Curiously enough, the saga tells us nothing more of Leif as a sailor. He appears after this to have lived in peace in Greenland, and he took over Brattalid after his father’s death. On the other hand, we hear that his brother Thorstein made an attempt to find Wineland, which Leif had discovered. After Leif’s return home “there was much talk that they ought to seek the land that Leif had found. The leader was Thorstein Ericson, a good man, and wise, and friendly.” We hear earlier in the saga, where Leif’s voyage to Norway is related, that both of Eric’s sons “were capable men; Thorstein was at home with his father, and there was not a man in Greenland who was thought to be so manly as he.” We hear nothing about Leif’s taking part in the new voyage; it looks as if it had been Thorstein’s turn to go abroad. But
“Eric was asked, and they trusted in his good fortune and foresight being greatest. He was against it, but did not say no, as his friends exhorted him so to it. They therefore fitted out the ship which Thorbjörn [Vivilsson] had brought out to Greenland;[297] and twenty men were chosen for it; they took little goods with them, but more arms and provisions. The morning that Eric left home, he took a little chest, and therein was gold and silver; he hid this property and then went on his way; but when he had gone a little distance he fell from his horse, broke his ribs and hurt his shoulder, and said, ‘Ah yes!’ After this accident he sent word to his wife that she should take up the property that he had hidden; he had now, said he, been punished for hiding it. Then they sailed out of Eric’s fjord with gladness, and thought well of their prospects. They drifted about the sea for a long time and did not arrive where they desired. They came in sight of Iceland, and they had also birds from Ireland; their ship was carried eastwards over the ocean. They came back in the autumn and were then weary and very worn. And they came in the late autumn to Eric’s fjord. Then said Eric: ‘In the summer we sailed from the fjords more light-hearted than we now are, and yet we now have good reason to be so.’ Thorstein said: ‘It would be a worthy deed to take charge of the men who are homeless, and to provide them with lodging.’ Eric answered: ‘Thy words shall be followed.’ All those who had no other place of abode were now allowed to accompany Eric and Thorstein. Afterwards they took land and went home.”
In the autumn (1001) Thorstein celebrated his marriage with Thorbjörm Vivilsson’s daughter Gudrid, at Brattalid, and it “went off well.” They afterwards went home to Thorstein’s property on the Lysefjord, which was the southernmost fjord in the Western Settlement; probably that which is now called Fiskerfjord (near Fiskernes) in about 63° N. lat. There Thorstein died during the winter of an illness (scurvy ?) which put an end to many on the property, and Gudrid next summer returned to Eric, who received her well. Her father died also, and she inherited all his property.
Karlsevne in Greenland
That autumn (1002) Thorfinn Karlsevne came from Iceland to Eric’s fjord in Greenland, with one ship and forty men. He was on a trading voyage, and was looked upon as a skilful sailor and merchant, was of good family and rich in goods. Together with him was Snorre Thorbrandsson. Another ship, with Bjarne Grimolfsson and Thorhall Gamlason and a crew likewise of forty men, had accompanied them from Iceland.
“Eric rode to the ships, and others of the men of the country, and there was a friendly agreement between them. The captains bade Eric take what he wished of the cargo. But Eric in return showed great generosity, in that he invited both these crews home to spend the winter at Brattalid. This the merchants accepted and went with Eric.”
“The merchants were well content in Eric’s house that winter, but when Yule was drawing nigh, Eric began to be less cheerful than was his wont.” When Karlsevne asked: “Is there anything that oppresses thee, Eric?” and tried to find out the reason of his being so dispirited, it came out that it was because he had nothing for the Yule-brew; and it would be said that his guests had never had a worse Yule than with him. Karlsevne thought there was no difficulty about that; they had malt, and meal, and corn in the ships, and thereof, said he, “thou shalt have all thou desirest, and make such a feast as thy generosity demands.” Eric accepted this. “The Yule banquet was prepared, and it was so magnificent that men thought they had scarcely ever seen so fine a feast.”
Even if the tale is unhistorical, it gives a glimpse of the life and the hard conditions in Greenland; they only had grain occasionally when a ship arrived; for the most part they lived on what they caught, and when that failed, as we are told was the case in 999, there was famine. But to be without the Yule-brew was a misfortune to an Icelander; nevertheless we learn from the Foster-brothers’ Saga that “Yule-drink was rare in Greenland,” and that a man might become famous by holding a feast, as did Thorkel, the grandson of Eric the Red, in 1026.
After Yule, Karlsevne was married to Eric’s daughter-in-law, Gudrid.
“The feast was then prolonged, and the marriage was celebrated. There was great merry-making at Brattalid that winter; there was much playing at draughts, and making mirth with tales and much else to divert the company.”