NOTES AND INDEXES
NOTES
Page 3. The Story of Vinland. The discovery of America by the Norsemen is as well authenticated as any other fact of tenth-century history, and much better authenticated than most. There can be no doubt of the substantial accuracy of the Icelandic chronicle, and Mr. Lanier has followed it very closely.
Page 3. Stout Are Marson. Are Marsson. The stories concerning him and "Huitramannaland" are believed to be purely fanciful, an embroidery of fiction upon the historical background of the chronicles. There is no evidence that the Norsemen ever got farther south than Cape Cod, or, at most, Point Judith.
Page 7. Mid-ships with iron keel. The Norse boats had neither "iron keel" nor "ribs of steel." Keel and ribs were made of oak, and no evidence has been found of metallic sheathing. The size of these ships is usually underestimated. They were larger, stronger, and more seaworthy than those of Columbus. There is one in the museum at Christiania seventy-eight feet long, seventeen feet beam, and nearly six feet in depth. She carried a crew of at least thirty-five men. Henry Hudson's Half Moon carried a crew of only sixteen.
Page 7. The lofty tower. The old stone tower at Newport, around whose origin controversy raged for many years, but which is now believed to have been built by Benedict Arnold, governor of Newport, about 1676, for a windmill. The reader is referred to Palfrey's "History of New England," i, 57; Fiske's "Discovery of America," i, 214; and Drake's "New England Legends and Folk-lore," 393.
Page 7. Beyond the limits he had vainly set. The Pillars of Hercules, Gibraltar and Cape Serra.
Page 9. St. Stephen's cloistered hall. The conference was held at the Dominican convent of St. Stephen, at Salamanca.
Page 10. Cordova's sage. Seneca.
Page 12. The far-seeing Marchioness. Beatriz de Bobadilla, Marchioness of Moya, the bosom friend of the Queen, and a devoted admirer of Columbus. She happened to be with the Queen when Santangel rushed in demanding audience and told of Columbus's departure, and added her eloquence to his.