The Best Adventure and Exploration Stories Ever Told

by Stephen Brennan

  It happened one evening that a man of the party was missing, and it was the south countryman, Tyrker. Leif was very sorry for this because Tyrker had long been in his father’s house, and he loved Tyrker in his childhood. Leif blamed his comrades very much, and proposed to go with twelve men on an expedition to find him; but they had gone only a short way from the station when Tyrker came to meet them, and he was joyfully received. Leif soon perceived that his foster father was quite merry. Tyrker had a high forehead, sharp eyes, with a small face, and was little in size, and ugly; but was very dexterous in all feats. Leif said to him, “Why art thou so late, my foster father? and why didst thou leave thy comrades?” He spoke at first long in German, rolled his eyes and knit his brows; but they could not make out what he was saying. After a while, and some delay, he said in Norse, “I did not go much further than they; and yet I have something altogether new to relate, for I found vines and grapes.” “Is that true, my foster father?” said Leif. “Yes, true it is,” answered he, “for I was born where there was no scarcity of grapes.” They slept all night, and the next morning Leif said to his men, “Now we shall have two occupations to attend to, and day about; namely, to gather grapes or cut vines, and to fell wood in the forest to lade our vessel.” This advice was followed. It is related that their stern boat was filled with grapes, and then a cargo of woods was hewn for the vessel. Towards spring they made ready and sailed away, and Leif gave the country a name from its products, and called it Vinland. They now sailed into the open sea and had a fair wind until they came in sight of Greenland and the lands below the ice mountains. Then a man put in a word and said to Leif, “Why do you steer so close on the wind?” Leif replied: “I mind my helm and tend to other things too; do you notice anything?” They said that they saw nothing remarkable. “I do not know,” said Leif, “whether I see a ship or a rock.” Then they looked and saw that it was a rock. But he saw so much better than they, that he discovered men upon the rock. “Now I will,” said Leif, “that we hold to the wind, that we may come up to them if they should need help; and if they should not be friendly inclined, it is in our power to do as we please and not theirs.” Now they sailed under the rock, lowered their sails, cast anchor, and put out another small boat which they had with them. Then Tyrker asked who their leader was. He said his name was Thorer, and said he was a Northman; “But what is your name?” said he. Leif told his name. “Are you the son of Eric the Red of Brattahlid?” he asked. Leif said that was so. “Now I will,” said Leif, “take ye and all on board my ship, and as much of the goods as the ship will store.” They took up this offer, and sailed away to Ericsfiord with the cargo, and from thence to Brattahlid, where they unloaded the ship. Leif offered Thorer and his wife, Gudrid, and three others, lodging with himself, and offering lodging elsewhere for the rest of the people, both of Thorer’s crew and his own. Leif took fifteen men from the rock, and thereafter was called Leif the Lucky. After that time Leif advanced greatly in wealth and consideration. That winter, sickness came among Thorer’s people and he himself, and a great part of his crew, died. The same winter Eric Red died. This expedition to Vinland was much talked of, and Leif ’s brother, Thorvald, thought that the country had not been explored enough in different places. Then Leif said to Thorvald, “You may go, brother, in my ship to Vinland if you like; but I will first send the ship for the timber which Thorer left upon the rock.” So it was done.

  SECOND NARRATIVE

  The same spring King Olaf, as said before, sent Gissur and Hialte to Iceland. The king also sent Leif to Greenland to proclaim Christianity there. The king sent with him a priest and some other religious men, to baptize the people and teach them the true faith. Leif sailed the same summer to Greenland; he took up out of the ocean the people of a ship who were on a wreck completely destroyed, and in a perishing condition. On this same voyage he discovered Vinland the Good, and came at the close of summer to Brattahlid, to his father Eric. After that time the people called him, Leif the Fortunate; but his father Eric said that these two things went against one another; that Leif had saved the crew of the ship, and delivered them from death and that he had [brought] that bad man into Greenland, that is what he called the priest; but after much urging, Eric was baptized, as well as all the people of Greenland.

  THIRD NARRATIVE

  The same winter, Leif, the son of Eric the Red, was in high favor with King Olaf, and embraced Christianity. But the summer that Gissur went to Iceland, King Olaf sent Leif to Greenland, to proclaim Christianity. He sailed the same summer for Greenland. He found some men in the sea on a wreck, and helped them; the same voyage, he discovered Vinland the Good, and came at harvest time to Greenland. He brought with him a priest and other religious men, and went to live at Brattahlid with his father Eric. He was afterward called, Leif the Fortunate. But his father Eric said, that these two things were opposed to one another, because Leif had saved the crew of the ship, and brought evil men to Greenland, meaning the priests.

  THORVALD ERICSON’S EXPEDITION

  The greater portion of this voyage appears to have been performed during two summers, the expedition, after visiting the Bay of Boston, finally returning to Greenland on account of the death of their leader.

  Now Thorvald [A.D. 1002] made ready for his voyage with thirty men, after consulting his brother Leif. They rigged their ship, and put to sea. Nothing is related of this expedition until they came to Vinland, to the booths put up by Leif, where they secured the ship and tackle, and remained quiet all winter and lived by fishing. In the spring [A.D. 1003] Thorvald ordered the vessel to be rigged, and that some men should proceed in the long-boat westward along the coast, and explore it during the summer. They thought the country beautiful and well wooded, the distance small between the forest and the sea, and the strand full of white sand. There were also many islands and very shallow water. They found no abode for man or beast, but on an island far toward the west they found a corn barn constructed of wood. They found no other traces of human work, and came back in the autumn to Leif ’s booths. The following spring [A.D. 1004] Thorvald, with his merchant ship, proceeded eastward, and toward the north along the land. Opposite to a cape they met bad weather, and drove upon the land and broke the keel, and remained there a long time to repair the vessel. Thorvald said to his companions: “We will stick up the keel here upon the ness, and call the place Kialarness;” which they did. Then they sailed away eastward along the country, entering the mouths of the bays, to a point of land which was every where covered with woods. They moored the vessel to the land, laid out gangways to the shore, and Thorvald, with all his ship’s company, landed. He said, “Here it is so beautiful, and I would willingly set up my abode here.” They afterward went on board, and saw three specks upon the sand within the point, and went to them and found there were three skin boats with three men under each boat. They divided their men and took all of them prisoners, except one man, who escaped with his boat. They killed eight of them, and then he went to the point and looked about them. Within this bay they saw several eminences, which they took to be habitations. Then a great drowsiness came upon them and they could not keep themselves awake, but all of them fell asleep. A sudden scream came to them, and they all awoke; and mixed with the scream they thought they heard the words: “Awake, Thorvald, with all thy comrades, if ye will save your lives. Go on board your ship as fast as you can, and leave this land without delay.” In the same moment an innumerable multitude, from the interior of the bay, came in skin boats and laid themselves alongside. Then said Thorvald, “We shall put up our war screens along the gunwales and defend ourselves as well as we can, but not use our weapons much against them.”They did so accordingly. The Skraellings shot at them for a while, and then fled away as fast as they could. Then Thorvald asked if anyone was wounded, and they said nobody was hurt. He said. “I have a wound under the arm. An arrow flew between the gunwale and the shield under my arm: here is the arrow, and it will be my death wound. Now I advise you to make ready w
ith all speed to return; but ye shall carry me to the point which I thought would be so convenient for a dwelling. It may be that it was true what I said, that here would I dwell for a while. Ye shall bury me there, and place a cross at my head and one at my feet, and call the place Crossness.” Christianity had been established in Greenland at this time; but Eric Red was dead before Christianity was introduced. Now Thorvald died, and they did everything as he had ordered. Then they went away in search of their fellow voyagers, and they related to each other all the news. They remained in their dwelling all winter, and gathered vines and grapes, and put them on board their ships. Toward spring, they prepared to return to Greenland, where they arrived with their vessel, and landed at Ericsfiord, bringing heavy tidings to Leif.

  THORSTEIN ERICSON’S ATTEMPT TO FIND VINLAND

  This expedition was wholly unsuccessful, and the leader finally died without reaching the desired land.

  In the meantime it had happened in Greenland that Thorstein of Ericsfiord had married and taken to wife [A.D. 1005] Gudird, the daughter of Thorbiorn, who had been married, as before related, to Thorer, the Eastman. Thorstein Ericson bethought him now that he would go to Vinland for his brother Thorvald’s body. He rigged out the same vessel and chose an able and stout crew. He had with him twenty-five men and his wife Gudrid, and as soon as they were ready he put to sea. They quickly lost sight of the land. They drove about in the ocean the whole summer without knowing where they were, and in the first week of winter they landed at Lysifkord in Greenland, in the western settlement. Thorstein looked for lodgings for his men and got his whole ship’s crew accommodated, but not himself and wife, so that for some nights they had to sleep on board. At that time Christianity was but recent in Greenland. One day, early in the morning, some men came to their tent and the leader asked them what people were in the tent? Thorstein replies, “Two; who is it that asks?” “Thorstein,” was the reply, “and I called Thorstein the Black, and it is my errand here to offer thee and thy wife lodging beside me.” Thorstein said he would speak to his wife about it, and as she gave her consent he agreed to it. “Then I shall come for you tomorrow with my horses, for I do not want means to entertain you; but few care to live in my house; I and my wife live lonely, and I am very gloomy. I have also a different religion from yours, although I think the one you have the best.” Now the following morning he came for them with horses, and they took up their abode with Thorstein Black, who was very friendly toward them. Gudrid had a good outward appearance and was knowing, and understood well how to behave with strangers. Early in the winter a sickness prevailed among Thorstein Ericson’s people, and many of his shipmen died. He ordered that coffins should be made for the bodies of the dead and that they should be brought on board and stowed away carefully, for he said, “I will transport all the bodies to Ericsfiord in summer.” It was not long before sickness broke out in Thorstein Black’s house, and his wife, who was called Grimhild, fell sick first. She was very stout and as strong as a man, but yet she could not bear up against the illness. Soon after Thorstein Ericson also fell sick and they both lay ill in bed at the same time; but Grimhild, Thorstein Black’s wife, died first. When she was dead, Thorstein went out of the room for a skin to lay over the corpse. Then Gudrid said, “My dear Thorstein, be not long away,” which he promised. Then said Thorstein Ericson, “Our housewife is wonderful, for she raises herself up with her elbows, moves herself forward over the bed-frame, and is feeling for her shoes.” In the same moment, Thorstein the Goodman came back, and instantly, Grimhild laid herself down, so that it made every beam that was in the house crack. Thorstein now made a coffin for Grimhild’s corpse, removed it outside, and buried it. He was a stout and strong man, but it required all his strength to remove the corpse from the house. Now Thorstein Ericson’s illness increased upon him, and he died, which Gudrid his wife took with great grief. They were all in the room, and Gudrid had set herself upon a stool before the bench on which her husband Thorstein’s body lay. Now Thorstein the Goodman took Gudrid from the stool in his arms, and set himself with her upon bench just opposite to Thorsteins’s body and spoke much with her. He consoled her, and promised to go with her in summer to Ericsfiord, with her husband Thorsteins’s corpse, and those of his crew. “And,” said he, “I shall take with me many servants to console and assist.” She thanked him for this.

  Thorstein Ericson then raised himself up and said, “Where is Gudrid?” And thrice he said this; but she was silent. Then she said to Thorstein the Goodman, “Shall I give answer or not?” He told her not to answer. Then went Thorstein the Goodman across the room, and sat down in a chair, and Gudrid set herself on his knee; and Thorstein the Goodman said: “What wilt thou make known?” After a while the corpse replies. “I wish to tell Gudrid her fate beforehand, that she may be the better able to bear my death; for I have come to be a blessed resting place. This I have now to tell thee, Gudrid, that thou wilt be married to an Iceland man, and ye will live long together and from you will descend many men, brave, gallant and wise, and a well-pleasing race of posterity. Ye shall go from Greenland to Norway, and from thence to Iceland, where ye shall dwell. Long will ye live together, but thou wilt survive him; and then thou shalt go abroad, and go southward, and shall return to thy home in Iceland. And there must a church be built, and thou must remain there and be consecrated a nun, and there end thy days.” And then Thorstein sank backward, and his corpse was put in order and carried to the ship. Thorstein the Goodman did all that he had promised. He sold in spring [A.D. 1006] his land and cattle, and went with Gudrid and all her goods; made ready the ship, got men for it, and then went to Ericsfiord. The body was buried at the church. Gudrid went to Leif ’s at Brattahlid, and Thorstein the Black took his abode in Ericsfiord, and dwelt there as long as he lived; and was reckoned an able man.

  THORFINN KARLSEFNE’S EXPEDITION TO VINLAND

  This was in many respects the most important expedition to New England, both as regards the numbers engaged, and the information and experience derived. The Saga of Karlsefne is occupied largely at the beginning with accounts of various matters connected with social life; yet, as such subjects are not essential to the treatment of the voyage, they are all omitted, except the account of Thorfinn’s marriage with the widow of Thorstein Ericson.

  NARRATIVE OF THORFINN KARLSEFNE

  There was a man named Thord who dwelt at Hofda, in Hofda-Strand. He married Fridgerda, daughter of Thorer the Idle, and of Fridgerda, daughter of Kiarval, King of the Irish. Thord was the son of Biarne Butter-Tub, son of Thorvald, son of Aslak, son of Biarne Ironsides, son of Ragnar Lodbrok. They had a son named Snorre, who married Thorhild the Partridge, daughter of Thord Geller. They had a son named Thord Horsehead. Thorfinn Karlsefne was his son, whose mother’s name was Thoruna. Thorfinn occupied his time in merchant voyages and was thought a good trader. One summer he fitted out his ship for a voyage to Greenland, attended by Snorre Thorbrandson of Alptafiord, and a crew of forty men. There was a man named Biarne Grimolfson of Breidafiord, and another named Thorhall Gamlason of Austfiord. These men fitted out a ship at the same time to voyage to Greenland. They also had a crew of forty men. This ship and that of Thorfinn, as soon as they were ready, put to sea. It is not said how long they were on the voyage; it is only told that both ships arrived at Ericsfiord in the autumn of that year. Leif and other people rode down to the ships and friendly exchanges were made. The captains requested Leif to take whatever he desired of their goods. Leif, in return, entertained them well and invited the principal men of both ships to spend the winter with him at Brattahlid. The merchants accepted his invitation with thanks. Afterward their goods were moved to Brattahlid, where they had every entertainment that they could desire; therefore their winter quarters pleased them much. When the Yule feast began, Leif was silent and more depressed than usual. Then Karlsefne said to Leif: “Are you sick, friend Leif? You do not seem to be in your usual spirits. You have entertained us most liberally, for which we desire to render you al
l the service in our power. Tell me what it is that ails you.” “You have received what I have been able to offer you,” said Leif, “in the kindest manner and there is no idea in my mind that you have been wanting in courtesy; but I am afraid lest when you go away it may be said that you never saw a Yule feast so meanly celebrated as that which draws near at which you will be entertained by Leif of Brattahlid.” “That shall never be the case, friend,” said Karlsefne, “We have ample stores in the ship; take of these what you wish and make a feast as splendid as you please.” Leif accepted this offer and the Yule began.

  So well were Leif ’s plans made, that all were surprised that such a rich feast could be prepared in so poor a country. After the Yule feast, Karlsefne began to treat with Leif, as to the marriage of Gudrid, Leif being the person to whom the right of betrothal belonged. Leif gave a favorable reply, and said she must fulfill that destiny which fate had assigned, and that he had heard of none except a good report of him; and in the end it turned out that Karlsefne married Gudrid, and their wedding was held at Brattahlid, this same winter [A.D. 1007].