The Saga of the Greenlanders begins with Bjarni Herjolfsson of Iceland, who decides to set sail for Greenland to follow his custom of spending the winter with his father. After three days of sailing, a bad case of wind and fog causes him to lose sight of his course. When Bjarni’s crew finally spot land and sail closer to shore for a better look, they see that the land has hills and forests, unlike the mountainous terrain of Greenland. Bjarni decides to continue sailing and he soon spots land again--a second land that was flat and wooded, and a third land that was mountainous and capped with a glacier. However, Bjarni does not make way for land until he comes upon a fourth land, which was closest in appearance to how Greenland had been described to him. The land was indeed where his father, Herjolf, was residing, and it has since been named Herjolfsnes.
[[From there, Bjarni travels to meet with Earl Eirik...]]...and there is much talk of further exploring these new lands that Bjarni had sighted on his way to Greenland. Bjarni sets sail with Leif Eiriksson, and they land at several lands throughout their journey. The first is a land of glaciers that “seemed to them of little use,” so they call it Helluland (Stone-slab land) (6). The second land is flat, forested, and full of white sand beaches, so they decide to name it “for what it has to offer”: Markland (Forest land) (6). After passing through an island with sweet dew-water, they arrive at a third land where they choose to settle and spend the winter. This land and its surrounding waters seem very good to them--there is an abundant supply of salmon larger than they have ever seen, and the climate is pleasantly temperate. Leif decides to call this land Vinland (Wineland) after one of their traveling companions, Tyrkir, finds an abundance of grapes and grapevines in the land. Leif returns to Greenland with a ship full of grapes, vine cuttings, timber, and stories of his travels. On his way back, Leif rescues Thorir and his crew, who were shipwrecked on a skerry. Thorir and many others die after falling ill, but Gudrid, Thorir’s wife, survives. Leif is nicknamed “Leif the Lucky” after saving the shipwrecked people.
[[ Next Page]]Leif’s brother, Thorvald, decides to continue the exploration of Vinland that Leif had started. In his first summer of exploring Vinland, Thorvald sees no sign of men or animals. However, in his second summer, he encounters what looks like three hills on the beach, which upon closer inspection, are actually three hide-covered boats with three men under each of them. Thorvald and his men are able to capture and kill eight of the Native people, except for one who escapes. Thorvald and his men fall asleep after this incident, but are awoken by a nameless voice warning them to flee. Thorvald looks up to see that many hide-covered boats are coming down the fjord towards them. He and his men flee for their ship as the Native people shoot arrows at them. Thorvald is shot in the armpit, and knowing that he will soon die, he instructs his men to prepare for their return journey. He also asks them to bury him at the place he had meant to settle as farmland, henceforth named Krossanes (Cross point). Thorvald dies, and his crew does all that he had instructed, sailing back to Greenland with more grapes and news for Leif.
[[Meanwhile, in Greenland...]]Thorstein Eiriksson marries Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir. Thorstein embarks on a journey with his wife and a crew of men to retrieve the dead body of Thorvald. After getting caught in summer storms, they lose their course, but they eventually end up landing in Lysufjord, Greenland by the first week of winter. Thorstein’s crew is able to find places to stay, but Thorstein and Gudrid are left without any accommodations. One day they are approached by a man called Thorstein the Black, who invites the couple to stay with him and his wife. Thorstein Eiriksson’s companions are struck by illness, and soon Thorstein the Black’s wife, Grimhild, also falls ill. Thorstein Eiriksson follows suit and both pass away. Thorstein the Black sits with Gudrid, comforting her and promising that he will deliver her safely to Eiriksfjord along with the bodies of her husband and his companions. Suddenly, Thorstein Eiriksson is temporarily revived from the dead to share one last message with Gudrid. He informs her that she will go on to remarry an Icelander and live a long and prosperous life, leaving many descendants. Thorstein Eiriksson then falls back to death. Thorstein the Black keeps his promises to Gudrid, and she goes to stay with Leif at Brattahlid.
[[Gudrid Remarries]]The last story in the Saga of the Greenlanders centers around Freydis Eiriksdottir, who makes an agreement with her two brothers, Helgi and Finnbogi, to set sail for Vinland together and split the profits of their journey. They agreed to bring an equal number of crew members and live in the settlement that Leif had started on Vinland. Freydis, however, broke the deal and brought extra passengers aboard, forcing the brothers, who were reluctant to fight Freydis on lodging space, to build their own longhouse settlement. Disagreement and conflict continued to brew between Freydis’ group and the brothers’ group. One morning, Freydis rose and went to the brothers’ encampment. She woke Finnbogi and talked with him outside, negotiating an exchange of ships since the brothers had a larger ship. Finnbogi agreed and Freydis returned to her settlement, waking her husband as she slipped back in bed. When her husband, Thorvald, asked where she had been, she replied that she had gone to make a deal with the brothers but they had reacted angrily, striking her and treating her badly. Freydis exclaimed that Thorvald was a coward for not defending her honor and threatened to divorce him if he didn’t avenge her immediately. Thorvald then took his men and went to the brothers’ settlement, tying up all the men and leading them outside. Freydis had all the men killed, and then took an axe and attacked the remaining five women until they were all dead as well. Freydis returned to her settlement afterwards, pleased with what she had done and warning her companions not to breathe a word of what happened to anyone in Greenland.
[[When Freydis and her crew returned to Greenland...]]...tales of her violence eventually spread. Her brother Leif took three of Freydis’ crew members and tortured them until they admitted the truth of what she had done. Ultimately, Leif felt it was not in his place to punish Freydis. The Saga ends with an account of Karselfni’s successful endeavors: he lived prosperously in Iceland and had many descendants with his wife Gudrid.
Gudrid remarried a wealthy man named Thorfinn Karlsefni. They set sail together with a large crew with the intent of settling Vinland and building upon the settlement that Leif had already started there. The land was abundant with resources and they were very well provided for. After their first winter had passed and summer came, they came in contact with some Native people. A group of Native people emerged from the woods, but were frightened off by the bellowing of the foreign livestock the Greenlanders had brought over. Neither party could understand the other’s language. The Natives attempted to trade their packs and goods with the Greenlanders, but Karlsefni was reluctant to give the Natives weapons. Instead, Karlsefni traded milk and milk products with the Natives for their packs and skins. Gudrid gave birth to a baby boy, Snorri, around that time. The next winter, the Natives returned, eager to trade their goods for more food products. A Native woman entered the house to approach Gudrid, who was sitting next to the cradle of her son. Just as they were about to make a friendly acquaintance, the women heard a huge crash from outside. A Native man had been killed by one of Karsefni’s men for trying to take weapons from them. Karlsefni and his men prepare for a battle with the Natives and end up killing many of them. During the battle, one of the Natives tries out an iron axe on one of his companions and accidentally kills him. He promptly throws the axe into the sea and retreats with his people. Karlsefni decides to return to Greenland the following spring with an abundance of the natural resources from Vinland.
[[One More Tale...]]