Grœnlendinga saga
Encyclopedia
The Grœnlendinga saga (spelled Grænlendinga saga in modern Icelandic and translated into English as the Saga of the Greenlanders) is an Iceland
ic saga
. Along with Eiríks saga rauða it is one of the two main literary sources of information for the Norse exploration of North America
. It relates the colonization of Greenland
by Erik the Red
and his followers. It then describes several expeditions further west led by Erik's children and Thorfinn Karlsefni
.
The saga is preserved in the late 14th century Flateyjarbók
manuscript and is believed to have been first committed to writing sometime in the 13th century while the events it relates take place around 970 to 1030. Parts of the saga are fanciful but it is believed to contain a kernel of historical truth.
Erik the Red
(Old Norse: Eiríkr rauði) migrates from Norway
to Iceland
with his father, Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson
, because of some killings. In Iceland, Erik finds a wife, Thjodhild (ON: Þjóðhildr). He again becomes a part of a dispute and is proclaimed an outlaw at a local assembly. He resolves to go west and seek a land spotted by a man named Gunnbjorn
(ON: Gunnbjörn) who had gone astray.
Erik sets sail from near Snæfellsjökull
and reaches the coast of a glacial land. He travels south along the coast searching for a habitable area. After two years of exploring the country, he returns to Iceland and tells of his discoveries. He names the land which he had explored Greenland
(ON: Grœnland) because he said people would be attracted to go there if the land had a good name.
After spending one winter 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 in Brattahlid
(ON: Brattahlíð) in south-west Greenland. He becomes a respected leader. With Thjodhild he has the sons Leif
(ON: Leifr), Thorvald
(ON: Þorvaldr) and Thorstein (ON: Þorsteinn) as well as the daughter Freydis
(ON: Freydís).
(ON: Bjarni Herjólfsson) has the custom of spending alternate winters in Norway and in Iceland with his father. When he arrives one summer in Iceland he finds that his father has emigrated to Greenland. He resolves to follow him there though 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 the sun shines again and Bjarni reaches a wooded land. Realizing that it isn't Greenland, Bjarni decides not to go ashore and sets sail away. Bjarni finds two more lands but neither of them matches the descriptions he had heard of Greenland so he does not go ashore despite the curiosity of his sailors. Eventually the ship does reach Greenland and Bjarni settles there.
The description of Bjarni's voyage is unique to Grœnlendinga saga. Bjarni is not mentioned at all in Eiríks saga rauða 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 is eventually persuaded. As he rides to 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 had 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 the country Helluland
meaning Stone-slab land. They sail further and find a forested land with white shores. Leif names it Markland
meaning Wood land and again sets sail.
Now 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.
As Leif and his crew explore the land, they discover grapes. There has been much speculation on the grapes of Vinland. It seems unlikely that the Norsemen travelled far enough south to find wild grapes in large quantities. On the other hand even Adam of Bremen
, writing in the 11th century, speaks of grapes in Vinland so that if the grape idea is a fantasy it is a very early one. The Norsemen were probably unfamiliar with grapes — at one point the saga speaks of "chopping vines" — and it is possible that they mistook another type of fruit, perhaps gooseberry
, for grapes. (ON: vínber; meaning wine-berries) and Leif names the country Vinland
(ON: Vínland meaning Wine land). In the spring the expedition sets sail back to Greenland with a ship loaded with wood and grapes. In the voyage home they come upon and rescue a group of ship-wrecked Norsemen. After this Leif is called Leif the Lucky (ON: Leifr heppni).
In the spring Thorvald goes exploring and sails to 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 explores to the east and north of their camp. At one point the explorers disembark in a pleasant forested area.
The natives, called Skraelings
(ON: Skrælingar) by the Norsemen, return with a larger force and attack Thorvald and his men. The Skraelings fire missiles at them for a while and then retreat. Thorvald receives a fatal wound and is buried in Vinland. His crew returns to Greenland.
(ON: Þorfinnr karlsefni), a man of means. He falls in love with Gudrid and they marry. Karlsefni is encouraged by his wife and other people to lead an expedition to Vinland. He agrees to go and hires a crew of 60 men and 5 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 visiting, 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 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 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 next spring. During their stay in Vinland, Karlsefni and Gudrid had the son Snorri
.
, daughter of Erik, now wants the prestige and wealth associated with a Vinland journey. She makes a deal with two Icelandic men, Helgi and Finnbogi
, that they should go together to Vinland and share all profits half and half. They agree to bring the same amount of men but Freydis secretly takes more.
In Vinland, Freydis betrays her partners, has them and their men attacked when sleeping and killed. She personally executes the five women in their group since no-one else would do the deed.
Freydis wants to conceal her treachery and threatens death to anyone who tells of the killings. She goes back to Greenland after a year's stay and tells the story that Helgi and Finnbogi had chosen to remain in Vinland.
But not everyone is silent and word of the killings eventually reaches the ears of Leif. He has three men from Freydis's expedition tortured until they confess the whole occurrence. Thinking ill of the deeds he still does not want "to do that to Freydis, my sister, which she has deserved".
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic saga
Norse saga
The sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...
. Along with Eiríks saga rauða it is one of the two main literary sources of information for the Norse exploration of North America
Norse colonization of the Americas
The Norse colonization of the Americas began as early as the 10th century, when Norse sailors explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeastern fringes of North America....
. It relates the colonization of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
by Erik the Red
Erik the Red
Erik Thorvaldsson , known as Erik the Red , is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, he therefore...
and his followers. It then describes several expeditions further west led by Erik's children and Thorfinn Karlsefni
Thorfinn Karlsefni
Thorfinn Karlsefni was an Icelandic explorer who circa 1010 AD led an attempt to settle Vínland with three ships and 160 settlers. Among the settlers was Freydís Eiríksdóttir, according to Grœnlendinga saga and Eiríks saga rauða, sister or half-sister of Leif Eriksson...
.
The saga is preserved in the late 14th century Flateyjarbók
Flateyjarbók
The Flatey Book, is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name Codex Flateyensis.- Description :...
manuscript and is believed to have been first committed to writing sometime in the 13th century while the events it relates take place around 970 to 1030. Parts of the saga are fanciful but it is believed to contain a kernel of historical truth.
Colonization of Greenland
Erik the Red
Erik Thorvaldsson , known as Erik the Red , is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, he therefore...
(Old Norse: Eiríkr rauði) migrates from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
to Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
with his father, Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson
Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson
Thorvald Asvaldsson was the father of the colonizer of Greenland, Erik the Red, and grandfather of Leif Ericson, who visited North America centuries before Christopher Columbus. Thorvald's father was Asvald Ulfsson, whose father was Ulf Oxen-Thorisson, whose father was Oxen-Thorir, brother of...
, because of some killings. In Iceland, Erik finds a wife, Thjodhild (ON: Þjóðhildr). He again becomes a part of a dispute and is proclaimed an outlaw at a local assembly. He resolves to go west and seek a land spotted by a man named Gunnbjorn
Gunnbjörn Ulfsson
Gunnbjørn Ulfsson , name also given as Gunnbjørn Ulf-Krakuson, was the first European to sight North America....
(ON: Gunnbjörn) who had gone astray.
Erik sets sail from near Snæfellsjökull
Snæfellsjökull
Snæfellsjökull is a 700,000 year old stratovolcano with a glacier covering its summit in western Iceland. The name of the mountain is actually Snæfell, but it is normally called "Snæfellsjökull" to distinguish it from two other mountains with this name...
and reaches the coast of a glacial land. He travels south along the coast searching for a habitable area. After two years of exploring the country, he returns to Iceland and tells of his discoveries. He names the land which he had explored Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
(ON: Grœnland) because he said people would be attracted to go there if the land had a good name.
After spending one winter 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 in Brattahlid
Brattahlíð
Brattahlíð was Erik the Red's estate in the Eastern Settlement Viking colony he established in south-western Greenland toward the end of the 10th century. The present settlement of Qassiarsuk, approximately southwest from the Narsarsuaq settlement, is now located in its place...
(ON: Brattahlíð) in south-west Greenland. He becomes a respected leader. With Thjodhild he has the sons Leif
Leif Ericson
Leif Ericson was a Norse explorer who is regarded as the first European to land in North America , nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus...
(ON: Leifr), Thorvald
Thorvald Eriksson
Thorvald Eiriksson was the son of Erik the Red and brother of Leif Erikson. According to the sagas, he was part of an expedition for the exploration of Vinland....
(ON: Þorvaldr) and Thorstein (ON: Þorsteinn) as well as the daughter Freydis
Freydís Eiríksdóttir
Freydís Eiríksdóttir was a daughter of Erik the Red who was associated with the Norse exploration of North America. The only medieval sources which mention Freydís are the two Vinland sagas, believed to be composed in the 13th century but purporting to describe events around 1000...
(ON: Freydís).
Bjarni's voyage
A man named Bjarni HerjolfssonBjarni Herjólfsson
Bjarni Herjólfsson was a Norwegian explorer who is the first known European discoverer of the mainland of the Americas, which he sighted in 985 or 986.-Life:...
(ON: Bjarni Herjólfsson) has the custom of spending alternate winters in Norway and in Iceland with his father. When he arrives one summer in Iceland he finds that his father has emigrated to Greenland. He resolves to follow him there though 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 the sun shines again and Bjarni reaches a wooded land. Realizing that it isn't Greenland, Bjarni decides not to go ashore and sets sail away. Bjarni finds two more lands but neither of them matches the descriptions he had heard of Greenland so he does not go ashore despite the curiosity of his sailors. Eventually the ship does reach Greenland and Bjarni settles there.
The description of Bjarni's voyage is unique to Grœnlendinga saga. Bjarni is not mentioned at all in Eiríks saga rauða which gives Leif the credit for the discoveries.
Leif's expedition
Setting sail from Brattahlid, Leif and his crew find the same lands Bjarni had 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 the country Helluland
Helluland
Helluland is the name given to one of the three lands discovered by Leif Eriksson around 1000 AD on the North Atlantic coast of North America....
meaning Stone-slab land. They sail further and find a forested land with white shores. Leif names it Markland
Markland
Markland is the name given to a part of shoreline in Labrador, Canada, named by Leif Eriksson when he landed in North America. The word Markland is from the Old Norse language for "forestland" or "borderland". It is described as being north of Vinland and south of Helluland...
meaning Wood land and again sets sail.
Now 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 the grass wither there. Day and night were more equal than in Greenland or Iceland. — Reeves' translation
As Leif and his crew explore the land, they discover grapes. There has been much speculation on the grapes of Vinland. It seems unlikely that the Norsemen travelled far enough south to find wild grapes in large quantities. On the other hand even Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
, writing in the 11th century, speaks of grapes in Vinland so that if the grape idea is a fantasy it is a very early one. The Norsemen were probably unfamiliar with grapes — at one point the saga speaks of "chopping vines" — and it is possible that they mistook another type of fruit, perhaps gooseberry
Gooseberry
The gooseberry or ; Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia) is a species of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and southwestern Asia...
, for grapes. (ON: vínber; meaning wine-berries) and Leif names the country Vinland
Vinland
Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
(ON: Vínland meaning Wine land). In the spring the expedition sets sail back to Greenland with a ship loaded with wood and grapes. In the voyage home they come upon and rescue a group of ship-wrecked Norsemen. After this Leif is called Leif the Lucky (ON: Leifr heppni).
Thorvald's expedition
Leif's voyage is discussed extensively in Brattahlid. Thorvald, Leif's brother, thinks that Vinland was not 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 had previously made camp. They stay there for the winter and survive by fishing.In the spring Thorvald goes exploring and sails to 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 explores to the east and north of their camp. At one point the explorers disembark in a pleasant forested area.
- [Thorvald] then said: "Here it is beautiful, and here would I like to raise my dwelling." Then went they to the ship, and saw upon the sands within the promontory three elevations, and went thither, and saw there three skin boats (canoes), and three men under each. Then divided they their people, and caught them all, except one, who got away with his boat. They killed the other eight, and then went back to the cape, and looked round them, and saw some heights inside of the firth, and supposed that these were dwellings. — Reeves' translation
The natives, called Skraelings
Skræling
Skræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century...
(ON: Skrælingar) by the Norsemen, return with a larger force and attack Thorvald and his men. The Skraelings fire missiles at them for a while and then retreat. Thorvald receives a fatal wound and is buried in Vinland. His crew returns to Greenland.
Thorstein
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 (ON: Guðríðr). The expedition never reaches Vinland and after driving about the whole summer the ship ends up back at the coast of Greenland. During the winter, Thorstein falls ill and dies but speaks out of his dead body and tells the fortune of his wife Gudrid, predicting a long and prosperous life for her.Karlsefni's expedition
A ship arrives in Greenland from Norway commanded by Thorfinn KarlsefniThorfinn Karlsefni
Thorfinn Karlsefni was an Icelandic explorer who circa 1010 AD led an attempt to settle Vínland with three ships and 160 settlers. Among the settlers was Freydís Eiríksdóttir, according to Grœnlendinga saga and Eiríks saga rauða, sister or half-sister of Leif Eriksson...
(ON: Þorfinnr karlsefni), a man of means. He falls in love with Gudrid and they marry. Karlsefni is encouraged by his wife and other people to lead an expedition to Vinland. He agrees to go and hires a crew of 60 men and 5 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 visiting, 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 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 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 next spring. During their stay in Vinland, Karlsefni and Gudrid had the son Snorri
Snorri Þorfinnsson
Snorri Thorfinnsson was the son of the explorer Þorfinnr Karlsefni and Guðríðr Eiríksdóttir...
.
Freydis's expedition
FreydisFreydís Eiríksdóttir
Freydís Eiríksdóttir was a daughter of Erik the Red who was associated with the Norse exploration of North America. The only medieval sources which mention Freydís are the two Vinland sagas, believed to be composed in the 13th century but purporting to describe events around 1000...
, daughter of Erik, now wants the prestige and wealth associated with a Vinland journey. She makes a deal with two Icelandic men, Helgi and Finnbogi
Helgi and Finnbogi
Helgi and Finnbogi were two merchant brothers from Iceland, born in the late tenth century AD.-Biography:The Saga of the Greenlanders describes them as coming to Greenland one summer. There they negotiated a deal with Freydis Eiriksdottir, agreeing to share the profits of a voyage to...
, that they should go together to Vinland and share all profits half and half. They agree to bring the same amount of men but Freydis secretly takes more.
In Vinland, Freydis betrays her partners, has them and their men attacked when sleeping and killed. She personally executes the five women in their group since no-one else would do the deed.
Freydis wants to conceal her treachery and threatens death to anyone who tells of the killings. She goes back to Greenland after a year's stay and tells the story that Helgi and Finnbogi had chosen to remain in Vinland.
But not everyone is silent and word of the killings eventually reaches the ears of Leif. He has three men from Freydis's expedition tortured until they confess the whole occurrence. Thinking ill of the deeds he still does not want "to do that to Freydis, my sister, which she has deserved".
End of the saga
Karlsefni made a good profit of his journeys west. He later settled in Iceland with his wife and son and their descendants included 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. — Reeves' translation
Other sources
- Einar Ól. Sveinsson and Matthías Þórðarson (eds.) (1935). Íslenzk fornrit IV : Eyrbyggja saga, Grœnlendinga . Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag.
- Gunnar Karlsson (2000). Iceland's 1100 Years: History of a Marginal Society. London: Hurst. ISBN 1850654204.
- Magnusson, MagnusMagnus MagnussonMagnus Magnusson KBE was a television presenter, journalist, translator and writer. He was born in Iceland but lived in Scotland for almost all of his life, although he never took British citizenship...
and Hermann PálssonHermann PálssonHermann Pálsson was an Icelandic language scholar.Hermann Pálsson, Icelandic scholar and translator: born Sauðanes á Ásum, a farm near Blönduós in Iceland on the 26th May 1921; Lecturer in Icelandic Studies, Edinburgh University 1950-82, Professor of Icelandic Studies 1982-88 ; married 1953 Stella...
(translators) (2004). Vinland Sagas. Penguin Books. ISBN 0140441549. First ed. 1965. - Ólafur Halldórsson (1978). Grænland í miðaldaritum. Reykjavík: Sögufélag.
- Ólafur Halldórsson (ed.) (1985). Íslenzk fornrit IV : Eiríks saga rauða : texti Skálholtsbókar. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag.
- Reeves, Arthur Middleton. (1890). The Finding of Wineland the Good: The History of the Icelandic Discovery of America. Oxford University Press Warehouse: Henry Frowde. Pp. 60-78. Available Online
- Reeves, Arthur M. et al. (1906). The Norse Discovery of America. New York: Norrœna Society. Available online
- Örnólfur Thorsson (ed.) (2001). The Sagas of Icelanders. Penguin Books. ISBN 0141000031