 CHAPTER 12 HOMES IN ISLAND Men had been feasting in Ingolf's house, but there was no laughing and no shouting of jokes. Ingolf sat in his high seat frowning and gloomy. His head hung on his breast. He was staring into the fire. Now he raised his head and looked about the hall. Comrades, he said, What shall we do? Herstein and Holmstein died by our swords. Their kinsmen hunger to kill us. Besides, when Harold hears of our deed there will be no safe place in Norway for us. He will never let a man fight an honest quarrel. Where shall we go? A man stood up from the bench. We have friends in the Shetlands, he said. Let us find homes there. Then leave. In the high seat opposite Ingolf stood up. No, not the Shetlands, my foster brother. They are crowded already. Besides, Harold will not long keep his hands off them. Then they will be no better than Norway. England and Ireland and Scotland are old. My eyes ache for something new. What of that far island that Floke found? It is empty. We could choose our land from the whole country. There's good fishing. There are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf says that Butter drops from every weed. There are mountains and deserts where we may find adventure. I say, let us steer for Iceland. When he stopped many of the men shouted, Yes, Iceland! But an old man stood up. We have all laughed at that tale of Butter Thorolfs, he said. But Floke himself said that the sea about the island is full of ice that pushes upon the land. That no ship can live in that water in the winter. That great mountains of ice cover the island. Did not all his cattle die there of hunger and cold? And did he not come back to Norway cursing Iceland? Oh, Sigvat, you are old and fearful, called out leaf, and he laughed. Then he stretched himself up and threw back his head. Are we afraid of ice? Have we not seen angry water before? I have been hungry, but I have never died of it. Surely if there are fish in the sea and grass in the valleys we can live there. I should like to stand on a hill and look around on a wide land and think, this is all ours. And out upon a rough sea and think, far off are our foes and they dare not come over to us. Besides, we shall have no shock head herald to lord it over us. We can come and go and feast and fight as we please. We shall be our own kings, and our ships will always be waiting to take us away when we are weary of it. And we shall see things that other men have never seen. I am tired of the old things. Perhaps in after days men will make songs about those foster brothers Ingolf and Lief, who made a new country in a wonderful land and whose sons and grandsons are mighty men in Iceland. Ingolf leaped up from his chair. By the strong arm of Thor he cried, I like the sound of it, now I make my vow. He raised his drinking-horn. I vow that I will find this Iceland and pass the winter there, and that if man can live upon it I will go back there and set up my home. And I vow that I will follow my foster brother, cried Lief. And many men vowed to go. So on the next day they began to make ready a boat. They looked her over carefully and recalked every seam and freshly painted her and put into her their strongest oars and made her a new sail. This will be the longest voyage that she ever made, Ingolf said. When the work was done they put into her great stores, axes, hammers, fishnets, cooking kettles, kegs of ale, chests of hard bread, chests of smoked meat, brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of water. They stowed these things away in the ends of the ship. When they were ready they put in forehead of cattle. We shall need the milk and the meat, Ingolf said. Many men wished to go, but Ingolf had said, there's little room to spare and little food and drink. I have planned for a year and a half. But perhaps we must be sailing longer than that. Our food may run short. We must not have extra mouths to feed. There are thirty oars in our boat. I will take only one man for every oar, and Lief and I will steer. So they started off. Lief stood in the prowl leaning forward and looking far ahead, and he sang, What does the swimming dragon smell? A stormy sea and empty land, hunger, darkness, giants, fire, leaf and his sword, do laugh at that. They sailed for days and saw no land. Sometimes they passed ships and always made sure to sail close enough to hail them. Where are you going? Ingolf would call. To Norway would come back the answer. For trade or fight, Lief would shout. Then would ring out a great laugh from that boat and this answer, A shut mouth is a good friend. So the two ships sailed on, and the men were glad to have heard a greeting and to have called one. But at last there were the Shetlins. We will go in here and rest, Ingolf said. When they rode to shore a certain Shetlin man stood there. He watched them land and looked them all over. Then he walked up to Ingolf and said, You look like brave men. Welcome to Shetlin. You shall come to my house and rest your legs from ship going and fill your stomachs. I hunger for news of Norway. So they went to his house and stayed there for three days. And good it seemed to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and before a steaming platter. When they went to the shore to start off again the Shetlin man had his thralls carry a keg of ale and a great kettle of cooked meat and put them into the ship. Think of me when you eat this, he said. Then the Norsemen put to sea again and sailed for a long time. One day a terrible storm came up. The sky was black. The wind howled through the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea. Down with the sail and out with the oars, Ingolf shouted. So the men furled the sail and took down the mast and laid it along the bottom of the boat. As they worked one man was washed overboard and drowned. The men sat down to row but the tumbling waves tossed the boat about and poured over her and broke three of the oars. But still the men held on. They were wet to the skin and were cold and their arms and legs ached with the hard work and they were hungry from the long waiting. But not one face was white with fear. Ron in her caves under the sea wants us for company tonight. Ingolf laughed. So they tossed about all night. But in the morning the wind died down. Great waves still rolled and for days the sea was rough. But they could put up the sail. Then one day leaf, as he sat in the pilot's seat, jumped to his feet and sang. Two eyes grown tired with looking far, all at once appeared an island. A stretching place for sea legs, a quiet bed for backs grown stiff, unrowing bench on rolling sea, a place to build a red fire and thaw the blood that sea winds froze. But when they came near they saw no place to land. The island was like a mountain of rock standing out of the water. The sides were steep and smooth. They sailed around it but found no place to climb up. There are many other islands here, said leaf. We will try another. So he steered to another. It too was a steep rock. But one side sloped down to the water and was green with grass. Oh, I have not seen anything so good as that green grass, since I looked into my mother's face, one man said. There was a little harbor there. The men rode in and quickly jumped out and put the rollers under the ship and pulled her upon shore. Then they threw themselves down on the grass and rolled and stretched their arms and shouted for joy. After that they built a fire and warmed themselves and cooked a meal and ate like wolves. They slept there that night. In the morning before Engulf's men started away they were standing high up on the hillside looking about. They saw no houses on any of the islands but they saw smoke rise from one hillside. Some other men, like us, weary of the sea and stopping to rest, said Engulf. They saw the island that they had sailed around the night before. There can surely be nothing but bird's nests on top of that, Sigvat said. Look! cried another, pointing. Men were standing on the flat top of that island. They were letting a boat down the steep side with ropes. When it struck the water they made a rope fast to the rock and slid down it into the ship and sailed off. Some robber vikings from Scotland or Ireland laughed leaf. It is a good hiding place for treasure. Soon Engulf and his men got into their ship and were off. Old Sigvat grumbled. Is this land not new enough and empty enough and far enough? I am tired of sea, sea, sea and nothing else. We started for Iceland, said Engulf, and I will not stop before I come there. I have a vow. Did you make none, Sigvat? Then they were on the water again for weeks with no sight of land. Oh! I would give my right hand to see a dragon pawing the water off there and to fling a word to its men, Sigvat said. No hope of that, replied Engulf. Only three dragons before ours have ever swept this water and men are not sailing this way for pleasure or riches. So only the desolate seas stretched around them. Sometimes it was smooth and shining under the sun. Often it was torn by winds and a grey sky hung over it and the men were drenched with rain. Once they ran into a fog. For three days and nights they could not see sun or stars to steer by. They forgot which way was north. When after three days the fog lifted, they found that they had been going in the wrong direction and they had to turn around and sail all that weary way over again. But at last one afternoon they saw white cloud resting on the water far off. As they sailed toward it it grew into long stretches of black hilly shore with a blue ice mountain rising from it. The sun was going down behind that mountain and long lines of pink and shining green and great purple shadows streaked the blue. It is Iceland, shouted the men. It is like us guard the shining, Engulf said. But it was still far off. Men can see a long way there because the air is so clear so Engulf and his people sailed on for hours and at last came into a harbor. A little green valley sloped up from it. On one side was the bright ice mountain. Back of it were bare black and red hills. In that valley Engulf and his men drew up their boat and camped. At supper that night one of the men said, I almost think I never felt a fire before or had warm food in my mouth. The men laughed. It is four months since we left Norway, Engulf said. Few men have ever been on the sea so long. That night they put up the awning in the boat and slept under it. After that some men went fishing every day in the rowboat that they had. And Engulf took others and they sailed along the shore seeing what kind of a land this was. But winter began to come on. Then Engulf said, Remember what Floke said of the ice in the rough sea in winter. But soon we cannot sail any longer. Let us choose a place to stay and build a hut there and cut hay for our cattle. So they did. Their hut was a little mean thing of stones and turf. They kept the cattle and the hay in it. Sometimes they slept there when it was very cold. But most of the time they ate and slept by a great bonfire out of doors where it was clean. A leaf said, I like the cold air of the sea better than the bad smelling air of a house even though it is warm. Now every day Engulf and leaf and some of the men walked about the island. At night they all sat around the campfire and talked of what they had seen during the day. This is surely a wonderful land Engulf said once. It is at the same time like Nifelheim and like Asgard. Here is a spot of green and soft, a sweet cradle for men. Next it is a mountain of ice where men would freeze to death. And next to that is a hill of rock that seems to have come out of some great fire. Yesterday I saw a cave on the seashore. The door of it was big enough for a giant. The waves broke at the doorstep. A terrible roaring came from the cave. I think it is the home of a giant. I think the giants of fire and giants of frost made this island. I have seen great basins in the rocks filled with warm water. They look like giants' bathtubs. I have seen boiling water shoot up out of the ground. I have walked and have felt and heard a great rumbling under me as though some giant were sleeping there and turning over in his sleep. One day I stood on a mountain and looked inland. There was a wide desert of sand and black and red rock with nothing growing on it. The fierce wind blew dirt in my eyes and the cold of it froze the marrow in my bones. When I have seen these things I have cursed the country and have said, The gods hate Iceland. I will not stay here. But then I have walked through the beautiful warm valleys where the winds did not come. I saw in my mind the flowers that we found last summer. I saw our cattle feeding on the sweet grass. I thought of the sea full of good fish. I saw my house built among the green fields and my wife sitting in her home and my children playing among the flowers and making up tales about the bright ice mountains. I saw the wide rough seas between me and herald in our foes. Then I thought to myself, It is the sweetest home on earth. As for me I am coming here to live. What do you say comrades? Have I not vowed to follow you, Foster Brother? Said Leaf. And indeed I never saw a land that I liked better. I don't believe in your giants. My sword is my god and my ship my temple and I like this land to set them up in. They sat about the fire long that night making plans. You shall go home and get our women and our things engulfed, said Leaf. I will go off to Ireland and have a frolic. There will be little play of swords in this empty land and I want to have one last game before I hang up my battle knife. Besides, I will come to you with a ship full of gold and clothes and house hangings such as we cannot get here and they will cost me nothing but the swing of a sword. As they talked engulf looked up at the sky. The northern lights were quivering there. They were like great flames of yellow and green and red. See? he said and pointed. We are not so far that the gods will forget us. There is the flash of the armor of Valkyries. A battle is on somewhere and Odin has sent his maidens to choose the heroes for Valhalla. Leaf only laughed and lay down to sleep. So in the spring they all went back to Norway. Leaf got ready the boat again and merrily sailed for Ireland. Here I go to get riches for a new land, he said. Engulf set his men to cutting down pines in the forest and some to building a new ship. He had his thralls plant large crops of grain and grind flour and make new kegs and chests of wood. He himself worked much at the forge making all kinds of tools, spades, axes, hammers, hunting knives, cooking kettles. The women were busy weaving and sewing new clothes. Engulf sold his house and land and everything that he could not take with him. After about two years Leaf came back. He had ten thralls that he had got in Ireland. He took Engulf aboard his ship and raised the covers of great chests. Gold helmets, silver trimmed drinking horns, embroidered robes and swords flashed out. Did I not say that I would come back with a full ship? He laughed. At last all things were ready for starting. Today I will sacrifice to Thor and Odin Engulf said. If the omens are good we will start tomorrow. Well, go foster brother! laughed Leaf. But I have better things to do. I will be putting the cattle into the ship and will have all ready. So Engulf and his men went into the forests a little way. There in a cleared space stood a large building. In front of this temple the men killed two horses for Odin. Engulf cut some of the blood in a brass bowl. He raised it and looked up at the sky and said, All wise and all father Odin, and Thor who loves the thunder, I give these horses to you. Tell me whether it is your will that we go to Iceland. As he said that a raven flew over his head. Engulf watched it. It is Odin's will that we go, he said. He sent his raven to tell us. It is flying straight toward Iceland. The men shouted with joy at that. Now they hung some of the meat of the horses on a tree near the temple. For the ravens of Odin, they said. Engulf carried the bowl of blood into the temple. He went through the feast hall in front to a little room at the back. Here stood wooden statues of the gods in a semi-circle. Before them was a stone altar. Engulf took a little brush of twigs that lay on it and dipped it into the blood and sprinkled the statues. You shall taste of our sacrifice, he said. Look kindly upon us from your happy seats in Osgard. Then they went into the feast hall. There thralls were boiling the horse flesh in pots over the fire. The tables were standing ready before the benches. Engulf walked to the high seat. All the others took their places at the benches. When the horns came round Engulf made this vow. I vow that I will build my house wherever these pillars lead me. He put his hand upon a tall post that stood beside the high seat. There was one at each side. They were the front posts of the chair. But they stood up high almost to the roof. They were wonderfully carved and painted with men and dragons. On the top of each one was a little statue of Thor with his hammer. At the end of the feast Engulf had his thralls dig these pillars up. He had a little bronze chest filled with the earth that was under the altar. I will take the pillars of my high seat to Iceland, he said, and I will set up my altar there upon the soil of Norway, the soil that my ancestors have trod, the soil that Thor loves. So they carried the pillars and the chest of earth and the statues of the gods and put them into Engulf's boat. It is a well-packed ship, the men said. There is no spot to spare. Tools and chests of food and tubs of drink and chests of clothes and fishing nets were stowed in the boughs of both boats. In the bottom were laid some long, heavy, hewn logs. The trees in Iceland are little, Engulf said. We must take the great beams for our homes with us. Standing on these logs were a few cattle and sheep and horses and pigs. The roller's benches were along the sides. And the stern of each boat was a little cabin. Here the women and children were to sleep. But the men would sleep on the timbers in the middle of the boat and perhaps they would put up the awning sometimes. At last everyone was aboard. Men loosed the rope that held the boats. The ships flashed down the rollers into the water and Engulf and Leif were off for Iceland. As they sailed away everyone looked back at the shore of Old Norway. There were tears in the women's eyes. Helga, Leif's wife, sang, There was I born, there was I wed, there are my father's bones, there are the hills and fields, the streams and rocks that I love, there are houses and temples, women and warriors and feasts, ships and songs and fights, this land I go to an empty land. There was the same long voyage with storm and fog. But at last the people saw again the white cloud and saw it growing into land and mountains. Then Engulf took the pillars of his high seat and threw them overboard. Guide them to a good place, Othor! he cried. The waves caught them up and rolled them about. Engulf followed them with his ship. But soon a storm came up. The men had to take down the sails and masts and they could do nothing with their oars. The two ships tossed about in the sea wherever the waves sent them. The pillars drifted away and Engulf could not see them. Remember your pillars, Othor! he cried. Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven far off. Ah, my foster brother! he thought. Shall I not have you to cheer me in this empty land? Othor, let him not go down to the caves of Raan. He is too good a man for that. On the next day the storm was not so hard and Engulf put in at a good harbor. A high rocky point stuck out into the sea. A broad bay with islands in the mouth was at the side. Behind the rocky point was a level green place with ice mountains shining far back. Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven far off. After a day or two Engulf said, I will go look for my pillars. So he and a few men got into the rowboat and went along the shore and into all the fjords, but they could not find the pillars. After a week they came back and Engulf said, I will build a house here to live in while I look for the posts. This way is uncomfortable for the women. So he did. Then he set out again to look for the pillars, but he had no better luck and came back. I must stay at home and see to the making of hay and the drying of fish, he said. Winter is coming on and we must not be caught with nothing to eat. So he stayed and worked and sent two of his thralls to look for the holy posts. They came back every week or two and always had to say that they had not found them. Mid-winter was coming on. Ah! said Engulf's wife one day. Do you remember the gay feast that we had at Yule time? All our friends were there. The house rang with song and laughter. Our tables bent with good things to eat. Walls were hung with gay draperies. The floor was clean with sweet-smelling pine branches. Now look at this mean house. It's dirt floor. It's bare stone walls. It's littleness. It's darkness. Look at our long faces. No one here could make a song if he tried. Oh, I am sick for dear old Norway. It is Thor's fault, Engulf cried. He will not let me find his posts. He strode out of the house and stood scowling at the grey sea. Ah, foster brother, he said. I was never so gloomy when you were by my side. Where are you now? Shall I never hear your merry laugh again? That spot in my palm burns and my heart aches to see you. That arch of sod keeps rising before my eyes. Our vows keep ringing in my ears. At last the long gloomy winter passed and spring came. Cheer up, good wife, Engulf said. Better days are coming now. But that same day the thralls came back from looking for the posts. We have bad news, they said. As we walked along the shore, looking for the pillars, we saw a man lying on the shore. We went up to him. He was dead. It was leaf. Two well-built houses stood near. We went to them. We knew from the carving on the doorposts that they were leaves. We went in. The rooms were empty. Along the shore and in the wood back of the house we found all of his men dead. There was no living thing about. Engulf said no word, but his face was white and his mouth was set. He went into the house and got his spears in his shield and said to his men, Follow me. They put provisions into the boat and sailed until they saw a leaf's houses on the shore of the harbor. There they saw a leaf and his men who were his friends dead. Their swords and spears were gone. Engulf walked through the houses calling on Helga and on the thralls, but no one answered. The storehouse was empty. The rich hangings were gone from the walls of the houses. There was nothing in the stables. The boat was gone. Engulf went out and stood on a high point of land that jetted out into the water. Far along the coast he saw some little islands. He turned to his men and said, The thralls have done it. I think we shall find them on those islands. Then he went back to leaf and stood, looking at him. What a shame for so brave a man to fall by the hands of thralls. But I have found that such things always happen to men who do not sacrifice to the gods. Ah, leaf! I did not think when we made those vows of foster brotherhood that this would ever happen. But do not fear. I remember my promise. I had thought that a man's blood is precious in this empty land, but my vow is more precious. Now they all laid those men together and tied on their hell shoes. I need my sword for your sake, foster brother. I cannot give you that. But you shall have my spears and my drinking-horn, said Ingolf. For surely Odin has chosen you for Valhalla, even though you did not sacrifice. You are too good a man to go to Niefelheim. You would make times merry in Valhalla? So Ingolf put his spears and his drinking-horn by leaf. Then the men raised a great mound over all the dead. After that they went aboard their boat and sailed for the islands that Ingolf had seen. It was evening when they reached them. I see smoke rising from that one. Ingolf said, pointing. He steered for it. It was a steep rock like that one in the Faroes. But they found a harbor and landed and climbed the steep hill and came out on top. They saw the ten thralls sitting about a bonfire eating. Helga and the other women from Leaves House sat near, huddled together, white and frightened. One of the thralls gave a great laugh and shouted, This is better than pulling Leaves plow. Tomorrow we sail for Ireland with all his wealth. Tomorrow you will be freezing in Niefelheim, cried Ingolf, and he leaped among them, swinging his sword, and all his men followed him, and they killed those thralls. Then Ingolf turned to Helga. She threw herself into his arms and wept. But after a while she told him this story. When springtime came, Leaves thought that he would so wheat. He had but one ox. The others had died during the winter, so he set the thralls to help pull the plow. I saw their sour looks and was afraid, but Leaves only laughed. What else can thralls expect? he said. Never fear them, good wife. Now, one day soon after the thralls came running to the house, calling out, The ox is dead, the ox is dead! Leaves asked them about it. They said that a bear had come out of the woods and killed it, and that they had scared the beast away. They pointed out where it had gone. Then Leaves called his men and said, A hunt! I had not hoped for such great sport here. Ah, we will have a feast off that bear! So they took their spears and went out into the woods. As soon as they were gone, the thralls came running into the house and took down all the swords and shields from the wall and ran out. In some way they met my lord and his men in the woods and killed them. Then they came back and took everything in the house and dragged us to the boat and sailed here. Oh, my brother! said Engulf. Where is that song about those two foster brothers, Engulf and Leaves, who made a new country in a wonderful land and whose sons and grandsons are mighty men in Iceland? But come home with me, Helga. So they took the women and Leaves' things and Leaves' boat and sailed home. The next day after, they came to Engulf's house. Helga said, We have made your family larger, brother Engulf. Will you not take Leaves' two houses and live in them? He does not need them now. He would like for you to have them. It would be pleasant to live there, Engulf said. I thank you. So the next day they loaded everything aboard the two ships and sailed for Leaves' house. There they stayed for a year. Engulf still sent his thralls out to look for the pillars. He was careful always to have hay so his cattle prospered. That spring he planted wheat, but it did not grow well. This is sickly stuff, Engulf said. It takes too much time and work. It is better to save the land for hay. Perhaps we can sometime go back to Norway for flour. At last one day the thralls came home and said, We have found the pillars. Engulf jumped to his feet. He cried out, You have kept me waiting three years, Thor. But as soon as my house and temple are built, I will sacrifice to you three horses as a thank offering. It is a long way off, master, the thralls said. And we have found much better places in our walks about the island. Thor knows best, Engulf answered. I will settle where he leads me. So that summer they loaded everything into the ships again and sailed west along the coast until they came to the place where the pillars were. The land there was low and green. On both sides were low hills. A little lake glistened back from the shore. And the valley were hot springs with steam rising from them. It looks like smoke, the men said. It is very strange to see hot water and smoke come out of the ground. In front of this green land was a good harbor with islands in it. Far over the sea toward the north shone a great ice mountain. I like the place, Engulf said. I will make this land mine. So he built fires at the mouth of the river near there and stood by them and called out loudly. I have put my fire at the mouth of these rivers. All the land that they drain is mine and no man shall claim it but me. I call this place Reykjavík. Then Engulf built his feast hall. He himself carved the beams in the doorposts. Gaeli painted dragons leaned out from the doors and stood up from the gables. Then an animal's fought on the doorposts. For the doors he made at the forge great iron hinges. Their ends curved and spread all over the door. Near his feast hall he built a storehouse and a kitchen and a smithy and a stable and a bower for the women. We do not need a sleeping house for guests, he said. Who would be our guests? He roofed all his buildings with turf. He made them look like green mounds with gay carved and painted walls under them. He built also a temple and on that was beautiful carving. In this he set up those statues that had been in his old temple. He put up, too, those pillars of his high seat that had been drifting about so long. Under them he laid the soil of Norway that he had brought in the little bronze chest. I have kept my vow, Othor, he cried. Then he sacrificed three horses that he had promised to thaw. After that was over he said, Here is a good field for sport. Let us have some of the old games that we used to play at home. Who will wrestle with me? So they wrestled there and ran races and swam in the water. The women sat and looked on. Oh, this is good to see! Helga cried. We are as gay as we used to be in old Norway. But it was not many weeks before Ingolf said. I wish that I might sometimes see sails in that harbor. I wish that I might think, Around this point of land is another farm and across the bay is another. I can go there when I am very lonely. I wish that I might sometime be invited to a feast. I wish that I might sometimes hear the good clanging music of weapons at play. It is a good land, but we have lived alone for four years. I am hungry for new faces and for tidings of Norway. One night, as he and his men sat about the long fire in the feast hall, a servant threw a great piece of wood upon the fire. It was streaked with faded paint and it showed bits of carving. See? said Ingolf, pointing to it. See what has left of a good ship's prowl? What lands have you seen, O dragon head? What battles have you fought? What was your master's name? Where did the storm meet you? Perhaps he was coming to Iceland, comrades. Would it not have been pleasant to see a sail and shake his hand and to welcome him to Iceland? But instead he is in Ron's caves and only his broken prowl has drifted here. Now it was not many months after that when one of the men came running into the feast hall shouting, A sail! A sail in the harbor! All those men gave a shout with no word in it as though their hearts had leaped into their throats. They jumped up and ran to the shore and stood there with hungry eyes. When the men landed, those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders and tears ran down their faces. For a long time they could say nothing but welcome, welcome! But after a while Ingolf led them to the feast hall and had a feast spread at once. While the thralls were at work the men stood together and talked. Such a noise had never been in that hall before. We have already built our fires and claimed our land up the shore away, the leader said. Men in Norway talk much of Ingolf and Leaf and wonder what has happened to them. Then Ingolf told them of all that had come to pass in Iceland with any asked of Norway. Ah, things are going from bad to worse, the newcomers said. Herald grows mightier every day. A man dare not swing a sword now except for the king. We came here to get away from him. Many men are talking of Iceland. Soon the sea road between here and Norway will be swarming with dragons. And so it was. We came from Ireland and from the Shetlands and from the Orknas. Herald has come west overseas, the men of these ships said, and has laid his heavy hand upon the islands and put his earls over them. They are no place now for free men. So by the time Ingolf was an old man Iceland was no longer an empty land. Every valley was spotted with bright feast halls with temples, horses and cattle pastured on the hillsides. Smoke curled up from kitchens and smithies. Gay ships sailed the waters taking Iceland cloth and wool and Iceland fish and oil and the soft feathers of Iceland birds to Norway to sell and bringing back wood and flour and grain. When Ingolf died his men drew up on the shore the boat in which he had come to Iceland. They painted it freshly and put new gold on it so that it stood there a glittering dragon with head raised high looking over the water. Old Sigvat lifted a huge stone and carried it to the ship's side. With all his strength he threw it into the bottom. The timbers cracked. If this ship moves from here, he said, then I do not know how to moor a ship. It is Ingolf's grave. Then men laid Ingolf on his shield and carried him and placed him on the high deck in the stern near the pilot's seat where he had sat to steer to Iceland. They hung his sword over his shoulder. They laid his spear by his side. In his hand they put his mead horn. Into the ship they set a great treasure chest filled with beautiful clothes and bracelets and headbands. Beside the treasure chest they piled up many swords and spears in the shields. They put gold trim to saddles and bridles upon three horses. Then they killed the horses and dragged them into the ship. They killed hunting dogs and put them by the horses for they said, all these things Ingolf will need in Valhalla. When he walks through the door of that feast hall, Odin must know that a rich and brave man comes. When he fights with those heroes during the day he must have weapons worthy of him. He must have dogs for the hunt. When he feasts with those heroes at night he must wear rich clothes so that those feasters shall know that he was a wealthy man and generous and that his friends loved him. Ingolf's son tied on his hell shoes for the long journey. If these shoes come untied, he said, I do not know how to fasten hell shoes. Then he went out of the ship and stood on the ground with his family. All the men of Iceland were there. This is a glorious sight, they said. Surely no ship has ever carried a richer load. Inside and out the boat blazes with gold and bronze and high over his riches lies the great Ingolf ready to take the tiller and guide to Valhalla where all the heroes will rise up and shout him welcome. Then the thralls heaped a mound of earth over the ship. This hill stood up against the sky and seemed to say, here lies a great man. Sigvat put a stone on the top with runes on it telling whose grave it was. All this time a scald stood by and played on his harp and sang a song about that time when Ingolf came to Iceland. He called him the father of Iceland. People of that country still read an old story that the men of that long ago time wrote about Ingolf and they love him because he was a brave man and the first of men to come to Iceland. Chapter 13 of Viking Tales This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Chuck Burke. Viking Tales by Jenny Hall. Part 2 Chapter 13 Eric the Red There was a spring day many years after Ingolf died. All the freemen in the west of Iceland had come to a meeting. Here they made laws and punished men for having done wrong. The meeting was over now. Men were walking about the plane and talking. Everybody seemed much excited. Voices were loud, arms were swinging. It was an unjust decision. Someone cried. Eric killed the men in fair fight. The judges outlawed him because they were afraid. His foe Thorgast has many rich and powerful men to back him. No, no, said another. Eric is a bloody man. I am glad he is out of Iceland. Just then a big man with bushy red hair and beard stocked through the crowd. He looked straight ahead and scowled. There he goes, people said, and turned to look after him. His hands are as red as his beard, some said, and frowned. But others looked at him and smiled, saying, He walks like Thor the Fearless. His story would make a fine song, one said. As strong and as brave and as red as Thor, always in a quarrel. A man of many places, Norway, the north of Iceland, the west of Iceland, those little islands off the shore of Iceland, outlawed from all of them on account of his quarrels. Where will he go now, I wonder? This Eric strode down to the shore with his men following. He is in a black temper, they said. We should best not talk to him. So they made ready the boat in silence. Eric got into the pilot's seat and they sailed off. Soon they pulled the ship up on their own shore. Eric strolled into his house and called for supper. When the drinking-horns had been filled and emptied, Eric pulled himself up and smiled and shouted out so that the great room was full of his big voice. There is no friend like Mead. It always cheers a man's heart. Then laughter and talking began in the hall, because Eric's good temper had come back. After a while Eric said, Well, I must off somewhere. I have been driven about from place to place, a sea-bird in a storm, and there is always a storm about me. It is my sword's fault. She is ever itching to break her peace-bands and be out and at the play. She has shut Norway to me and now Iceland. Where will you go next, old comrade? And he pulled out his sword and looked at it and smiled as the fire flashed on it. There are some of us who will follow you wherever you go, Eric, the man from across the fire. Is it so? Eric cried, leaping up. Oh, then we shall have some merry times yet. Who will go with me? More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet and waved their drinking-horns and shouted, I, I! Eric sat down in his chair and laughed. Oh, you bloody birds of battle! he cried. Ever hungry for new frolic? Our swords, our sisters in blood, and we, our brothers in adventure. Do you know what is in my heart to do? He jumped to his feet and his face glowed. Then he laughed as he looked at his men. I see the answer flashing from your eyes, he said. That you will do it even if it is to go down to Niflheim and drag up Hella, the pale queen of the stiff dead. His men pounded on the tables and shouted, Yes, yes, anywhere behind Eric. But it is not to Niflheim, Eric laughed. Did you ever hear that story that Gun Bjorn told? He was sailing for Iceland, but the fog came down and the wind caught him and blew him far off. While he drifted about he saw a strange land that rose up white and shining out of a blue sea. Huge ships of ice sailed out from it and met him. I mean to sail to that land. A great shot went up that shook the rafters. Then the men sat and talked over plans. While they sat a stranger came into the hall. I have no time to drink, he said. I have a message from your friend Eilf. He says that Thorgast and all his men means to come here and catch you tonight. Eilf bids you to come to him and he will hide you until you are ready to start, for he loves you. Hunted like a wolf from corner to corner of the world, Eric cried angrily. Will they not even let me finish one feast? Then he laughed. But if I take my sport like a wolf I must be hunted like one. So we shall sleep tonight in the woods about Eilf's house, comrades, instead of in these good beds. Well, we have done it before. And it is no bad place, cried some of the men. I always liked the stars better than a smoky house fire, said one. Can no bad fortune spoil your good nature? laughed Eric. But now we are off. Let every man carry what he can. So they quickly loaded themselves with clothes and gold and swords and spears and kettles of food. Eric led his wife Thorhild and his two young sons, Thorstein and Leif. Altogether they got into the boat and went to Eilf's farm. For a week or more they stayed in his woods, sometimes in a secret cave of his when they knew that Thorgust was about. And sometimes Eilf sent and said, Thorgust is off. Come to my house for a feast. All this time they were making ready for the voyage, repairing the ship and filling it with stores. Word of what Eric meant to do got out. And men laughed and said, Is that not like Eric? What will he not do? Some men liked the sound of it and they came to Eric and said, We will go with you to this strange land. So all were ready and they pushed off with Eric's family aboard and those friends who had joined him. They took horses and cattle with them and all kinds of tools and food. I do not well know where this land is, Eric said. Gunnbjorn said only that he sailed east when he came home to Iceland. So I will steer straight west. We shall surely find something. I do not know either how long we must go. So they sailed that strange ocean, never dreaming what might be ahead of them. They found no islands to rest on. They met heavy fogs. One day, as Eric sat in the pilot's seat, he said, I think that I see one of Gunnbjorn's ships of ice. Shall we sail up to her and see what kind of a craft she is? Yes, shouted his men. So they went on toward it. It sends out a cold breath, said one of the men. They all wrapped their cloaks about them. It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before, said Eric. The white mast stands as high as a hill. It must be giants that sail in it, frost giants, said another of the men. But as they came nearer, Eric all at once laughed loudly and called out, By Thor, that Gunnbjorn was a foolish fellow. By look, it is only a piece of floating ice such as we sometimes see from Iceland. It is no ship and there is no one on it. His men laughed and one called to another and said, And you thought of frost giants. Then they sailed on for days and days. They met many of these icebergs. On one of them was a white bear. Yonder is a strange pilot, Eric laughed. I have seen bears come floating so to the north shore of Iceland, an old man said. Perhaps they come from the land that we are going to find. One day Eric said, I see a far off an iceberg larger than any one yet. Perhaps that is our white land. But even as he said it, he felt his boat swing under his hand as he held the tiller. He could not turn the rudder, but he could not turn the ship. What is this? he cried. A strong river is running here. It is carrying our ship away from this land. I cannot make head against it. Out with the oars. So with oars and sail and rudder, they fought against the current. But it took the boat along like a chip and after a while they put up their oars and drifted. Luck has taken us into its own hands. Eric laughed. But this is as good a way as another. Sometimes they were near enough to see the land. And then they were carried out into the sea and thought they should never see any land again. Perhaps this river will carry us to a whirlpool and suck us under, the men said. But at last Eric felt the current less strong under his hand. To the oars again, he called. So they fought with the current and sailed out of it and went toward land. But when they reached the shore they found no place to go in. Steep black walls shot up from the sea. Nothing grew on them. When the men looked above the cliffs they saw a long line of white cutting the sky. It is a land of ice, they said. They sailed on south all the time looking for a place to go ashore. I am sick of this endless sea, Thorhild complained. But this land is worse. After a while they began to see small bays cut into the shore with little flat patches of green at their sides. They landed in these places and stretched and warmed themselves and ate. But these spots are only big enough for graves, the men said. We cannot live here. So they went on again. All the time the weather was growing colder. Eric's people kept themselves wrapped in their cloaks and put scarves around their heads. And it is still summer, but what will it be in winter? We must find a place to build a house now before the winter comes on, said Eric. We must not freeze here. So they chose a little spot with hills about it to keep off the wind. They made a house out of stones for there were many in that place. They lived there that winter. The sea for a long way out from shore froze so that it looked like white land. The men went out upon it to hunt white bear and seal. They ate and wore the skins to keep them warm. The hardest thing was to get fuel for the fire. No trees grew there. The men found a little driftwood along the shore, but it was not enough. So they burned the bones and the fat of the animals they killed. It is a sickening smell, Thorhilde said. I have not been out of this mean house for weeks. I am tired of the darkness and the smoke and the cattle. And all the time I hear great noises as some giant were breaking this land into pieces. Ah, cheer up, good wife! Eric laughed. I smell better luck ahead. Once Eric and his men climbed to the cliffs and went back into the middle of the land. When they came home they had this to tell. It is a country of ice, shining white. Nothing grows on it but a few mosses. Far off it looks flat, but when you walk upon it there are great holes and cracks. We could see nothing beyond. There seems to be only a fringe of land around the edge of an island of ice. The winter nights were very long. Sometimes the sun showed for an hour, sometimes for only a few minutes. Sometimes it did not show at all for a week. The men hunted by the bright shining of the moon or by the northern lights. As it grew warmer the ice in the sea began to crack and move and melt and float away. Eric waited only until there was a clear passage in the water. Then he launched his boat and they sailed southward again. At last they found a place that Eric liked. Here I will build my house, he said. So they did and lived there that summer and pastured their cattle and cut hay for the winter and fished and hunted. The next spring Eric said, The land stretches far north. So what is there? Then they all got into the boat again and sailed north. We can leave no one here, Eric had said. We cannot tell what might come between us. Perhaps giants or dragons or strange men might come out of this inland ice and kill our people. We must stay together. Farther north they found only the same bare, frozen country. So after a while they sailed back to their home and lived there. When they left that land for four years, Eric said, My eyes are hungry for the sight of men in green fields again. My stomach is sick of seal and whale and bear. My throat is dry for mead. This is a bear and cold in hungry land. I will visit my friends in Iceland. And our swords are rusty with long resting, said his men. Perhaps we can find play for them in Iceland. Now I have a plan, Eric suddenly said. Would it not be pleasant to see other feast halls as we sail along the coast? Oh, it would be a beautiful sight, his men said. Well, said Eric, I am going to try to bring back some neighbors from Iceland. Now we must have a name for our land. How does green land sound? His men laughed and said, It is a very white green land. But men will like the sound of it. It is better than Iceland. So Eric and all his people sailed back and spent the winter with his friends. Ah, Eric, it is good to hear your laugh again, they said. Eric was at many feasts and saw many men, and he talked much of his green land. The sea is full of whale and seals and great fish, he said. The land has bear and reindeer. There are no men there. Come back with me and choose your land. Many men said they would do it. Some men went because they thought it would be a great frolic to go to a new country. Some went because they were poor in Iceland and thought, I can be no worse off in Greenland and perhaps I shall grow rich there. And some went because they loved Eric and wanted to be his neighbors. So the next summer thirty-five ships full of men and women and goods followed Eric for Greenland. They met heavy storms and some ships were wrecked and the men drowned. Other men grew heartsick at the terrible storm and the long voyage and no sight of land and they turned back to Iceland. So of those thirty-five ships only fifteen got to Greenland. Only the bravest and the luckiest men come here, Eric said. We shall have good neighbors. Soon other houses were built along the fjords. It is pleasant to sail along the coast now, said Eric. I see smoke rising from houses and ships standing on the shore and friendly hands waving. End of Chapter 13 Chapter 14 of Viking Tales This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Chuck Burke Viking Tales by Jenny Hall Part 2 Chapter 14 Leaf and His New Land Now Eric had lived in Greenland for fifteen years. His sons Thorstein and Leaf had grown up to be big, strong men. One spring Leaf said to his father, I have never seen Norway, our motherland. I long to go there and meet the great men and see the places that scalds sing about. Eric answered, It is right that you should go. No man has really lived until he has seen Norway. So he helped Leaf fit out a boat and sent him off. Leaf sailed for months. He passed Iceland and the Ferris and the Shetlands. He stopped at all of these places and feasted his mind on the new things. And everywhere men received him gladly for he was handsome and wise. But at last he came near Norway. Then he stood up before the pilot seat and sang loudly. My eyes can see her at last the mother of mighty men the field of famous fights in the sky above I see fair Asgard shining roofs the flying hare of Thor the wings of Odin's birds the road that heroes tread I am here in the land of the gods the land of mighty men. For a while he walked the land as though he were in a dream. He looked at this and that and everything and he loved them all because it was Norway. I will go to the king, he said. He had never seen a king. There were no kings in Iceland or in Greenland. So he went to the city where the king had his fine house. The king's name was Olaf. He was a great-grandson of Harold Harefair. For Harold had been dead for a hundred years. Now the king was going to hold a feast at night and Leif put on his most beautiful clothes to go to it. He put on long tights of blue wool and a short jacket of blue velvet. He belted his jacket with a gold girdle. He had shoes of scarlet with golden clasps. He threw around himself a cape of scarlet velvet lined with seal fur. His long sword stuck out of his cloak. On his head he put a knitted cap of bright colors. Then he walked to the king's feast hall and went through the door. It was a great hall and it was full of richly dressed men. The fire is shown on so many golden headbands and bracelets and so many glittering swords and spears on the wall. And there was so much noise of talking and laughing that at first Leif did not know what to do. He went and sat on the very end seat of the bench near him. As the feast went on king Olaf sat in his high seat and looked about the hall and noticed this one and that one and spoke across the fire to many. He was keen-eyed and soon saw Leif in his far seat. Yonder is some man of mark, he said to himself. He is surely worth knowing. His face is not the face of a fool. He carries his head like a lord of men. He sent a thrall and asked Leif to come to him. So Leif walked down the long hall and stood before the king. I am glad to have you for a guest, the king said. What are your name and country? I am Leif Ericsson and I have come all the way from Greenland to see you and old Norway. From Greenland, said the king, it is not often that I see a Greenlander. Many come to Norway to trade but they seldom come to the king's hall. I shall be glad to hear about your land. Come up and speak with me. So Leif went up the steps of the high seat and sat down by the king and talked with him. When the feast was over, the king said, he shall live at my court this winter, Leif Ericsson. You are a welcome guest. So Leif stayed there that winter. When he started back in the spring, he gave him two thralls as a parting gift. Let this gift show my love, Leif Ericsson. He said, for your sake I shall not forget Greenland. Leif sailed back again and had good luck until he was past Iceland. Then great winds came out of the north and tossed his ship about so that the men could do nothing. They were blown south for days and days. They did not know where they were. Then they saw land and Leif said, surely luck has brought us also to a new country. We shall go in and see what kind of a place it is. So he steered for it. As they came nearer the men said, see the great trees and the soft green shore. Surely this is a better country than Greenland or than Iceland either. When they landed they threw themselves upon the ground. I never lay on a bed so soft as this grass, one said. Taller trees do not grow in Norway, said another. There is no stone here as in Norway, but only good black dirt, Leif said. I never saw so fertile a land before. The men were hungry and set about building a fire. There is no lack of fuel here, they said. They stayed many days in this country and walked about to see what was there. A German named Turker was with Leif. He was a little man with a high forehead and a short nose. His eyes were big and rolling. He had lived with Eric for many years and had taken care of Leif when he was a little boy so Leif loved him. Now one day they had been wandering about and all came back to camp at night except Turker. When Leif looked around on his comrades he said, no one knew. Then Leif was angry. Is a man of so little value in this empty land that you would lose one? he said. Why did you not keep together? Did you not see that he was gone? Why did you not set out to look for him? Who knows what terrible thing may have happened to him in these great forests? Then he turned and started out to hunt for him. His men followed silent and ashamed. They had not gone far when they saw Turker running toward them. He was laughing and talking to himself. Leif ran to him and put his arms about him with gladness at seeing him. Why are you so late? he asked. Where have you been? But Turker, still smiling and nodding his head, answered in German. He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes. Again Leif asked his question and put his hand on Turker's shoulder as though he would shake him. Then Turker answered in the language of Iceland. I have not been so very far, but I have found something wonderful. What is it? cried the men. I have found grapes growing wild, answered Turker. And he laughed in his eyes shown. It cannot be, Leif said. I do not grow in Greenland, nor in Iceland, nor even in Norway, so it seemed a wonderful thing to these Norsemen. Can I not tell grapes when I see them? cried Turker. Did I not grow up in Germany where every hillside is covered with grapevines? Ah, it seems like my old home. It is wonderful, Leif said. I have heard travelers tell of seeing grapes growing, but I myself never saw it. You shall take us to them early in the morning, Turker. So in the morning they went back into the woods and saw the grapes. They ate of them. They are like food and drink, they cried. That day, Leif said, we spent most of the summer on the ocean. Winter will soon be coming on and the sea about Greenland will be frozen. We must start back. I mean to take some of the things of this land to show our people at home. We will fill the rowboat with grapes and tow it behind us. The ship we will load with logs from these great trees. That will be a welcome shipload in Greenland where we have neither trees nor vines. Now half of you shall gather grapes for the next few days and the other half shall cut timber. So they did and after a week sailed off. The ship was full of lumber and they towed the rowboat loaded with grapes. As they looked back at the shore, Leif said, I will call this country Wineland for the grapes that grow there. One of the men leaped up on the gunnel and leaned out, clinging to the sail and sang, Wineland the good, Wineland the warm, Wineland the green, the great, the fat our dragon fed and crawls away with belly stuffed and lazy feet how long her purple trailing tail she fed and grew to twice her size. Then all the men waved their hands to the shore and gave a great shout for that good land. For all that voyage they had fair weather and sailed into Eric's harbor before the winter came. Eric saw the ship and ran down to the shore. He took Leif into his arms and said, Oh my son, my old eyes ached to see you. I hunger to hear of all that you have seen and done. Luck has followed me all the way, see what I have brought home. The Greenlanders looked. Lumber! Lumber! they cried. Oh, it is better stuff than gold. Then they saw the grapes and tasted them. Surely you must have plundered Asgard, they said, smacking their lips. At the feast that night Eric said, Leif shall sit in the place of honour. So Leif sat in the high seat opposite Eric. All men thought him a handsome and wise man. He told them of the storm and of wine-land. No man would ever need a cloak there. The soil is richer than the soil of Norway. Grain grows wild and you yourselves saw the grapes that we got from there. The forests are without end. The sea is full of fish. The Greenlanders listened with open mouths to all this. They turned and talked to Leif's ship-comrades who were scattered among them. Leif noticed two strangers. An old man who sat at Eric's side and a young woman on the cross-bench. He turned to his brother Thorstein who sat next to him. Who are these strangers? he asked. Thorbjorn and his daughter Goodrid, Thorstein answered. They landed here this spring. I never saw our father more glad than to see this Thorbjorn. They were friends before we left Iceland. When they saw each other again they could not talk enough of old times. In the spring Eric means to give him a farm up the fjord away. It seems that this Thorbjorn comes of a good family that has been rich and great in Iceland for years. And Thorbjorn himself was rich when our father knew him and was much honored by all men. But ill luck came and he grew poor. This hurt his pride. I will not stay in Iceland and be a beggar, he said to himself. I will not have men look at me and say he is not what his father was. I will go to my friend Eric the Red in Greenland. Then he got ready a great feast and invited all his friends. It was such a feast as had not been in Iceland for years. Thorbjorn spent on it all the wealth that he had left. For he said to himself I will not leave in shame. Men shall remember my last feast. After that he set out and came to Greenland. Is not Goodrid beautiful? And she is wise. I mean to marry her if her father will permit it. Now Leaf settled down in Greenland and became a great man there. He was so busy and he grew so rich that he did not think of going to Wijnland again. But people could not forget his story. Many nights as men sat about the long fires they talked of that wonderful land and wished to see it. End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 of Viking Tales This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Viking Tales by Jenny Hall Part 2 West Overseas Chapter 15 Wijnland the Good On an autumn, a year or two after Leaf came home Eric and his men saw two large ships come to land not far down the shore from the house. They looked like trading ships, Eric said. Let us go down to see them. I will go too, Gudrid said. Perhaps they will have rich cloth and jewelry. It is long since I had my eyes on a new dress. So they all went down and found two large trading ships lying in the water. A great many men were on the shore making a fire. Welcome to Greenland, called Eric. What are your names and your country? Then a fine big man walked out from among the men and went up to Eric. I am Thorfinn, he said, a trader. I sailed this summer from Iceland with forty men and a shipload of goods. On the sea I met this other ship from Iceland. The master is Bjarne. Come and look at my goods. So he rode Eric and Gudrid out and they went aboard his boat. Thorfinn opened his chests and showed Eric gleaming swords and bracelets and axes and farm tools. But before Gudrid he spread beautiful cloth and gold embroidery and golden necklaces. As they looked, he told of doings in Iceland and asked of Greenland. We never see such things as these in this bare land, Gudrid said, as she smoothed the beautiful dress of purple velvet. I envy the women of Iceland their fair clothes. There is no need of that, Thorfinn said. For this dress is yours and anything else from my chests that you like. Here is a necklace that I beg you to take. It did not have a fairer mistress in Greece where I got it. You are a very generous trader, Gudrid said. Then Thorfinn gave Eric a great sword with a gold studded scabbard. After a while he took them to Bjarne's ship. He also gave them gifts. They all talked and laughed much while they were together. You are merry comrades, Eric said. I ask you both and all your men to spend the winter at my house. You can put your goods in my storehouses. Those offers, said Thorfinn, as for me I am happy to come. Bjarne and all the rest said the same thing. Thorfinn walked to the house with Eric and Gudrid while the other men sailed to the shipsheds and put their boats under them. Then Thorfinn saw to the unloading and storing of his goods. Is this Gudrid your daughter? he asked of Eric one day. She is the widow of my son Thorfinn, Eric said. He died the same winter that they were married. Her father too died not long ago, so Gudrid lives with me. Now all that winter until Yule time Eric spread a good feast every night. There was laughter through his house all the time. Often at the feasts the men cast lots to see whether they were engaged with the women. Sometimes it was Thorfinn's luck to sit by Gudrid. Then they talked gaily and drank together. At last Yule was coming near. Eric went about the house gloomy then. One day Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's shoulder and said something is troubling you Eric. We have all noticed that you are not as gay as you used to be. Tell me, what is the matter? You have carried yourselves like noble men in my house Eric answered. I am proud to have you for guests. Now I am ashamed that you should not find a house worthy of you. I am ashamed that when you leave me you will have to say that you never spent a worse Yule than you did with Eric the Red in Greenland, for my cupboards are empty. Oh that is easily mended Thorfinn said. I have never met any lady men so long and not feel it. I never knew so generous a host before. But I have flour and grain and mead in my boat. You are welcome to all of it. You have only to open the doors of your own storehouses. It is a little gift. So Eric used those things and there was never a Marrier Yule feast than in his house that winter. Goodrid is a beautiful and wise woman. I wish to have her for my wife. You seem to be a man worthy of her, Eric said. So that winter Goodrid and Thorfinn were married and lived at Eric's house. One day Thorfinn said to Eric, I have heard much of this wonderful wine-land since I have been here. It seems to me that it is worthwhile to go and see more of it. My son Thorstein and I tried it once, said Eric. It was the year after Leaf came back. We set out with a fair ship and with glad hearts, but we tossed about all summer on the sea and got nowhere. We were wet with storm, lean with hunger and illness and heart-sick at our bad luck. And yet, Thorfinn said, another time we might have better weather. I have never seen so fair a land to be. Then he went to Leaf and talked long with him. Leaf told him in what direction he had sailed to come home and how the shores looked that he had passed. I think I could find my way, Thorfinn said. My heart moves me to try this frolic. He spoke to Goodrid about it. Oh, yes, she cried. Let us go. It is long since I felt a boat leaping under me. I want to feel the warm days and see the soft grass and the high trees and taste the grapes of this wine-lend, the good. Then he talked with his men and with Pjarni. We are ready, they all said. We are only waiting for a leader. Then let us go, cried Thorfinn. So in the spring they fitted up their two ships and put into them provisions and a few cattle. They also got ready a boat so that three ships set sail from Eric's harbor carrying 160 men to Wine-Lend. As they started Goodrid stood on the deck and sang, I will feast my eyes on new things, on mighty trees and purple grapes, on beds of flowers and soft grass. I will sun myself in a warm land. They sailed on the shores that Leif had spoken of. Whenever they saw any interesting place, they sailed in and looked about and rested there. They had gone far south past many fair shores with woods on them when Goodrid said one day, this is a beautiful bay with a smooth green field by it and the great mountains far back, I should like to stay there for a little while. So they sailed in and drew their ships up on shore. They put up the awnings in them. These shall be our houses, Thorfinn said. They were strange-looking houses, shining dragons with gay backs lying on the yellow sand. Near them the Norsemen lighted fires and cooked their supper. That night they slept in the ships. In the morning Goodrid said, I long to see his back of that mountain. So they all climbed it. When they stood on the top they could see far over the country. There is a lake that we must see, Thorfinn said. I should like to sail around that bay, said Bjarne, pointing. I am going to walk up that valley yonder, one of the men said. And everyone saw some place where he would like to go. So for all that summer we went in that spot and went about the country seeing new things. They hunted in the woods and caught rabbits and birds and sometimes bears and deer. Every day some men rode out to sea and fished. There was an island in the bay where thousands of birds had their nests. The men gathered eggs there. We have more to eat than we had in Greenland at all. It is all play. Near the end of summer Thorfinn spoke to his comrades. Have we not seen everything here? Let us go to a new place we have not yet found grapes. Thorfinn and Bjarne and all their men sailed south again. But some of Eric's men went off in their boat another way. Years afterward the Greenlanders heard that they were shipwrecked to Greenland. After Thorfinn and Bjarne had sailed for many days they landed on a low green place. There were hills around it. A little lake was there. What is growing on those hillsides, Thorfinn said, shading his eyes with his hand. He and some others ran up there. The people on shore heard them shout. Soon they came running back with their hands full of something. It was grapes they were shouting. All those people sat down and ate the grapes and then went to the hillside and picked more. Now we are indeed in Wine Land, they said. It is as wonderful as leaf stories. Surely we must stay here for a long time. The very next day they went into the woods and began to cut out lumber. The huts that they built were little things. They had no windows and in the doorways the men hung their cloaks instead of doors. We can be out in the air so much in this warm country, said Gudrid, that we do not need fine houses. The huts were scattered all about, some on the side of the lake, some at the shore of the harbor, some on the hillside. Gudrid had said, I want to live by the lake in the woods and hear sweet bird noises. So Thorfinn built his hut there. As they sat about the campfire one night, Bjarni said, it is strange that so good a land should be empty. I suppose that these are the first houses that were ever built in Wine Land. It is wonderful to think that we are alone here in this great land. All that winter no snow fell. The cattle pastured on the grass. To think of the cold, frozen winters in Greenland, Gudrid said, oh, this is the son's own land. In the beginning of that winter a little son was born to Gudrid and Thorfinn. A health to the first wine-lander the men shouted and drank down their wine, for they had made some from wine-land grapes. Will he be the father of a great country as Ingolf was? Bjarni mused. Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled. You will be as sunny as this good land, I hope, she said. They named him Snorri. He grew fast and soon crept along the Yellow Sand and toddled among the grapevines and climbed into the boats and learned to talk. The men called him I never knew a baby before, one of the men said. No, said another. Swords are jealous, but when they are in their scabbards we can do other things, even play with babies. I wonder whether I have forgotten how to swing my sword in this quiet land, another man said. One spring morning when the men got up and went out from their huts in the canoes in the harbor. Men were in them, paddling toward shore. What is this? cried the Norseman to one another. Where did they come from? Are they foes? Whoever saw such boats before. The men's faces are brown. Let every man have his sword ready, cried Thorfin. But do not draw until I command. Let us go to meet them. So they went and stood on the shore. Soon the men from the canoes landed and stood looking at the Norseman. The stranger's skin was brown. Their faces were broad. Their hair was black. Their bodies were short. They wore leather clothes. One man among them seemed to be chief. He spread out his open hands to the Norseman. He is showing us that he has no weapons, Bjarne said. He comes in peace. Then Thorfin showed his empty hands and asked, what do you want? The stranger said something but the Norseman could not understand. It was some new language. Then the chief pointed to one of the huts and walked toward it. He and his men walked all around it and felt of the timber and went into it and looked at all the things there, spades and cloaks and drinking-horns. They talked together. They went to all the other huts and looked at everything there. One of them found a red cloak. He spread it out and showed it to the others. They all stood about it and looked at it and felt of it and talked fast. They seemed to like my cloak, Bjarne said. One of the strangers went down to their canoes and soon came back with an armload of furs, beaver skins. The chief took some and held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him. He wants to trade, Thorfinn said. Will you do it, Bjarne? Yes, Bjarne answered and took the furs. If they want red stuff, I have a whole roll of red cloth that I will trade, one of the other men said. He went and got it. When the strangers saw it, they quickly held out more furs to trade. So Thorfinn cut the cloth into pieces and sold every scrap. When the strangers got it they tied it about their heads and seemed much pleased. While this trading was going on and everybody was good-natured, a bull of Thorfinns ran out of the woods bellowing and came towards the crowd. When the strangers heard it and saw it, they threw down whatever was in their hands of their canoes and paddled off as fast as they could. The Norsemen laughed. We have lost our customers, Bjarne said. Did they never see a bull before? laughed one of the men. Now after three weeks, the Norsemen saw canoes in the bay again. This time it was black with them. There were so many. The people in them were all making a horrible shout. It is a war cry, and he raised a red shield. They are surely twenty to our one, but we must fight. Stand in close line and give them a taste of your swords. Even as he spoke, a great shower of stones fell upon them. Some of the Norsemen were hit on the head and knocked down. Bjarne got a broken arm. Still the storm came fast. The strangers had landed and were running toward the Norsemen. They threw their stones with slingshots, and they yelled all the time. Oh, this is no kind of fighting for brave men, Thorfinn cried angrily. The Norsemen's sword swung fast, and many of the strangers died under them. But still others came on, throwing stones and swinging stone axes. The horrible yelling and the strange things that the savages did frightened the Norsemen. These are not men, someone cried. Then those Norsemen who had never been afraid of anything turned and ran. But when they came to the top of a rough hill, Thorfinn cried, What are we doing? Shall we die here in this empty land with no one to bury us? We are leaving our women. Then one of the women ran out of the hut where they were hiding. Give me a sword, she cried. I can drive them back. Are Norsemen not better than these savages? Then those warriors stopped, ashamed, and stood up before the wild men, and fought so fiercely that the strangers turned and fled down to their canoes and paddled away. Oh, I am glad they are gone, Thorfinn said. It was an ugly fight. Thor would not have loved that battle, once said. It was no battle, another replied. It was like fighting against flies. The Norsemen were all worn and bleeding and sore. They went to their huts and dressed their wounds, and the women helped them. At supper that night they talked about the fight for a long time. I will not stay here, Gudjit said. Perhaps these wild men have gone away to get more people and will come back and kill us. Oh, they are ugly. Perhaps brown faces are looking at us now from behind the trees in the woods back there, said Bjarni. It was the wish of all to go home, so after a few days they sailed back to Greenland with good weather all the way. The people at Eric's house were very glad to see them. We were afraid you had died, they said. And I thought once that we should never leave Weinland alive, Thorfinn answered. Then they told all the story. I wonder why I had no such bad luck, Leaf said. But you have a better shipload than I got. He was looking at the bundles of fur and the kegs of wine. Yes, said Thorfinn, we have come back richer than when we left, but I will never go again for all the skins in the woods. The next summer, Thorfinn took Gudjit and Snorri and all his people and sailed back to Iceland, his home. There he lived until he died. People looked at him in wonder. That is the man who went to Weinland and fought with wild men, they said. Snorri is his son. He is the first and last Weinlander, for no one will ever go there again. It will be an empty and forgotten land. And so it was for a long time. Some wise men wrote down the story of those voyages and of that land and people read the tale and liked it, but no one remembered where the place was. It all seemed like a fairy tale. Long afterwards, however, men began to read those stories with wide open eyes and to wonder. They guessed and talked together and studied this and that land and read the story over and over. At last they have learned that Weinland was in America on the eastern shore of the United States and they have called Snorri the first American and have put up statues of Leif Erickson, the first comer to America. End of Chapter 15 End of Part 2 West Overseas Recording by Tom Barron Chapter 16 Of Viking Tales This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by David Stryker Viking Tales by Jenny Hall Chapter 16 Descriptive Notes House In a rich Norseman's home were many buildings. The finest and largest was the Great Feast Hall. Where the women worked and the guest room where the visitors slept. Beside these were storehouses, stables, workshops and a kitchen. A sleeping house for thralls. All these buildings were made of heavy, honed logs covered with tar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from rotting. The ends of the logs, the doorposts, the peaks of gables were carved into shapes of men and animals and were painted with bright colors. These gay buildings were close together, often set around four sides of a square yard. That yard was a busy and pleasant place with men and women running across from one bright building to another. Sometimes a high fence with one gate went around all this. And only the tall carved peaks of roofs shown from the outside. Names. An old Norse story says most men had two names in one and thought it likely is to lead to a long life and good luck to have double names. To be called after a god was very lucky. Here are some of the double names with their meanings. Thorstein means Thor's stone. Thorkel means Thor's fire. Thorbjorn means Thor's bear. Gudbrund means Gooner's sword. Gooner was one of the Valkyrias. Goombjorn means Gooner's bear. Gudrid means Gooner's rider. Gudrad means Gooner land clear. Most of the land in old Norway was covered with forests. When a man got new land he had to clear off the trees. In those olden days a man did not have a surname that belonged to everyone in his family. Sometimes there were two or three men with the same name in a neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought of two ways of making it easy to tell which man was being spoken of. Each was given a nickname. Suppose the name of each was one would be called hockey the black because he had black hair the other would be called hockey the ship chested because his chest was broad and strong. These nicknames are often given only for the fun of it. Most men had them. Eric the red Leaf the Lucky Harold Haerfair Rolf Goafoot the other way of knowing one Haikey from the other was to tell his father's name one was Haikey Eric's son the other was Haikey Hafdan's son. If you speak these names quickly they sound like Haikey Ericsson and Haikey Hafdanson After a while they were written like that and men handed them on to their sons and daughters that we have nowadays come down to us just in that way Swanson Anderson Peterson Janssen There was another reason for these last names. A man was proud to have people know who his father was drinking horns the Norsemen had few cups or goblets they used instead of horns of cattle polished and trimmed with gold or silver or bronze they were often very beautiful and a man was almost as proud of his drinking horn as his sword Tables before a meal thralls brought trestles to the feast hall and set them before the benches then they laid long boards from trestle to trestle these narrow tables stretched all the way along both sides of the hall people sat at the outside edge only so the thralls served from the middle of the room they put baskets of bread and wooden platters of meat upon these bare boards at the end of the meal they carried the tables out and the drinking horns went around in a clean room beds around the sides of the feast hall were shut beds they were like big boxes with doors opening into the hall on the floor of this box was straw with blankets thrown over it the people got in these beds and closed the doors and so shut themselves in Olaf's men could have set heavy things in these doors or to put props against them then the people could not have got out for on the other side of the bed was the thick outside wall of the feast wall and there were no windows in it feast hall the feast hall was long and narrow with the door at each end down the middle of the room were flat stones in the dirt floor here the fires burned in the roof above these fires were holes for the smoke to go out but some of it blew about the hall and the halls and rafters were stained with it but it was a pleasant wood smoke and the Norsemen did not dislike it there were no large windows in a feast hall or in other Norse buildings high up under the eaves or in the roof itself were narrow slits were called wind's eyes there were no glass in them for the Norsemen did not know how to make it but there were instead covers made of thin oiled skin these were put into the wind's eyes in stormy weather there were covers too for the smoke holes the only light that came through these narrow holes so on dark days that people needed the fires much for light as for warmth foster father a Norse father sent his children away from home to grow up they went when they were 3 or 4 years old and stayed until they were grown the father thought they will be better so if they stayed home their mother would spoil them with much petting foster brothers when two men loved each other very much and said let us become foster brothers then they went and cut 3 long pieces of turf and put a spear into the ground that held up the strips of turf like an arch runes were cut into the handle of the spear telling the duties of the foster brothers the two men walked under this arch and each made a little cut in his palm they knelt with clasped hands so that the blood of the two flowed together and they said now we are of one blood then each made his vow I will fight for my foster brother whenever he shall need me if he is killed before I am I will punish the man who did it whatever things I own are as much my foster brothers as mine I will love this man until I die I call Odin and Thor the gods to hear my vow may they hate me if I break it ran ran was the wife of Eager who was the god of the sea they lived in a cave at the bottom of the ocean ran had a great net and she caught it in it all men who were strip wrecked and took them to her cave she also caught all the gold and rich treasures that went down in the ships so her cave was filled with shining things Valkyrius these were the maidens of Odin they waited on the table in Valhalla but whenever a battle was being fought they rode through the air on their horses and watched to see what warriors were brave enough to go to Valhalla sometimes during a fight a man would think that he saw the Valkyrius then he was glad he knew he would go to Valhalla an old Norse story says this about Valkyrius with lightning around them with bloody shirts of mail and with shining spears they ride through the air and the ocean when their horses shake their mains dew falls on the deep valleys and hail on the high force Odin's ravens Odin had a great throne in his palace in Asgard when he sat in it he could look all over the world but it was so far to see that he could not tell all the things that were happening so he had two ravens help him an old Norse story tells this about him two ravens sit on Odin's shoulders and whisper into his ears all that they have heard and seen he sees them out at dawn of day to see over the whole world they return at evening near mealtime this is why Odin knows so many things rake javik rake javik means smoky sea engulf called it that because of the steaming hot springs by the sea the place is still called rake javik a little city has grown up there the only city in iceland is the capital of the country peace bands a Norseman always carried his sword even at a feast for he did not know when he might need it but when he went somewhere on an errand of peace and had no quarrel he tied his sword into a scabbard and with white bands that he called peace bands if all at once something happened to make him need his sword he broke the peace bands and drew it out eskimos now the eskimos live in greenland in alaska and on the very northern shores of canada but once they lived farther south in pleasure lands after a while other indian tribes began to grow strong then they wanted the pleasant land of the eskimos and the seashore that the eskimos had so they fought again and again with those people and won and drove them farther north and farther north at least eskimos were on the very shores of the cold sea with indians still pushing them on so some of them got into their boats and rode across the narrow water and came to greenland and lived there some people think that these things happened before eric found greenland in that case he found eskimos there and thorfinn saw red indians in wineland the other people think that this happened after eric went to greenland after he found an empty land and it was eskimos that thorfinn saw in wineland end of chapter 16 descriptive notes recording by david striker chapter 17 suggestions to teachers of viking tales this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org recording by david striker viking tales by jenny hall chapter 17 suggestions to teachers possibly this book seems made up of four or five disconnected stories they are however strung upon one thread the westward immigration from norway the story of herald is intended to serve in two ways toward the working out of the plot it gives the general setting that continues throughout the book in costume houses ideals habits it explains the cause of immigration from the mother country it is really an introductory chapter as for the other stories they are distinctly steps in the process of the plot a chain of islands loosely connects norway with america orcneys and shetlands faroes iceland greenland it was from the link to link of this chain that norsemen sailed in search of home and adventure discoveries were made by accident ships were driven by when from known island to unknown these two points the island connection that made possible the long voyage from norway to america and the contribution of storm to discovery i've stated in the book only dramatically i emphasize them here hoping that the teacher will make sure that the children see them and possibly that they state them abstractly let me speak as to the proper imaging of the stories i've not often interrupted incident with special description not because i do not consider getting a vivid and detailed images most necessary to full enjoyment and proper intellectual habits but because i trusted to the pictures of this book and to the teacher to do what seemed to me inartistic to do in the story some of these descriptions and explanations i've introduced into the book in the form of notes hoping that the children in turning them might form a habit of insisting upon full understanding of a point and might possibly with the teacher's encouragement begin the habit of reading the landscape of norway iceland greenland is beautiful and will greatly assist in giving reality and definiteness to the stories materials for the study are not difficult of access foreign colored photographs of norwegian landscape are becoming common in our art stores there are good illustrations in the geographical works referred to in the book list these would be copied upon the blackboard there are three books beautifully illustrated in color that would be possible to find only in large libraries coast of norway by walton travels in the island of iceland by mackenzie voyage in islande groenland by jp geymard if the landscape is studied from the point of view of formation the images will be more accurate and more easily gained and the study will have general value that will continue past the reading of these stories into all work of geography trustworthy pictures of norse houses and costumes are difficult to obtain in viking age and story of norway by boyeson gp putnam suns new york are many copies of norse antiquities in the fashion of weapons shield bosses coins, jewelry wood carving these are of course accurate for children their chief value lies in helping the teacher piece together a picture that she can finally give to her pupils metalworking and wood carving were the most important arts of the norse if children study products of these arts and actually do some of the work they will gain a quick in sympathy with the people and an appreciation of their power they may perhaps make something to merely norse work for instance a carved ships head or a copper shield or a rotten door nail but better they may apply norse ideas of form and decoration and norse processes in making some modern thing that they can actually use for instance a carved wood pin tray or copper match holder this work should bleed out to a study of these same industries among ourselves with visits to woodworking shops and metal foundries frequent drawn or painted illustration by the children of costumes landscapes, houses feast halls and ships will help to make these images clear but dramatization will do more than anything else for the interpreting of the stories and characters it would be an excellent thing if at last through the dramatization of the hand work the children should come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm to turn scalds and compose songs in the norse manner this requires only a small vocabulary and a rough feeling for simple rhythm but an intensity of emotion and a great vividness of image these norse stories have to my thinking three values the men with the crude courage and strange adventures that make a man interesting to children have at the same time love of truth and hearty endurance the faithfulness to plighted word that make a child's good companions again in form the matter old norse literature is well worth our reading I should deem it a great thing accomplished if the children who read these stories should be tempted after a while to read those final books to enjoy the tales to appreciate straightforwardness and simplicity of style the historical value of the story of leaf ericsson and the other seems to me not to learn the fact that norsemen discovered america before colombus did but to gain a conception of the conditions of early navigation of the length of voyage of the dangers of the sea and a consequent realization of the reason for the fact that america was unknown to medieval europe of why norsemen did not travel was necessary to be done before men could strike out across the ocean norse story is only one chapter in the tale of american discovery i give below an outline of a years work on the subject that was once followed by the fourth grade of chicago normal school the idea in it is to give importance sequence reasonableness broad connections to the discovery of america the head of the history department who planned this course says it is in a sense a dramatization of the development of geographical knowledge following is a bare topical outline of the work evolution of striking tales a crusade as a tale of travel and discovery monasteries as centers of work printing story of marco polo columbus's discovery story of vasco de gama story of magellan end of chapter 17 suggestions to teachers recording by david striker