astern[1], and held out to sea with the same fair wind. The wind waxed amain, and Biarni directed them to reef, and not to sail at a speed unbefitting their ship and rigging. They sailed now for four 'dœgr,' when they saw the fourth land. Again they asked Biarni whether he thought this could be Greenland or not. Biarni answers, 'This is likest Greenland, according to that which has been reported to me concerning it, and here we will steer to the land.' They directed their course thither, and landed in the evening, below a cape upon which there was a boat, and there, upon this cape, dwelt Heriulf (65), Biarni's father, whence the cape took its name, and was afterwards called Heriulfsness. Biarni now went to his father, gave up his voyaging, and remained with his father while Heriulf lived, and continued to live there after his father.
Here begins the Brief History of the Greenlanders[2].
Next to this is now to be told how Biarni Heriulfsson came out from Greenland on a visit to Earl Eric, by whom he was well received. Biarni gave an account of his travels [upon the occasion] when he saw the lands, and the people thought that he had been lacking enterprise[3], since he had no report to give concerning these countries, and the fact brought him reproach. Biarni was appointed one of the Earl's men, and went out to Greenland the following summer. There was now much talk about voyages of discovery. Leif, the son of Eric the Red, of Brattahlid, visited Biarni Heriulfsson and bought a ship of him, and collected a crew, until they formed altogether a company of thirty-five men[4]. Leif invited his father, Eric, to become the leader of the expedition, but Eric declined, saying that he was then stricken in years, and adding that he was less able to endure the exposure of sea-life than he had been. Leif replied that he would nevertheless be the one who would be most apt to bring good luck[5], and Eric yielded to Leif's solicitation, and rode from home when they were ready to sail. When he was but a short distance from the ship, the horse which Eric was riding stumbled, and he was thrown from his back and wounded his foot, whereupon he exclaimed, 'It is not designed for me to discover more lands than the one in which we are now living, nor can we now continue longer together.' Eric returned home to Brattahlid, and Leif pursued his way to the ship with his
- ↑ 'settu enn stafn við því landit:' lit. moreover they set the 'stafn' against that land. 'Stafn,' stem, is used of both the bow and stern of a vessel.
- ↑ [Flatey Book, column 281.]
- ↑ 'úforvitinn:' lit. incurious.
- ↑ See note I, p. 61.
- ↑ 'hann enn mundi mestri heill stýra af þeim frændum: ' lit. he would, nevertheless, win the greatest luck of them, the kinsmen.
