [xlvi].
Heath, [lix, n].
Hebrides, [25], [90].
Heimdal, [35, n].
Hekia, [53], [66].

Heimskringla, [iii], [87, n], [xxxvii, n], [xlvii], [lvi, n].
Hela, [55].
Helge, [77];
sailed for Vinland, [77];
murdered, [79];
the Lean, [86].
Helgefell, [89], [91], [100].
Helluland, [liii], [65], [108], [110].
Helsingeland, [108].
Henningson, Magnus, [xxxv].
Heriulf, [21], [23, n], [25].
Heriulfness, [xxiv].
Heriulfson, Biarne, [li];
goes to Norway, [27];
goes to Greenland, [22];
sees new land, [23], [24];
settles, [25].
Herodotus, [xlvii].
Hesperides, [xv].
Hialte, [xxvii, n 3], [38].
Hispania, [107].
Historic Genealogical Register, [30, n].
Historiske Mindesmærker, Grönland, [11], [15], [87, n].
Hitardale, [16].
Hoby, [lvi, n].
Höfda-Strand, [49].
Högni the White, [85].
Holmgard, [107].
Holstein, [109].
Holsteinborg, [xxviii].
Homer, [xiii], [xlvii].
Homstater, [20].
Honey Dew, [31, n].
Hop, [60], [70];
see Mt. Hope.
Horse head, Thord, [49].
Hortado, Mary, [61, n].
Hreidarson, Ulf, [12].
Husasnotru, [81, n].
Hvalsö, [26].
Hvalsöfiord, [26].
Hvidserk, [109].
Hvitrammana-land, [lii], [86].
Hymn to Thor, [55], [67].
Iceland, discovery, [xxi];
colonization, [xxi];
birds of, [xxii];
mammalia, [xxii];
Christianity introduced, [xxxi], [17];
date of manuscripts, [xli];
the Saga-men, [xii];
printing press established, [xlvii];
The Eddas, [xlvii].
Icelandic, grammat. structure of, [iv].
Iduna, [55, n].
Igaliko, [xxx], [lvi].
Illuge, [19].
India, [106].
Indialand, [106].
Indians, Gaspe, [lix, n].
Ingigerd, [76].
Ingolf, [xxii], [21], [25], [53, n].
Ingolfshodi, [xxii, n], [xxiii].
Iona, Isles of, [xxiv].
Ireland, [108], [109].
Ireland the Great, [xviii].
Irish Monks, [xxi, n];
books of, [xxiii];
bells and croziers of, [xxiv], [101].
Ironsides, Biarne, [49].
Irving, Washington, [xliv], [xlviii, n].
Islands, Greek, [107].
Isle, of Currents, [54];
Nauset, [29, n], [31, n], [53], [66];
of Sable, [52, n].
Isles, of America, [xviii];
of the Blessed, [xiv].
Italy, [lvii], [107].
Jardar, [xxv], [12, n], [15].
Jerusalem, [106].
John, the Apostle, [106].
Johnson, Biorn, [48];
Dr., [liii].
Joinville, [xlvii].
Jomsberg, Vikings, [93].
Jones, Inigo, [lix, n].
Jord, the Earth, [91, n].
Jorund, [16], [76], [88].
Julian's Hope, [xxviii], [xxx].
Juno, Temple of, [xvi].
Junonia, [xv], [xvi], [xvii].
Kakortok, [xxx].
Kalbrunarskald, Thormod, [13].
Kallstegg, [xxiii, n], [11, n].
Kamb, [97].
Kanitsok, [lvii].
Karkortok, [lvii].
Karlsefne, [lix];
Thorfinn, [lii], [lvi, n], [31, n];
goes to Greenland, [49];
marriage, [51], [72];
sails for Vin, [51], [64], [72];
sails past Wonder-strand, [55];
trades, [58], [73];
battle with natives, [59], [75];
seeks Thorhall, [61];
sails south, [55];
kills some Skrællings, [60];
returns to Greenland, [63], [75], [77];
goes to Iceland, [71], [76];
goes to Norway, [80];
cuts wood, [108];
Snorre, born, [74], [76], [82].
Kendal, A. E., [lvii, n].
Ketil, [17], [25], [89].
Kiafal, [53].
Kialarness, [40], [52], [65].
Kiarten, [93], [95], [103].
King, Christian II, [xxxv];
Christian III, [xxxv];
Frederic II, [xxxv];
Henry of Portugal, [xvii, n];
Harold, [xxiv], [xlv], [93];
Juba II, [xv], [xvi];
Magnus, [xxxii];
Olaf the Saint, [100];
Olaf Tryggvesson, Saga of, [xxxviii], [18];
accepts Christianity, [xxvi];
his swimming match, [xxxvii];
ship of, [xxxviii];
Sweno, [xlix, n];
Nebuchadnezzar, [106].

Kingiktorsoak, [xxxi].
Kingsborough, [xvii].
Kittlebiarne, [38, n].
Knarrabringa, Thorbiary, [16], [18], [88].
Kodranson, Thorvold, [17].
Kol, [18, n].
Kolgrimsson, Hroar, [xxx].
Krage, Ulf, [113].
Krok, Thorvald, [76].
Kroksfiardarheidi, [xxxii].
Kvendland, [108].
Labrador, [28, n].
Laing, [iii], [iv], [lvii, n];
Prof., [xxxix].
Lake, [69];
houses built at, [70].
Lancerote, [xvi].
Landa-Rolf, [105].
Landnama Book, [xxiii, n 1], [11].
Law of matrimony, [79, n].
Leamington, [lviii, n].
Leclerc, Father, [lix].
Ledehammar, [xxxviii].
Leif, [xxvi], [li], [lii], [18], [22], [26];
goes to Vinland, [27];
returns to Greenland, [36];
finds shipwrecked sailors, [36], [38], [39];
sent to proclaim Christianity in Greenland, [38], [39];
his Booths, [lix], [40], [50], [72], [105, n];
his judgment on Freydis, [80], [88];
the Lucky, [108].
Leikskaale, [19].
Literature of Iceland, [xliii];
Anglo-Saxon, [xlvi];
of France, [xlvii];
Castilian, [xlvii].
Lizards, [xvii].
Lodbrok, Rognar, [49].
Logman's Annall, [104, n].
Löigardelen, [13].
Loke, [55, n].
Lombardland, [107].
Lombardy, [107].
Long Serpent, [xxxviii].
Loptson, Thorolf Eyar, [100].
Machin, Robert, [xvii, n].
Madeira, [xvi].
Madr, [lvi, n].
Magnus, Olaus, [xl].
Magnussen, Prof., Finn, [xxxi], [xxxiii], [xlvii], [27, n], [87, n].
Magre, Haldor, [105].
Maine, [liv, n].
Major, [xvi].
Malte Brun, [32, n].
Man, Isle of, [90].
Manamoyake Bay, [31, n].
Manuscripts, date of, [xli].
Manvel, Juan, [xlvii].
Mar, [86], [99].
Marana, John Paul, [xix].
Markland, [liii], [29, n], [65], [105], [108].
Mars, Vigdis, [xxx].
Marson, Are, [lii], [85], [86, n], [87, n], [88, n].
Martha's Vineyard, [54, n].
Massachusetts, [108, n].
Massur Wood, [81].
Mather, Dr. Cotton, [lv, n], [46, n];
his Magnalia, [46, n], [58, n], [61, n], [74, n].
Mathieson, [xxx].
Mauritania, [xx].
Medafeels-strand, [90].
Mediterranean, [106], [107].
Merry Mount, [32, n].
Mexico, British Language in, [xix].
Midgard, [35, n].
Midjokul, [16], [20].
Miklagard, [107].
Milesieus, [xix, n].
Mill, Newport, [lviii, n];
Chesterton, [lix, n].
Minor Narratives, [lii], [86].
Missionaries, French, [lix, n].
Mjorfiord, [13].
Money found, [li].
Monuments, absence of, [lv].
Moore, [xix].
Morton, New English Canaan, [32, n].
Mossfell, [38, n].
Mount Desert, [liv, n].
Mount Hope Bay, [lii], [32], [56].
Mundia, [107].
Nadodd, [xxi].
Narragansett Bay, [60, n].
Narratives, [l];
their truthfulness, [liii];
their age, [liv];
Major Narratives, [9];
Minor, [83].
Nantucket, [30, n], [32, n].
Neprass, Hergill, [87].
Ness Röin, [12].
Newfoundland, [liii].
Newport, [lviii, n], [lix, n].
Niall, [xix].
Nicholas, [109].
Nidaros, [18].
Nile, [107].
Nineveh, [106].
Nivaria, [xv].
Nordenfield, [95].
Nordrsetur, [xxxii].
North American Review, [iii].
Northern Antiquarians, [xlix], [29, n].
Northmen, [xviii], [xx];
character and achievements of, [xxxvi];
ships of, [xxxvii];
colonize Greenland, [xxxvii];
discover America, [xxxvi];
nautical knowledge of, [xl].

Northumbria, [xxxvii].
Norway, [107], [109].
Nutmegs, [36, n].
Nyja, [105, n].
Nyja Land, [104, n].
Nyjafundu-land, [105, n].
Ocean, Pacific, [108].
Oceanum, Mare, [110].
Oddson, Eindrid, [xxxi].
Odin, [xxii, n], [xxiv], [18, n], [55, n].
Oeland, [108].
Ogursvigen, [13].
O'Halloran, [xix].
Olaf, the Saint, [xxxvii].
Old Mill, [lviii, n].
Ombrios, [xv], [xvi].
Orcobares, [106].
Ord, [91], [82].
Orkneys, [90].
Ormuzd, [xxii].
Orne, the Lean, [89].
Otis, Amos, [30, n].
Paley, Dr., [liv].
Palfrey, [lix, n].
Palingenesia, [xxii].
Palma, [xvi].
Palnatoki, [93, n], [94].
Palteskia, [107].
Papey, Island of, [xxiv].
Papyli, Island of, [xxiv].
Paradise, [106], [107].
Parentals, [92].
Parry, [xxxi].
Peak of Teneriffe, [xvi].
Pelham, Edward, [lviii, n].
Penguin Islands, [104, n].
Penobscot, [liv, n].
Peringskiold, [32, n], [36, n], [40, n].
Permia, [108], [109].
Peter, the Apostle, [106].
Peyrere, [xxv, n 2], [xxxiv].
Pharaoh Necho, [xiv].
Phenicians, [xiii], [xiv], [xvii].
Phœnius, [xix, n].
Pillars of Hercules, [xii], [xiii].
Pison, [106].
Plato, [xiii].
Pliny, [xv], [xvi], [57].
Pluviala, [xvi].
Plutarch, [xvi].
Plymouth Colonists, [xlvii].
Point Alderton, [40, n].
Point Care, [66].
Point Gilbert, [30, n], [31, n], [40, n], [53, n], [66, n].
Popham, George, [36, n].
Port Haldiman, [29].
Priests of Sais, [xiii].
Prince Henry the Navigator, [xvi], [72, n].
Prince Madoc, [xx].
Purchas, His Pilgrimage, [12, n].
Puerto Bello, [63, n].
Purpurariæ, [xv], [xvi].
Pulsland, [107].
Queen Margaret,

[xxxv].
Race Point, [40, n].
Rafn, Holm-Gang, [16], [19];
Prof., [iv], [v];
the Limerick merchant, [85], [86], [88], [xviii], [xxxiii], [xlix];
his Antiquities of America, [xlix], [lv], [lvi], [15], [25], [30, n], [31, n], [87, n], [103].
Rask, Professor, [xxxi].
Raudulf, [xxxviii].
Rauglatr, [76].
Red-beard, [67];
see Thor.
Reikiavik, [xxiii], [12], [76].
Rhine, [107].
Rhode Island, [li];
Historical Society of, [lvi].
Robertson, Rev. Dr., [xlix].
Rocks, Portsmouth, [lvii, n];
Tiverton, [lvii, n].
Rofnsgripa, [17].
Roger Guiscard, [xxxvi, n].
Rolf of Rödesand, [13], [104].
Rollo, [xxxvii].
Rönhavnos, [94], [100].
Round Towers, [lix, n].
Runamoe, [lvi, n].
Runic Letters, on an oar, [xxxiv];
age of Alphabet, [xviii];
in Grettir Saga, [xliv, n].
Runolfson, Bishop Thorlak, [71], [76], [82].
Russia, [107], [108].
Sacred Fish, [57], [69].
Sæmund the Wise, [xlvi].
Sagadahoc, [36, n].
Sagas, [iii], [iv], [110, n];
general knowledge of, [xlix].
St. Columba, [xviii];
Paul, [liv];
Patrick, [xviii];
John, [lii];
Savior, [liv, n].
St. Sophia, [107].
Salmon, [32].
Saxavol, [12].
Saxe, son of Alfarin Valeson, [15].
Saxo Grammaticus, [xlviii].
Saxon, [v].
Schöning, [87, n].
Schoolcraft, Henry, [lv, n].
Scotland, [108].
Scots, [53].
Sea of Darkness, [xii].

Seat, Episcopal, [106];
of Gardar, [108], [109].
Seat Posts, [19];
see Setstakkar.
Serkland, [107].
Sertorius, [xiv].
Setstakkar, [xxii, n].
Shawanese Indians, [87, n].
Sicily, [107].
Sida, [105].
Sighvatson, Erling, [xxxi].
Sigurd, Earl of the Orkneys, [90].
Skagafiord, [81].
Skalholt, [xxxiv].
Skardfa, Biaéren von, [xxxiv].
Skeleton in armor, [lix, n].
Skialdespilder, Eyvind, [xlv].
Skötufiorden, [13].
Skrællings, [xxxii], [xxxiii], [21], [41], [57];
Trade with Karlsefne, [58], [69], [70], [73];
one killed, [74].
Skrællings land, [110].
Slaves, [18, n], [19], [53].
Sledges, [98].
Slut Bush, [30, n].
Smællingar, [41, n].
Smalenskia, [107].
Smith, Capt. John, [29, n];
Joshua Toulmin, [iii], [iv];
Mr. Philip, [46, n].
Smith's Dialogues, [42].
Snæbiorn, Galte, [13];
killed, [14], [15, n].
Snæfell, mountain of, [xxxii].
Snœfellsjokull, [16].
Snorre, [89], [91], [93], [96], [97], [98], [99], [102].
Snow, [70].
Snowland, [xxi].
Soers, Eyulf, [16].
Sokke, [xxix].
Solon, [xiii].
Solvi, [17], [25].
Sondensfield, [95].
Spainland, [107].
Speculum Regali, [xl].
Stærbiorn, [13].
Stafholt, [13].
Statias Sebosus, [xv], [xvi].
Steinum, [76].
Sterka, Herr Ereland, [76].
Stilicho, [xix, n 1].
Strabo, [xix], [xvii].
Straum Bay, [54], [70];
see Stream Bay.
Straumey, [66].
Styrbiorn, [93], [94, n], [97].
Straumfiord, [100].
Stream Bay, [54].
Stuf, the Skald, [xlv].
Sturlingers, [100].
Styrmer, [xxiii, n], [11, n].
Sukkeroppen, [xxviii].
Sumarlide, [13].
Superstition, [28, n].
Sweden, [107];
the lesser, [108].
Swein, [xxxvii].
Sydero, [19].
Tacenta, [86, n].
Tacitus, [xix, n 2].
Taunton, [lv, n].
Thor, [xxii, n], [xxiv], [9, n], [35, n], [54], [55].
Thorberg, [xxxviii, n].
Thorbiorg, [86].
Thorbiorn, [65];
the Fat, [89], [91];
Vifilson, [16].
Thorbjornglora, [17], [25].
Thorbrandson, Helgi, [17], [25];
Snowe, [49].
Thord, [49], [72].
Thordarson, Biorn, [xxxi];
Snorre, [72].
Thordsen, [xxiii, n], [11, n].
Thordis, [76].
Thorer the Idle, [39].
Thorfinn, Earl of the Orkneys, [88].
Thorgeir, [71], [76];
Red, [13].
Thorgest, [16], [19], [20].
Thorgills, Kollson, [88].
Thorgird, [21].
Thorgrim, Styr, [16].
Thorhall the Hunter, [51], [54], [65], [67], [68].
Thorhild, [xxvii], [16];
her church, [47];
the Partridge, [49].
Thorkafiord, [85].
Thorkatla, [87].
Thorkel, [13], [14].
Thorlacius, Bishop, [32, n].
Thorod, [13];
killed, [14], [15, n].
Thorodd, [90], [91], [92], [93], [95], [96], [97], [100];
Wooden Clog, [91].
Thoruna, [49].
Thorsnesthing, [93].
Thorstein Black, [44], [82, n].
Thoruna, [71], [76], [82].
Thorvald, son of Helge, [104];
son of Osvald, [15], [16].
Thorvord, [52].
Theopompus, [xii].
Thingness, [13], [14].
Throndheim, [18], [109].
Thurid, [51, n], [76];
of Froda, [89], [91], [102], [103].
Tigris, [106].
Timber cut, [73].
Todum, [19].
Torfæus, [xxxi];
works of, [xlix], [32, n], [48].
Tradition, Indian, [lvii, n].
Traditions, [xviii].
Turkish Spy, [xix].
Tyrians, [xiii].
Tyrker, [28], [34], [35].

Ulf Krage, [xxv], [16].
Ulf Oexna-Thorerisson, [15].
Ulf the Squinter, [85], [88].
Unipeds, [61].
Uvæge, [63], [70].
Vag, [21].
Val, [91], [92].
Valldidia, [63], [70].
Valgerda, [76].
Valthiof, [18].
Vathelldi, [63], [70].
Vatnahver, [17], [18], [25].
Vatshorn, [16].
Vermeland, [108].
Villehardouin, [xlvii].
Vinland, [xxvii, n 1], [lvii], [108];
Bancroft's Views of, [xliii, n];
known by Adam of Bremen, [xlix, n], [36, n];
known by the Irish, [xlix, n], [liii], [lvi];
climate, [32], [67];
situation of, [87];
the Good, [108], [110].
Vivien de St. Martin, [xiv].
Voyages—
Eric the Red, [15-21];
Biarne, [21-26];
Leif's, [26-43];
Thorstein's, [43-48];
Karlsefne's, [48-76];
Freydis, [77-82];
Helge, [77-82];
Finboge, [77-82];
Marson's, [85-88];
Asbrandson's, [89-100];
Gudlangson's, [100-13];
Miscellaneous, [103-105];
Phenicians, [xiv].
Wafer, [86, n].
Waldemar the Great, [93, n].
Walkendorf, Archbishop Eric, [xxxv].
Wallin, [93, n].
Warwick, [lix, n].
Warwickshire, [lviii, n], [lix, n].
Webb, Dr., [31, n].
Werlauf, [14, n].
Whales, [54], [56], [73].
Wheat, [54], [66].
White-man's land, [63], [70], [86], [87, n], [88].
Winthrop, Prof., [lv, n].
Wonder-strand, [30, n], [53, n], [66, n], [69].
Woodland, [105, n].
Woodrow, [liv, n].
Wormius, [xxxiv].
Worm Sea, [63], [70].
Writing Rock; see Dighton Rock.
Yule, [50].