To what has here been said some will object that, even if this description ascribed to Ivar Bárdsson bears evident marks of being inexact, it shows at any rate that in Norway, when it was taken down, the view prevailed that the Western Settlement had been destroyed by an attack of the Skrælings. But nothing of the kind is really stated in the account (cf. above, [p. 108], note 3); and the possibly contemporary statement (of 1342 ?) which has already been given ([p. 100]) shows that in Iceland, at any rate in the seventeenth century, the contrary view prevailed, unless indeed we are to explain this statement as having arisen through a misunderstanding of Lyschander.
Eskimo attack in 1379
Under the year 1379 the so-called “Gottskalks Annáll” (of the second half of the sixteenth century) has a statement which cannot be regarded as certain, as it is not found in the other Icelandic annals, but which may have been taken from older sources. It reads [G. Storm’s edition of Islandske Annaler, 1888, p. 364]:
“The Skrælings harried the Greenlanders and killed of them eighteen men and took two boys and made slaves of them.”
Björn Jorsalafarer’s account, 1385-87
It is possible that this may have some historical foundation, and in that case it doubtless refers to some collision or attack, perhaps at sea, in which the Eskimo were superior and the Greenlanders were defeated, which latter circumstance is the reason of our hearing something about it; in the contrary case it would not have been reported. That the Eskimo took two boys is conceivable if they were quite young, so that they could be trained for sealing; they would thus provide an increase of the capital of the community. It is not unlikely that rumours of some such collisions as this may have contributed to form the ideas prevalent in Norway as to the formidable character of the Skrælings,[83] while at the same time there existed ideas of their flying from Europeans, which appear in the reports of the Pygmies (cf. the letter to the Pope, about 1450, and Walkendorf, above, [p. 86]). Whether the encounter referred to took place in the Western or in the Eastern Settlement (or perhaps in Nordrsetur ?) we do not know. If we are to place any reliance on Ivar Bárdsson’s description, we must suppose that the Western Settlement and its fate were little known at that time. But that friendly relations between the Greenlanders and the Eskimo may have prevailed also in the Eastern Settlement later than this seems to result from the account of the widely travelled Icelander Björn Einarsson Jorsalafarer’s stay in Greenland from 1385 to 1387. On a voyage to Iceland in 1385 he was in distress, and was driven out of his course to the Eastern Settlement with four ships, which all arrived safe and well in Iceland in 1387.[84] It seems that there was a difficulty in feeding all these crews, but Björn is said to have had the district of Eric’s fjord handed over to him while he was there (?), and received as a contribution 130 fore-quarters of sheep (?). There is also related a fable that on his coming there and going down to the sea to look for seals he happened to witness a combat between a polar bear and a walrus, “who always fight when they meet,[85] and he afterwards killed them both.”
“Then Björn the franklin found maintenance for his people through one of the largest rorquals being driven ashore, with a marked harpoon belonging to Olaf of Isafjord in Iceland, and finally it was also of importance that he came to the assistance of two trolls [i.e., Eskimo], a young brother and sister, on a tidal skerry [i.e., one that was under water at high tide]. They swore fidelity to him, and from that time he never was short of food; for they were skilled in all kinds of hunting, whatever he wished or needed. What the troll girl liked best was when Solveig, the mistress of the house, allowed her to carry and play with her boy who had lately been born. She also wanted to have a linen hood like the mistress, but made it for herself of whale’s guts. They killed themselves, and threw themselves into the sea from the cliffs after the ships, when they were not allowed to sail with the franklin Björn, their beloved master, to Iceland.”
The description of Björn Einarsson’s voyage is full of extravagances and anything but trustworthy; but his stay in Greenland with the four ships is certainly historical; and the description of the two young Eskimo has many features so typical of the Eskimo—such as the girl’s fondness for children, her making a hood of whale’s guts, and their superior skill in sealing—that they show without doubt that at that time there was intercourse with the Eskimo in the Eastern Settlement.
From an existing royal document of 1389 it appears that, when Björn and his companions came from Iceland to Bergen in 1388, they were prosecuted for illegal trading with Greenland, which was a royal monopoly; but they were acquitted, since they had been driven there in great distress and were obliged to trade in order to obtain food [Grönl. hist. Mind., iii. pp. 139, f.].
Papal letter of 1448 on an Eskimo attack