The pre-Columbian discovery of America by the Northmen : with translations from the Icelandic sagas
DeCosta, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1831-1904 | John Boyd Thacher Collection (Library of Congress) DLC
% ' ' .-^'X °"SS' /% -SK' .-^'^ c .^ % .<; mXS ^ ^CW^ ^ ^£.T T s THE PRE-COLUMBIAN DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, BT THK NORTHMBN, WITH * TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ICELANDIC SAGAS. BY b!' FrDE COSTA. SECOND EDITION. ALBANY, N. Y.: JOEL MUNSELL'S sons, PUBLISHERS. 1890. CONTENTS. I. Preface. II. General Introduction. — Historic Fancies; The Sea of Darkness; Juba's Expedition; Traditions; The Northmen; The Coloniza- tion of Iceland; Settlement of Greenland; Organization of the Church; Monuments and Ruins; Explorations in Greenland; The Decline of Greenland; Lost Greenland Found; The Char- acter and Achievements of the Northmen; The Ships of the Northmen; The Literature of Iceland; The Manuscripts; The Truthfulness of the Narratives; Early Voyages from England to Iceland. III. Gunnbiorn and his Rocks. IV, Eric the Red's voyages to Greenland and settle- ment, A. D. 983-986. V. Biarne Heriulfsson's voyage to the coast of America, A. D. 986. VI. Leif Ericson's voyage to Vinland, - - - A. D. 1000-1001. VII. Thorvald Ericson's voyage to Vinland, - A. D. 1002. VIII. Thorstein Ericson's attempt to Seek Vinland, A. D. 1005. IX. Thorfinn Karlsefne's settlement in Vinland, A. D. 1006-1009. X. Freydis's voyage and settlement in Vinland, A. D. 1010-1012. MINOR NARRATIVES. I. Are Marson's Sojourn in Hvitramannaland, - - A. D. 983. II. Voyage of Biorn Asbrandson, . . - . A. D. 999. III. Gudleif Gudlaugson's voyage, - - - - A. D. 1027. IV. Allusions to Voyages found in Ancient Manuscripts. V. Geographical Fragments. PREFACE. The chief aim of this work is to place within the reach of the English-reading public every portion of the Icelandic- Sagas relating to the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen, and to the steps by which that dis covery was preceded. The reader will, therefore, find in this volume material from the Sagas not to be found in any other work in an English form. The Sagas have been left, in the main, to tell their own story, though the necessary notes and explanations have been added. So long ago as the year 1838, a distinguished writer in the North American Review^ in closing a valuable and appreciative article on the Sagas relating to America, said : "We trust that some zealous student of these subjects will be immediately found, who will put the Icelandic authorities into an English dress, and pi-epare them, with proper literary apparatus, for the perusal of the general reader." More than twenty years ago this suggestion was acted upon by the writer. Availing himself of the studies of those who had preceded him, he brought out a volume devoted to the subject. That work, howev^er, owing to an unexpected demand, soon went out of print; while the progress of discussion, and the nearness of the proposed Columbian Celebration, seem to justify a new publication. 6 Peeface. In treating the Sagas, the writer has not felt called upon to modify his views on any important point, and, substan- tially, his interpretation of these documents is the same as that undertaken in the original work. Time has only served to strengthen his belief in the historical character of the Sagas, while all his geographical studies point now as form- erly to New England as the scene of the IlTorthman's exploits, many of which have left no record, though val- uable traces of Icelandic occupation may yet be found between Cape Cod and Kova Scotia, The author is strengthened in his opinions, not only by his own studies, but by the growing favor with which the pro- foundest scholars in Europe regard the Icelandic historical literature. Everywhere societies, as well as distinguished students of history, are in one way or another expressing their belief in the authenticity of the Sagas relating to the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America. Speaking of the Icelandic voyagers, and their acquaintance with America, Professor Max Muller says : " I have met with nothing to shake my belief in the fact that the Northmen possessed such knowledge." * This work is not issued with any intention of seeking to detract from the glory of the achievements of Columbus, though we should remember that the time is rapidly ap- proaching when history will summon us to honor the Cabots, tlie great fellow countrymen of the Genoese, who saw the Continent of America before Columbus himself viewed it. Tlie desire is to place before the reader the story which precedes that of 1492, and which is so interest- ing and important. The author hopes that the text of the Sagas has not been * Letter to tlie Author, August 14, 1889. Preface. 7 misinterpreted, or left obscure, especially as the Sagas relat- ing to the Pre-Columbian voyages are given in Professor Rafn's work on the Antiquities of America, accompanied by helpful notes and versions in Latin and Danish. In every thing relating to the latter tongue, the author has had the invaluable assistance and advice of one who has spoken it from childhood. He has also had most important and indispensable aid in connection with the Icelandic. The grammatical structure of the Icelandic is simple, and the aim has been throughout to maintain this simplicity in the translations, so far as the genius of our own tongue would permit. This work being strictly historical, both in spirit and design, the poetical extracts which occur here and there are translated as literally as possible, without any attempt to garnish them with metre and rhyme. Neverthe- less examples in rhyme are given in the Notes. It will be seen that the author differs on some points from Professor Raf n ; yet it is believed that if that great student of Northern Antiquities could have gone over the subject again, studying it on the ground, and amid the scenes in which so many of the exploits of the Northmen were performed, he would have modified some of his views. On the other hand, the author has sought to strengthen several of the conclusions of that noble and laborious inves- tigator, and particularly by bringing out more fully the truthfulness of the Icelandic descriptions of the coast of Cape Cod, which centuries ago presented an aspect that it does not now possess. Let us remember, too, that in vindicating the Northmen we honor those who not onl}' gave us the first knowledge ])08sessed of the American Continent, but to whom we are indebted for much beside tliat we esteem valuable. In 8 Preface. reality we fable in a great measure when we speak of our " Saxon inheritance." It is rather from the Northmen that we have derived our vital energy, oar freedom of thought, and, in a measure that we do not yet suspect, our strength of speech. Yet, happily, the people are fast becoming con- scious of their indebtedness ; so that it is to be hoped that the time is not far distant when the ISTorthmen may be recognized in their right social, political and literary char- acters, and at the same time, as navigators, assume their true position in the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America. PRE-COLUMBIAN DISCOYERY. GENERAL INTRODUCTION. HISTORIC FANCIES. Before the plains of Europe rose above tlie primeval seas, the Continent of America emerged from the watery waste that encircled the whole globe, and became the scene of ani- mate life. The so-called New World is in reality the Old, and bears abundant proofs of hoary age. But at what period it became the abode of man we are unable even to conjecture. Down to the close of the tenth century of the Christian era it had no written history. Traces of a rude civilization that suggest a high antiquity are by no means wanting. Monuments and mounds remain that point to periods the contemplation of which would cause Chronos himself to grow giddy ; yet among all these great and often impressive memorials there is no monument, inscription or sculptured frieze that satisfactorily explains their origin. Tradition itself is dumb, and the theme chiefly kindles when brought within the realm of imagination. We can only infer that age after age nations and tribes rose to great- ness and then fell into decline, barbarism and a rude culture holding alternate sway.^ Nevertheless, men have enjoyed no small degree of satis- faction in conjuring up theories to explain the origin of the early races on the Western Continent. What a charm lingers around the supposed trans-Atlantic voyages of the ' Of course we must not overlook the recent researches into the history of Central America, and especially the studies in connection with Yucatan. 2 10 Pre-Columbian Discovert of hardy riienician, the luxurious sailors of Tyre, and, later, of the bold Basque. What stories might the lost picture- records of Mexico and the chronicles of Dieppe tell. Now we are presented with the splendid view of great fleets, the , remnant of some conquered race, bearing across the ocean to re-create in new and unknown lands the cities and monu- ments thej were forever leaving behind ; and now it is simply the story of some storm-tossed mariner, who blindly drives across the sea to the western strand, and laj^s the foundation of empire. Again it is the devotee of mammon, in search of gainful traffic or golden fleece. How romantic is the picture of his little solitary bark setting out in the days of Roman greatness, or in the splendid age of Charle- magne, sailing trustingly away between the pillars of Her- cules, and tossing toward the Isles of the Blessed and the Fountains of Eternal Youth. In time the Ultima Thule of the known world is passed, and favoring gales bear the merchant-sailor to new and wondrous lands. We see him coasting the unknown shores, passing from cape to cape, and from bay to inlet, gazing upon the marvels of the New World, trafficking with the bronzed Indian, bartering curious wares for barbaric gold ; and then shaping his course again for the markets of the distant East, to pour strange tales into incredulous ears. Still this may not be all fancy. ^ THE SEA OF DARKNESS. In early times the Atlantic ocean, like all things without known bounds, was viewed by man with mixed feelings of fear and awe. It was called the Sea of Darkness. Yet, nevertheless, there were those who professed to have some knowledge of its extent, and of what lay beyond. The earliest reference to this sea is that by Theopompus, in the 'Proceedings of ''The United States Catholic Historical Society," 1886, for October 29, 1885. The Eev. Joshua P. Bodfish has a paper on " The Discovery of America by the Northmen," in which (pp. 2-3-4-5) he helps himself to the author's Introduction without giving due credit. America by the Northmen. 11 fourth century before the Christian era, given in a frag- ment of ^liau,^ where a vast island is described, lying far in the west, and peopled by strange races. To this we may add the reference of Plato- to the island called Atlantis, which lay west of the Pillars of Hercules, and which was estimated to be larger than Asia and Africa combined. Aristotle^ also thought that many other lands existed beyond the Atlantic. Plato supposed that the Atlantis was sunk by an earthquake, and Grantor declares that he found the same account related by the Priests of Sais three hundred years after the time of Solon, from whom the grandfather of Critias had his information. Plato says, that after the Atlantis disappeared, navigation was rendered too difficult to be at- tempted on account of the slime which resulted from the sinking of the land. It is probable that he had in mind the immense fields of drifting sea-weed found in that locality, estimated by Humboldt to cover a portion of the Atlantic ocean six times as large as all Germany. It is thought that Homer* obtained the idea of his Ely- sium in the Western ocean from the voyages of the Phe- nicians, who, as is well known, sailed regularly to the Brit- ish Islands. They are also supposed by some to have pushed their discoveries as far as the Western Continent. Cadiz, situated on the shore of Andalusia, was established by the Tyrians twelve centuries before the birth of Christ ; and when Cadiz, the ancient Gadir, was full five hundred years old, a Greek trader, Cohens, there bought rare merchandise, a long and severe gale having driven his ships beyond the Pillars of Hercules. THE PHENICIANS. In the ninth century before the Christian era, the Phe- nicians had established colonies on the western coast of ^ Var. Hist, lib, iii, cap. xviii. * See Plato's " Critias and Timcsas." ^ De Mundo, cap. iir. See " Prince Henry the Navigator,^' chap. VII, by Major, London, 1868. '''Odyssey;' book iv, 1. 765. 12 Pre-Columbian Discovery of Africa ; and three hundred years later, according to Herod- otus, Pharaoli Necho, son of Psammiticus, sent an expedi- tion, manned by Phenician sailors, around the entire coast of Africa. Yivien de St. Martin fixes the date of this ex- pedition at 570 before Christ. St. Martin, in his account of the voyage, improves slightly upon the views of Carl Muller, and is followed by Bougainville.^ A notice of this voyage, performed by Hanno under the direction of Pha- raoh, was inscribed in the Punic language on a Carthage- nian temple, being afterward translated into Greek. That the Canary Islands were discovered and colonized by the Phenicians, there need be no doubt. Tradition had always located islands in that vicinity. Strabo speaks of the Islands of the Blessed, as lying not far from Mauritania, opposite Gadir or Cadiz. He distinctly says, " That those who pointed out these things were the Phenicians^ who, before the time of Homer, had possession of the best part of Africa and Spain."^ When we remember that the Phe- nicians sought to monopolize trade, and hold the knowledge of their commercial resorts a secret, it is not surprising that we should hear no more of the Fortunate Isles until about eighty-two years before Christ, when the Koman Sertorius met some Lusitanian sailors on the coast of Spain who had just returned from the Fortunate Isles. They are described as two delightful islands, separated by a narrow strait, dis- tant from Africa five hundred leagues. Twenty years after the death of Sertorius, Statins Sebosus drew up a chart of a group of five islands, each mentioned by name, and which Pliny calls the Hesperides, including the Fortunate Isles. This mention of the Canaries was sixty-three years before Christ. •tuba's expedition. When King Juba II returned to Mauritania, he sent an expedition to the Fortunate Isles. A fragment of the nar- ratives of this expedition is found in the works of Pliny. ' See ^'Prince Henry the Navigator," p. 90. ^ Strabo, lib. iii. Ameeica by the Northmen. 13 The islands are described as lying south-west, six hundred and twenty-five miles from Purpurarise. To reach them from the latter place, they first sailed two hundred and fifty miles westward, and then three hundred and seventy-five miles eastward. Pliny says: "The first is called Ombrios, and affords no traces of buildings. It contains a pool in the midst of mountains, and trees like ferules, from which water may be pressed. It is bitter from the black kinds, but from the light kinds pleasant to drink. The second is called Junonia, and contains a small temple built entirely of stone. Near it is another smaller island having the same name. Then comes Capraria, which is full of large hzards. Within sight of these is Nivaria, named from the snow and fogs with which it is always covered. Not far from Ni- varia is Canaria, called thus on account of the great number of large dogs therein, two of which were brought to King Juba. There were traces of buildings in these islands. All the islands abound in apples, and in birds of every kind, and in palms covered with dates, and in the pine nut. There is also plenty of fish. The papyrus grows there, and the silurus fish is found in the rivers."^ The author of Prince Henry the Namgator^ says that in Ombrios, we recognize the Pluvialia of Sebosus. Con- vallis of Sebosus, in Pliny, becomes Nivaria, the Peak of Teneriffe, which lifts itself up to the majestic height of nine thousand feet, its snow-capped pinnacle seeming to pierce the sky. Planaria is displaced by Canaria, which term, first applied to the great central island, now gives the name to the whole group. Ombrios or Pluvialia, evidently means the island of Palma, which had " a pool in the midst of mountains," now represented by the crater of an extinct volcano. This the sailors of King Juba evidently saw. Major says : " The distance of this island [Palma] from Fuerteventura, agrees with that of the two hundred and fifty miles indicated by Juba's navigators as existing be- ' Pliny's '^ Natural History," lib. vi, cap. xxxvii. ^See p. 137. 14 Pre-Columbian" Discovery of tween Ombrios and the Purpurariae. It has already been seen that the latter agree with Lancerote and Fuerteven tura, in respect of their distance, from the Continent and from each other, as described by Plutarch. That the Pur- purariae are not, as M. Borj de St. Vincent supposed, the Madeira group, is not only shown by the want of inhab- itants in the latter, but by the orchil, which supplies the purple dye, being derived from and sought for especially from the Canaries, and not from the Madeira group, although it is to be found there. Junonia," he continues, "the near- est to Ombrios, will be Gromera. It may be presumed that the temple found therein was, like the island, dedicated to Juno. Capraria, which implies the island of goats, agrees correctly with the island of Ferro, . . . for these animals were found there in large numbers when the island was invaded by Jean de Bethencourt, in 1402. But a yet more striking proof of the identity of this island with Capraria, is the account of the great number of lizards found therein. Bethencourt's chaplains, describing their visit to the islands, in 1402, state : ' There are lizards in it as big as cats, but they are harmless, although very hideous to look at.' '" We see, then, that the navigators of Juba visited the Canaries'* at an early period, as did the Phenicians, who ' '^Prince Hejiry the Navigator," p. 137. ''After this mention by Pliny, the Canaries, or Fortunate Isles, are lost sight of for a period of thirteen hundred years. In the reign of Edward III of England, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, one Robert Machin sailed from Bris- tol for France, carrying away a lady of rank, who had eloped with him, and was driven by a storm to the Canaries, where he landed, and thus re-discovered the lost Fortunate Isles. This fact is curiously established by Major, in the "Life of Prince Henryr so that it can no longer be regarded as an idle tale (see pp. 66-77). In 1341, a voyage was also made to the Canaries, under the auspices of King Henry of Portugal. The report, so widely circulated by De Barros, that the islands were re-discovered by Prince Henry is, therefore, incor- rect. His expedition reached Porto Santo and Madeira in 1418-1420. America by the Northmen. 15 doubtless built the temple in the island of Junonia. For aught we know, early navigators may have passed over to the Western Continent and laid the foundation of those strange nations whose monuments still remain. Both Phe- nician and Tyrian voyages to the Western Continent have been advocated; while Lord Kingsborough published his magnificent volumes on the Mexican Antiquities, to show that the Jews settled this Continent at an early day.^ If it is true that all the tribes of the earth sprang from one cen- tral Asiatic family, it is more than likely that the original inhabitants of the American Continent crossed the Atlantic, instead of piercing the frozen regions of the north, and com- ing in by the way of Behring Straits. From the Canaries to the coast of Florida, it is a short voyage, and the bold sailors of the Mediterranean, after touching at the Canaries, need only spread their sails before the steady-breathing monsoon, to find themselves wafted safely to the western shore. TRADITIONS. There was even a tradition that America was visited by St. Coluraba,^ and also by the Apostle St. Thomas,^ who penetrated even as far as Peru. This opinion is founded on the resemblance existing between certain rites and doc- trines which seem to have been held in common by Chris- tians and the early inhabitants of Mexico. The first Spanish missionaries were surprised to find the Mexicans bowing in adoration before the figure of the cross, and inferred that these people were of a Christian origin. Yet the inference has no special value, when we remember that Christianity is far less ancient than the symbol of the cross, which ex- isted among the Egyptians and other ancient people. ' He also speculates upon the probability of this Continent having been visited by Christian missionaries. The Hebrew theory is hardly tenable, and must be classed with the specu- lations of the famous Major Noah. See vol. vi, p. 410. * Kingsborough's " Mexican Antiquities" vol. vi, p. 285. 'Ibid., p. 332. 16 Pre-Oolumbian" Discovert of Claims have also been made for the Irish. Broughton brings forward a passage in which St. Patrick is repre- sented as sending missionaries to the Isles of America.^ Another claim has been nrged of a more respectable character, which is supported by striking, though not con- clusive allusions in the chi-onicles of the North, in which a distant land is spoken of as " Ireland the Great." The Irish, in the early times, might easily have passed over to the Western Continent, for which voyage they undoubtedly had the facilities. Professor Rafn, after alluding to the well-known fact that the Northmen were preceded in Iceland by the Irish, says, that it is by no means im- probable that the Irish should also have anticipated them in America. The Irish were a sea-faring people, and have been assigned a Phenician origin by Moore and others who have examined the subject.^ If this is so, the tradition would appear to be somewhat strengthened. Even as early as the year 296, the Irish are said to have invaded Denmark with a large fleet. In 396, Niall made a descent upon the coast of Lancashire with a considerable navy, where he was met by the Roman, Stilicho, whose achievements were ^ "Monastihon Britannicum," pp. 131-133, 187-188. The fact that the word America is here used, seems quite suffi- cient to upset the legend. Speaking of the claims to Pre- Columbian discovery at the west by the various eastern peoples, Mr. Winsor admits that " there is no good reason why any one of them may not have done all that is claimed." ^'Narrative and Critical History of America," vol. i, p. 59. ^ The Irish were early known as Scots, and O'Halloran de- rives the name from Scota, high priest of Phoenius, and ancestor of Mileseuis. Me quoque vicins pereuntem gentibus, inquit,. Munivit Stiliclio. Totam cum Scotus lernem, Movit et infesto spumavit remige Thetys. By him defended, when the neighboring hosts Of warlike nations spread along our coasts; When Scots came thundering from the Irish shores, And the wild ocean foamed with hostile oars. Ameeica by the Northmen. 17 celebrated by Claudian in the days of the Eoman occupation of England. At that period the Irish were in most respects in advance of the Northmen, not yet having fallen into de- cline, and quite as likely as any people then existing to brave the dangers of an ocean voyage.^ The Icelandic docu- ments, clearly referring to the Irish, will be given in their proper place, and, in the meanwhile, it need only to be added, that the quotation given by the rather credulous Beamish from such an authority as tlie Turkish Spy will hardly tend to strengthen their claims, especially where its author, John Paul Marana, says that in Mexico " the British language is so prevalent," that '' the very towns, bridges, beasts, birds, rivers, hills, etc., are called by the British or Welsh ^ names."^ ' Speaking of Britain and Ireland, Tacitus says of the latter, that "the approaches and harbors are better known, by rea- son of commerce and the merchants." — Vit. Agri., c. 24. The Irish, doubtless, mingled with the Carthagenians in mer- cantile transactions, and from them they not unlikely received the rites of Druidism. —^ There is a tradition of a "Welsh voyage to America under Prince Madoc, which relates to a period folloivi7ig the Icelandic voyages. This voyage by the son of Owen Gwyneth is fixed for the year 1170, and is based on a Welsh chronicle of no authority. See HacMuyt, vol. iii, p. 1. See, also, "Afnerica Discovered hy the Welsh in 3170," by Bowen, Philadelphia, 1876; "An Enquiry into the Truth of the Tradition, concern- ing the Discovery of America hy Prince Madog ah Owen Oivyneth, aiout the year 1170, hy John Williams," etc., Lon- don, 1791, p. 85; and ''Farther Observations on the Discovery of America hy Prince Madog ab Oiuen Gwyneth," etc., 1792, p. 51. The following from the London Standard, September 6, 1888, is timely: " Great interest was excited yesterday in North Wales by the announcement that the tomb of Madoc ap Gryffyddmaelor, a great Welsh warrior in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, grandson of Owen Gwynedd, Prince of Wales, had been discovered in the ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey, Llangollen. The Rev. H. T. Owen, warden of the ^ Turkish Spy, vol. viii, p. 159. 3 18 Pre-Oolumbian Discovert of In truth, as the wish is so often father to the thought, it would be an easy task to find resemblance in the languages of the aborigines to almost any language that is spoken in onr day so far as mere sounds may be concerned. But, notwithstanding the prohabilities of the case, we have no soKd reason for accepting any of these alleged voyages as facts. Much labor has been given to the sub- ject, yet the early history of the American Continent is still veiled in mystery, and it is not until near the close of the tenth century of the present era that we can point to a genuine trans-Atlantic voyage. THE NORTHMEN. The first voyage to America, of which we have any account, was performed by Northmen. But who were the Northmen? abbey, who is now engaged upon some excavations, was searching for old stained glass in the dormitory, when he dis- interred a large stone slab, bearing the name of Madoc, and an inscription, which has not yet been fully deciphered. Down the center of the stone is an incised sword in sheath. Further excavations led to the discovery of four other stones, each about five feet by eighteen inches; two bear floriated crosses, one an inscribed spear, and the other a Grecian orna- ment. The stones form part of the vaulting of the corridor leading to the old burial ground of the monks. Madoc ap Gryffydd founded the abbey, which was a Cistercian Monas- tery, about the year 1200. After the venerable building be- came a ruin, the chapter-house and scriptorium were used for several generations as a farmstead, and were practically destroyed by fire. During the repairs it is conjectured that the stones of Madoc's tomb were used to complete the vault- ing. In 1851 the (Uhris covering the area of the abbey was removed by Lord Dungannon, and the tombs of benefactors buried in front of the high altar, the figure of a knight in chain armour, and a stone cofiin were laid bare. During the exca- vations of last year the monk's well and spring were discov- ered. Sir Theodore and Lady Martin and many others visited the ruins yesterday." America by the Northmen. 19 The Northmen were the descendants of a race that in early times migrated from Asia and traveled toward the north, settling down in what is now the kingdom of Den- mark. From thence they overran Norway and Sweden, and afterward colonized Iceland and Greenland. Their language was the old Danish {Donsk timga) once spoken all over the north, ^ but which is now preserved in Iceland alone, being called the Icelandic or old Northern,^ upon which is founded the modern Swedish, Danish and Norse or Norwegian. After the Northmen had pushed on from Denmark to Norway, the condition of public affairs gradually became such that a large portion of the better classes found their life intolerable. In the reign of Harold Harfagr (the Fair- haired), an attempt was made by the king to deprive the petty jarls of their ancient udal or feudal rights, and to usurp all authority for the crown. To this the proud jarls would not submit ; and, feeling themselves degraded in the eyes of their retainers, they resolved to leave those lands and homes which they could now hardly call their own. Whither, then, should they go ? THE COLONIZATION OF ICELAND, In the cold North sea, a little below the Arctic circle, lay a great island. As early as the year 860, it had been made known to the Northmen by a Dane of Swedish descent named Gardar, who called it Gardar's Island, and four years later by the pirate Nadodd, who sailed thither in 864 and called it Snowland. Presenting in the main the form of an irregular ellipse, this island occupies an area of about one hundred and thirty-seven thousand square miles, affording the dull diversity of valleys without verdure and mountains 'See "Northmen in Iceland/' Societe des Antiquaries du Nord, Seance du 14 Mai, 1859, pp. 12-14. "It is sometimes, though improperly, called the Norse. Societe des Antiquaries, etc., 1840-44, p. 165. 20 Pre-Coltjmbiak Discovery of without trees.' Desolation has there fixed its abode. It broods among the dells, and looks down upon the gloomy fiords. The country is threaded with streams and dotted with tarns, yet the geologist finds but little evidence in the structure of the earth to point to the action of water. On the other hand, every rock and hillside is covered with signs that prove their igneous origin, and indicate that the entire island, at some distant period, has already seethed and bub- bled in the fervent heat, in anticipation of the long prom- ised Palingenesia. Even now the ground trembles in the throes of the earthquake, the Geyser spouts scalding water, and the plain belches mud; while the great jokull, clad in white robes of eternal snow — true priest of Ormuzd — brandishes aloft its volcanic torch, and threatens to be the incendiary of the sky. The greater portion of the land forms the homestead of the reindeer and the fox, who share their domain with the occasional white bear that may float over from Greenland on some berg. Only two quadrupeds, the fox and the moose, are indigenous. Life is here purchased with a strug- gle. Indeed the neighboring ocean is more hospitable than the dry laud. Of the thirty-four species of mammalia, twent}'- four find their food in the roaring main. The same is true of the feathered tribes, fifty-four out of ninety being water-fowl. Here and there may be seen patches of meadow and a few sheep pastures and tracts of arable land warmed into fruitfulness by the brief summer's sun ; yet, on the whole, so poor is the soil that man, like the lower orders, must eke out a scanty subsistence by resorting to the sea. It was toward this land, which the settlers called Zea- land, that the proud Norwegian jarl turned his eyes, and there he resolved to found a home. The first settler was Ingolf. He approached the coast in the year 875, threw ' In the time when the Irish monks occupied the island, it is said that it was " covered with woods between the moun- tains and the shores." AmEEICA by the NORTHMEIS". 21 overboard his sea-posts,^ and waited to see them touch the land. But in this he was disappointed, and those sacred columns, carved with the images of the gods, drifted away from sight. He nevertheless landed on a pleasant promon- tory at the south-eastern extremity of the island, and built his habitation on the spot which is called Ingolfshofdi to this day. Three jea^rs after, his servants found the sea- posts in the south-western part of the island, and hither, in obedience to what was held to be the expressed wish of the gods,^ he removed his household, laying the foundation of Reikiavik, the capital of this ice-bound isle. He was rapidly followed by others, and in a short time no inconsiderable population was gathered here. But the first Scandinavian settlers did not find this barren country entirely destitute of human beings. Ari Frode,^ ' Setstakkar. These were wooden pillars carved with images, usually of Thor and Odin. In selecting a place for a settlement these were flung overboard, and wherever they were thrown up on the beach, there the settlement was to be formed. ^In another case a settler did not find his posts for twelve years, nevertheless he changed his abode then. lu Frithiof's Saga (American edition) chap, iii, p. 18, we find the fol- lowing allusion: ' ' Through the whole length of the hall shone forth the table of oak wood, Brighter than steel, and polished; the pillars twain of the high seats Stood on each side thereof; two gods deep carved out of elm wood: Odin with glance of a king, and Frey with the sun on his forehead." ^Ari Hinn Frode, or the Wise. The chief compiler of the famous Landanama Book, which contains a full account of all the early settlers in Iceland. It is of the same character, though vastly superior to the English "Doomsday Book^^ and is probably the most complete record of the kind ever made by any nation. It contains the names of 3,000 per- sons, and 1,400 places. It gives a correct account of the genealogies of the families, and brief notices of personal 22 Pee-Columbian Discovery of than whom there is no higher authority, says : " Then were here Christian people whom the Northmen called papas, but they afterward went away, because they would not be here among heathens ; and left behind them Irish books, and bells, and croziers, from which it could be seen that they were Irishmen." He repeats substantially the same thing in the Landanama Book^ the authority of which, no one acquainted with the subject, will question, adding that books and other relics were found in the island of Papey and Papyli, and that the circumstance is also men- tioned in English books. The English writings referred to are those of the venerable Bede.^ This is also stated in an achievements. It was begun by Erode (born 1067, died 1148), and was continued by Kalstegg, Styrmer and Thorsden, and completed by Hauk Erlandson, Lagmau, or Governor of Ice- land, who died in the year 1334. "' Thus saith the holy priest Bede. . . . Therefore learned men think that it is Iceland which is called Thule. . . . But the holy priest Bede died dccxxxv years after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, more than a hundred years before Iceland was inhabited by the Northmen." Antiquitates Americance, p. 202. This extract is followed by the state- ment of Ari Erode, and shows that the Irish Christians retired to Iceland, at a very early day. The Irish monk Dicuil also refers to this solitary island, which, about the year 795, was visited by some monks with whom he had conversed. The earliest known movement northward from England was that inaugurated by King Arthur, about the year 505. The authority on this subject is Geoffrey of Monmouth, who was bishop of Saint Asaph in 1152, and who wrote the His- toria Britonum, a work which afforded a basis for the fables and romances of the ''Knights of the Round Table." Never- theless, whoever inclines to turn from all the statements of Geoffrey, for the reason that they contain much that is untrue, should ponder the well-considered words of Hume (" Eng- land," I, 38, ed. 1822), who says of the Prince of Silures: " This is that Arthur so much celebrated in the songs of Thaliessin and the other British bards, and whose military Amekica by the Northmen. 33 edition of King Olaf Tryggvesson's Saga, made near the end of the fourteenth century. The monks or Culdees, who had come hither from Ire- land and the Isles of lona, to be alone with God, took their departure on the arrival of the heathen followers of Odin and Thor, and the Northmen were thus left in undisputed possession of the soil. In about twenty years the island became quite thickly settled, though the tide of immigra- tion continued to flow in strongly for fifty years, so that at the beginning of the tenth century Iceland possessed a popu- achievements have been blended with so many fables as even to give occasion for entertaining a doubt of his real existence. But poets," he continues, " though they disfigure the most certain history of their fictions, and use strange liberties with truth, where they are the sole historians, as among the Brit- ons, have commonly some foundation for their wildest exag- gerations." The Bishop of Saint Asaph, who was not a poet, may be credited, therefore, when he states such simple facts as that, about the year 505, King Arthur, after the conquest of Ireland, received the submission of the Orkneys and sailed to Iceland, " which he also subdued;"^ at a subsequent period overcommg his foes in Norway. (B. ix, c. 10.) The con- quest of Ireland cost much bloodshed, but that of Iceland, if he went there, must have been made without a struggle, since at that period there could not have been men enough to make any great resistance. Hakluyt (i, 1), treating this matter, quotes from Galfridus Monumetensis, who says that, after subduing Ireland, Ar- thur went to Iceland, and '•' brought it and the people thereof under his subjection." The same author mentions '' Malua- sius " as ''King" of Iceland, and tells of soldiers that he furnished. The " King," however, may be reduced to a figure of speech, while there could have been no soldiers, unless, in- deed, Arthur, as elsewhere stated, transported people to the north. See " Inventio Fortunata. Arctic . Exploration, with an account of Nicholas of Lynn," etc. By B. F. De Costa, New York, 1861, p. 5. 34 Pre-Columbian Discovert of lation variously estimated from sixtj to seventy thousand souls. But few undertook the voyage who were not able to buy their own vessels, in which they carried over their own cattle, thralls, and household goods. So great was the num- ber of people who left IN^orway, that King Harold tried to prevent emigration by royal authority, though, as might have been predicted, his efforts were altogether in vain. Here, in Iceland, therefore, was formed a large community, taking the shape of an aristocratic republic, which framed its own laws, and for a long time maintained a genuine inde- pendence, in opposition to all the assumptions and threats of the Norwegian king. THE SETTLEMENT OF GREENLAND. But as time passed on, the people of Iceland felt a new impulse for colonization in strange lands, and the tide of emigration began to tend toward Greenland in the west. This was chiefly inaugurated by a man named Eric the Red, born in Norway in the year 935. On account of man- slaughter, he was obliged to flee from Jardar and take up his abode in Iceland. The date of removal to Iceland is not given, though it is said that at that time the island was very generally inhabited. Here, however, he could not live in peace, and early in the year 982, he was again outlawed for manslaughter by the Thing, and condemned to banishment. He accordingly fitted out a ship, and announced liis deter- mination to go in search of the land lying in the ocean at the west, which it was said, Gunnbiorn,' Ulf Krage's son, saw when, in the year 876, he was driven out to sea by a storm. Eric sailed westward and found land, where he re- mained and explored the country for three years. At the end of this period he returned to Iceland, giving the newly- ^All the information which we possess relating to the dis- covery by Gunnbiorn is given in the body of this work, in ex- tracts from Landanama Booh. America by the Northmen". 35 discovered land the name of Greenland,^ in order, as he said, to attract settlers, who would be favorably impressed by so pleasing a name, which, however, did not originate with him. The summer after his return to Iceland, he sailed once more for Greenland, taking with him a fleet of thirty-five ships, only fourteen of which reached their destination, the rest being either driven back or lost. This event took place, as the Saga says, fifteen winters - before the introduction of Christianity into Iceland, which we know was accomplished in the year A. D, 1000. The date of Eric's second voyage must, therefore, be set down at 985.^ But, before j^roceeding to the next step in Icelandic ad- venture, it will be necessary to give a brief sketch of the progress of the Greenland colony, together with a relation of the circumstances which led to its final extinction. THE PKOGEE88 OF THE GREENLAND COLONIES. There is but little continuity in the history of the Ice- landic occupation of Greenland. We have already seen that the second voyage of Eric the Red took place in the year 985. Colonists appear to have followed him in considerable numbers, and the best portions of the land were soon appro- priated by the principal men, who gave the chief bays and capes names that indicated the occupants, following the ex- ample of Eric, who dwelt in Brattahlid, in Ericsfiord. In the year 999, Leif, son of Eric, sailed out of Greenland to Norway, and passed the winter at the court of King Olaf Tryggvesson, where he accepted the Christian faith, which * Claudius Christophessen, the author of some Danish verses relating to the history of Greenland, supposes that Greenland was discovered in the year 770, though he gave no real reason for his belief. M. Peyre^re also tells us of a Papal Bull, issued in 835, by Gregory IV, which refers to the con- version of the Icelanders and Greenlanders. * The Northmen reckoned by winters. ^ See the Saga of Eric the Ked. 