for a long time, but thou shalt outlive him, and shalt then go abroad and to the South[1], and shalt return to Iceland again, to they home, and there a church shall then be raised, and thou shalt abide there and take the veil, and there thou shalt die.' When he had thus spoken, Thorstein sank back again, and his body was laid out for burial, and borne to the ship. Thorstein, the master, faithfully performed all his promises to Gudrid. He sold his lands and live-stock in the spring, and accompanied Gudrid to the ship, with all his possessions. He put the ship in order, procured a crew, and then sailed to Ericsfirth. The bodies of the dead were now buried at the church, and Gudrid then went home to Leif at Brattahlid, while Thorstein the Swarthy made a home for himself on Ericsfirth, and remained there as long as he lived, and was looked upon as a very superior man.
Of the Wineland Voyages of Thorfinn and his Companions.
That same summer a ship came from Norway to Greenland. The skipper's name was Thorfinn Karlsefni[2]; he was a son of Thord Horsehead[3], and a grandson of Snorri, the son of Thord of Höfdi. Thorfinn Karlsefni, who was a very wealthy man, passed the winter at Brattahlid with Leif Ericsson. He very soon set his heart upon Gudrid, and sought her hand in marriage; she referred him to Leif for her answer, and was subsequently betrothed to him, and their marriage was celebrated that same winter. A renewed discussion arose concerning a Wineland voyage, and the folk urged Karlsefni to make the venture, Gudrid joining with the others[4]. He determined to undertake the voyage, and assembled a company of sixty men and five women, and entered into an agreement with his shipmates that they should each share equally in all the spoils of the enterprise[5]. They took with them all kinds of cattle, as it was their intention to settle the country, if they could. Karlsefni asked Leif for the house in Wineland, and he replied, that he would lend it but not give it. They sailed out to sea with the ship, and arrived safe and sound at Leifs-booths, and carried their hammocks ashore there. They were soon provided with an abundant and goodly supply of food, for a whale of good size and quality was driven ashore there, and they secured it, and flensed it, and had then no lack of provisions. The cattle were turned out upon the land<ref>'gekk þar á land upp:' lit. went up on
- ↑ 'ganga suðr,' go to the South; an expression employed here, doubtless, as in many other places in Icelandic sagas, to signify a pilgrimage to Rome.
- ↑ Karls-efni: a person who has about him the promise of becoming a capable man.
- ↑ hesthǫfði.
- ↑ 'bæði Guðríðr ok aðrir menn:' lit. both Gudrid and others.
- ↑ 'er þeir fengi til gœða:' lit. which they might get of good things.
