Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir

And there, Torstein, Eric's son, died.

Torstein the Black brought Gudrid back to Bratelid, where Eric the Red still lived with Leif, the discoverer of Vineland the Good.

gudrid the fair gudrid the fair dreamt of voyages to the land of woods and grapes and fair pastures even the disastrous voyage she had made with her husband did not make her inclined to stay at home the emptiness and iciness of greenland did not go with her thoughts often she talked with her father-in-law that old voyager about the journeys he had made across the sea and away from greenland and eric the red told her of how he had been banished from norway for the killing of a man and how he had gone into iceland while he was still in his early manhood of how he had got into a feud with the men of iceland and had to flee from that land too and he told her how he and his friends had gone in search of the land that a man named gonbiorn the son of ulf the crow had sighted but had not landed on and of how he had found that land and named it greenland and had brought folk to settle on it the old man talked to gudrid that fair and wise woman telling her many things her father had brought gudrid into greenland a while before this he had lived in iceland and she had been brought up there then because some one he was scornful of had asked for her in marriage he had sold his land and his possessions in iceland to the astonishment of all who knew him for he was blessed with many friends there and had come over to greenland to make his home with his friend eric the red and soon after they had come over thorstein eric's son married the daughter of his father's friend she was named the fair and she was certainly the most beautiful as well as the most spirited woman in iceland or in greenland and now that her husband thorstein was dead she admired above all other men the father of the voyagers eric the red he was still a mighty man he was no longer red in hair and beard but he was still tall and deep-chested he was a pagan and he kept about him men who were pagans and who swore by the red-bearded god tor the hammerer now there came to greenland a ship that was owned by a man named karlsefni eric the red came to the ship to trade and gudrid his daughter-in-law came with him those in charge of the ship invited gudrid to take for herself any of the goods that she fancied and after that eric invited the master and the crew of the ship to brattely to pass christmas there goods were brought up from karlsefni's ship and the entertainment at bratelid was so magnificent that the people said that they could not remember a festival that ever went so finely and when it was all over karlsefni went to eric the red and asked his permission to woo gudrid his daughter-in-law the this permission was given gudrid herself was favourable to him and in a while karlsefni and gudrid the fair were made man and wife spring came on and then gudrid began to speak to her husband out of the thoughts that were always in her mind we cannot be content to stay here she said where the land is always frozen and where one sees no trees with fruit and blossom on them we might go to iceland where my father lived but in iceland there is but little fruitfulness why should we not go to that country that life discovered and that thurvald went to a land of fair pastures and noble woods you have a ship and leif would give us his ship we could go there bringing many more people than went with leif or with durwold so gudrid spoke to her husband and at the time there was much talk of vineland the good and there were those who said that it should be further explored karl schiffni listened to his wife and he listened to what people said about vineland and about the voyage there he was an experienced shipman and he had made many ventures on the sea and the voyage to vineland the good seemed to be a thing that he should engage in they fitted out ships and they took cattle and sheep in them and they got together men and women to the number of one hundred and sixty and they made ready to voyage to that far land they brought weapons and they brought cloth freydis leif's sister and her husband came and a man called thorhall who was eric's fisherman and huntsman they came first to the land that was named for the large flat stones that were on it hellulan where they saw many northern foxes they sailed on for two days more and turned from the south to the south-east and came to a land that was covered with woods and that had many wild beasts upon it this was markland named because of its woods then they went by strands that they named wunder strands because it took them so long to sail by them they came to where the land was indented with inlets and they sailed into one of these inlets there was an island there that had so many birds upon it that it was impossible to step between the eggs they had laid upon the ground then they went on shore bringing their cattle and sheep to land and taking the cargo off the ships and there they made a settlement they fished in the rivers but when the fish began to fail they became badly off for provisions there was distress then and karlsefni was blamed for not having made account of what might happen and provided for it beforehand and karlsefni was driven to consult with turhal the huntsman about ways of providing for those who were there this turhal was of giant stature he was stout and ill-favored seldom spoken but often given to abusive language he was a pagan and he mocked at the religion of his companions but because of his knowledge of unsettled regions karlsefni thought that he was a good man to have with them he was asked by karlsefni to help to provide for them then thorhall disappeared for three days they searched for him and then they came upon him he was lying out upon a cliff looking up at the sky his mouth and his nostrils agape he was mumbling and muttering things karlsefni asked him why he had gone to that place and what he was doing he made answer saying that what he was doing was no concern of theirs but he went with them and they all went upon the beach and as they came upon the beach torhal raised a shout and showed them a whale near by they went in chase of the whale and killed it and cut it up for food while the whole company men and women were eating the whale's flesh torhal said to them did not tor the red-bearded prove more helpful than the god of the christians this whale that you have taken is a reward for the verses i made over there in praise of him tor the trustworthy he is well named seldom has he failed me when i have made verses for him when the people heard him say this they ate no more of the whale after that the fine weather came they gathered eggs on the island caught fish in the sea and killed game in the woods thereafter they did not want for provisions they went abroad in the land they had come to and they saw that it was indeed a fair and fruitful country and that their cattle and sheep had good pasturage on it turhal after that with nine other men took a ship and left karlsefni and his companions as he went on the ship he sang songs mocking them and the land they had come to he had been promised wine he sang but no wine came his way stooping at the springs i've tasted all the wine this land can give and as the sail of the ship was hoisted he sang their land let them praise as their fasts they break on whale's stake we'll follow the ways of the foam for home and so with nine men torhal sailed away they intended to sail past van der straans and then make their way around the cape this they did but it had been told that as they came near home they encountered westerly gales they were swept out of their course and driven ashore on ireland there torhal and his party as traders have related were thrown into slavery and torhal the follower of tor the red-bearded lost his life there and now karlsefni and gudrid and their companions sailed southward along the coast seeking the way to vineland the good They came to where a river flowed down into the sea, passing through a lake.

There were sandbars at the mouth of the river, so that it could be entered only in the height of the flood tide.

The quarrels were between the men who had wives and the men who were single.

Those who were unmarried would injure those who were married and take their wives away from them.

Carlsepny and Gudrid the Fair went back to Greenland, taking Snorri, their son, with them.

but they often returned to vineland and to the town that grew up there and that was called nuremberg and when karlsefni died gudrid the fair returned to her own land afterwards she went to rome and she told the chief people there about vineland the good and the people whom she and her husband had taken and had settled there towards the end of her life gudrid entered a convent and became an abbess ships from norway and iceland and greenland went often to norumbega in vineland the good they brought back from it timbers and mature wood and then there came to norway and iceland and greenland the plague that was called the black death so many people died in these countries that there were none left to go upon long voyages and the way to vineland the good was forgotten The people of Norway still speak of the terrible plague that came amongst them then.

the saga of eric the red and both texts are included under this title presents a clear and graphic account of the discovery and exploration of wineland the good in this narrative the discovery is ascribed to leif the son of eric the red who hit upon the land by chance during a voyage from norway to greenland this voyage as has already been stated probably took place in the year one thousand after his return to greenland leif's account of the land which he had discovered seems to have persuaded his brother thorstein and possibly his father to undertake an expedition to the strange country this voyage which was not destined to meet with a successful issue may well have fallen in the year following leif's return and therefore it may be conjectured in the year one thousand one about this time there had arrived in greenland an icelander of considerable prominence an old friend of eric's named thorbiorn vifilsen who had brought with him his daughter gudrid or as she is also called he must have arrived before thorstein ericsson's voyage for we are told that it was in thorbiorn's ship that this voyage was undertaken it seems probable that thorbiorn arrived at brattahild eric's home during leif's absence from greenland and if this be true it follows that thorbiorn and gudrid must have been converted to christianity before its acceptance in iceland as the legalized religion of the land for very soon after their arrival in greenland gudrid alludes to the fact of her being a christian and from the language of the saga there can be no question that her father had likewise embraced the new faith the presence of these companions in the faith may have materially aided leif in the work of proselytism in which he engaged upon his return to greenland We are told that Thorbjorn did not arrive at Bratahild until the second year after his departure from Iceland.

Wherefore, if the assumption that he arrived during Leif's absence be sound, it becomes apparent that he must have left Iceland in the summer of the year 998 or 999.

Erik's son Thorstein wooed and married Gudrid, and the wedding was celebrated at Bratahild in the autumn.

it is recorded in the saga that gudrid was regarded as a most desirable match thorstein may have promptly recognized her worth and his marriage may have occurred in the autumn of the same year in which he returned from his unlucky voyage it could not well have been celebrated in the previous year for thorstein's allusions on his deathbed to the religion of greenland indicate that christianity must have been for a longer time the accepted faith of the land than it could have been at the close of the year one thousand in the winter after his marriage thorstein died and in the spring gudrid returned to bratehild thorfinn karlsefni arrived at bratehild about this time possibly the next autumn after thorstein's death and in his company came snorri Carlsefni was married to Gudrid shortly after the Yuletide following his arrival.

If he arrived in Greenland in the autumn of the year 1002, this wedding may accordingly have taken place about the beginning of the year 1003.

In the summer following his marriage, Thorfinn appears to have undertaken his voyage of exploration to Wineland, that is to say in the summer of the year 1003. a longer time may well have elapsed after gudrid's arrival before her marriage with thorstein and similarly it is even more probable that a longer interval elapsed between thorstein's death and gudrid's second marriage the purpose of this conjectural chronology is to determine if possible a date prior to which thorfinn karlsefni's voyage to wineland could not have been undertaken while therefore it is altogether probable that this voyage was made after the year one thousand three it does not appear to be possible for the reasons presented that it could have taken place before that year problems suggested by the text of another version of the history of the discovery and exploration namely that contained in the flady book are considered elsewhere as are also points of difference between that narrative and the history as set forth in the saga of eric the red it remains to be said that the text of this saga does not present such difficulties as those which are suggested by a critical examination of the narrative of the flady book this version of the history of the discovery does contain however one statement which is not altogether intelligible and which is not susceptible of very satisfactory explanation namely that there came no snow in the land which the wineland explorers had found this assertion does not agree with our present knowledge of the winter climate of the eastern coast of that portion of north america situated within the latitude which was probably reached by the explorers The observation may perhaps be best explained upon the theory that the original verbal statement of the explorers was that there was no snow in Wineland, such as that to which they were...

Einar had another daughter named Halveg.

She was married to Torbjorn, Vifil's son, who got with her Laugarbrekka land on Hellesvellir.

it will be observed that in this record of leif's missionary voyage no allusion is made to the discovery of wineland as in the other accounts of the same voyage with which in other respects this passage agrees by this variation a conflict with biarni's claim to the priority of discovery previously promulgated in the short story of eric the red is avoided a portion of this passage may not however be so happily reconciled it is said that through leif's advice and persuasion eric the red was baptized while we find in the short story of the greenlanders the statement that eric the red died before christianity moreover we have in the short story of the greenlanders in addition to this direct conflict of statement an apparent repetition of the incident of the rescue of the shipwrecked mariners when we are told that leif effected a rescue of castaways on his return from a voyage of exploration to wineland and was therefore called leif the lucky If this be not a repetition of the same incident, then we must conclude that Leif, upon two different voyages, saved the lives of a crew of shipwrecked mariners, for which he twice received the same title from the same people.

In the description of the rescue contained in the short story of the Greenlanders, we read that the leader of the castaways was one Tori Easterling, whose wife Gudrid, Torbjorn's daughter, seems to have been among the rescued.

this tory is mentioned nowhere save in the flatey book his wife was so famous a personage in icelandic annals that it seems passing strange this spouse should have been so completely ignored by other icelandic chronicles which have not failed to record gudrid's marriage to thorstein ericsson and subsequently to thorfinn karlsefni indeed according to the biography of this most noble lady as written in the saga of eric the red there is no place for tory for gudrid is said to have come to greenland in much less romantic fashion namely as an unmarried woman in the same ship with and under the protection of her father another chronological error occurs in that paragraph of the short story of eric the red wherein it is stated that after sixteen winters had lapsed from the time when eric the red went to colonize greenland leif eric's son sailed out from greenland to norway he arrived in dronetime in the autumn when king olaf tryggvason was come down from the north out of halugaland it has previously been stated in the same chronicle that eric set out to colonize greenland fifteen years before christianity was legally adopted in iceland that is to say in the year nine eighty five once it follows from the chronology that leif's voyage must have been undertaken in the year one thousand one but since olav tryggvason was killed in the autumn of the year one thousand this is from the context manifestly impossible if we may suppose that the scribe of the flatey book by a careless verbal substitution wrote for at bigya went to colonize instead of for at leta went in search of the chronology of the narrative becomes reconcilable the short story of the greenlanders inaccuracies of lesser import occur one of which at least appears to owe its origin to a clerical blunder in the narrative of freyda's voyage we are told that she waited upon the brothers helgi and finbogi and persuaded them to join her in an expedition to wineland according to the text however she enters into an agreement governing the manning of their ships not with them but with karlsefni yet it is obvious from the context that karlsefni did not participate in the enterprise nor does it appear that he had any interest whatsoever in the undertaking the substitution of karlsefni's name for that of helgi or finbogi by a careless scribe may have given rise to this lack of sequence a blunder which has crept into the genealogical list at the conclusion of the history may perhaps owe its origin to a somewhat similar cause in this list it will be noted bishop thorlok is called the grandson of halfrid snorri's daughter In the words of the manuscript, Halfred was the name of the daughter of Snorri, Carlsefni's son.

She was the mother of Runolf, the father of Bishop Torlok.

In the following spring they returned to Greenland, and arrived with their ship in Ereksfirth, where they were able to recount great tidings to Leif.

thorstein ericsson dies in the western settlement in the meantime it had come to pass in greenland that thorstein of ericsfirth had married and taken to wife gudrid thorbiorn's daughter she who had been the spouse of tory eastman as has been already related now thorstein ericsson being minded to make the voyage to wineland after the body of his brother thorvald equipped the same ship and selected a crew of twenty-five men of good size and strength and taking with him his wife gudrid when all was in readiness they sailed out into the open ocean and out of sight of land they were driven hither and thither over the sea all that summer and lost all reckoning and at the end of the first week of winter they made the land at leesuferth in greenland in the western settlement thorstein set out in search of quarters for his crew and succeeded in procuring homes for all of his shipmates but he and his wife were unprovided for and remained together upon the ship for two or more days at this time christianity was still in its infancy in greenland it befell early one morning that men came to their tent and the leader inquired who the people were within the tent torstein replies we are twain says he but who is it who asks my name is torstein and i am known as torstein the swarthy and my errand hither is to offer you two husband and wife a home with me torstein replied that he would consult with his wife and she bidding him decide he accepted the invitation i will come after you on the morrow with a sumpter horse for i am not lacking in means wherewith to provide for you both although it will be lonely living with me since there are but two of us my wife and myself for i forsooth am a very hard man to get on with moreover my faith is not the same as yours albeit methinks that that is the better to which you hold he returned for them on the morrow with the beast and they took up their home with thorstein the swarthy and were well treated by him gudrid was a woman of fine presence and a clever woman and very happy in adapting herself to strangers early in the winter thorstein ericsson's party was visited by sickness and many of his companions died he caused coffins to be made for the bodies of the dead and had them conveyed to the ship and bestowed there for it is my purpose to have all the bodies taken to ericsfirth in the summer it was not long before illness appeared in thorstein's home and his wife whose name was grimhild was first taken sick she was a very vigorous woman and as strong as a man but the sickness mastered her and soon thereafter thorstein ericsson was seized with the illness and they both lay ill at the same time and grimhild thorstein the swarthy's wife died and when she was dead thorstein went out of the room to procure a deal upon which to lay the corpse thereupon gudrid spoke do not be absent long thorstein mine says she he replied that so it should be thorstein ericsson then exclaimed our housewife is acting now in a marvellous fashion for she is raising herself up on her elbow and stretching out her feet from the side of the bed and groping after her shoes at that moment thorstein the master of the house entered and grimhild laid herself down wherewithal every timber in the room creaked thorstein now fashioned a coffin for grimhild's body and bore it away and cared for it he was a big man and strong but it called for all his strength to enable him to remove the corpse from the house the illness grew upon thorstein ericsson and he died whereat his wife gudrid was sorely grieved they were all in the room at the time and gudrid was seated upon a chair before the bench upon which her husband thorstein was lying thorstein the master of the house then taking gudrid in his arms carried her from the chair and seated himself with her upon another bench over against her husband's body and exerted himself in divers ways to console her and endeavoured to reassure her and promised her that he would accompany her to ericsfirth with the body of her husband thorstein and those of his companions i will likewise summon other persons hither says he to attend upon thee and entertain thee she thanked him then thorstein ericsson sat up and exclaimed where is gudrid thrice he repeated the question but gudrid made no response she then asked thorstein the master shall i give answer to his question or not thorstein the master bade her make no reply and he then crossed the floor and seated himself upon the chair with gudrid in his lap and spoke saying what dost thou wish namesake after a little while thorstein replies i desire to tell gudrid of the fate which is in store for her to the end that she may be better reconciled to my death for i am indeed come to a goodly resting-place this i have to tell thee gudrid that thou art to marry an icelander and that ye are to have a long wedded life together and a numerous and noble progeny illustrious and famous of good odour and sweet virtues ye shall go from greenland to norway and thence to iceland where ye shall build your home there ye shall dwell together for a long time but thou shalt outlive him and shalt then go abroad into the south and shalt return to iceland again to thy 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, Torstein sank back again, and his body was laid out for burial and borne to the ship.

Torstein the master faithfully performed all his promises to Gudrid.

He sold his lands and livestock in the spring, and accompanied Gudrid to the ship with all his possessions.

This voyage, which was not destined to meet with a successful issue, may well have fallen in the year following Leif's return, and therefore, it may be conjectured, in the year 1001.

About this time there had arrived in Greenland an Icelander of considerable prominence, an old friend of Eric's named Torbjorn Vifilsen, who had brought with him his daughter Gudrid, or as she is also called, Turid.

He must have arrived before Torstein Eric's home during Leif's absence from Greenland, and if this be true, it follows that Torbjorn and Gudrid must have been converted to Christianity before its acceptance in Iceland as the legalized religion of the land.

For very soon after their arrival in Greenland, Gudrid alludes to the fact of her being a Christian, and from the language of the saga, there can be no question that her father had likewise embraced the new faith.

The presence of these companions in the faith may have materially aided Leif in the work of proselytism in which he engaged upon his return to Greenland.

We are told that Torbjorn did not arrive at Brattahlid until the second year after his departure from Iceland.

Wherefore, if the assumption that he arrived during Leif's absence be sound, it becomes apparent that he must have left Iceland in the summer of the year 998 or 999.

Eric's son Torstein wooed and married Gudrid, and the wedding was celebrated at Brattahlid in the autumn.

The next to set sail for that far-off land was Thorstein, the third son of Erik the Red.

He failed to get there, however, but made land on the east coast of Greenland, where he died, while his wife Gudrid returned home.

Much was this woman noted for her beauty, and as much for her wisdom and prudence, so the sagas tell us.

In 1006 came to Greenland a noble Icelander, Thorfinn by name.

From sheep tending, he turned to carpentry, becoming an expert ship carpenter.

With this trade at his fingers' ends, he went to Boston and there first learned to read and write, accomplishments which had not penetrated to the Kennebec.

His next step was to marry, his wife being a widow, a Mrs.

Hull, with little money but good connections.

In this narrative, the discovery is ascribed to Leif, the son of Eric the Red, who hit upon the land by chance during a voyage from Norway to Greenland.

This voyage, as has already been stated, probably took place in the year 1000. after his return to greenland leif's account of the land which he had discovered seems to have persuaded his brother thorstein and possibly his father to undertake an expedition to the strange country this voyage which was not destined to meet with a successful issue may well have fallen in the year following leif's return and therefore it may be conjectured in the year one thousand one About this time there had arrived in Greenland an Icelander of considerable prominence, an old friend of Eriks, named Torbjorn Vifilsson, who had brought with him his daughter Gudrid, or, as she is also called, Turid.

He must have arrived before Torstein Eriksson's voyage, for we are told that it was in Torbjorn's ship that this voyage was undertaken.

it seems probable that thorbiorn arrived at brattahild eric's home during leif's absence from greenland and if this be true it follows that thorbiorn and gudrid must have been converted to christianity before its acceptance in iceland as the legalized religion of the land for very soon after their arrival in greenland gudrid alludes to the fact of her being a christian and from the language of the saga there can be no question that her father had likewise embraced the new faith the presence of these companions in the faith may have materially aided leif in the work of proselytism in which he engaged upon his return to greenland We are told that Thorbjorn did not arrive at Bratahild until the second year after his departure from Iceland.

Wherefore, if the assumption that he arrived during Leif's absence be sound, it becomes apparent that he must have left Iceland in the summer of the year 998 or 999.

Erik's son Thorstein wooed and married Gudrid, and the wedding was celebrated at Bratahild in the autumn.

it is recorded in the saga that gudrid was regarded as a most desirable match thorstein may have promptly recognized her worth and his marriage may have occurred in the autumn of the same year in which he returned from his unlucky voyage it could not well have been celebrated in the previous year for thorstein's allusions on his deathbed to the religion of greenland indicate that christianity must have been for a longer time the accepted faith of the land than it could have been at the close of the year one thousand in the winter after his marriage thorstein died and in the spring gudrid returned to bratehild thorfinn karlsefni arrived at bratehild about this time possibly the next autumn after thorstein's death and in his company came snorri Carlsefni was married to Gudrid shortly after the Yuletide following his arrival.

If he arrived in Greenland in the autumn of the year 1002, this wedding may accordingly have taken place about the beginning of the year 1003.

If this be not a repetition of the same incident, then we must conclude that Leif upon two different voyages saved the lives of a crew of shipwrecked mariners, for which he twice received the same title from the same people.

In the description of the rescue contained in the short story of the Greenlanders, we read that the leader of the castaways was one Tori Easterling, whose wife Gudrid, Thorbjorn's daughter, seems to have been among the rescued.

This Tori is mentioned nowhere save in the Flateybook.

His wife was so famous a personage in Icelandic annals that it seems passing strange this spouse should have been so completely ignored by other Icelandic chronicles, which have not failed to record Gudrid's marriage to Thorstein Erikson and subsequently to Thorfinn Karlsefni.

Indeed, according to the biography of this most noble lady, as written in the saga of Eric the Red, there is no place for Tori, for Gudrid is said to have come to Greenland in much less romantic fashion, namely as an unmarried woman, in the same ship with and under the protection of her father Thorbjorn.

Another chronological error occurs in that paragraph of the short story of Eric the Red, wherein it is stated that after sixteen winters had lapsed from the time when Eric the Red went to colonize Greenland, Leif, Eric's son, sailed out from Greenland to Norway.

He arrived in Dronetime in the autumn when King Olaf Tryggvason was come down from the north out of Halogaland.

The second Bishop Brand was ordained in 1263.