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After that sailed they northwards past Furdustrands, and Kjalarness, and would cruise to the westward; then came against them a strong west wind, and they were driven away to Ireland, and were there beaten, and made slaves, according to what the merchants have said.

Now is to be told about Karlsefni, that he went to the southward along the coast, and Snorri and Bjarne, with their people. They sailed a long time, and until they came to a river which ran out from the land and through a lake, out into the sea. It was very shallow, and one could not enter the river without high water. Karlsefni sailed, with his people, into the mouth, and they called the place Hop. They found there upon the land self-sown fields of wheat, there where the ground was low, but vines there where it rose somewhat. Every stream there was full of fish. They made holes there where the land commenced, and the waters rose highest; and when the tide fell there were secured fish in the holes. There were a great number of all kinds of wild beasts in the woods. They remained there a half month, and amused themselves, and did not perceive anything [new]; they had their cattle with them. And one morning early, when they looked around, saw they a great many canoes, and poles were swung upon them, and it sounded like the wind in a straw stack, and the swinging was with the sun. Then said Karlsefni: "What may this denote?" Snorri Thorbrandson answered him: "It may be that this is a sign of peace, so let us take a white shield and hold it towards them;" and so they did. Upon this the others rowed towards them, and looked with [224] wonder upon those that they met, and went up upon the land. These people were black, and ill favoured, and had coarse hair on the head; they had large eyes and broad cheeks. They remained there for a time, and gazed upon those that they met, and rowed, afterwards, away to the southward, round the ness.

Karlsefni and his people had made their dwellings above the lake, and some of the houses were near the water, others more distant. Now were they there for the winter; there came no snow, and all their cattle fed themselves on the grass. But when spring approached, saw they one morning early that a number of canoes rowed from the south round the ness; so many, as if the sea was sowen with coal; poles were also swung on each boat. Karlsefni and his people then raised up the shield, and when they came together, they began to barter; and these people would rather have red cloth [than anything else]; for this they had to offer skins and real furs. They would also purchase swords and spears, but this Karlsefni and Snorri forbade. For an entire fur skin the Skrellings took a piece of red cloth, a span long, and bound it round their heads. Thus went on their traffic for a time; then the cloth began to fall short among Karlsefni and his people, and they cut it asunder into small pieces, which were not wider than the breadth of a finger, and still the Skrellings gave just as much for that as before, and more.

The Saga of Erik the Red, in giving an account of this transaction, adds that Karlsefni, on the cloth being expended, hit upon the expedient of making the women take [225] but milk porridge to the Skrellings, who, as soon as they saw this new article of commerce would buy the porridge and nothing else. "Thus," says the Saga, "the traffic of the Skrellings was wound up by their bearing away their purchases in their stomachs, but Karlsefni and his companions retained their goods and skins."

It happened that a bull, which Karlsefni had, ran out from the wood and roared aloud; this frightened the Skrellings, and they rushed to their canoes, and rowed away to the southward, round the coast; after that they were not seen for three entire weeks. But at the end of that time a great number of Skrellings boats' were seen coming from the south like a rushing torrent; all the poles were turned from the sun, and they all howled very loud. Then took Karlsefni's people a red shield, and held it towards them. The Skrellings jumped out of their ships, and after this went they against each other and fought. There was a sharp shower of weapons, for the Skrellings had slings. Karlsefni's people saw that they raised up on a pole an enormous large ball, something like a sheep's paunch, and of a blue colour; this swung they from the pole over Karlsefni's men, upon the ground, and it made a frightful crash as it fell down. This caused great alarm to Karlsefni and all his people, so that they thought of nothing but running away, and they fell back along the river, for it appeared to them that the Skrellings pressed upon them from all sides; and they did not stop until they came to some rocks, where they made a stout resistance. Freydis came out and saw that Karlsefni's people fell back, and she cried [224] out: "Why do ye run, stout men as ye are, before these miserable wretches, whom I thought ye would knock down like cattle? and if I had weapons, methinks I could fight better than any of ye." They gave no heed to her words. Freydis would go with them, but she was slower, because she was pregnant; however she followed after them into the wood. The Skrellings pursued her; she found a dead man before her; it was Thorbrand Snorrason, and there stood a flat stone stuck in his head; the sword lay naked by his side; this took she up, and prepared to defend herself. Then came the Skrellings towards her; she drew out her breasts from under her clothes, and dashed them against the naked sword; by this the Skrellings became frightened, and ran off to their ships, and rowed away. Karlsefni and his people then came up, and praised her courage. Two men fell on Karlsefni's side, but a number of the Skrellings. Karlsefni's band was overmatched, and they now drew home to their dwellings, and bound their wounds; and they thought over what crowd that could have been, which had pressed upon them from the land side, and it now appeared to them that it could scarcely have been real people from the ships, but that these must have been optical illusions. The Skrellings found also a dead man, and an axe lay by him; one of them took up the axe, and cut wood with it, and now one after another did the same, and thought it was an excellent thing, and bit well; after that one took it, and cut at a stone, so that the axe broke, and then thought they it was of no use, because it would not cut stone, and they threw it away. [227]

Karlsefni and his people now thought they saw that although the land had many good qualities, still would they be always exposed there to the fear of hostilities from the earlier inhabitants. They proposed, therefore, to depart, and return to their own country. They sailed northwards along the coast, and found five Skrellings clothed in skins, sleeping near the sea. They had with them vessels containing animal marrow mixed with blood. Karlsefni's people thought they understood that these men had been banished from the land; they killed them. After that came they to a ness, and many wild beasts were there, and the ness was covered all over with dung, from the beasts which had lain there during the night. Now came they back to Straumfjord, and there was abundance of everything that they wanted to have. It is some mens say, that Bjarne and Gudrid remained behind, and 100 men with them, and did not go further; but that Karlsefni and Snorri went southwards, and 40 men with them, and were not longer in Hope than barely two months, and, the same summer, came back. Karlsefne went then with one ship to seek after Thorhall the hunter, but the rest remained behind, and they sailed northwards past Kjalarness, and thence westwards, and the land was upon their larboard hand; there were wild woods over all, as far as they could see, and scarcely any open places. And when they had long sailed, a river fell out of the land from east to west; they put in to the mouth of the river, and lay by its southern bank.

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DEATH OF THORVALD ERIKSON

It happened one morning that Karlsefni and his people saw, opposite an open place in the wood, a speck which glistened in their sight, and they shouted out towards it, and it was a uniped, which thereupon hurried down to the bank of the river where they lay. Thorvald Erikson stood at the helm, and the uniped shot an arrow into his bowels. Thorvald drew out the arrow, and said: "It has killed me!--to a fruitful land have we come, but hardly shall we enjoy any benefit from it." Thorvald soon after died of this wound. Upon this the uniped ran away to. the northward; Karlsefni and his people went after him, and saw him now and then, and the last time they saw him, he ran out into a bay.

They drew off then, and to the northward, and thought they saw the country of the unipeds, they would not expose their people any longer. They looked upon the mountain range that was at Hope; and that which they now found, as all one, and it also appeared to be equal length from Straumfjord to both places. The third winter were they in Straumfjord. They now became much divided by party feeling, and the women were the cause of it, for those who, were unmarried would injure those that were married, and hence arose great disturbance. There was born the first autumn, Snorri, Karlsefni's son, and he was three years old when they went away. When they sailed from Vinland they had a south wind, and came then to Markland, and found there five Skrælings, and one was bearded; two were females, and two [229] boys; they took the boys, but the others escaped, and the Skrellings sank down in the ground. These two boys took they with them; they taught them the language, and they were baptized. They called their mother Vathelldi and their father Uvæge. They said that two kings ruled over the Skrellings, and that one of them was hight Avalldania, but the other Valldidida. They said that no houses were there; people lay in caves or in holes. They said there was a land on the other side, just opposite their country, where people lived who wore white clothes, and carried poles before them, and to these were fastened flags, and they shouted loud; and people think that this was White-man's-Land, or Great Ireland.

Bjarne Grimolfson was driven with his ship into the Irish ocean, and they came into a worm-sea, and straightway began the ship to sink under them. They had a boat which was smeared with seal oil, for the sea-worms do not attack that; they went into the boat, and then saw that it could not hold them all; then said Bjarne: "Since the boat cannot give room to more than the half of our men, it is my counsel that lots should be drawn, for those to go in the boat, for it shall not be according to rank." This thought they all so high-minded an offer that no one would speak against it; they then did so that lots were drawn, and it fell upon Bjarne to go, in the boat, and the half of the men with him, for the boat had not room for more. But when they had gotten into the boat, then said an Icelandic man, who was in the ship, and had come with Bjarne from Iceland: "Dost thou intend, Bjarne, to separate from me here?" Bjarne answered: [230] "So it turns, out." Then said the other: "Very different was thy promise to, my father, when I went with thee from Iceland, than thus to abandon me, for thou said'st that we should both share the same fate." Bjarne replied: "It shall not be thus; go thou down into, the boat, and I will go up into the ship, since I see that thou art so desirous to live." Then went Bjarne up into the ship, but this man down into the boat, and after that continued they their voyage, until they came to Dublin in Ireland, and told there these things; but it is most people's belief that Bjarne and his companions were lost in the worm-sea, for nothing was heard of them since that time.

POSTERITY OP KARLSEFNI AND THURID HIS WIFE.

The next summer went Karlsefni to Iceland, and Gudrid with him, and he went home to Reynisness. His mother thought that he had made a bad match, and therefore was Gudrid not at home the first winter. But when she observed that Gudrid was a distinguished woman, went she home, and they agreed very well together. The daughter of Snorri Karlsefnesson was Hallfrid, mother to Bishop Thorlak Runolfson. They had a son who Thorbjorn hight, his daughter hight Thorunn, mother to Bishop Bjorn. Thorgeir hight the son of Snorri Karlsefnesson, father to Yngvild, mother of Bishop Brand the first. A daughter of Snorri Karlsefnesson was also Steinum, who, married Einar, son of Grundarketil, son of Thorvald Krok, the son of Thorer, of Espihol; their son was Thorstein Ranglatr; he was [231] father to Gudrun, who married Jorund of Keldum; their daughter was Halla, mother to Flose, father of Valgerde, mother of Herr Erlend Sterka, father of Herr Hauk the Lagman. Another daughter of Flose was Thordis, mother of Fru Ingigerd the rich; her daughter was Fru Hallbera, Abbess of Stad at Reinisness. Many other great men in Iceland are descended from Karlsefni and Thurid, who are not here mentioned. God be with us! Amen!