it, they ate of it, and were all made ill by it. Then Thorhall, approaching them, says: 'Did not the Red-beard (49) prove more helpful than your Christ? This is my reward for the verses which I composed to Thor, the Trustworthy[1]; seldom has he failed me.' When the people heard this, they cast the whale down into the sea, and made their appeals to God[2]. The weather then improved, and they could now row out to fish, and thenceforward they had no lack of provisions, for they could hunt game on the land, gather eggs on the island, and catch fish from the sea[3].
Concerning Karlsefni and Thorhall
It is said, that Thorhall wished to sail to the northward beyond Wonder-strands, in search of Wineland, while Karlsefni desired to proceed to the southwest, off the coast[4]. Thorhall prepared for his voyage out below the island, having only nine men in his party, for all of the remainder of the company went with Karlsefni. And one day when Thorhall was carrying water aboard his ship, and was drinking, he recited this ditty:
When I came, these brave men told me,
Here the best of drink I'd get,
Now with water-pail behold me,—
Wine and I are strangers yet.
Stooping at the spring, I've tested
All the wine this land affords;
Of its vaunted charms divested,
Poor indeed are its rewards[5].
- ↑ fulltrúann, lit. a person in whom one reposes all confidence.
- ↑ EsR: 'and when the people knew this, none of them would eat, and they cast [it] down over the rocks, and invoked God's mercy.'
- ↑ EsR: 'They were then able to row out to fish, and they had no longer any lack of the necessities of life. In the spring they went into Streamfirth, and obtained provisions from both regions, hunting on the mainland, gathering eggs, and deep-sea fishing.'
- ↑ EsR: This introductory paragraph reads: 'Now they took counsel together concerning their expedition, and came to an agreement. Thorhall the Huntsman wished to go northward around Wonder-strands, and past Keelness, and so seek Wineland; while Karlsefni wished to proceed southward along the land and to the eastward, believing that country to be greater, which is farther to the southward, and it seemed to him more advisable to explore both.'
- ↑ The order of the words of the verse is as follows: Meiðar [trees] málm þings [of the metalmeeting, i.e. of battle, trees of battle, warriors, men] kváðu mik hafa [said that I should have] drykk inn bazta [the best of drink], er ek kom hingat [when I came hither], mér samir lasta land fyrir lýðum [it behooves me to blame the land 'fore all]; bílds hattar [bíldr, and instrument for letting blood, i.e. a sword, bílds hattar, the sword's hat, i.e. the helmet] beiðitýr [the god who demands, wherefore, bílds hattar
