Page 60 - All About History - Issue 70-18

Groenlendinga saga
The Vinland Map is allegedly a 15th century copy of a
13th century original, but its historicity is questioned Gudrid return saw a ship arrive in Greenland from
“There on the sand they saw three small
mounds that had not been there before”
call them back. “Awake, Thorvald, thou and all thy
company, if thou wouldst save thy life; and board
thy ship with all thy men, and sail with all speed
from the land!” This the Norsemen did but even as
they made it to their ship, innumerable canoes filled
the sea. Thorvald called for the ship to put up its
war-boards, shields to protect his men from arrows.
Putting his faith in his ship’s defences Thorvald
offered no attack but let the arrows of the Skraelings there. Homes were found for of all the crew except
clatter harmlessly against them. The Skraelings gave
up the battle and retreated.
Thorvald called to his men to see if any had been
wounded. None had taken so much as a scratch
but the captain had not been so lucky himself. He
showed his crew the shaft of an arrow, which had
glanced through the war-boards and taken him
under the arm.
Knowing that his end would come soon, Thorvald
ordered his men to flee as quickly as possible back to died. Thorstein had coffins made for the dead and
their own settlement.
He only asked them to bury him at the point that
he had thought would make a good home for his
old age. “Bury me there,” he told them, “and place a
cross at my head, and another at my feet, and call it lay dead on her bed, she seemed to move. The
Crossness for the rest of time.”
At the settlement, they gathered wood and grapes
before sailing back to Greenland, bringing with them
the tale of Thorvald’s discoveries and of his death.
The death of Thorstein
On Greenland, while Thorvald had been exploring,
his brother Thorstein Eriksson had married Gudrid,
one of those Leif the Lucky had rescued at sea.
When Thorstein heard of his brother’s death, he
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wanted to sail to Vinland and recover his body.
He crewed Thorvald’s own ship with 25 sturdy
men and set out to the west. His wife Gudrid
accompanied him.
For a whole summer it is said that their ship was
buffeted by the sea and gales, so that they never
knew where they were. By winter, they had reached
the western settlement of Greenland and sheltered
for Thorstein and Gudrid, who instead had to shelter over to them forever.
on their ship. Shivering on the wooden deck, they
were visited by a grim looking man. “I am called
Thorstein the Swarthy,” he announced to Gudrid and
Thorstein Eriksson. The swarthy man offered them
a house to live in and Thorstein Eriksson and Gudrid
gladly accepted the offer.
But death came among the settlers in that season.
Many of Thorstein Eriksson’s band sickened and
carried them back to his ship so that the bodies
could be returned to their family. Then the disease
entered Thorstein the Swarthy’s home, carrying off
his wife. As Thorstein the Swarthy’s wife Grimhild
house moaned as if all the timbers of the building
shifted and groaned against each other. Thorstein
Eriksson sickened after this strange sign. Gudrid did
all she could to comfort her husband, yet he died. As
she grieved over her husband’s body, Thorvald the
Swarthy sought to ease her suffering. He promised
to accompany Gudrid home and carry with them all
the bodies of the dead.
Then the dead man sat up and spoke loudly.
“Where is Gudrid?” he asked three times. Shocked,
Gudrid did not know whether to answer
the corpse so Thorstein the Swarthy asked,
“What do you want?”
“I wish to tell Gudrid of the fate which is
in store for her, so that my death may not
sadden her too harshly, for I am at peace
in a glorious place. I must tell you, Gudrid,
that you will marry a man of Iceland, that
many years of happy marriage shall be
yours, and from you shall spring a large
and famous progeny full of noble virtues.
You shall travel the world – from Iceland
to the far south before returning to take
the veil in a church.” Having prophesied
the future with his dead tongue,
Thorstein Erikson returned to his bed.
Thorstein sold up his farm and
possessions. He attended to Gudrid on
her return to her home and returned the
bodies of the dead to their families.
Karlsefni’s travels
The same summer that had seen
Norway, captained by Thorfinn Karlsefni. This
wealthy captain was welcomed into Leif the Lucky’s
home and passed the winter there. Karlsefni soon
found himself in love with the widow Gudrid and
could not resist proposing marriage between them.
At the time there was much talk of another voyage
to Vinland. People clamoured for Karselfni to lead
the expedition and he accepted. With 60 men and
five women who were all promised an equal share
of the profits of the journey, Karlsefni and Gudrid
set out. Since it was their intention to found a
permanent settlement in Vinland, they loaded many
cattle onto their ships too. Leif loaned them the use
of the long house he had constructed in Vinland for
the duration of their trip, though he would not give it
The ships soon found the site of Leif’s expedition.
A huge whale was driven onto the sand where they
captured it and stripped it of its flesh so that they
Leif Eriksson is credited
with being the first
European to land in North
America. He named the
land he discovered Vinland