The Extent and Character of Our Country: Lief and Vineland

A young German of Lief's company, who was Eric's servant, was missing one day. They searched for him in all directions. He had wandered deep into the forest, and when they found him he was full of joy because he had discovered grapes, delicious and abundant, such as grew in his own country. So Lief named the country Vincland. He and his company built huts and wintered there, and in the spring they returned to Greenland. Eric had lately died, and Lief, his eldest son, came into the possession of his estate and patriarchal office. Eric's family were Christians, but Eric died a pagan.

Thorwald, Lief's younger brother, bought the good ship and, with thirty companions, sailed for Vineland. They passed the winter there, occupying the huts built by Lief and his companions, and subsisting as they had done, upon fish. In the spring, Thorwald and a part of his company explored the neighboring coasts, finding many sandy islands, on which there were no traces of wild beasts and few of human beings. The summer was spent in these explorations, and the next was passed at their old quarters in Vineland. Other explorations were made the following summer, by the whole company. In the early autumn they entered a large inlet. There were high lands on each side, thickly wooded. "Here," said Thorwald, "is a goodly place; here I will make my abode." They found there some natives--dusky people, of small stature, like the Esquimaux of Greenland. They were in canoes, and were timid and harmless. The Northmen caught them and cruelly put them to death, excepting one who escaped to the hills and aroused his countrymen. The angry savages went silently in their canoes and surprised Thorwald and his company. A sharp fight ensued. Arrows flew thick and fast. Thorwald was mortally wounded, but his companions escaped unhurt. The savages fled to the wooded hills, and Thorwald's companions buried the body of their chief on the promontory where he intended to settle, with a cross at its head and another at its feet. The survivors passed the winter in Vineland, in mortal fear of the enraged savages, and in the spring they returned to Greenland.

Thorstein, Eric's third son, on hearing of the death of his brother, sailed for Vineland, with twenty-five companions and his young wife, Gudrida, a beautiful blonde, to whom he had been married only a few weeks. Adverse winds drove their little vessel on a desolate shore of Greenland, far up the eastern border of Baffin's Bay. There the company suffered dreadfully, and were compelled to stay until spring. A contagious disease broke out among them, and Thorstein and a greater portion of his companions perished. Sadly the young wife carried home the body of her husband. So died two of the brave sons of the valiant Eric the Red, leaving their wayward sister, Freydisa, alone with Lief.

During the next summer, a rich citizen of Norway, young and comely, arrived in Greenland. His name was Thorfin. He saw and loved Gudrida, and demanded her in marriage, of Lief, her patriarchal brother-in-law. They were wedded; and the Norwegian, accompanied by his bride and five other young women with their husbands and other men, sailed for Vineland, to plant a colony there. They landed near the spot where Lief had passed the winter. Upon the shore, with the little Norwegian vessel anchored near, that company of sturdy emigrants presented a picturesque group. Thorfin, stout, but not very tall, was clad, on that occasion, we may imagine, in the costume of the Norwegian nobility. If so, over his linen shirt he probably wore a dark woolen tunic that descended to the knees, with long sleeves reaching to the wrists. The borders of the skirt, the collar, and the ends of the sleeves were ornamented with various colored cloth in a variety of devices. Around his waist was a girdle or belt of dressed leather, ornamented with bosses of silver and gold; and over all was a short cloak of rich stuff made of silk and woolen, of a purple color, fastened to his shoulder by a brooch of gold and precious stones. His legs were covered with white hose, bandaged with crossed fillets of gay colors from the ankle to the knee; and on his feet were black buskins, open in front, and secured by thongs of silk, with tasseled ends depending from the top of the shoe. His long, dark wavy hair fell upon his back and shoulders, and his flowing beard covered his bosom.