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81-624: The Saga of the Greenlanders starts with Erik the Red , who leaves Norway and colonizes Greenland . It then relates six expeditions to North America, led respectively by Bjarni Herjolfsson , Leif Erikson , Thorvald Eriksson , Thorstein Eriksson and his wife Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir , Thorfinn Karlsefni , and Freydís Eiríksdóttir . Bjarni and his crew discover three lands by chance during their voyage to Greenland, but they never set foot on

162-453: A "stiff and rhetorical" writing style with uses of alliteration ; the saga therefore seemed more modern than those written in the thirteenth century. However, in 1956, Jón Jóhannesson proposed a new view regarding the composition date of the Saga of the Greenlanders , stating that the saga was the older version of the story of Norse colonization and dating it to around 1200. Jóhannesson examined

243-751: A Senior Scientist at the National Museum of Natural History , wrote that there is insufficient published evidence to support Sutherland's claims, and that the Dorset were using spun cordage by the 6th century. In 1992, Elizabeth Wayland Barber wrote that a piece of three-ply yarn that dates to the Paleolithic era, that ended about 10,000 BP, was found at the Lascaux caves in France. This yarn consisted of three s-twist strands that were z-plied, much like

324-518: A considerable area along Eriksfjord and neighboring fjords . Groups of immigrants escaping overcrowding in Iceland joined the original party. However, one group of immigrants which arrived in 1002 brought with it an epidemic that ravaged the colony, killing many of its leading citizens, including Erik himself. Nevertheless, the colony rebounded and survived until the Little Ice Age made

405-544: A crew of sixty men and five women. The expedition arrives in Leif's and Thorvald's old camp and stays there for the winter in good conditions. The next summer, a group of Skraelings come to visit, carrying skins for trade. The Skraelings want weapons in return but Karlsefni forbids his men to trade weapons. Instead he offers the Skraelings dairy products, and the trade is successful. Near the beginning of their second winter,

486-548: A farm called Eiríksstaðir ; Þjódhild was the daughter of Jorundur Ulfsson and Þorbjorg Gilsdottir. Medieval Icelandic tradition relates that Erik and his wife Þjódhild had four children: a daughter, Freydís , and three sons, the explorer Leif Erikson , Thorvald and Thorstein . Unlike his son Leif and Leif's wife, who became Christians, Erik remained a follower of Norse paganism . While Erik's wife took heartily to Christianity, even commissioning Greenland's first church, Erik greatly disliked it and stuck to his Norse gods—which,

567-478: A forgery. Another noteworthy discrepancy between the two sagas lies in their different versions of the story of Erik's tumbling from his horse and injuring his foot before his voyage. In the Saga of the Greenlanders , Erik decides not to go on the journey because he deems his fall as a presage, while in the Saga of Erik the Red , Erik attributes his fall to his concealing a treasure chest. It has been argued by Sven B. F. Jansson that this distinction exemplifies how

648-410: A good profit of his journeys west. He later settles in Iceland with his wife and son, and their descendants include some of the earliest Icelandic bishops. The saga ends with what seems to be an attempt to establish its credibility: "Karlsefni has accurately related to all men the occurrences on all these voyages, of which somewhat is now recited here." The Saga of the Greenlanders is the name given to

729-542: A medical missionary and scholar living in Newfoundland and Labrador in the early 20th century wrote in his work "The Romance of Labrador" that Helluland likely corresponds to Kangalaksiorvik Bay , a fiord around 100 miles (161 km) south of the Torngat Mountains . He described its south side as home to "endless acres of flat stones", south of which lie the wooded Markland and, further south, Vinland

810-526: A pilgrimage, and then return to her farm in Iceland. Upon her return a church will be built, and she will become a nun and remain there until her death. A ship commanded by Thorfinn Karlsefni , a man of means, arrives in Greenland from Norway. He stays with Leif Eriksson for the winter and falls in love with Gudrid. They marry later that same winter. Karlsefni is encouraged by his wife and other people to lead an expedition to Vinland. He agrees to go and hires

891-429: A saga that has now been lost to time, Galti headed the first Norse attempt to colonize Greenland, of which ended in failure for Galti and his party due to the many unforgiving hardships that they faced during the winter on the island. As a result of Galti's failed expedition, Erik the Red is widely credited to be the first known, and successful, permanent settler of Greenland. During his exile, around 982, Erik sailed to

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972-452: A somewhat mysterious and little-known land that Snæbjörn galti Hólmsteinsson had unsuccessfully attempted to settle a few years before. Erik rounded the southern tip of the island, later known as Cape Farewell , and sailed up the western coast. Eventually, Erik reached a part of the coast that, for the most part, seemed ice-free and consequently had conditions—similar to those of Iceland—that promised growth and future prosperity. According to

1053-478: A way to attract settlers. Overwintering in Iceland, Erik sets sail again intending to colonize Greenland. His expedition has 30 ships, but only 14 reach their destination. Erik founds a colony at Brattahlid in the Southwest of the island where he becomes a respected leader. Erik and Thjodhild have three sons, Leif , Thorvald , and Thorstein, and a daughter named Freydis . A man named Bjarni Herjólfsson has

1134-477: A while and then retreat. Thorvald receives a fatal wound and is buried in Vinland. His crew returns to Greenland. Thorstein Eriksson resolves to go to Vinland for the body of his brother. The same ship is prepared yet again, and Thorstein sets sail with a crew of 25 and his wife Gudrid. The expedition never reaches Vinland, and after sailing the whole summer, the ship ends up back at the coast of Greenland. During

1215-431: A winter of small disputes, Freydis arises early one morning to speak with the brothers. Finnbogi is the only one awake, and he steps out to hear what Freydis has to say. Finnbogi explains his dislike for the ill feelings between the two parties and hopes to clear the air with Freydis. She agrees and offers a trade. The brothers want to stay in Vinland, but Freydis is ready to go back home; she suggests they trade ships since

1296-484: A word of the events will be killed. The plan is to say that the brothers chose to stay behind in Vinland when Freydis returns to Greenland. Once back home, Freydis returns to the farm and ensures that her crew is well rewarded for the trip to Vinland in order to keep them quiet about her dastardly deeds. Nevertheless, Leif eventually catches wind of what has happened and gets furious. He predicts "that their descendants will not get on well in this world." Karlsefni has made

1377-538: Is called Leif the Lucky. Leif's voyage is discussed extensively in Brattahlid . Thorvald, Leif's brother, thinks that Vinland has not been explored enough. Leif offers him his ship for a new voyage there and he accepts. Setting sail with a crew of 30, Thorvald arrives in Vinland where Leif has previously made camp. They stay there for the winter and survive by fishing. In the spring Thorvald goes exploring and sails to

1458-405: Is considered to be concocted by the monk Gunnlaugr Leifsson, as early historical accounts show that neither King Óláfr nor Leif seems to have actually engaged in the conversion of Greenland; the absence of such a story in the Saga of the Greenlanders thus makes it appear more reliable than the Saga of Erik the Red . As a result, it is implausible that Leif was the discoverer of Vinland, since in

1539-402: Is involved in a dispute and is proclaimed an outlaw. He resolves to find the land spotted by Gunnbjorn while lost during a western voyage. Erik departs Iceland near Snæfellsjökull and arrives at the glacial coast of Greenland where he then sails south searching for habitable areas. After two years of exploring, he returns to Iceland and tells of his discoveries, giving Greenland its name as

1620-687: Is sometimes considered a part of Vinland. The name Helluland was given by Leif Erikson during his voyage to Vinland according to the Greenland Saga and means "Land of Flat Rocks/Stones" in Old Norse . Helluland was said to be the first of three lands in North America visited by Eriksson. He decided against trying to settle there because he found the land inhospitable. He continued south to Markland (probably Labrador ) and Vinland (possibly Newfoundland ). The Saga of Erik

1701-558: Is unique to the Saga of the Greenlanders . Bjarni is not mentioned in the Saga of Erik the Red which gives Leif the credit for the discoveries. Leif Eriksson becomes interested in Bjarni's discoveries and buys a ship from him. He hires a crew of 35 people and asks Erik to lead an expedition to the West. Erik is reluctant and says he is too old, but he is eventually persuaded. As Erik rides to

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1782-546: The Saga of Erik the Red , Erik spent his three years of exile exploring this land. The first winter Erik spent on the island of Eiriksey, the second winter he passed in Eiriksholmar (close to Hvarfsgnipa). In the final summer Erik explored as far north as Snaefell and into Hrafnsfjord. When Erik returned to Iceland after his exile had expired, he is said to have brought with him stories of "Greenland". Erik purposefully gave

1863-554: The Saga of Erik the Red was "closer to more original oral traditions" than the Saga of the Greenlanders . Erik the Red Erik Thorvaldsson ( c.  950  – c.  1003 ), known as Erik the Red , was a Norse explorer , described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first European settlement in Greenland . Erik most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to

1944-482: The Saga of Erik the Red , Leif should have come upon Vinland during his journey from Norway to Greenland. Instead, Bjarni in the Saga of the Greenlanders might have been the true discoverer. Some have argued that this theory is further supported by the Vinland Map , which was supposedly created around 1440 and mentions Bjarni in its captions describing the discovery of Vinland; however, the map has been declared as

2025-406: The Saga of Erik the Red . With Jóhannesson's proposition that the Saga of the Greenlanders could actually be the older of two, many adopted the idea that the Saga of the Greenlanders was more factual and that the Saga of Erik the Red borrowed parts from it. The story in the Saga of Erik the Red of Leif's visit to Norway and later evangelization in Greenland under the commission of King Óláfr

2106-440: The Saga of the Greenlanders "preserves an older mode of thought." In 2001, however, Helgi Þorláksson proposed a different view than that of Jóhannesson. Þorláksson noted that Gudrid's pilgrimage trip to Rome was mentioned in the Saga of the Greenlanders but not in the Saga of Erik the Red. This, together with the mention of Glaumbær instead of Reynisnes as the home of Gudrid in her later years, led Þorláksson to conclude that

2187-456: The Saga of the Greenlanders could in reality be the younger of the two sagas, possibly dating to the fourteenth century, a theory which coincides with the pre-1956 academic view. To Þorláksson, the fact that the compiler of Hauksbók , a manuscript made in the early fourteenth century that contained various texts including the Saga of Erik the Red , did not include the Saga of the Greenlanders despite his passion for Greenland might mean that

2268-580: The Skuggifjord (Hudson Strait), it is in Helluland's Obygdir (uninhabited regions)... he has gone there because he wishes to escape you. But now you may track him to his house if you wish and see what comes of it." "Thereupon he (and his son Vignor in separate ships) sailed until they came into the Greenland Sea (which lay between Iceland and Greenland) when they turned south and sailed around

2349-459: The color of his hair and beard. According to Icelandic sagas , Erik was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland , Norway , as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson ; to which Thorvald would later be banished from Norway, and would sail west to Iceland with Erik and his family. During Erik's life in Iceland, he married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and would have four children, with one of Erik's sons being

2430-540: The genealogies of the couple Karlsefni and Gudrid included near the end of the two sagas, and he noticed that the author of the Saga of Erik the Red referred to one of the couple's descendants, Bishop Brandr, as "Bishop Brandr the First," while the author of the Saga of the Greenlanders simply mentioned the name "Bishop Brandr." According to the genealogies, there were two descendants of Karlsefni and Gudrid that were named Bishop Brandr, one having lived from 1163 to 1201 and

2511-524: The 14th century. Attempts have also been made to determine the credibility of the different expedition stories in the saga, and they often involve close comparisons between the Saga of the Greenlanders and the Saga of Erik the Red . The current consensus is that although certain parts of the saga are fanciful, much appears to be based on historical truth. Erik the Red emigrates from Norway to Iceland with his father, Thorvald Asvaldsson , to avoid murder charges. Erik marries Thjodhild in Iceland. He again

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2592-602: The Dorset natives in the area. Sutherland's new findings further strengthen the case for a Viking camp on Baffin Island. "While her evidence was compelling before, I find it convincing now," said James Tuck , professor emeritus of archaeology, ... at Memorial University ." Sutherland and the Helluland Archaeology Project among others have identified several potential pre-Columbian European archaeological sites including Tanfield Valley , Avayalik at

2673-696: The Dueller (Holmgang-Hrafn). Kinsmen of Eyjolf sought legal prosecution and Erik was later banished from Haukadale for killing Eyjolf the Foul around the year 982. Erik then moved to Brokey and Öxney (Eyxney) island in Iceland. Erik asked a man named Thorgest to keep his setstokkr —inherited ornamented pillars of significant mystical value—which his father had brought from Norway. When Erik had finished building his new home, he went back to retrieve his pillars from Thorgest; however, Thorgest refused to return them to Erik, and so Erik then went to Breidabolstadr and took

2754-458: The Good . In 2018, Michele Hayeur Smith of Brown University, who specializes in the study of ancient textiles , wrote that she does not think the ancient Arctic people, the Dorset and Thule, needed to be taught how to spin yarn: "It's a pretty intuitive thing to do." Journal of Archaeological Science , August 2018: ". . . the date received on Sample 4440b from Nanook clearly indicates that sinew

2835-718: The Red, 1880 translation into English by J. Sephton from the original Icelandic 'Eiríks saga rauða'. "They sailed away from land; then to the Vestribygd and to Bjarneyjar (the Bear Islands). Thence they sailed away from Bjarneyjar with northerly winds. They were out at sea two half-days. Then they came to land, and rowed along it in boats, and explored it, and found there flat stones, many and so great that two men might well lie on them stretched on their backs with heel to heel. Polar-foxes were there in abundance. This land they gave name to, and called it Helluland (stone-land)." In

2916-464: The Saga of Halfdan Eysteinsson ( Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar ), written no earlier than the mid-14th century a fragment says: "Ragnar brought Helluland's obygdir under his sway and destroyed all the giants there..." Written in the last half of the 13th century an anonymous Icelandic fornaldarsaga , describes the attempts of Örvar-Oddr and his son Vignor to track down an enemy named Ogmund: "I will tell you where Ogmund has gone. He has gone into

2997-467: The Skraelings come again to trade. This time, one of Karlsefni's men kills a Skraeling as he reaches for Norse weapons. The Skraelings run off. Karlsefni fears that the natives will return, hostile and in larger numbers. He forms a plan for the coming battle. The Skraelings do come again and the Norsemen manage to fight them off. Karlsefni stays there for the remainder of the winter and returns to Greenland

3078-402: The author indeed added fictional elements. These elements were likely intended to make the saga more entertaining for its contemporary audience. Descriptions in the saga of the life of one protagonist, Gudrid, have also been examined for truthfulness. Ólafur Halldórsson argued in 1986 that the story about how Gudrid first appeared in Greenland was entirely fictitious despite her prominent role in

3159-572: The brothers have a much larger one than she does, and it would be of better use bringing back her people and her half of the profits. Finnbogi agrees to this, and the two part. Once Freydis returns home, her cold, wet feet awake her husband, Thorvard. He asks where she has been, and she spins a tale much different from the actual events that have taken place. She says that she offered to buy the brother's ship, but they became angry and struck her. Freydis then threatens divorce until Thorvard agrees to avenge her. Thorvard takes his men and begins tying up all

3240-510: The brothers is that each party can have no more than 30 men on board and then women as well. This agreement is made to ensure that neither side has an unfair advantage against the other, but Freydis quickly double-crosses her partners by bringing along 5 extra men. The brothers arrive at Vinland slightly earlier and unload their belongings into Leif's house. When Freydis realized what they have done, she immediately makes them remove their things. The brothers therefore build their own longhouse. After

3321-563: The combination of two separate short stories (known as þættir ), which are interpolated into the Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason as found in the Flateyjarbók manuscript. These two tales, the Tale of Eric the Red ( Eiríks þáttr rauða ) and the Tale of the Greenlanders ( Grœnlendinga þáttr (I) ), are separated by more than fifty columns in the original manuscript, but are commonly combined and translated as one saga. Before mid-1900s, there

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3402-466: The compiler (named Haukr Erlendsson ) "simply did not know of" the saga; this would then suggest that the Saga of the Greenlanders might not have been composed by the time Hauksbók was created. Furthermore, in the Saga of the Greenlanders , after Bjarni discovered Vinland and arrived in Norway, he recounted his journey to Earl Eiríkr; Þorláksson held that this Earl Eiríkr was in fact King Eiríkr who

3483-497: The country Helluland meaning Stone-slab land . They then sail further and find a forested land with white shores. Leif names it Markland meaning Wood land and again sets sail. Leif sails for two days with a north-easterly wind and comes upon a new land which appears very inviting. They decide to stay there for the winter. The nature of the country was, as they thought, so good that cattle would not require house feeding in winter, for there came no frost in winter, and little did

3564-490: The custom of spending alternate winters in Norway and in Iceland with his father. When he arrives in Iceland one summer, he finds that his father has emigrated to Greenland. He resolves to follow him there although he realizes that it is a dangerous proposition since neither he nor any of his crew has been in Greenland waters. After sailing for three days from Iceland, Bjarni receives unfavorable weather, north winds, and fog and loses his bearing. After several days of bad weather,

3645-552: The exploits of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his wife Gudrid. Helluland Helluland ( Old Norse pronunciation: [ˈhelːoˌlɑnd] ) is the name given to one of the three lands, the others being Vinland and Markland , seen by Bjarni Herjólfsson , encountered by Leif Erikson and further explored by Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson around AD 1000 on the North Atlantic coast of North America. As some writers refer to all land beyond Greenland as Vinland; Helluland

3726-614: The far north of the Labrador Peninsula , Willows Island at the southern part of Baffin Island, Pond Inlet (Nunguvik) in the far north of Baffin Island. When Sutherland was asked if she might have been fired from the Canadian Museum of Civilization, now the Canadian Museum of History , because her research was out of step with government views of Canadian history, Sutherland agreed. Sir Wilfred Grenfell ,

3807-437: The first chapter in the Saga of the Greenlanders of the Íslenzk fornrit edition underwent changes and additions by Jón Þórðarson, the scribe of Flateyjarbók manuscript where the saga is found; nevertheless, the details of such modifications are largely unknown. The testimony to authenticity at the very end of the saga is considered by some as valid, yet the part of the saga where Thorstein tells Gudrid her fortune implies that

3888-459: The first sighting of the land-mass. Nearly a century before Erik, strong winds had driven Gunnbjörn towards a set of islands between Iceland and Greenland, later named Gunnbjörn's skerries in his honor. However, the accidental nature of Gunnbjörn's discovery has led to his neglect in the history of Greenland. After Gunnbjörn, roughly eighty years later the outlaw Snæbjörn galti had also visited Greenland and attempted to settle there. According to

3969-495: The following spring. During their stay in Vinland, Karlsefni and Gudrid have their son, Snorri . Freydís Eiríksdóttir , daughter of Erik the Red, proposes a voyage to Vinland with the brothers Helgi and Finnbogi, offering to share the profits fifty-fifty. After the brothers agree to the proposal, Freydis turns to her brother Leif as she wishes to have the houses he built in Vinland. Leif says she may borrow them, but she cannot have them for herself. The agreement between Freydis and

4050-410: The following spring. The final expedition is made by Freydís, who sails to Vinland with the brothers Helgi and Finnbogi but eventually slaughters their crew and returns to Greenland. The date of the saga's composition has been debated among scholars for decades. Some have argued that the saga was written around the beginning of the 13th century, while others have dated it to the late 13th century or even

4131-435: The grass wither there. Day and night were more equal than in Greenland or Iceland. — Beamish (1864), p.64 As Leif and his crew explore the land, they discover grapes. Leif therefore names the country Vinland meaning Wine land . In the spring, the expedition sets sail back to Greenland with a ship loaded with wood and grapes. During the voyage home, they come upon and rescue a group of ship-wrecked Norsemen. After this Leif

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4212-693: The hair and also from the sinews of native terrestrial grazing animals, most likely musk ox and arctic hare, throughout the Middle Dorset period and for at least a millennium before there is any reasonable evidence of European activity in the islands of the North Atlantic or in the North American Arctic." William W. Fitzhugh , Director of the Arctic Studies Center at the Smithsonian Institution , and

4293-621: The land a more appealing name than "Iceland" as "people would be attracted to go there if it had a favorable name", per Erik's own words. Erik knew that the success of any settlement in Greenland would need the support of as many people as possible. Erik's salesmanship of Greenland proved successful as after spending the winter in Iceland Erik returned to Greenland in the summer of 985 with a large number of colonists. However, out of 25 ships that left for Greenland, 11 were lost at sea; only 14 arrived. The Icelanders established two colonies on

4374-600: The land and to the west... They sailed then until they came to Helluland and laid their course into the Skuggifjord..." "When they reached the land (which they were seeking in the Skuggifjord) father and son went ashore and walked until they saw a fortified structure very strongly built..." According to a footnote in Arthur Middleton Reeves' The Norse Discovery of America (1906), "the whole of

4455-538: The land marginal for European life-styles in the 15th century–shortly before Christopher Columbus 's first voyage to the Americas in 1492. Pirate raids, conflict with Inuit moving into the Norse territories, and the colony's abandonment by Norway became other factors in its decline. There are numerous parallels between the Saga of Erik the Red and the Greenland saga, including recurring characters and recountings of

4536-531: The lands themselves. Leif learns about Bjarni's encounters and, after buying Bjarni's ship, sails to the lands to explore them. During his adventures, Leif names the three lands Helluland , Markland , and Vinland . Later, Thorvald, Leif's brother, sets sail to Vinland and lives there until he gets killed by the natives in a combat. Thorstein and Gudrid attempt to travel to Vinland but eventually fail, and thereafter Thorstein dies of an illness. Karlsefni, who then marries Gudrid, journeys to Vinland and stays there until

4617-419: The men from the other camp in a sneak attack while they are still sleeping. Freydis has each man killed on the spot if they belong to Finnbogi and Helgi's crew. Soon, only the 5 women are left alive, but no man dares to kill them. In response Freydis says, "Hand me an axe." She makes quick work of slaying the women and is very pleased with how well her morning has gone. She tells all involved that anyone who speaks

4698-480: The northern coast of America, west of Greenland, was called by the ancient Icelandic geographers Helluland it Mikla, or Great Helluland; and the island of Newfoundland simply Helluland, or Litla Helluland." The Icelandic Saga of Erik the Red and the Greenland Saga characterized Helluland as a land of flat stones ( Old Norse : hella ). Most scholars agree that Helluland corresponds to Baffin Island in

4779-411: The other younger one from 1263 to 1264. Jóhannesson argued that the reference to the older Bishop Brandr as 'Bishop Brandr the First" in the Saga of Erik the Red was to differentiate him from the younger bishop of the same name, and therefore the author could not have composed the saga before 1264; however, the Saga of the Greenlanders was likely composed at an earlier time since no such differentiation

4860-456: The others settled in a place that is referred to only as Vinland, while in Erik the Red's saga they formed two base settlements: Straumfjǫrðr where they spent the winter and the following spring, and Hop where they later settled but ran into problems with the natives they called Skrælings , as depicted in the Greenland saga. The two accounts are largely similar otherwise, both with heavy emphasis on

4941-571: The pillars back. As a result, Thorgest and his men gave chase, and in the ensuing fight Erik slew both of Thorgest's sons as well as "some other men". After this conflict both Erik and Thorgest kept close a large number of allies. Styr gave assistance to Eirik, as also did Eyjolf, of Sviney, Thorbjorn Vifilsson, and the sons of Thorbrand, of Alptafjordr (Swanfirth). But the sons of Thord Gellir, as also Thorgeir, of Hitardalr (Hotdale), Aslak, of Langadalr (Longdale), and Illugi, his son, gave assistance to Thorgest. The dispute between Erik and Thorgest

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5022-535: The potential that the Norse had settled on Baffin Island. Over a number of years searching in collections and digging at sites such as Tanfield Valley , she found numerous artifacts, such as tally sticks, signs of iron and bronze metallurgy and whetstones used for sharpening metal tools, and European-style masonry and turf construction, which indicated to her that the Vikings had been on Baffin for an extended period and likely had an established trading relationship with

5103-619: The present-day Canadian territory of Nunavut . From the testimony of the sagas, the Norse explorers probably made contact with the native Dorset culture of the region, people whom the sagas term skrælings . Historians suggest the contact had no major cultural ramifications for either side. Patricia Sutherland , of the Canadian Museum of Civilization , found in the museum's collections yarn collected in archaeological digs on Baffin Island that corresponded to that found in Norse settlements in Greenland , which led her to explore in depth

5184-494: The saga. Moreover, Helgi Þorláksson pointed out that toward the end of the saga, it is mentioned that Gudrid became a nun and a hermit at Glaumbær in Skagafjörðr , while in fact the referenced nunnery was constructed at a different place named Reynisnes. Before Jón Jóhannesson's 1956 paper, the Saga of the Greenlanders had been thought of as being dependent on less accurate oral traditions and therefore as less factual than

5265-408: The sagas relate, led Þjódhild to withhold intercourse from her husband. Similar to his father before him, Erik also found himself exiled for a time. The initial confrontation occurred when Erik's thralls (slaves) caused a landslide on a neighboring farm belonging to a man named Valthjof, and Valthjof's friend, Eyjolf the Foul, killed the thralls. In retaliation, Erik killed Eyjolf as well as Hrafn

5346-614: The sagas, Erik fell off his horse on the way to the ship and took this as a bad sign, leaving his son to continue without him. Erik later died in an epidemic that killed many of the colonists in the winter after his son's departure. It has been a common mistake for popular history to occasionally credit Erik as being the first European to discover Greenland, however, the Icelandic sagas suggest that earlier Norsemen discovered and attempted to settle it before him. Tradition credits Gunnbjörn Ulfsson (also known as Gunnbjörn Ulf-Krakuson) with

5427-479: The same expeditions, though with a few notable differences. The saga of Erik the Red portrays a number of the expeditions in the Greenland saga as just one expedition led by Thorfinn Karlsefni , although Erik's son Thorvald, his daughter Freydís and Karlsefni's wife Gudrid play key roles in the retelling. Another notable difference is the location of their settlements. According to the Grœnlendinga saga, Karlsefni and

5508-471: The ship, his horse stumbles, and Erik falls to the ground and hurts his foot. Considering this an ill omen, he says: "It is not ordained that I should discover more countries than that which we now inhabit." Leif, instead, leads the expedition. Setting sail from Brattahlid, Leif and his crew find the same lands Bjarni has discovered earlier but in the reverse order. First they come upon an icy land. They step ashore and find it to be of little interest. Leif names

5589-571: The son of Thorvald Asvaldsson (also spelled Osvaldsson). Thorvald would later be banished from Norway for committing acts of manslaughter. Thorvald would then proceed to sail west from Norway with his family, including a 10-year-old Erik. Thorvald and his family would eventually settle in Hornstrandir in northwestern Iceland , where Thorvald would eventually die sometime before 970 CE. After his father's death, Erik married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and moved to Haukadalr (Hawksdale) where he built

5670-614: The southwest coast: the Eastern Settlement or Eystribyggð, in what is now Qaqortoq , and the Western Settlement , close to present-day Nuuk . Eventually, a Middle Settlement grew, but many suggest it formed part of the Western Settlement. The Eastern and Western Settlements, both established on the southwest coast, proved the only two areas suitable for farming. During the summers, when the weather

5751-494: The sun shines again, and Bjarni reaches a wooded land. Realizing that it is not Greenland, Bjarni decides not to go ashore and sets sail away. Bjarni finds two more lands, but neither of them matches the descriptions he has heard of Greenland, and therefore, despite the curiosity of his sailors, he does not go ashore. Eventually the ship does reach Greenland and Bjarni settles in Herjolfsnes . The description of Bjarni's voyage

5832-456: The well-known Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson . Around the year of 982, Erik was exiled from Iceland for three years, during which time he explored Greenland, eventually culminating in his founding of the first successful European settlement on the island. Erik would later die there around 1003 CE during a winter epidemic. Erik Thorvaldsson was born in Rogaland , Norway in 950 CE, and was

5913-415: The west. They find no signs of human habitation except for one corn-shed. They return to their camp for the winter. The next summer Thorvald makes explorations in the east and north of their camp. At one point the explorers disembark in a pleasant forested area. The natives, called Skraelings by the Norsemen, return with a larger force to attack Thorvald and his men. The Skraelings fire missiles at them for

5994-527: The winter, Thorstein falls ill and dies but speaks out of his dead body and tells the fortune of his wife Gudrid. He predicts that Gudrid will marry an Icelander and have a long line of "promising, bright and fine, sweet and well-scented" descendants. Thorstein also predicts that she will leave Greenland for Norway and from there she will set out for Iceland. She will, however, live so long that she will outlive her husband. Thorstein foresees that once her husband passes she will travel abroad once again, going south on

6075-407: Was a consensus among scholars that the Saga of the Greenlanders was composed during the fourteenth century, a time much later than that of the composition of the other significant Icelandic saga on the Norse colonization of North America, the Saga of Erik the Red . For example, Dag Strömbäck in 1940 suggested that the Saga of the Greenlanders was largely based on oral traditions and represented

6156-453: Was attempted by its author. Additionally, Jóhannesson pointed out that the mention of Leif's stay in Norway in the Saga of Erik the Red was primarily based on the Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason written around 1200 by a monk named Gunnlaugr Leifsson , but the Saga of the Greenlanders did not appear to be influenced by this then famous work, thereby suggesting that the Saga of the Greenlanders

6237-475: Was being spun and plied at least as early, if not earlier, than yarn at this site. We feel that the most parsimonious explanation of this data is that the practice of spinning hair and wool into plied yarn most likely developed naturally within this context of complex, indigenous, Arctic fiber technologies, and not through contact with European textile producers. [. . .] Our investigations indicate that Paleoeskimo (Dorset) communities on Baffin Island spun threads from

6318-459: Was in charge of Norway during the late thirteenth century, and therefore the Saga of the Greenlanders could not be composed at an earlier time. Scholars have long debated the credibility and historicity of the various stories in the Saga of the Greenlanders as the saga depended primarily on oral traditions, but it has been agreed upon that the saga should not be considered a purely authentic source of historical information. It has been argued that

6399-478: Was later resolved at the Thorsnes Thing , where Erik and the men that sided with him were outlawed from Iceland for three years; many of these men would then join Erik on his expedition to Greenland. Erik's son Leif Erikson became the first Norseman to explore the land of Vinland –part of North America, presumably near modern-day Newfoundland –and invited his father on the voyage. However, according to

6480-747: Was more favorable to travel, each settlement would send an army of men to hunt in Disko Bay above the Arctic Circle for food and other valuable commodities such as seals (used for rope), ivory from walrus tusks, and beached whales . In the Eastern Settlement, Erik built the estate of Brattahlíð , near present-day Narsarsuaq , in what is known today as Qassiarsuk . Erik held the title of paramount chieftain of Greenland and became both greatly respected and wealthy. The settlement flourished, growing to 5,000 inhabitants spread over

6561-535: Was older than the Saga of Erik the Red . Later, in 1978, Ólafur Halldórsson argued that the two Icelandic sagas were written independently in the early thirteenth century, holding that Jóhannesson's analyses and conclusions were quite debatable. Halldórsson maintained that the fact that the Saga of the Greenlanders did not show dependence on the Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason was not sufficient to prove its anteriority in time. Expanding on some of Halldórsson's arguments, nevertheless, Helgi Þorláksson in 2001 suggested that

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