Click on the titles in the menu below to read excerpts of the Norse Sagas.

• Bjarni Herjolfsson Sights Western Lands (A.D. 986)
• Leif Eriksson Discovers Vinland (ca. A.D. 1000)
• Thorvald Goes to Vinland (ca. A.D. 1000)
• The Voyages of Thorfinn Karlsefni (ca. A.D. 1000)

The Voyages of Thorfinn Karlsefni (ca. A.D. 1000)

(Thorfinn Karlsefni, a trader, and Snorri Thorbrandsson, Bjarni Grimolfsson andThorhall Gamlason sailed to Greenland, with forty men; met by Erik the Red, traded with him at Brattahlid).

This same winter long discussions took place at Brattahlid.  Karlsefni and Snorri resolved to go and find Vinland, and men debated this a good deal.  …Bjarni and Thorhall resolved to make the journey with their ship and the crew which had served with them.  There was a man by the name of Thorvald, a son-in-law of Erik the Red.  …They had a hundred and sixty men on board their ships…From Bjarneyjar they sailed with a north wind, were at sea two days, and then found land.  They rowed ashore in boats and explored the country, finding many flat stones there, so big that a pair of men could easily clap sole to sole on them…They gave the land a name, calling it Helluland, Flatstone Land.  Then they sailed with a north wind for two days, when land lay ahead of them, with a great forest and many wild animals.  Off the land to the southeast lay an island, where they found a bear, so called it Bjarney, Bear Island. But the land where the forest was they called Markland, Wood Land.

Then when two days were past they sighted land, and sailed to the land.  Where they arrived there was a cape.  They beat along the coast and left the land to starboard; it was an open harbourless coast there, with long beaches and sands.  They put ashore in boats, came across the keel from a ship, so called the place Kjalarnes, Keelness.

Likewise they gave a name to the beaches, calling them Furdustrandir, Marvelstrands, it was such a long business sailing past them.  Then the land became bay-indented, and towards these bays they headed their ships.

… Karlsefni said they appeared to have found choice, productive land.  They took them on board ship and went their ways until the land was indented by a fjord.  They laid the ships' course up into this fjord, off whose mouth there lay an island, and surrounding the island strong currents.  This island they called Straumsey.  There were so many birds there that a man could hardly set foot down between the eggs.  They held on into the fjord, and called it Straumsfjord, and here they carried their goods off the ships and made their preparations.  They had brought all sorts of livestock with them, and looked around at what the land had to offer.  There were mountains there, and the prospect round was beautiful.  They paid no heed to anything save exploiting the country.  There was tall [or abundant] grass there.  They spent the winter there, and a hard winter it proved, with no provision made for it; they were in a bad way for food…

…Karlsefni sailed south along the land with Snorri and Bjarni and the rest of their company.  They journeyed a long time till they reached a river which flowed down from the land into a lake and so to the sea.  There were such extensive bars off the mouth of the estuary that they were unable to get into the river except at full flood.  Karlsefni and his men sailed into the estuary, and called the place Hop, Landlock Bay.  There they found self-sown fields of wheat where the ground was low-lying, and vines wherever it was hilly.  Every brook there was full of fish…

Then early one morning when they looked about them they saw nine skin-boats, on board which staves were being swung which sounded just like flails threshing – and their motion was sunwise.  “What can this mean?” asked Karlsefni. “Perhaps it is a token of peace,” replied Snorri. “So let us take a white shield and hold it out towards them.”

They did so, and those others rowed towards them, showing their astonishment, then came ashore.  They were small, ill favoured men, and had ugly hair on their heads.  They had big eyes and were broad in the cheeks.  For a while they remained there, astonished, and afterwards rowed off south past the headland.

Karlsefni and his men built themselves dwellings up above the lake; some of their houses stood near the mainland, and some near the lake.  They now spent the winter there…But once spring came in they chanced early one morning to see how a multitude of skin-boats came rowing from the south round the headland…Karlsefni and his men raised their shields, and they began trading together.  Above all these people wanted to buy red cloth.  They also wanted to buy swords and spears, but this Karlsefni and Snorri would not allow.  They had dark unblemished skins to exchange for the cloth, and were taking a span's length of cloth for a skin, and this they tied round their heads…

The next thing was that the bull belonging to Karlsefni and his mates ran out of the forest bellowing loudly.  The Skrælings were terrified by this, raced out to their boats and rowed south past the headland, and for three weeks running there was neither sight nor sound of them.  But at the end of that period they saw a great multitude of Skræling boats coming up from the south like a streaming torrent… the Skrælings were all yelling aloud, so they took red shields and held them out against them.   They clashed together and fought.  There was a heavy shower of missiles, for the Skrælings had warslings too … Great fear now struck into Karlsefni and all his following, so that there was no other thought in their heads than to run away up along the river …Freydis came out-of-doors and saw how they had taken to their heels. “Why are you running from wretches like these?” she cried.  “Such gallant lads as you, I thought for sure you would have knocked them on the head like cattle.  Why, if I had a weapon, I think I could put up a better fight than any of you!”

…Freydis was anxious to keep up with them, but was rather slow because of her pregnancy.  She was moving after them into the forest when the Skrælings attacked her.  She found a dead man in her path…his sword lay beside him; she picked it up and prepared to defend herself with it.  The Skrælings were now making for her.  She pulled out her breasts from under her shift and slapped the sword on them, at which the Skrælings took fright, and ran off to their boats and rowed away.  Karlsefni's men came up to her, praising her courage…

…It now seemed plain to Karlsefni and his men that though the quality of the land was admirable, there would always be fear and strife dogging them there on account of those who already inhabited it.  So they made ready to leave, setting their hearts on their own country, and sailed north along the coast and found five Skrælings in fur doublets asleep near the sea, who had with them wooden containers in which was animal marrow mixed with blood.  They felt sure that these men would have been sent out from that country, so they killed them…

And now Karlsefni and his followers returned to Straumsfjord, where there was abundance of everything they had need of.  It is some men's report that Bjarni and Freydis had remained behind there, and a hundred men with them, and proceeded no farther, while Karlsefni and Snorri had travelled south with forty men, yet spent no longer at Hop than a bare two months, and got back again that same summer.  Then Karlsefni set off with one ship to look for Thorhall the Hunter, while the rest of their party stayed behind…

They went back and spent that third winter in Straumsfjord. There was bitter quarrelling for the unmarried men fell foul of the married.  Karlsefni's son Snorri was born there the first autumn and was three years old when they left…