Full text of "In northern mists : Arctic exploration in early times"

See other formats

ff'm

//^

J-^

NORfHERN MISTS

!!i!!i!;!i!:!!!ih:!jjj!::i;iii;::: '■ MHi''!!i:!i

!'• •;' vl !'

iiHimiiimiLmiii

ns'iiiiiiiiiir,

:i;i'H.::'lii!( ::;; !!

IN NORTHERN MISTS

.. . NORTHERN MISTS

ARCTIC ^EXPLORATION IN EARLY TIMES

BY FRIDTJOF NANSEN

G.C.V.O., D.Sc, D.C.L., Ph.D., PROFESSOR OF OCEANO-
GRAPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHRISTIANIA, ETC.
TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR G. CHATER

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME TWO

LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN : MCMXI

, 1,1 ' 1^

PRINTED BY

BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD

AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS

TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN

LONDON

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

IX. [CONTINUED] WINELAND THE GOOD, THE
FORTUNATE ISLES, AND THE DIS-
COVERY OF AMERICA i

X. ESKIMO AND SKRiELING 66

XI. THE DECLINE OF THE NORSE SETTLE-
MENTS IN GREENLAND 95

XII. EXPEDITIONS OF THE NORWEGIANS TO
THE WHITE SEA, VOYAGES IN THE
POLAR SEA, WHALING AND SEALING 135

XIII. THE NORTH IN MAPS AND GEOGRAPHICAL

WORKS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 182

XIV. JOHN CABOT AND THE ENGLISH DIS-

COVERY OF NORTH AMERICA 291

XV. THE PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES IN THE

NORTH-WEST 345

CONCLUSION 379

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT WORKS
REFERRED TO 384

INDEX 397

From an Icelandic MS., fourteenth century

CHAPTER IX

[continued]

WINELAND THE GOOD, THE FORTUNATE ISLES,
AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

A CONFIRM ATION of the identity of Wineland and the Insulae chapter
Fortunatae, which in classical legend lay to the west ^^.
of Africa, occurs in the Icelandic geography (in MSS. of the ^J^e
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries) which may partly be the African
work of Abbot Nikulas of Thverd (ob. 1159) (although perhaps '^^""^^
not the part here quoted), where we read :

" South of Greenland is ' Helluland/ next to it is ' Markland/ and then it
is not far to ' Vinland hit G6tSa,' which some think to be connected with Africa
(and if this be so, then the outer ocean [i.e., the ocean surrounding the disc of
the earth] must fall in between Vinland and Markland)."^

This idea of the connection with Africa seems to have
been general in Iceland ; it may appear surprising, but, as
will be seen, it finds its natural explanation in the manner
here stated. It also appears in Norway. Besides a reference
in the " King's Mirror," the following passage in the " Historia
Norwegiss ** relating to Greenland is of particular importance :

" This country was discovered and settled by the Telensians [i.e., the Ice-
landers] and strengthened with the Catholic faith ; it forms the end of Europe
towards the west, nearly touches the African Islands (' Africanas insulas '],
where the returning ocean overflows " [i.e., falls in].

^ Of. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. pp. 216, 220 ; G. Storm, 1888, p. 12. The latter
part (in parenthesis) does not occur in the oldest MS.

II A I

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
IX

It is clear that ** Africans Insulse ** is here used directly
as a name instead of Wineland, in connection with Markland
and Hellulandy as in the Icelandic geography. But the
African Islands (i.e., originally the Canary Islands) were in

fact the Insulse
F,o rt u'n a t ae,' i n
connection with
the Gorgades and
the Hesperides ;
and thus we have
here a direct proof
that they were
looked upon as the
same.

G. storm [1890] and
A. A. Bjornbo [1909,
pp. 229, ff.] have sought
to explain the connection
of Wineland with Africa
as an attempt on the
part of the Icelandic
geographers to unite
new discoveries of
western lands with the
classical-mediaeval con-
ceptions of the continents as a continuous disc of earth with an outer surround-
ing ocean. But even if such " learned " ideas prevailed in Iceland and Norway
(cf. the " King's Mirror "J, it would nevertheless be unnatural to unite Africa and
Wineland, which lay near Hvitramanna-land, six days' sail 'west of Ireland >
unless there were other grounds for doing so. Although agreeing on the main
point, Dr. Bjornbo maintains (in a letter to me) that the Icelanders may have
got their continental conception from Isidore himself, who asserted the dogma
of the threefold division of the continental circle ; and the question whether
Wineland was African or not depended upon whether it ceime south or north of
the line running east and west through the Mediterranean. But the same Isidore
also described the Insulse Fortunatae and other coimtries as islands in the Ocean,
and his dogma could not thus have hindered Wineland from being regarded as
an island like other islands (cf. Adam of Bremen's islands}, but why then precisely
African ? Besides, the Icelandic geography and the Historia Norwegiae represent
two different conceptions, one as a continent, the other as islands. It cannot,
2

The conception of the northern and western lands
and islands in Norse literature

WINELAND THE GOOD

therefore, have been Isidore's continental dogma that caused them both to assume CHAPTER
the country to be African, It seems to me that no other explanation is here IX
possible than that given above.

It might be objected to the view that **Vinland hit The vine
G6tSa " originally meant ** Insulae Fortunata,'* that several ^^*^^,^
sorts of wild grape are found on the east coast of North
America ; it might therefore be believed that the Green-
landers really went so far and discovered these. Storm,
indeed, assumed that the wild vine grew on the outer east
coast of Nova Scotia ; but he is unable to adduce any certain
direct evidence of this, although he gives [1887, p. 48] a
statement of the Frenchman Nicolas Denys in 1672, which
points to the wild vine having grown in the interior of the
country. 1 He also mentions several statements of recent
date that wild-growing vines of one kind or another have
been observed near Annapolis and in the interior of the
country, but none on the south-east coast. Professor N. Wille
informs me that in the latest survey of the flora of North
America Vitis vulpina is specified as occurring in Nova
Scotia ; but nothing is said as to locality. The American
botanist, M. L. Fernald [1910, pp. 19, f.], on the other hand,
thinks that the wild vine (Vitis vulpina) is not certainly known
to the east of the valley of the St. John in New Brunswick
(see map, vol. i. p. 335), where it is rare and only found in the
interior. From this we may conclude that even if it should
really be found on the outer south-east coast of Nova Scotia,
it must have been very rare there, and could not possibly
have been a conspicuous feature which might have been
especially mentioned along with the wheat. But even if we
might assume that the saga was borne out to this extent, it
would be one of those accidental coincidences which often occur.
It must, of course, be admitted to be a strange chance that
the world of classical legend should have fertile lands or
islands far in the western ocean, and that Isidore should

* Storm thinks that Sir William Alexander's " red wineberries " from the
south-east coast of Nova Scotia (in 1624) would be grapes, but this is ixncertain.

CHAPTER
IX

The wild
wheat

IN NORTHERN MISTS

describe the self-grown vine and the unsown cornfields in these
Fortunate Isles, and that long afterwards fertile lands and
islands, where wild vines and various kinds of wild corn grew,
should be discovered in the same quarter. Since we have the
choice, it may be more reasonable to assume that the
Icelanders got their wine from Isidore, or from the same
vats that he drew his from, than that they fetched it from
America. Again, even if the Greenlanders and Icelanders had
found some berries on creepers in the woods — is it likely that
they would have known them to be grapes? They cannot
be expected to have had any acquaintance with the latter.^
The author of the '* Gr6nlendinga-]?dttr " in the Flateyjarbok
is so entirely ignorant of these things that he makes grapes
grow in the winter and spring (like the fruits all the year
round on the trees in the myth of the fortunate land in the
west), and makes Leif's companion Tyrker intoxicate himself
by eating grapes (like the Irishmen in the Irish legends), and
finally makes Leif cut down vine-trees (** vinvi6 ") and fell
trees to load his ship, and at last fill the long-boat with grapes
(as in the Irish legends) ; in the voyage of Thorvald Ericson
they also collect grapes and vine-trees for a cargo, and Karls-
evne took home with him *' many costly things : vine- trees,
grapes and furs." It is scarcely likely that seafaring Green-
landers about 380 years earlier had any better idea of the vine
than this saga- writer, and we hear nothing in Eric's Saga about
Leif or his companions having ever been in southern Europe.
No doubt it is for this very reason that the " Gronlendinga-
)?dttr " makes a ** southman," Tyrker, find the grapes.

Wheat is not a wild cereal native to America. It has
therefore been supposed that the * * self-sown wheat-fields ' '
of Wineland might have been the American cereal maize.

^ ** Vinber " (grapes) are mentioned in the whole of Old Norse literature
only in the translation of the Bible called **Stj6rn," in the '* Gronlendinga-
]?4ttr,'* and in a letter (Dipl. Norv.) where they are mentioned as raisins or dried
grapes. In addition, " vinber jakongull " (a bunch of grapes) occurs in the Saga
of Eric the Red.

WINELAND THE GOOD
As this proved to be untenable, Professor Schiibeler i proposed CHAPTER

that it might have been the * ' wild rice, ' ' also called * * water
oats" (Zizania aquatica), an aquatic plant that grows by
rivers and lakes in North America. But apart from the
fact that the plant grows in the water and has little
resemblance to wheat, although the ripe ear is said to be
like a wheat-ear, there is the difficulty that it is essentially
an inland plant, which is not known in Nova Scotia. * * Though
it occurs locally in a few New England rivers, it attains its
easternmost known limit in the lower reaches of the St. John
in New Brunswick, being apparently unknown in Nova Scotia ' '
[Fernald, 1910, p. 26]. For proving that Wineland was Nova
Scotia it is therefore of even less use than the wine.

It results in consequence that the attempts made hitherto
to bring the natural conditions of the east coast of North
America into agreement with the saga's description of
Wineland ^ have not been able to afford any natural explana-

1 Schiibeler, Christiania Videnskabs-Selskabs Forhandlinger for 1858, pp. 21,
ff. ; Viridarium Norvegium, i. pp. 253, f.

^ It should be mentioned that the American botanist, M. L. Fernald, has recently
[1910] made an attempt to locate the Icelanders' Wineland the Good in southern
Labrador, explaining the " vinber " of the Icelandic sagas as a sort of currant
or as whortleberry, the self-sown wheat as the Icelanders' lyme-grass (Elymus
arenarius), and the " masurr " as " valbirch." By assuming " vinber " to be
whortleberries he even thinks he can explain how it was that Leif in the " Gronlen-
dinga-l?attr ' ' was able to fill the ship with ' ' grapes ' ' in the spring (and what of the
vine-trees that he cut down to load his ship, were they whortleberry-bushes ?).
Apart from the surprising circumstance of the Icelanders having called a country
Wineland the Good because whortleberries grew there, the explanation is inad-
missible on the ground that whortleberries were never called * ' vlnber ' ' (wine-
berries) in Old Norse or Icelandic. Currants have in more recent times been called
" vinbaer " in Norway and Iceland, but were not known there before the close
of the Middle Ages. In ancient times the Norse people did not know how to make
wine from any berry but the black crowberry ; but there are plenty of these in
Greenland, and it was not necessary to travel to Labrador to collect them. Fernald
does not seem to have remarked that the sagas most frequently use the expression
" vinviSr," or else " vinvit5r " and " vinber " together, and this can only mean
vines and grapes. His explanation of the self-sown wheat-fields does not seem any
happier. That the Icelanders should have reported these as something so remark-
able in Wineland is not likely, if it was nothing but the lyme-grass with which

CHAPTER
IX

Encounters
with the
Skraelings
in Wine-
land

IN NORTHERN MISTS

tion of the striking juxtaposition of the two leading features
of the latter, the wild vine and the self-sown wheat,
which are identical with the two leading features in the
description of the Insulse Fortunatse. If it were permis-
sible to prove in this way that the ancient Norsemen
reached the east coast of North America, then it might be
concluded with almost equal right that the Greeks and
Romans of antiquity were there ; for they already had the
same two features in their descriptions of the fortunate isles
in the west. It should be remembered that wheat was not
a commonly known cereal in the North, where it was not
cultivated, and it would hardly be natural for the Icelanders
to use that particular name for a wild species of corn. Both
wheat and grapes or vines were to them foreign ideas, and the
remarkable juxtaposition of these very two words shows that
they came together from southern Europe, where, as has
been said, we find them in Isidore, and where wine and wheat
were important commercial products which one often finds
mentioned together.

If we now proceed further in the description of the Wine-
land voyages in the Saga of Eric the Red, we come to the
encounters with the Skraelings. These encounters are, of
course, three in number : first they come to see, then to
trade, and then to fight; this again recalls the fairy-tale.
The narrative itself of the battle with the Skraelings has
borrowed features. The Skraelings' catapults make one think
of the civilised countries of Europe, where catapults (i.e..

they were familiar in Iceland. On the other hand, it is possible that the " mAsurr "
of the sagas only meant valbirch. But apart from this, how can the sagas' descrip-
tion of Wineland— where no snow fell, where there was hardly any frost, the grass
scarcely withered, and the cattle were out the whole winter — be applied to Lab-
rador ? Or where are Markland or Helluland to be looked for, or FurSustrjmdir
and Kjalames ? Nor do we gain any more connection in the voyage as a whole. It
will therefore be seen that, even if Professor Fernald had been right in his interpre-
tation of the three words above mentioned, this would not help us much ; and
when we find that these very features of the vine and the wheat are derived from
classical myths, such attempts at explanation become of minor interest.

WINELAND THE GOOD

engines for throwing stones, mangonels) and Greek fire (?) CHAPTER

were in use.

Icelandic representation 'of the northern and western lands
as connected with one another, by Sigurd Stefansson, circa
1590 (Torfseus, 1706). Cf. G. Storm, 1887, pp. 28, ff.

^ Professor Alexander Bugge has pointed out to me that Schoolcraft [1851, i.
p. 85, pi. 15] mentions a tradition among the Algonkin Indians that they had
used as a weapon of war in ancient times a great round stone, which was sewed
into a piece of raw hide and fastened thereby to the end of a long wooden shaft.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Catapults, which are also mentioned in the " King's Mirror," had a long beam

IX or lever-arm, at the outer end of which was a bowl or sling, wherein was laid

a heavy round stone, or more rarely a barrel of combustible material or the like
[cf . O. Blom, 1867, pp. 103, f .]. In the " King's Mirror " it is also stated that mineral
coal (" jarSkol ") and sulphur were thrown ; the stones for casting were also
made of baked clay with pebbles in it. When these clay balls were slung out
and fell, they burst in pieces, so that the enemy had nothing to throw back. The
great black ball, which is compared to a sheep's paunch, and which made such
an ugly sound (report ?) when it fell that it frightened the Greenlanders, also
reminds one strongly of the ** herbrestr " (war-crash, report) which Laurentius
Kdlfsson's saga [cap. 8 in "Biskupa Sogur," i. 1858, p. 798] relates that Prindr
Fisiler,^ from Flanders, produced at the court of Eric Magnusson in Bergen,
at Christmas 1294. I* " gives such a loud report that few men can bear to hear
it ; women who are with child and hear the crash are prematurely delivered,
and men fall from their seats on to the floor, or have various fits. Thrand told
Laurentius to put his fingers in his ears when the crash came. . . . Thrand showed
Laurentius what was necessary to produce the crash, and there are four things :
fire, brimstone, parchment and tow.^ Men often have recourse in battle to such
a war-crash, so that those who do not know it may take to flight." Laurentius
was a priest, afterwards bishop (1323-30) in Iceland ; the saga was probably
written about 1350 by his friend and confidant, the priest Einar HafliSason. It
seems as though we have here precisely the same notions as appear in the descrip-
tion of the fight with the Skraelings. It is true that this visit of Thrand to Bergen
would be later than the Saga of Eric the Red is generally assumed to have been
written ; but this may have been about 1300. Besides, there is no reason why
the story of the *' herbrestr " should not have found its way to Iceland earlier.^

The resemblance between such a weapon with a shaft for throwing and the Skrsl-
ings' black ball is distant ; but it is not impossible that ancient reports of some-
thing of the sort may have formed the nucleus upon which the *' modernised "
description of the saga has crystallised ; although the whole thing is uncertain.
This Algonkin tradition has a certain similarity with some Greenland Eskimo
fairy-tales [cf. Rink, 1866, p. 139].

1 As arquebuses or guns had not yet been invented at that time, this strange
name may, as proposed by Moltke Moe, come from " fusillus " or ** fugillu« "
(an implement for striking fire] and mean "he who makes fire," "the fire-
striker. ' '

2 Evidently saltpetre has been forgotten here, and so we have gunpowder,
which thus must have been already employed in war at that time, and perhaps
long before.

3 Moltke Moe has found a curious resemblance to the description of the
" herbrestr " given above in the Welsh tale of Kulhwch and Olwen [Heyman :
Mabinogion, p. 78], where there is a description of a war-cry so loud that " all
women who are with child fall into sickness, and the others are smitten with
disease, so that the milk dries up in their breasts." But this ** herbrestr " may

WINELAND THE GOOD

In any case this part of the tale of the Wineland voyages has quite a European CHAPTER
air. ^^

For the rest, this feature too seems to have a connection
with the "Navigatio Brandani." It is there related that
they approach an island of smiths, where the inhabitants are
filled with fire and darkness. Brandan was afraid of the
island ; one of the inhabitants came out of his house ' * as
though on an errand of necessity ' ' ; the brethren want to
sail away and escape, but

" the said barbarian runs down to the beach bearing a long pair of tongs in his
hand with a fiery mass in a skin ^ of immense size and heat ; he instantly throws
it after the servants of Christ, but it did not injure them, it went over them about
a stadium farther off, but when it fell into the sea, the water began to boil as
though a fire-spouting mountain were there, and smoke arose from the sea as
fire from a baker's oven." The other inhabitants then rush out and throw their
masses of fire, but Brandan and the brethren escape [Schroder, i87i,p. 28].

In the narrative of Maelduin's voyage a similar story
is told of the smith who with a pair of tongs throws a fiery
mass over the boat, so that the sea boils, but he does not
hit them, as they hastily fly out into the open sea [cf. Zimmer,
1889, PP« 163, 329]. The resemblances to Karlsevne and
his people flying with all speed before the black ball of the

also be compared with the " vabrestr " spoken of in the Fosterbrothers* Saga
[Gronl. hist. Mind., ii. pp. 334, 412], which M. Haegstad and A. Torp [Gamal-
norsk Ordbog] translate by "crash announcing disaster or great news" [cf.
I. Aasen, " vederbrest "). Fritzner translates it by "sudden crash causing
surprise and terror," and K. Maurer by " Schadenknall. " It would therefore
seem to be something supernatural that causes fear [cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., ii.
p. 198]. The " Gronlandske historiske Mindesmserker " mention in the same '
connection " isbrestr " or " jokulbrestr " in Iceland. I have myself had good
opportunities of studying that kind of report in glaciers, and my opinion is that
it comes from a starting of the glacier, or through the latter skrinking from changes
of temperature ; similar reports, but less loud, are heard in the ice on lakes and
fjords. Burgomaster H. Berner tells me that the small boys of Krodsherred make
what they call "kolabrest," by heating charcoal on a fiat stone and throwing
water upon it while simultaneously striking the embers with the back of an axe,
which produces a sharp report.

^ Scorium (slag) is also used in mediaeval Latin for " corium," animal's skin,
hide.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Skraelings, like a sheep's paunch, which is flung over them
'^ from a pole and makes an ugly noise when it falls, is

obvious ; but at the same time it looks as though this
incident of the Irish myth — which is an echo of the classical
Cyclopes of the ^neid and Odyssey (cf. Polyphemus and the
Cyclopes), and the great stones that were thrown at Odysseus
— had been ** modernised " by the saga- writer, who has
transferred mediaeval European catapults and explosives to
the Indians.

The curious expression — used when the Skraelings come
in the spring for the second time to Karlsevne's settlement
— that they came rowing in a multitude of hide canoes,
*' as many as though [the sea] had been sown with coal
before the H6p " [i.e., the bay], seems to find its explanation
in some tale like that of the " Imram Brenaind '* [cf.
Zimmer, 1889, p. 138], where Brandan and his companions
come to a small deserted land, and the harbour they entered
was immediately filled with ** demons in the form of pygmies
and dwarfs, who were as black as coal."

The * ' hellustein ' ' (flat stone) which lay fixed in the skull
of the fallen Thorbrand Snorrason is a curious missile, and
reminds one of trolls (cf. Arab myth, chapter xiii.). Features
such as that of the Skraelings being supposed to know that
white shields meant peace and red ones war have an
altogether European effect.^

^ The poles that are swung the way of the sun or against it seem incompre-
hensible, and something of the meaning must have been lost in the transference
of this incident from the tale from which it was borrowed. It may be derived
from the kayak paddles of the Greenland Eskimo, which at a distance look like
poles being swung, with or against the sun according to the side they are seen
from. It may be mentioned that in the oldest MS. of Eric the Red's Saga, in the
Hauksb6k, the reading is not ** trjdnum " as in the later MS., but ** triom '*
and ** trionum." Now " tri6nimi " or " trj6num " might mesm either poles or
snouts, and one would then be led to think of the Indians' animal masks, or
again, of the trolls' long snouts or animal trunks, which we find again in fossil
forms in the fairy-tales, and even in games that are still preserved in Gudbrandsdal,
under the name of " trono " (the regular Gudbrandsdal phonetic development of
Old Norse *' trj6na "), where people cover their heads with an animal's skin
10

WINELAND THE GOOD

Another purely legendary feature in the description of the chapter
fight is that of Freydis frightening the Skraelings by taking ^^
her breasts out of her sark and whetting the sword on them
C ok slettir d sverdit "). As it stands in the saga this
incident is not very comprehensible, and appears to have
been borrowed from elsewhere. Possibly, as Moltke Moe
thinks, it may be connected in some way with the legend of
the wood-nymph with the long breasts who was pursued by
the hunter. The mention of Unipeds and ** Einfotinga-
land ** shows that classical myths have also been adopted.
The idea was, moreover, widely current in the Middle Ages.
Thus in the so-called Nancy map of Claudius Clavus (of about
1426) we find " unipedes maritimi " in the extreme north-
east of Greenland. In the " Heimslysing ** in the Hauksbdk
[F. J6nsson, 1892, p. 166] and in the **Rymbegla" [1780]
** Einfotingar " are mentioned with a foot "so large that
they shade themselves from the sun with it while asleep **
(cf. also Adam of Bremen, vol. i. p. 189). But in the Saga
of Eric the Red the incident of the Uniped and the pursuit of
him are described as realistically as the encounters with the
Skrselings. Einfotinga-land is also mentioned in the same
manner as Skraelinga-land in its vicinity.

In reading the Icelandic sagas and narratives about Wine- TheSkrael-

land and Greenland one cannot avoid being struck by the ^"?^*^®

** "^ originally

remarkable, semi-mythical way in which the natives, the mythical
Skraelings, are always spoken of ; ^ even Are Frode's mention ^«i"gs

and put on a long troll's snout with two wooden jaws. But that snouts were
waved with or against the sun does not give any better meaning ; there may
be some confusion here.

1 It is worth remarking that Gustav Storm, although he did not doubt that
the Skraelings of Wineland were really the natives, seems nevertheless to have
been on the track of the same idea as is here put forward, when he says in his
valuable work on the Wineland voyages [1887, p. 57, note i] : "It should be
remarked, however, that this inquiry [into ' the nationality of the American
Skraelings '] is rendered difficult by the fact that in the old narratives the Skraelings
are everywhere enveloped, wholly or in part, by a mythical tinge ; thus even here
[in the Saga of Eric the Red] they are on the way to becoming trolls, which they
really become in the later sagas. No doubt it is learned myths of the outskirts

CHAPTER
IX

IN NORTHERN MISTS

of them appears strange. Through finding the connection
between Wineland the Good and the Fortunate Isles, and
between the latter again and the lands of the departed, the
" huldrelands, " fairylands, and the lands of the Irish " sid,"
I arrived at the kindred idea that perhaps Skraeling was
originally a name for those gnomes or brownies or mythical
beings, and that it was these that Are Frode meant by the

people who " were
inhabiting Wineland"
— and further, that
when the Icelanders
in Greenland found
a strange, small,
foreign-looking
people, with hide
canoes and imple-
ments of stone, bone
and wood, which also
looked strange to
them, they naturally
regarded them as
these same Skrael-
ings ; and then they
may afterwards have found similar people (Eskimo, and
perhaps Indians) on the coast of America. It agrees with
the view of the Skraelings as a small people that elves and
brownies in Norway were small, often only two or three
feet high, and that the underground or huldre-folk in
Skane were called " Pysslingar " (dwarfs). This idea that

of the inhabited world that have here been at work." In a later work [1890a,
P- 357] ^^ says that it is " certain enough that in the Middle Ages the Scandi-
navians knew no other people in Greenland and the American countries lying
to the south of it than ' Skraelings,' who were not accounted real human beings
and whose name was always translated into Latin as * Pygmaei.' " If Storm had
remarked the connection between the classical and Irish legends and the ideas
about Wineland, the further step of regarding the Skraelings as originally mythical
beings would have been natural.
12

Eskimos cutting up a whale. Wood-cut from

Greenland, illustrating a fairy-tale ; drawn

and engraved by a native

WINELAND THE GOOD

the Skraeling was originally a brownie was strengthened chapter
by the discovery of the above-mentioned probable con-
nection between many features in the description of the
Skraelings' appearance in Wineland and the demons, like
pygmies and dwarfs, that Brandan meets with in a land ih
the sea (see p. lo), and the smiths (or Cyclopes) in another
island who throw masses of fire at Brandan and Maelduin
(see p. 9). That Unipeds and Skraelings are both men-
tioned as equally real inhabitants of the new countries, and
that a Uniped even kills Thorvald Ericson near Wineland, and
is pursued, points in the same direction.

I then asked Professor Alf Torp whether he knew of any-
thing that might confirm such an interpretation of the word
Skraeling ; he at once mentioned the German word * * walt-
schreckel " for a wood-troll, and afterwards wrote to me as
follows :

" The word I spoke about is found in modem German dialects : * schrahelein '
* ein zauberisches Wesen, Wichtlein ' ; cf. Middle High German ' walt-
schreckel,' which is translated by * faunus.' This ' schrahelein ' (from the
Upper Palatinate) agrees entirely both in form and meaning with * skraelingr ' :
the only difference is that one has the diminutive termination ' *-ilin ' (primary
form * * skrahilin '), the other the diminutive termination ' -iling ' (primary
form * * skrahiling '). The primary meaning was doubtless * shrunken figure,
dwarf.' From a synonymous verbal root come the synonymous M.H.G. words
' schraz ' and ' schrate,' ^ ' Waldteufel, Kobold.' This seems greatly to
strengthen your interpretation of * skraelingr ' as * brownie ' or the like.
Now, of course, ' skraeling ' means ' puny person ' or the like, but it is to
be remarked that we do not find that meaning in the ancient language."

It seems to me that this communication is of great
importance. It is striking that the word Skraeling is never
used in the whole of Old Norse literature as a term of
reproach or to denote a wretched man, and there must have
been plenty of opportunity for this if it had been a word of

^ This is the same word as the Old Norse " skratti " or *' skrati " for troll
(poet.) or wizard. " Skraea," "sickly shrunken and bony person," in modem
Norwegian, from north-west Telemarken [H. Ross], is evidently the same word
as Skraeling; cf. also " skraealeg " and "skraeleg"; further, "Skreda"
(Skreeaa), ** sickly, feeble person, poor wretch," from outer Nordmor [H. Ross].

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER common application with its present meaning, and not a
IX special designation for brownies. It only occurs there as applied

to the Skraelings of Wineland, Markland and Greenland.
Again, the Skraelings in Greenland are called "troll" or
** troUkonur *' in the Icelandic narratives, and in the descrip-
tions of the Wineland voyages demoniacal properties are
attributed to them as to the underground folk. In the fight
with the Skraelings they frightened Karlsevne and his people
not only with the great magic ball,^ but also by glamour.
And in the *' Gr6nlendinga-]?attr *' it is related that when
the I Skraelings came for the second time to trade with
Karlsevne,

"his wife Gudrid was sitting within the door by the cradle of her son Snorre,
and there walked in a woman in a black gown, rather low in stature, and she
had a band on her head, and light-brown hair, was pale and big-eyed, so that no
one had seen such big eyes in any human head. She went up to where Gudrid
sat, and said : What is thy name ? says she. My name is Gudrid, and what is
thy name ? My name is Gudrid, says she. Then Gudrid, the mistress of the house,
stretched out her hand to her, and she sat down beside her ; but then it happened
at the same time that Gudrid heard a great crash [* brest mikinn,* cf. the noise
or crash of the great ball in the Saga of Eric the Red] and that the woman dis-
appeared, and at the same moment a Skraeling was slain by one of Karlsevne 's
servants, because he had tried to take their weapons, and they [the Skraelings]
went away as quickly as possible ; but they left their clothes and wares behind
them. No one had seen this woman but Gudrid. "^

This phantasmal Gudrid is obviously a gnome or under-
ground woman ; and as she makes both her appearance and
disappearance together with the Skraelings it is reasonable
to suppose that they too were of the same kind, like the
illusions in the battle with the Skraelings. It is further to
be remarked that she is short, and has extraordinarily large
eyes, exactly as is said of the Skraelings and of huldre- and
troll-folk (cf. vol. i. p. 327), and also of pygmies.

^ It is, perhaps, of importance, as Professor Torp has mentioned to me, that the
word " bid " is more often used than "svart " (black J, when speaking of trolls
and magic, as an uncanny colour. This may have been a common Germanic
trait ; cf. Rolf Blue-beard.

2 Gronl. hist. Mind., i. p. 242 ; G. Storm, 1891, p. 68.

WINELAND THE GOOD

On account of the identity of name one might perhaps be chapter
tempted to think that it was Gudrid's ** fylgja ' ' (fetch) coming to ^^
warn her. But she does nothing of the kind in the saga, nor was
there any reason for it, as the Skraelings came to trade with
peaceful intentions, and fled as soon as there was disagree-
ment. But the story is obscure and confused, and it is
probable that this is a borrowed incident, and that something
of the meaning or connection has dropped out in the transfer.
Another remarkable feature (which Moltke Moe has pointed
out to me) is that while in
Eric's Saga Karlsevne pays
for the Skraelings' furs and
red cloth, in the "Gron-
lendinga-]?dttr ' ' he makes
* * the women carry out
milk -food (* bunyt ') to
them " (it was placed out-
side the house or even
outside the fence), "and as
soon as the Skrslings saw

milk-food they would buy that and nothing else." Now the
natives of America cannot possibly have known milk-food ;
but on the other hand it happens to be a characteristic of
the underground folk that they are fond of milk and por-
ridge (cream-porridge), which is put out for the mound-
elves and the ** nisse." Another underground feature comes
out in the incident of the five Skraelings in Markland, three
of whom ** escaped and sank into the earth " ("ok sukku
i jor$ niSr"). Possibly the statement that the people in
Markland "lived in rock-shelters and caves " may have a
similar connection.

As the Skraelings of Greenland were dark, it was quite
natural that they should become trolls, and not elves, which
were fair.

It may also be supposed that the troll-like nature of
the Skraelings is shown in the curious circumstance that

Fight with mythical creatures
[From an Icelandic MS.)

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Are Frode, speaking of them in Greenland, only mentions
^ dwelling-places and remains of boats and stone implements

that they had left behind (see vol. i. p. 260), as a sign that they
had been both in the east and west of the country, while the
people themselves are never mentioned ; this is like troll-
folk, who leave their traces without being seen themselves.
One might suppose that such a mode of expression agreed
best with the current Icelandic view of them as trolls. In
a similar way it might be related of the first discoverer of an
earlier Norway, inhabited only by supernatural beings, that
he found traces both in the east and the west of the land
which showed that the kind of folk (*' ]?j6S ") had been there
that inhabit Risaland, and that the Norwegians call giants.
In this way possibly this passage in Are may be understood
(but cf. p. 77) ; it might be objected that this expression ;
who ** inhabited Wineland " (" hefer bygt ") does not
suggest troll-folk, but real human beings ; if, however, the
existence of these troll-folk is supported by the actual finding
of natives, in any case in Greenland (and doubtless also in
Markland), then such an expression cannot appear unreason-
able. Besides, there would be a general tendency on the part
of the rationalising Icelanders, with their pronounced sense
of realistic description, to make these trolls or brownies or
" demons " into living human beings in Wineland, while
the designation of troll still persisted for a long time in
Greenland, side by side with Skrseling — as a name approxi-
mately synonymous therewith. The realistic description of
the Uniped affords a parallel to this. One is inclined to think
that the Skrselings of the saga have come about through a
combination of the original mythical creatures (like the
sid-people in the Irish happy lands) to whom at first the
name belonged with the Eskimo that the Icelanders found
in Greenland, and perhaps the Eskimo and Indians that
they found on the north-east coast of North America. It is,
as in fact Moltke Moe has maintained in his lectures, by the
fusing of materials taken from the world of myth and from
16

WINELAND THE GOOD

reality that the human imagination is rendered most fertile CHAPTER
and creative in the formation of legend. The points of ^^
departure may often be pure accidents, resemblances of one
kind or another, which have a fructifying effect.

That the Skraelings, from being originally living natives,
should later have become trolls or brownies, is an idea that
Storm among others seems to have entertained (cf. note,
p. ii); but this would be the reverse of what usually
happens. That the Eskimo should have made a strange
and supernatural impression on the superstitious Norsemen
when they first met them is natural, and so it is that this
impression should have persisted so long, until it gradually
wore off through more intimate acquaintance with them in
Greenland ; but the contrary, that the supernatural ideas
about them should only have developed gradually, although
they were constantly meeting them, is incredible.

In Scandinavian literature also we find mythical ideas
attached to the Skraelings of Greenland. In the Norwegian
" Historia Norwegiae " (thirteenth century) it is said that
when ** they are struck with weapons while alive, their
wounds are white and do not bleed, but when they are dead
the blood scarcely stops running." The Dane Claudius
Clavus (fifteenth century) relates that there were pygmies in
Greenland two feet high (like our elves and brownies), and
the same is reported in a letter to Pope Nicholas V. (circa
1450), with the addition that they hide themselves in the
caves of the country like ants (see next chapter) ; that
is, like underground beings, although this trait may well
be derived from knowledge of the Eskimo. Mythical tales
about the Greenland Eskimo also appear in Olaus Magnus,
and in Jacob Ziegler's Scondia (sixteenth century) [cf. Gronl.
hist. Mind., iii. pp. 465, 501].

A little touch like that of Thorvald Ericson drawing the Borrowed
Uniped's arrow out of his intestines and saying : " There is ^^**"^®^
fat in the bowels, a good land have we found . . .'' shows
how the saga-writer embroidered his romance : Thorvald was
II B 17

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER ^^^ ^^^ °^ ^ chief and naturally required a more honourable
IX death than other men. The Fosterbrothers' Saga and Snorre

have the same thing about Thormod Kolbrunarskald at the
battle of Stiklestad, when he drew out the arrow and said,
*' Well hath the king nourished us, there is still fat about
the roots of my heart." But of course there had to be a
slight difference ; while Thormod receives the arrow in the
roots of his heart and has been well treated by the king,
Thorvald gets it in his small intestines and has been well
nourished by the country. Similar features are found in
other Icelandic sagas.

It is a characteristic point that both in the '* Navigatio
Brandani " and in the " Imram Maelduin " three of the
companions perish, or disappear, either through demons or
mythical beings. With this the circumstance that in Karls-
evne's voyage three of his companions fall, two by the
Skrselings and one by a Uniped, seems to correspond. We
may also compare the incident in the " Imram Brenaind "
where Brandan and his companions come to a large, lofty
and beautiful island, where there are dwarfs (" luchrupdn ")
like monkeys, who instantly fill the beach and want to swallow
them, and devour one of the men (the ** crosan ") (cf. the
circumstance that in the fight with the Skraelings two men
fell, of whom only one is mentioned by name).

When it is related first that Karlsevne found five Skraelings
asleep near Wineland, whom they took for exiles (!) and
therefore slew, and that in the following year they again found
five Skraelings, of whom, however, they only took two boys,
while the others escaped, we may probably regard these as
two variants of the same story. This feature also has an air
of being borrowed in its dubious form, especially in the
former passage ; but I have not yet discovered from whence
it may be derived.

In the " Gr6nlendinga-J>attr " there is yet another variant. There Thorvald
Ericson and his men see three hide-boats on the beach, and three men under each.
" Then they divided their people, and took them all except one who got away

WINELAND THE GOOD

with his boat. They killed the eight. . . ." This is altogether improbable. Since CHAPTER
one man could run away with his boat, the hide-boats must be supposed to be xx
kayaks, and the men Eskimo ; but in that case only one man would have been
lying under each ; if they were larger boats (women's boats ?) it would be unlike
the Eskimo for three men to lie under each, and in any case one man could not
run away with a boat.

The tale of the kidnapped Skraeling children also shows
incidents and ideas from wholly different quarters that have
been introduced into this saga. That the grown-up Skraeling
was bearded (" skeggja^r ") agrees, of course, neither with
Eskimo nor Indians, but it agrees very well with trolls,
brownies and pygmies, and also with the hermits of the Irish
legends who were heavily clothed with hair. That this
man, with the two women who escaped, " sank down into
the earth " has already been mentioned as an underground
feature. That the Skrslings of Markland had no houses,
but lived in caves, does not sound any more probable ;
unless indeed this feature is taken from underground gnomes,
it may come from the hermits in Irish legends. Thus the
holy Paulus [Schroder, 1871, p. 32] dwelt in a cave and was
covered with snow-white hair and beard (cf. the bearded
Skrsling), whom Brandan met on an island a little while
before he came to the Terra Repromissionis (cf. the cir-
cumstance that Markland lay a little to the north of Wine-
land). The myth of Hvitramanna-land is derived from
Ireland, and has of course nothing to do with the Skrsling
boys. Storm, it is true, thought they might have told of a
great country (Canada or New Brunswick) with inhabitants
in the west, which later became the Irish mythical land ;
but this too is not very credible. The names they gave are
obviously not to be relied on : they may be later inventions,
from which no conclusion at all can be drawn as to the
language of the Skr slings, as has been attempted by earlier
inquirers.^ The two kings' names, " Avalldamon '* and

^ W. Thalbitzer's attempt [1905, pp. 190, ff.] to explain the words, not as
originally names, but as accidental, misunderstood Eskimo sentences, which are

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER " Avalldidida " (or " Valldidida "), which are attributed to

^^ them, may be supposed to be connected with " Ivaldr '* or

" ivaldi." He was of elfin race, was the father of Idun,

who guarded the apples of rejuvenation, and his sons,

" ivalda synir," were the elves who made the hair for Sif,

the spear Gungner for Odin, and Skit5blat5nir for Frey.

In Bede he is called " Hewald,*' and in the Anglo-Saxon

translation " Hedvold." ^ The name *' Vaetilldi " (nom.

** Vaetilldr " ?) of the mother of the Skraeling boys recalls

Norse names ; it might be a combination of * * vaetr ' ' or

"vaettr " (gnome, sprite, cf. modern Norwegian '* vaett," a

female sprite) and " -hildr " (ace, dat. *' -hildi *') ; the word

is' also written in some MSS. ** Vaetthildi," "Vetthildi,"

"Vethildi," "Veinhildi."

The The last tale of Bjarne Grimolfsson who got into the

maggot-sea maggot-sea (" ma^k-sjdr ") bears a stamp of travellers*

tales as marked as those of the Liver-sea. But even this

feature seems to have prototypes in the Irish legends ; it

resembles the incident in the tale of the voyage of the three

sons of Ua Corra (twelfth century ?), where the sea-monsters

gnaw away the second hide from under the boat (which

originally had three hides) [cf. Zimmer, 1889, pp. 193, 199].

It will therefore be seen that the whole narrative of the

supposed to have survived orally for over 250 years, does not appear probable (see
next chapter).

^ Moltke Moe has called my attention to the possibility of a connection between
" Avalldamon " and the Welsh myth of the isle of " Avallon " (the isle of apple-
trees ; cf. vol. i. pp. 365, 379), to which Morgan le Fay carried King Arthur. It is
also possible that it may be connected with " daemon " and " vald " ( = power,
might}. The possibility suggested above seems, however, to be nearer the mark.

The Skraelings of Markland having kings agrees, of course, neither with
Indians nor Eskimo, who no more had kings than the Greenlanders and Ice-
landers themselves. On the other hand, it exactly fits elves and gnomes. The
Ekeberg king and other mountain kings are well known in Norway. The elves
of Iceland had a king who was subject to the superior elf-king in Norway. The
sid-people in Ireland, the pygmies and gnomes in other lands (such as Wales)
also have kings. This feature again points, therefore, in the direction of the fairy-
nature of the Skraelings, like the name " Vatthildr."

WINELAND THE GOOD
Wineland voyages is a mosaic of one feature after another chapter

gathered from east and west. Is there, then, anything left
that may be genuine ? To this it may be answered that narrative a
even if the romance of the voyages be for the most mosaic
part invented — to some extent perhaps from ancient lays —
the chief persons themselves may be more or less historical.
It is nevertheless curious that it should be reserved to father
and son first to discover and settle Greenland, and then
accidentally to discover Wineland. That to Leif, the
young leader, should further be attributed the introduction
of Christianity, and that he should thus represent the new
faith in opposition to his father, the old leader, who repre-
sented heathendom, may also seem a remarkable coincidence,
but it may find an explanation in the probability of a new
faith being introduced by men of influence, and just as in
Norway it was done by kings, so in Greenland it was
naturally the work of the future chief of the free state.
Although it is strange that such a circumstance should not be
mentioned when Leif 's name occurs in the oldest authorities
(** Landnama "), this may thus appear probable. On the other
hand, no such explanation can be found for the circumstance
that he of all others should accidentally discover America. It
would be somewhat different if, as in the ** Gronlendinga-
]?attr," Leif had of set purpose gone out to find new land, like
his father. It is also curious that in the saga we hear no
more either of Leif or his ship on the new voyages, after his
accidental discovery, while it is another, Karlsevne, who
becomes the hero. It looks as though the tale of Leif had
been inserted without proper connection. In the "Gron-
lendinga-]?attr, " too, this discovery is attributed to another
man, Bjarne Herjolfsson, which shows that the tradition
about Leif was not firmly rooted. It may be supposed that
there was a tradition in Iceland of the discovery of new land
to the south-west of Greenland, and this became connected
with the legends of the fortunate "Wineland the Good."
Popular belief then searched for a name with which to

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER connect the discovery, and as it could not take that of the
^^ discoverer of Greenland itself, the aged Eric who was estab-

lished at Brattalid, it occurred to many to take that of his
son ; whilst others chose another. It is doubtless not
impossible that Leif was the man ; but what is suggested
above, coupled with so much else that is legendary in connec-
tion with the voyages of him and the others, does not
strengthen the probability of it.

But however this may be, it may in any case be regarded
as certain that the Greenlanders discovered the American
continent, even though we are without any means of deter-
mining how far south they may have penetrated. The
statements as to the length of the shortest day in Wineland,
which are given in the Flateyjarbdk's "Gr6nlendinga-]?dttr,"
are scarcely to be more depended upon than other statements
in this romantic tale.

* It might be objected that when it is so distinctly stated that " it was there
more equinoctial [i.e., the day and night were more nearly equal in length] than
in Greenland or Iceland, the sun there had * eykt ' position and ' dagmal *
position [i.e., was visible between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.] on the shortest day "
[cf. Gr. h. Mind., i. p. 218 ; G. Storm, 1891, p. 58 ; 1887, pp. i, ff.], this
shows that the Greenlanders were actually there and made this observa-
tion. In support of this view it might also be urged that it was not so
very long (about forty years) before the Flateyjarb6k was written that the
ship from Markland (see later) arrived at Iceland in 1347, and through the
men on board her the Icelanders might have got such information as to the
length of days. This can hardly be altogether denied ; but it would have been
about Markland rather than Wineland that they would have heard, and Markland
is only once mentioned in passing in the " Gr6nlendinga-)>attr.' ' Moreover, it was
common in ancient times to denote the latitude by the length of the longest or shortest
day (cf. vol. i. pp. 52, 64), and the latter in particular must have been natural to
Northerners (cf. vol. i. p. 133). The passage quoted above would thus be a general
indication that Wineland lay in a latitude so much to the south of Greenland
as its shortest day was longer ; they had no other means of expressing this in a
saga, nor had they perhaps any other means of describing the length of the day
than that here used. It appears from the Saga, of Eric the Red that Kjalames was
reckoned to be in the same latitude as Ireland (see vol. i. p. 326) ; as a consequence
of this we might expect that Wineland would lie in a more southern latitude than
the south of Ireland, the latitude of which (i.e., the length of the shortest day]
was certainly well known in Iceland. If, therefore, in a tale of the fourteenth

WINELAND THE GOOD

Incidents such as the bartering for skins with the Wineland chapter
Skraelings, and the combat with unfortunate results, seem to ^^
refer to something that actually took place ; they cannot that atmear
easily be explained from the legends of the Fortunate Isles, genuine
nor can representations of fighting in which the Norsemen
were worsted be derived from Greenland. They must rather
be due to encounters with Indians ; for it is incredible that
the Greenlanders or Icelanders should have described in this
way fights with the unwarlike Eskimo, or at all events with
the Greenland Eskimo, who, even if they had been of a warlike
disposition, cannot have had any practice in the art of war.
This in itself shows that the Greenlanders must have reached
America, and come in contact with the natives there.

The very mention of the countries to the south-west :
first the treeless and rocky Helluland (Labrador ?), then the
wooded Markland (Newfoundland ?) farther south, and then
the fertile Wineland south of that, may also point to local
knowledge. It must be admitted that this could be explained
away as having been put together from the general experience
that countries in the north are treeless, but become more
fertile as one proceeds southward ; but the names Helluland
and especially Markland have in themselves an appearance
of genuineness, as also has Kjalarnes. The different saga-
writers, in the Saga of Eric the Red and in the Flateyjarbok's
** Gr6nlendinga-]?attr, " give different explanations of the reason
for the name of Kjalarnes, which shows that the name is an
old one and that the explanations have been invented later
(cf. vol. i. p. 324). A point which agrees remarkably well
with the trend of the Labrador coast and may point to
a certain knowledge of it, is that Karlsevne steers well to
the south-east from Helluland ; but this may possibly be

century, the position of Wineland is to be described, it is natural that its shortest
day should be given a length which according to Professor H. Geelmuyden [see G.
Storm, 1886, p. 128 ; 1887, P- 6] would correspond to 49° 55' N. lat. or south of
it ; in other words, the latitude of France, and that was precisely the land that
the Icelanders knew as the home of wine, and that they would therefore naturally
use in the indication of a Wineland.

IN NORTHERN MISTS
^APTER connected with the idea mentioned later in the saga, that
Wineland became broader towards the south, and the coast
turned eastwards, which was evidently due to the assumption
that it was connected with Africa (cf. vol. i. p. 326).

The oldest and most original part of Eric's Saga, as of
most other sagas, is probably the lays. Of special interest
are the lays attributed to Thorhall the Hunter ; they give an
impression of genuineness and do not harmonise well with
the prose text, which was evidently composed much later.
One of the lays, which describes the poet's disappointment
at not getting wine to drink in the new country instead of
water, shows that a notion was current that wine was
abundant there, and this notion must have come from

Felling trees. Marginal decoration of the J6nsb6k (fifteenth century)

the myth of the Fortunate Land or Wineland ; for, if we
confine ourselves to this one saga, the notion cannot have
been derived from the single earlier voyage thither that is
there mentioned — namely, Leif's : during his short visit he
cannot possibly have had time to make wine, even if he had
known how to do so. The lay seems therefore to show that
men had really reached a country which was taken to be
the ** Wineland,*' or Fortunate Isles, of legend, but which
turned out not to answer to the ideas which had been formed
of it. The second lay attributed to Thorhall (see vol. i. p. 326)
may also point to the country they had arrived at not being so
excessively rich, for they had to cook whales' flesh on
FurSustrandir (and consequently were obliged to support
themselves by whaling). This gives us an altogether more
sober picture than the prose version of the saga ; the latter,
moreover, says nothing of whales except the one that made
them ill and was thrown out.
24

WINELAND THE GOOD
The surest historical evidence that voyages were made to chapter

America from Greenland is the chance statement, referred to ^

Surest

later, in the Icelandic Annals : that in 1347 a ship from historical
Greenland bound for Markland was driven by storms to evidence
Iceland. This reveals the fact that, occasionally at any
rate, this voyage was made ; and if the sagas about the
Wineland voyages must be regarded as romances, or as a
kind of legendary poetry — which therefore made no attempt
whatever to give a historical exposition of the communication
with the countries to the south-west — then many more
voyages may have been made thither than the sagas had
use for. A prominent feature of the different tales is that of
the Greenlanders bringing timber from thence ; this appears
already in the story of Leif's discovery of the country — he
found various kinds of trees and *' mpsurr," and brought
them home with him — and still more in the tales of the
Flateyjarb6k, where on each voyage it is expressly stated
that they felled timber to load their ships, as though that
were their chief object. In the Icelandic geography men-
tioned on p. I, there is an addition, probably of late date :

". . . It is said that Thorfinn Karlsevne felled wood [in Markland ?] for a ' husa-
snotra,' and then went on to seek for Wineland the Good, and arrived where
this land was thought to be, but was not able to explore it, and did not settle
there. ..." 1

In the Flateyjarbdk's ** Gr6nlendinga-]?attr " it is stated
that Karlsevne, in Wineland, cut down timber to load his

^ Cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 220 ; Storm, 1887, p. 12. ** Hiisa-snotra " is
explained as a vane or similar decoration on the gable of a house or a ship's
stem [cf. V. Gut5mundsson, 1889, pp. 158, ff.]. The statement given above shows
that a ** hi!isa-snotra " was something to which great importance was attached,
otherwise attention would not have been called to it in this way. And in the
" Gr6nlendinga-]?attr " [Gr. hist. Mind., i. p. 254] we read that Karlsevne, when he
was in Norway, would not sell his " husa-snotra " (made of " mausurr " from
Wineland) to the German from Bremen, until the latter offered him half a mark
of gold for it. One might suppose that this ornament (vane-staff) on the prow
of a ship or the gable of a house was connected with religious or superstitious
ideas of some kind, like the posts of the high seat within the house, or the totem-
poles of the North American Indians, which stood before the house.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER ship, and that he had a " hiisa-snotra ' * of ** masur ** from
^^ Wineland. Both accounts show how highly timber was

prized in Greenland and Iceland. It is likely enough that
this was so, since they had no timber in Greenland but
driftwood, dwarf birch and osiers. But in order to find
timber the Greenlanders need have gone no farther south
than Markland (Newfoundland ?) ; and this name (perhaps
also Helluland) may therefore have the surest historical
foundation.

If Adam of Bremen (circa 1070) mentions no more than
Wineland, this is doubtless because he has only heard of that
legendary country ; the belief in its existence may already
have been confirmed in his time by the discovery of new
lands. More remarkable is the statement of the sober Are
AreFrode's Frode (circa 1 130) as to the Skrselings who "inhabited
evidence Wineland " (** Vinland hefer bygt "). This looks as if Wine-
land was familiar to him ; it may be the mythical name that
has passed into a common designation for the countries dis-
covered in the south-west (cf. vol. i. pp. 368, 384). But there is
also a possibility that only the mythical country is in question,
and that, as suggested above (vol. i. p. 368 ; vol. ii. p. 16), its
inhabitants are merely the Skraelings of myths, since this
mythical land and its inhabitants were the best known and most
talked of. If this be so, it does not exclude the possibility of
Are's having heard of other, less well known, but actually dis-
covered countries in the south-west, which he does not mention.
To make use of a parallel, let us suppose that Utrost with
its fairy people was better known in Nordland than the
islands to the north with their semi-mythical Lapps. If
then we had read of a discovery of Finmark that traces had
been found there of the same kind of folk (" ]?j6t5 ") who
inhabit Utrost, then we should no more be able from this
to conclude that Utrost was a real land than that Vesteralen
and Sen j en, for instance, had not been discovered. It must
be remembered that it does not appear with certainty from Are's
words where he got his Wineland from (cf. vol. i. p. 367).
26

WINELAND THE GOOD

Another document of a wholly different nature, wherein chapter
possibly the name of Wineland is mentioned, has been
found — namely, the runic stone of Honen.

On the estate of Honen, in Ringerike, there was found at J^^^^c stone
the begmnmg of last century a runic stone, which was still Honen
to be seen there in 1823, when the inscription was copied.
Afterwards the stone disappeared/ The drawing made in
1823 is now only known from a somewhat indistinct copy ;
but from this Sophus Bugge [1902] has attempted to make
out the runic inscription, and he reads it thus :

'* Ut ok vitt ok furia
]?erru ok 4ts
Vinlandi A isa
i libyg^ at k6mu ;
aut$ md illt vega,
[at] doyi dr.*'

- 4_ .

fDI!||'WI\/ll?''1iMll"'''//'flliiP/'/fftifni^l'T||f?'[]\

The existing drawing of the runic stone from Honen, Ringerike
(S. Bugge, 1902)

In prose this verse may, according to Bugge, be rendered
somewhat as follows :

" They came out [into the ocean] and over wide expanses (* vitt *), and needing
(' ]7urfa ') cloth to dry themselves on (* J>erru ') and food (*4ts'), away

^ On the initiative of Professors Sophus Bugge and Gustav Storm, a thorough
examination of the spot was made in 190 1, the first-named being himself present ;
but the stone was not to be found.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER towards Wineland, up into the ice in the uninhabited country. Evil can take
IX away luck, so that one dies early."

Bugge regards this reading of this somewhat difficult
inscription as doubtful ; but if it is correct, this verse may
be part of an inscription cut upon one or more stones in
memory of a young man (or perhaps several) from Ringerike,
who took part in an expedition by sea. According to his
explanation, they were then driven far out into the ocean in
the direction of Wineland, and were lost, perhaps in the ice
on the east coast of Greenland (which in the sagas is generally
called the uninhabited country, " ubygS ") ; they abandoned
their ship and had to take to the drift-ice. He (or they) to
whom the inscription refers thereby met his death at an
early age, while at any rate some one must have made his
way back and brought the tale of the voyage. Probably
there was a commencement of the inscription, now lost,
giving the name of the young man, who must certainly have
been of good birth ; for otherwise, as Bugge points out, a
memorial with an inscription in verse would hardly have
been raised to him. He or his family belonged to Ringerike,
and to the neighbourhood in which the stone was put up.

The form of the runes makes it probable, according to
Bugge, that the inscription dates from the eleventh century,
and perhaps from the period between looo and 1050 ;
scarcely before that, though it may be later. The inscription
would thus acquire a value as possibly the earliest document
in which Wineland is mentioned. What kind of expedition
the inscription records we cannot tell ; there is nothing to
show that it was a real Wineland voyage ; the words seem
rather to point to their having been driven against their will
out to sea in the direction of *' Wineland," whether we are to
regard this as the Wineland of myth or as a historical
country ; it might well be used figuratively in an epitaph
to describe more graphically how far they went from the
beaten track. It may equally well have been on a voyage
to Ireland, the Faroes, Iceland, or merely to the north of
28

WINELAND THE GOOD

Norway that the disaster occurred, and they were driven by chapter
storms to the Greenland ice ; but since it cannot be denied that, '^
as the verse has been translated, the expressions appear
somewhat unnatural, it is difficult to form any opinion as
to this.^

If this runic inscription from Ringerike has been cor-
rectly copied and interpreted — which, as has been said, is
uncertain — then this and Adam of Bremen's information
from Denmark would show that Wineland was known and
discussed in various parts of the North in the eleventh century,
long before Icelandic literature began to be put into writing.
But strangely enough, in the Norwegian thirteenth-century
work, ** Historia Norwegiae," no mention is made of Wine-
land, although in other respects the author has made exten-
sive use of Adam of Bremen's work ; he merely states that
Greenland approaches the African Islands, by which, as
pointed out above (p. i), he shows clearly enough that
Wineland was regarded as belonging to the African Islands,
or Insulae Fortunatae. The "King's Mirror,'"^ which gives a
detailed description of Greenland, does not mention Wine-
land, although the author evidently held the view that
Greenland approached the universal continent (i.e., Africa)
on the south. The knowledge of it must soon have been
forgotten in Norway, or it was regarded as a mythical
country, while the tradition persisted longer in Iceland.

The last time we meet with the name of Wineland in Bishop Eric

connection with a voyage is in the ** Islandske Annaler," ^ seeks Wme-

land
where it is related in the year 1121 that " Eirikr, bishop of

Greenland [also called Eirikr Upsi], went out to seek

(leita) Wineland." But we are not told anything more of

this expedition. The use of * ' leita ' ' shows that Wineland

^ I cannot accept the conjectures that Professor Yngvar Nielsen thinks may be
based upon this inscription [1905].

* It is true that only a portion of this work has been preserved, and that
Wineland may have been mentioned in the part that has not come down to us
(if indeed the work was ever finished) ; but this is not likely.

3 Cf. Storm's edition, 1888, pp. 19, 59, H2, 252, 320, 473.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER was not a known country, it can only apply to lands about
IX which legends or reports are current ; just in ^the same

way Gardar in the Sturlubok ** went to seek (* for at leita ')
Snselandz ' ' on the advice of his mother, who had second sight
(vol. i. p. 255), or Ravna-Floki "f6r at leita Gardarshdlms "
(vol. i. p. 257), and Eric the Red '' aetla^i at leita lands )?ess "
which Gunnbjorn had seen, etc. (vol. i. p. 267). As soon as the
way was known, it was no longer necessary to " leita "
countries. If the voyage is historical, it may have been to
seek for the mythical country, the happy Wineland that
Bishop Eric set out, as St. Brandan in the legend sought
for the Promised Land, and as, 359 years later, the city of
Bristol actually sent men out to look for the happy isle of
Brazil ; but as the coast of America seems to have been
known, it may apply to a country there, of which reports
had come, and to which the name of the mythical country
had been transferred. As Eric is called a bishop, it has been
thought that this was a missionary voyage, which met with
disaster [cf. Y. Nielsen, 1905, p. 8] ; but who was there
to be converted in an unknown land, for which one had
first to '' seek " ? It would have to be the unknown
Skraelings ; but is this really likely, when we hear of no
mission to the Skrselings of Greenland ? There must have
been enough of the latter to convert for the time being, if it
had been thought worth the trouble. Nor do we know much
more about this Eric Upsi.^ Probably he was the same
man who is called in the Landnamabok *' Eirikr Gnupssonr
Gronlendinga-byskup." It is possible that the see of Green-
land was founded as early as 11 10,^ and that Eric was the
first bishop of Greenland, and went out there in 1112,^ but
he cannot have been solemnly consecrated at Lund, like
later bishops after 11 24. It is possible that Eric was lost,

^ '* Upsi " (or ** ufsi "i would mean " big coalfish " or " coalfish."

2 It has been generally considered that it was not until 1x24, when Bishop
Arnaldr was consecrated at Lund. In any case this is the first ordination of which
we have any information.

3 Cf. G. Storm, 1887, p. 26 ; Reeves, 1895, p. 82.

WINELAND THE GOOD

for^ we^ hear no more of him, and in 1122 and 11 23 the chapter
Greenlanders made efforts to obtain a new bishop, who was IX
consecrated at Lund in 11 24; but it is curious that nothing
is then said about any earlier bishop ; moreover, the entry
in the annals about Eric dates at the earliest from the
thirteenth century.

Some years ago it was asserted that a stone with a runic inscription had been
found in Minnesota, the so-called Kensington stone. On this is narrated a journey
of eight Swedes and twenty-two Norwegians from Wineland as far as the country
west of the Great Lakes. But by its runes and its linguistic form this inscription
betrays itself clearly enough as a modern fo.gery, which has no interest for us
here [of. H. Gjessing, 1909 ; K. Hoegh, 1909 ; H. R. Holand, 1909 ; O. J.
Breda, 1910].

The name of Wineland occurs extremely rarely in mediaeval vvineiand
literature and on maps outside Iceland, and as a rule it is in mediaeval
confused with Finland, as already mentioned (vol. i. p. 198), ^^t^"^^*""^^
or again with Vindland (Vendland). Ordericus Vitalis (1141)
gives " The Orkneys and Finland, together with Iceland and
Greenland " as islands under the king of Norway.^ As the
passage seems to be connected with Adam of Bremen, who also
erroneously mentions these islands and Wineland as subject
to the Norwegians (see vol. i. p. 192), this Finland may be
Wineland. It was pointed out m vol. i. p. 198, that the Latin
** vinum " was translated into Irish as " fin." Ordericus
(1075-1143), who lived in England until his tenth year, and
wrote in an abbey in Normandy, may well have had com-
munication with Irishmen. In Ranulph Higden's '' Poly-
chronicon " (circa 1350) the following are described as
islands in the outer ocean (surrounding the disc of the earth) :
first the '* Insulae Fortunatae " (see vol. i. p. 346), imme-
diately afterwards "Dacia" (= Denmark), and to the <west
of this island ' ' Wyntlandia, ' ' besides ' ' Islandia, ' ' which has
Norway to the south and the Polar Sea to the north, ** Tile "
(Thule) the extreme island on the north-west, and ' ' Nor-
uegia " (Norway). As this " Wyntlandia," which in the

^ Cf. Ordericus Vitalis, Hist. Eccles., iii. i, x. c. 5 ; Gronl. hist. Mind., iii.
p. 428 ; Rafn, 1837, pp. 337, 460, ff. ; A. A. Bjornbo, 1909, p. 206, ^

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER various editions of Higden's map is called Witland, Wint-

^^ landia, Wineland, etc., is placed out in the ocean on the

west, it is possibly connected with the old Wineland

which was an oceanic island ; but as it is mentioned together

with Dacia, it may also be confused with Vindland (Vend-

land),^ and the circumstance that the inhabitants are supposed

to have sold winds to sailors who came to them may have

contributed to this. This may be connected with what Mela

[iii. 6] says about the island of Sena in the British Sea,

off Brittany (see vol. i. p. 29), where the nine priestesses of

the oracle of the Gaulish deity

" set seas and winds in motion through their incantations, change themselves
into what animal they please, cure sickness . . . know the future and foretell
it, but they only assist those sailors who come to ask counsel of them."

But the wind-selling wizards of the Polychronicon have
also evidently been confused with the Finns (Lapps) of
Finmark, whom Adam of Bremen had already described as
particularly skilled in magic. The Polychronicon is a free
revision of an earlier English work, the ** Geographia
Universalis," of the thirteenth century. In this ** Win-
landia " (or " Wynlandia ") and its inhabitants, who sell
winds, are described at greater length ; it is there placed on
the continent on the sea- coast and borders on the mountains
of Norway on the east.^ It is therefore Finland, or perhaps
rather the country of the Lapp wizards, Finmark. Thus
through similarity of sound three countries may have been
confused in the Polychronicon : Wineland, Vindland, and
Finland (Finmark). Evidently the " Vinland " to be found
on the continent in the map of the world in the * * Rudimentum
Novitiorum " of Liibeck (1475) refers to Finland, and likewise
the *' Vinlandia " mentioned in a Liibeck MS. of i486- 1488,
which is an extensive island reaching as far as Livonia.^

* In a similar fashion Torfxus [1705] confused Vinland and Vindland.

^ Cf. Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden, etc. Rerum Britanicarum Medii
^vi Scriptores, London, 1865, i. p. 322 ; Eulogium Historiarum, etc. Rer.
Brit. Script., i860, ii. pp. 78, f. ; W. Wackernagel, 1844, pp. 494, f.

* Cf. Nordenskiold, 1889, p. 3 ; A. A. Bjornbo, 1909, pp. 197, 205, 240.
32

WINELAND THE GOOD

Whether we regard Wineland as merely a mythical country, CHAPTER
or as a country actually discovered to which the name of the ^^
mythical land was transferred, this limited dissemination of
it in literature and on maps is striking. It shows that
knowledge of the myth, or of the country with the mythical
name, belonged to older times, was not very widely spread
outside the Scandinavian countries and Ireland, and was
afterwards forgotten, in spite of the frequent communica-
tion that existed between the intellectual world of the North
and that of the South [cf. Jos. Fischer, 1902, pp. 106, ff.].

While probably the name of Hvitramanna-land is still Wineland
preserved in the fairy-tale of Hvittenland, it is possibly the name j" Faroese
of Wineland that has been preserved in that " Vinland "
which is mentioned in the Faroese lay of ** Finnur hinn
FriSi " ; ' but if so, it is the only known instance of its
occurrence in popular poetry. The Norwegian jarl's son,
Finnur hinn FriSi (Finn the Fair), courts Ingebjorg, the
daughter of an Irish king ; she is beautiful as the sun, and
the colour of her maiden cheeks is like blood dropped upon
snow.^ She makes answer : " Hadst thou slain the Wine-
kings, then shouldst thou wed me." To Wineland is a far
voyage, with currents and mighty billows. But Finn begs
his brother, Halfdan, to go with him over the Wineland sea.
They hoist their silken sail, and never lower it till they arrive
at Wineland. There they found the three Wine-kings.
Thorstein, the first, came on a black horse, but Finn tore him
off at the navel ; the second, Ivint, also came on a black
horse. But the third transformed himself into a flying
dragon ; arrows flew from each of his feathers, and he killed
many of their men. The worst was that he shot venom from
his mouth under Finn's coat of mail, who, though he could
not be killed by arms, had to die. He then drew a golden
ring from his arm and sent it by Halfdan to Ingebjorg,

^ Cf. Hammershaimb, 1855, pp. 105, ff. ; Rafn, Antiqu. Americ, pp. 330, ff.
^ This image of blood upon snow is taken from Irish mediaeval texts, as Moltke
Moe informs me.

II C 33

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER bidding her live happily. But Halfdan sprang into the air»

^ seized the third Wine-king, and tore him off at the navel.

Halfdan sailed back to Ireland, brought Ingebjorg these

Map by the Icelander J6n Gudmundsson, bom 1574 (Torfaeus, 1706)

tidings and the ring, and slept three nights with her, but on
the fourth she dies of grief, since she can love no chieftain
after Finn. Halfdan had a castle built for himself and passed
his years in Ireland, but all his days he mourned for his
brother. Although the whole of this legend seems to have
no connection with what we know about Wineland, it is

WINELAND THE GOOD

most probable that it is the same name, but that — like the CHAPTER
tale itself of the Irish king's daughter whose cheek was as ^^
blood upon snow — it came from Ireland. The name may
thus be a last echo of the Irish mythical ideas from which
the Wineland of the Icelanders arose.

Curiously enough Helluland is the only one of the names Helluland
of the western lands that has been widely adopted in *" ^^^^^
Icelandic fairy-tales and legendary sagas. It has to some
extent become a complete fairyland, with trolls and giants,
and it is located in various places, usually far north, even to
the north of Greenland, and sometimes on its north-east
coast. In this fairyland was the fjord " Skuggi " (shadow) ;
it is mentioned in Orvarodds Saga (circa 1300), where the
hero departs to seek his enemy, the wizard Ogmund, in
Helluland, and again in Bdr^arsaga Snaefellsdss (fifteenth
century), in the ** Mttr " of Gunnari Keldugmipsfifl, in the
Hdlfdanarsaga Bronufdstra, in the Saga of Hdlfdani Eysteins-
syni, and in Gest Bardsson's Saga.i

In the geography which under the name of ** Gripla *'
was included in Bjorn J6nsson*s "Gronland's Annaler," it is
said of the countries opposite Greenland :

" FurtSustrandir is the name of a land, where is severe frost, so that it is not
habitable, so far as people know ; south of it is Helluland, which is called Skrae-
lingja-land ; thence it is a short distance to Wineland the Good, which some
people think goes out from Africa. ..."

With this may be compared another MS. of the seventeenth
century, where we read :

"West of the great ocean from Spain, which some call Ginnungagap, and
which goes between lands, there is first towards the north Wineland the Good,
next to it is called Markland farther north, thereafter are the wastes [i.e., the
wastes of Helluland] where Skraelings live, then there are still more wastes to
Greenland." [Cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. pp. 224, 227.]

From this it looks as if Helluland was regarded as
inhabited by Skraelings, which agrees with the reality, if it

1 Cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. pp. 516, ff. ; Storm, 1887, pp. 37, ff.

CHAPTER
IX

Voyage to
Markland,
1347

IN NORTHERN MISTS

is Labrador. But these MSS. belong to the seventeenth
century, and may be influenced by the geographical know-
ledge of later times. In Gripla there is evident confusion,
as Fur^ustrandir has been confounded with Helluland, and
the latter with Markland.^

No record is found of any voyage to Wineland after
1 121 ; but on the other hand there is mention more than
two hundred years later of the voyage, referred to above, to
Markland from Greenland in 1347. Of this we read in the
Icelandic Annals (Skalholts- Annals) for that year : " Then
came also [i.e., besides ships from Norway already mentioned]
a ship from Greenland, smaller in size than the small vessels
that trade to Iceland. It came to Outer Straumfjord [on the
south side of Snaefellsnes] ; it was without an anchor. There
were seventeen men on board [in the Flatey-annals there are
eighteen men], and they had sailed to Markland, but after-
wards [i.e., on the homeward voyage to Greenland] were
driven hither."

As the Skalholts- Annals were written not many years
after this (perhaps about 1362), it must be regarded as quite
certain that this ship had been to Markland ; but on the
homeward voyage, perhaps while she lay at anchor, was
overtaken by a storm, so that the cable had to be cut, and
was driven out to sea past Cape Farewell right across to the
west coast of Iceland. It is not likely that they sailed so far
as Markland simply to jish, which they might have done off
Greenland ; the object was rather to fetch timber or wood
for fashioning implements, which was valuable in treeless

1 G. Storm [1890, p. 347] thinks that something is omitted in Gripla and that
it should read : " suSr fra er Helluland, }»a er Markland, }>at er kallat Skrselinga-
land " (to the south is Helluland, then there is Markland, which is called Skrse-
lingaland). But this seems doubtful ; it would not in any case explain why
FurSustrandir is placed to the north of Helluland. When Storm alleges as a
reason that Helluland is never mentioned as a place of human habitation, but
only for trolls (in the later legendary sagas), he forgets that the Skraelings were
trolls, or, as he himself puts it elsewhere [1890a, p. 357], that the Skraelings
were not accounted " true human beings."

WINELAND THE GOOD

Greenland ; the driftwood which came on the East Green- CHAPTER
land current did not go very far. It is true that they could
not carry much timber on their small vessel ; but they had to
make the best of the craft they possessed, and they could
always carry a sufficient supply of the more valuable woods
for the manufacture of tools, weapons and appliances. They
must for instance have had great difficulty in obtaining wood
for making bows ; driftwood was of little use for this.

But if this voyage took place in 1347, and we only hear of
it through the accident of the vessel getting out of her course
and being driven to Iceland, we may be sure that there were
many more like it ; only that these were not the expeditions
of men of rank, which attracted attention, but everyday
voyages for the support of life, like the sealing expeditions to
Nordrsetur, and when nothing particular happened to these
vessels, such as being driven to Iceland, we hear nothing about
them. We must therefore suppose that, even if they had to
give up the idea of forming settlements in the west, the
Greenlanders occasionally visited Markland (Newfoundland
or the southernmost part of Labrador ?), perhaps chiefly to
obtain wood of different kinds.

In the so-called Greenland Annals, put together from
old sources by Bjorn Jonsson of Skardsa (beginning of the
seventeenth century), it is said of the districts on the west
coast of Greenland, to the north of the Western Settlement,
that they * * take up trees and all the drift that comes from
the bays of Markland ' ' (cf . vol. i. p. 299). This shows that it was
customary to regard Markland as the region from which wood
was to be obtained. The name itself ( = woodland) may have
contributed to this view ; but the fact that it survived long
after all mention of Wineland had ceased may probably be
due to communication with the country having been kept
up in later times, and to this name being the really historical
one on the coast of America.

According to the Icelandic Annals the voyagers from
Markland who came to Iceland in 1347, proceeded in the

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER following year (1348) to Norway. This was no doubt with
the idea of getting back to Greenland, as there was no sailing
to that country from Iceland, and they would not trust their
vessel on another ocean voyage. But in Norway, where
they arrived at Bergen, they had a long while to wait.
*' Knarren," the royal trading ship, seems to have been the
only vessel that kept up communication with Greenland at
that time. We know that ** Knarren " returned to Bergen
in 1346, and did not sail again until 1355. From a royal
letter of 1354, which has been preserved, it appears that
extraordinary preparations were made for the fitting- out and
manning of this expedition, to prevent Christianity in Green-
land from *' falling away." Perhaps the presence in Norway
of these Markland voyagers from Greenland had something
to do with the awakening of interest in that distant country,
and perhaps it is not altogether impossible that the intention
was not only to secure and strengthen the possessions in
Greenland, but also to explore the fertile countries farther
west. It cannot be remarked, however, that it brought about
any change in the fading knowledge of these valuable regions,
and we hear no more of them until their rediscovery at the
close of the fifteenth century.

Ebbe Hertzberg, Keeper of the Public Records of Norway,
has shown [1904, pp. 210, ff.] that there is a remarkable and
interesting similarity between the game of lacrosse, which
is played by the Indians of the north-east of North America,
and the ancient Norse game, " knattleikr " (i.e., ball-game), so
far as we know it from the sagas. It was greatly in favour
in Iceland. If Hertzberg is right in his supposition that the
Indians may have got this game from the Norsemen, this
would lend strong support to the view that the latter had
considerable intercourse with America and its natives.

Norse ball-
game in
America

According to Hertzberg 's acute interpretation of the accounts of " knattleikr "
in the various sagas, it was played on a large level piece of ground (" leikvpUr, "
i.e., playing-ground), or on the ice, usually by many players. These were
divided into two sides, in such a way that those most nearly equal in

WINELAND THE GOOD

strength on each side were paired as opponents and stood near to each CHAPTER

other, and the two teams were thus spread in pairs over the whole ground. IX

Each player had a club with which he either struck or caught and " carried "

the ball. The club had a hollow or a net in which the ball could be

caught and lie. When the ball was set going, the game was for the one who

was nearest to seize or catch it, preferably with his club, and to run off with it

and try to "carry it out," i.e., past a goal or mark ; but in this his particular

opponent tried to hinder him with all his strength and agility. The other players

might not interfere directly in the struggle of the two opponents for the ball.

If the one who had the ball was so hard pressed by his opponent that he had to

give it up, he tried to throw it to one of his own side, who then again had to reckon

with his own opponent in his attempt to " carry it out." This game was much

The game of Lacrosse among the Menomini Indians (after W.J.Hoffmann,
1896). On the left, a "crosse," about a yard long

played by the Icelanders ; it was apt to be rough, and men were often disabled,
or even killed, by their opponents.

Hertzberg shows how the Canadian Indians' game of lacrosse, which
has become the national game of Canada, completely resembles in all essentials
this peculiar Norse ball-game from Iceland. The game of lacrosse is, as Professor Y.
Nielsen has pointed out [1905], more widely diffused among the Indian tribes of
North America than Hertzberg was aware. Dr. William James Hoffman ^ has
described it among the Menomini Indians in Wisconsin, the Ojibwa tribe in
northern Minnesota, the Dakota Indians on the upper Missouri, and among the
Chactas, Chicksisaws and kindred tribes farther south. Hoffmann also mentions

^ The Menomini Indians, Fourteenth Ann. Rep. of the Bureau of Ethnology,
1892-1893. Washington, 1896, vol. i. pp. 127, ff. ; cf. also ** American Anthro-
pologist," vol. iii. pp. 134, f., Washington, 1890.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER that opponents are picked and that the game is played in pairs [1896, i. p. 132].

IX Among the Ojibwas, he says, the player who is carrying the ball is often placed

hors de combat by a blow on the arm or leg ; serious injuries only occur
when the stakes are high, or when there is enmity between some of the players.
Among the more southern tribes, on the other hand, the game is much more
violent, the crosse is longer, made of hickory, and it is often sought to disable
the runner. This, then, is even more like the Icelandic game.

Hoffmann thinks that the game is undoubtedly derived
from one of the eastern Algonkin tribes, possibly in the
valley of the St. Lawrence. Thence it reached the Huron
Iroquois, and later it spread farther south to the Cherokees,
etc. In a similar way it was carried westwards and adopted
by many tribes. This then points to its having originated in
just those districts where one would have expected it to come
from, if it was brought by the Norsemen, as Hertzberg thinks.
That the game is so widely diffused in America and has
become so much a part of the Indians' life, even of their
religious life, shows that it is very ancient there, and this too
supports Hertzberg's assumption that it is derived from the
Norsemen. It is true that Eug. Beauvois ^ has pointed out
the possibility of the game having been introduced into
Canada by people from Normandy after the sixteenth century ;
but before such an objection could carry weight, it would
have to be made probable that the characteristic Norse game
was really played in Normandy ; but this is not known. In
support of Hertzberg 's view it may also be adduced — a point
that he himself has not noticed — that the Icelanders appear
to have introduced the same ball-game to another American
people with whom they came in touch, namely, the Eskimo
of Greenland. Hans Egede [1741, p. 931 says :

" Playing ball is their most usual game, especially by moonlight, and they
have two ways of playing : When they have divided themselves into two sides,
one throws the ball to another who is on his own side. Those of the other side
must endeavour to get the ball from them, and thus it goes on alternately among
them. ..." (The other way of playing mentioned by Egede is more like foot-
ball.)

^ " Journal de la Soci4t§ des Am6ricanistes de Paris," 1905, No. 2, p. 319.
40

WINELAND THE GOOD

This description, together with Egede's drawing, from CHAPTER
which it appears, amongst other things, that the opponents ^^
are arranged in pairs, seems to show that the Eskimo game
was very like the Icelanders' ''knattleikr " and the Indians'
" lacrosse " ; but with the difference that according to
Egede's account the Eskimo did not use any club or crosse ;
moreover, from Egede's drawing it looks as if both men
and women took part, as with certain Indian tribes. That
there is a connec-
tion

here

appears =^K

Game of ball among the Eskimo of
. Greenland (Hans Egede, 1741)

natural. The most
probable explanation
may be that the
Eskimo as well as
the Indians got this
ball-game from the
Norsemen. That the
Eskimo should have
learnt it from the
whalers after the
rediscovery of Green-
land in the sixteenth

century is unlikely, as also that it should have come to
the Indians from the Eskimo round the north of Baffin
Bay and through Baffin Land and Labrador ; nor is it
any more likely that the Icelanders should have learnt it of
the Eskimo in Greenland, who again had it from America.

It is in itself a strange thing that the discovery of a Difficulties
country like North America, with conditions so much more ^" coioni^^
favourable than Greenland and Iceland, should not have led sation
to a permanent settlement. But there are many, and in my
judgment sufficient, reasons which explain this. We must
remember that such an outpost of civilisation as Greenland
offered poor opportunities for the equipment of such settle-
ments ; the settlers would have to be prepared for continual
conflicts with the Indians, who with their warlike capacity

CHAPTER
IX

IN NORTHERN MISTS

and their numbers might easily be more than a match for a
handful of Greenlanders, even though the latter had some
advantage in their weapons of iron — and of these too the
Greenlanders never had a very good supply, as appears from
several narratives. There would also be need of ships, which
were costly and difficult to procure in Greenland ; the few
that were there certainly had enough to do, and could hardly
manage more than an occasional trip to Markland for timber.
Moreover, as the Greenland settlements themselves and
their oversea communications declined after the close of the
thirteenth century, so also of course did their communication
with America decrease, until it finally ceased altogether.

Hvitra-
manna-
land

It would thus appear, from all that has been put forward
in this chapter, that Wineland the Good was originally a
mythical country, closely connected with the happy lands of
Irish myths and legends — ^which had their first source in the
Greek Elysium and Isles of the Blest, in Oriental sailors'
myths, and an admixture of Biblical conceptions. The
description of the country has acquired important features
from Isidore's account of the Insulae Fortunatse and from
older classical literature. This mythical country is to be
compared with **Hvitramanna-land" (the white men's land),
*' which some call Ireland the Great (* Irland hit Mikla ')."
Of this the Landnama tells us (cf. vol. i. p. 353) that it lay
near Wineland, in the west of the ocean, six ** doegr's "
sail west of Ireland (according to the Eyrbyggja Saga it lay
to the south-west) ; the Icelandic chief Are Marsson was
driven there by storms, was not allowed to depart, but was
baptized there and held in great esteem. Furthermore, the
same land is mentioned in the Saga of Eric the Red as lying
opposite Markland (cf. vol. i. p. 330). Finally, in the Eyrbyggja
Saga there is a tale of a voyage (see later) which evidently
had the same country as its object, though it is not
mentioned by name. Since Thorkel Gellisson is given as
the authority for the story in the Landndma, the legend

WINELAND THE GOOD

may have reached Iceland about the close of the eleventh CHAPTER
century. «

This Irish land may also be derived from an adaptation
of the ancients' myth of the western Isles of the Blest/ and
it evidently corresponds to one of the mythical countries of
the Christianised Irish legends. It bears great resemblance
in particular to ** the Island of Strong Men" ('* Insula
Virorum Fortium ") in the Navigatio Brandani, which is
also called there ** the Isle of Anchorites" [Schroder, 1871,
pp. 24, 17]. Three generations dwelt there : the first genera-
tion, the children, had clothes white as driven snow, the
second of the colour of hyacinth, and the third of Dalmatian
purple. The name itself, which in Old Norse would become
*' Starkramanna-land, " shows much similarity of formation ;
besides which it is the Isle of Anchorites that is in question,
and one of the three generations wears white garments ;
we are thus not far from the formation of a name " Hvitra-
manna-land." There is yet another point of agreement, in

1 Storm's explanation [1887, pp. 68, ff.] : that it was Dicuil's account of the
discovery of Iceland by Irish monks (see vol. i. p. 164) which formed the basis of the
myth of Hvitraraanna-land, may appear very attractive and simple ; but Storm
does not seem to have noticed the connection that exists between the Irish mythical
islands in the west and those of classical literature. When he points out the
similarity between the six days' voyage west of Ireland and Dicuil's statement
of six days* voyage to Iceland (Thule) northward from Britain, it must be remem-
bered that in Dicuil this is merely a quotation from Pliny, and, further, that the
six days' voyage has Britain and not Ireland for its starting-point. In the Saga
of Eric the Red Wineland lies six " doegr's " sail from Greenland. Cf. that in
Plutarch ["De facie in orbe Lunae," 941] Ogygia lies five days' voyage west
of Britain, and to the north-west of it are three islands, to which the voyage
might thus be one of six days. Let us suppose, merely as an experiment, that
Ogygia, the fertile vine-growing island of the " hulder " Calypso, was Wine-
land, then the other three islands to the north-west might be Hvitramanna-land,
Markland and Helluland, which would fit in. The northernmost would then have to
be the island on which the sleeping Cronos is imprisoned, with "many spirits about
him as his companions and servants " (cf. vol. i. pp. 156, 182). Dr. Scisco [1908,
PP" 379» ^M S^Si ff 'land Professor H. Koht [1909, pp. 133, ff.] think that Are Marsson
may have been baptized in Ireland and have been chief of a Christian tribe on
its west coast, where Hvitramanna-land may have been a district inhabited by
fair Norsemen.

CHAPTER
IX

Origin of
the name

IN NORTHERN MISTS

that, just as Are Marsson was not allowed to leave Hvitra-
manna-land, so one of Brandan's companions had to stay
behind on the Isle of Anchorites. It may also be supposed
that the name of the White Men's Land is connected with
the White Christ and with the white garments of the
baptized ; the circumstance of Are Marsson being baptized
there points in the same direction.^ But to this it may be
added that various myths and legends show it to have been
a common idea among the Irish that aged hermits and holy
men were white. The old man who welcomes Brandan to
the promised land in the ** Imram Brenaind " [cf. Zimmer,
1889, p. 139 ; Schirmer, 1888, p. 34] has no clothes, but his
body is covered with dazzling white feathers, like a dove
or a gull, and angelic is the speech of his lips. In the
Latin account of Brandan's life (** Vita sancti Brandani ")
the man is called Paulus, he is again without clothes, but his
body is covered with white hair,^ and in both tales the man
came from Ireland [cf. Schirmer, 1888, p. 40]. The cave-
dweller Paulus on an island in the Navigatio Brandani
[Schroder, 1871, p. 32] is without clothes, but wholly covered
by the hair of his head, his beard and other hair down to the
feet, and they were white as snow on account of his great
age. It is evident that the whiteness is often attributed, as
in the last instance, to age ; but it is also the heavenly

1 Since the above was printed in the Norwegian edition of this book, Professor
Moltke Moe has found a " Tir na Per Finn," or the White Men's Land, mentioned
in Irish sagas of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The white men (fer finn)
are evidently the same as the " Albati " (i.e., the baptized dressed in white).
Tir na Fer Finn and Hvitramanna-land are consequently direct renderings of
the " Terra Albatorum " (i.e., the land of the baptized dressed in white), which
is mentioned in earlier Irish literature. The origin of the Icelandic legend about
Hvitramanna-land seems thus to be quite clear.

2 Hermits like this, covered with white hair, also occur outside Ireland. Three
monks from Mesopotamia wished to journey to the place where heaven and
earth meet, and after many adventures, which often resemble those of the Brandan
legend, they came to a cave, where dwelt a holy man, Macarius, who was com-
pletely covered with snow-white hair, but the skin of his face was like that of a
tortoise [cf. Schirmer, 1888, p. 42]. The last feature might recall an ape.

WINELAND THE GOOD

colour, and the white clothing of hair (or feathers) may also CHAPTER
have some connection with the white lamb in the Revelation.
In the tale of Maelduin's voyage, which is older than
those of Brandan's, Maelduin meets in two places, on a
sheep-island and on a rock in the sea, with hermits wholly
covered with the white hair of their bodies — they too were
both Irish — and on two other islands, the soil of one of
which was as white as a feather, he meets with men whose
only clothing was the hair of their bodies ^ [cf. Zimmer,
1889, pp. 162, 163, 169, 172, 178]. In the Navigatio
Brandan also meets on the island of Alibius an aged man
with hair of the colour of snow and with shining countenance.
(Cf. Christ revealing himself among the seven candlesticks
to John on the isle of Patmos : " His head and his hairs were
white like wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were as a
flame of fire " [Rev. i. 14].)

Among the Irish the white colour again forms a conspicuous feature in the
description of persons, especially supernatural beings, in ancient non-Christian
legends and myths. The name of their national hero Finn means white. To Finn
Mac Cumaill there comes in the legend a king's daughter of unearthly size and
beauty, " Bebend " (the white woman), from the Land of Virgins ('* TIr na-n-
Ingen ") in the west of the sea, and she has marvellously beautiful white hair
[cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 269]. The corresponding maiden of the sea-people, in the
*' Imram Brenaind," whom Brandan finds, is also whiter than snow or sea-spray
(see vol. i. p. 363). The physician Libra at the court of Manannan, king of the
Promised Land, has three daughters with white hair. When Midir, the king
of the sid (fairies), is trying to entice away Etain, queen of the high-king of
Ireland, he says : ' * Oh, white woman, wilt thou go with me to the land of marvels ?
. . . thy body has the white colour of snow to the very top," etc. etc.^ [cf. Zimmer,

^ The resemblance to the hairy women (great apes ?) that Hanno found on an
island to the west of Africa and whose skin he brought to Carthage (cf. vol. i. p. 88)
is doubtless only accidental. The hair-covered hermits may be connected with
stories of hermits and the hairy wild man, "wilder Mann," "Silvanus," who,
in the opinion of Moltke Moe, is the same that reappears in the Norwegian tale
of " Villemand og Magnhild " ( = der wilde Mann and Magdelin).

2 White and snow-white women and maidens are, moreover, of common
occurrence also in Germanic legends [cf. J. Grimm, 1876, ii. pp. 803, ff.]. Expres-
sions like white or snow-white to depict the dazzling beauty of the female body also

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER 1889, pp. 273, 279]. A corresponding idea to that of the Irish sid-people,
IX especially the women, being white, is perhaps that of the Norse elves being thought

light (cf. " lysalver," light-elves], or even white. The elf -maiden in Sweden is
slender as a lily and white as snow, and elves in Denmark may also be snow-
white (cf. also the fact that elves are described as white njrmphs, '* albae
nymphse "j.

It seems natural that these ideas — of whiteness as
specially beautiful, and mostly applied to the " sid " or
elves, to the garments of baptism, and to holy men
and hermits — led to a name which, in conformity with the
Strong Men's Island of the Navigatio, would become the
White Men's Land, for the mythical western land oversea,
where Are Marsson was baptized, but which he could not
leave again, and where, according to the Eyrbyggja Saga,
the language resembled Irish. This, then, is precisely the
" Isle of Anchorites." The country may have originated
through a contact of ideas from the religious world and the
profane, original conceptions from the latter having become
Christianised. Doubtless the white garments, which were
connected with the other world, and which became the
heavenly raiment of the Christians, have also played a part.
In Plato a white-clad woman (i.e., one from the other world)
comes to Socrates in a dream and announces to him that in
three days he is to depart. During the transfiguration on
the mountain Jesus' face " did shine as the sun, and his
raiment was white as the light " [Matt. xvii. 2], or ** his
raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow " [Mark ix.
3]. On the basis of this Christian conception the image of
the world beyond the grave has taken the form of a fair,
shining land, as in the immense literature of visions ; and
thus too in the Floamanna Saga [Gronl. hist. Mind., ii. p. 103],
where Thorgils's wife Thorey sees in a dream a ** fair country
with shining white men " (** menn bjarta "), and Thorgils

occur in Icelandic literature, just as the lily-white arms are already found in
Homer. Cf. further such names as Snj6friSr, Snelaug, Schneewitchen (Snow-
white), etc. [Cf. Moltke Moe's commxmications in A. Helland, 1905, ii. pp. 641 , f.]

WINELAND THE GOOD

interprets it to mean " another world " where " good awaits chapter
her " and '* holy men would help her." ^^

There is further a possibility that some of the conceptions
attached to Hvitramanna-land may be connected with ancient
Celtic tales which in antiquity were associated with the
Cassiterides (in Celtic Brittany) ; in any case there is a
remarkable similarity between the mention in Eric the Red's
Saga of men who went about in white clothes, carried poles
before them, and cried aloud (see vol. i. p. 330), and Strabo's
description (see vol. i. p. 27) of the men in the Cassiterides
in black cloaks with kirtles reaching to the feet, who wander
about with staves, like the Furies in tragedy. That Strabo
should see a resemblance to the Eumenides (Furies) and
therefore make his men black, while the Northern author
has the Christian ideas and in agreement with the name of
Hvitramanna-land gives them white clothes, need not surprise
us. Even if Storm [1887] is correct in his supposition that
the white men's banners, or ** poles to which strips were
attached " (see vol. i. p. 330), are connected with ecclesiastical
processions, this may be a later popular modification, just as
the white hermits out in the ocean may be a modification of
pre-Christian, or at any rate non-religious, conceptions in
Ireland.

Reference has been made (p. 32J to the resemblance between the accounts
of the inhabitants of Wyntlandia ( = Wineland), who were versed in magic,
and of the Celtic priestesses in the island of Sena off Brittany. One might be
tempted to think that here again there is some connection or other between
these Breton priestesses and, on the one hand the Irishmen in Hvitramanna-land,
on the other the men of the Cassiterides (near Sena) who were like the Furies.
Dionysius Periegetes [510 ; cum Eustath. i] relates that on this island of Sena
women crowned with ivy conducted nocturnal bacchanals, with shrieks and
violent noise (cf. the men in white clothes in Hvitramanna-land, who carried
poles and cried aloud). No male person might set foot on the island, but the
women went over to the men on the mainland, and returned after having had
intercourse with them (cf . vol. i. p. 356). Exactly the same thing is related by Strabo
[iv. 198] of the Seunnite women on a little island in the sea, not far from the
mouth of the Liger (Loire) ; inspired by Bacchus they honour that god in
mysteries and other unusually holy actions. The druids had their sanctuaries
on islands, and Mona (Anglesey) was their headquarters. Tacitus [Ann.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER xiv. 30] tells of their fanatical women who, in white clothes (grave-clothes), with
IX dishevelled hair and flaming torches, conducted themselves altogether like Furies

on the arrival of the Romans.

The circumstance of Hvitramanna-land being, according
to the Eyrbyggja Saga, a forbidden land may correspond to
that of men being prohibited from setting foot on the
priestesses* island, or again to the way to the Cassiterides being
kept secret and to the precautions taken to prevent people
from reaching them (cf. vol. i. p. 27). Something similar, it may
be added, is told of the rich, fertile island which the
Carthaginians discovered in the west of the ocean, and which,
under pain of death, they forbade others to visit [Aristotle,
Mir. Auscult., c. 85 ; cf. also Diodorus, v. 20]. That in
late classical times there was a confusion between the Cas-
siterides and the mythical isles in the west appears further
from Pliny's saying [Hist. Nat., iv. 36] that the Cassiterides
were also called " Fortunatae," and from Dionysius Perie-
getes making tin, the product of the Cassiterides, come from
the Hesperides.
The name It was mentioned above (vol. i. p. 357) that the name of the

f^T\ promised land, *' the Land of Marvels," was also called in
Irish legend the "Great Strand" (" Trag Mor "), or the
"Great Land" (" Tir Mor"); "two or three times as
large as Ireland ' ' (vol. i. p. 355) . It does not seem unlikely that
the Icelanders, hearing from Ireland of this great land, should
come to call it " Irland hit Mikla " (Ireland the Great) ;
and this seems to be a more natural explanation than
Storm's [1887, p. 65] interpretation of the name as meaning
* * the Irish colony, ' ' like * ' Magna Graecia ' ' (the Greek
colony in Italy) and " Svi]?j6d it Mikla " (the Swedish colony
in Russia, the name of which may however have been
derived from the name of the latter: " Scythia Magna ") ;
on the other hand, he gives an obvious parallel in " Great
Han," the mythical land in the Great Ocean beyond China
(Han).

In the Eyrbyggja Saga we read of Bjorn Asbrandsson,

WINELAND THE GOOD

called Breidvikinge-kjaempe, and his exploits. He bore illicit CHAPTER
love to Snorre Code's sister, Thurid of Fr6tSd, the wife of ^^
Thorodd, and had by her an illegitimate son, Kjartan.
Finally he had to leave Iceland on account of this love ; but
his ship was not ready till late in the autumn. They put to
sea with a north-east wind, which held for a long time that
autumn. Afterwards the ship was not heard of for many a
day.

Gudleif Gudlaugsson was the name of a great sailor and merchant ; he owned a Gudleif 's
large merchant vessel. In the last years of St. Olaf 's reign he was on a trading voyage
voyage to Dublin ; "when he sailed westward from thence he was making for Ice-
land. He sailed to the west of Ireland, encountered there a strong north-east wind,
and was driven far to the west and south-west in the ocean," until they finally
came to a great land which was unknown to them. They did not know the people
there, " but thought rather that they spoke Irish." Soon many hundred men
collected about them, seized and bound them, and drove them up into the country.
They were brought to an assembly and sentence was to be pronounced upon
them. They understood as much as that some wanted to kill them, while others
wanted to make slaves of them. While this was going on, a great band of men
came on horseback with a banner, and under it rode a big and stately man of
great age, with white hair, whom they guessed to be the chief, for all bowed
before him. He sent for them ; when they came before him he spoke to them
in Norse and asked from what country they came, and when he heard that most
of them were Icelanders, and that Gudleif was from Borgarfjord, he asked after
nearly all the more important men of Borgarfjord and Breidafjord, and particu-
larly Snorre Gode, and Thurid of Fr6Sa, his sister, and most of all after Kjartan,
her son, who was now master there. After this big man had discussed the matter
at length with the men of the country, he again spoke to the Icelanders and gave
them leave to depart, but although the summer was far gone, he advised them to
get away as soon as possible, as the people there were not to be relied upon. He
would not tell them his name ; for he did not wish his kinsmen such a voyage
thither as they would have had if he had not helped them ; but he was now so old
that he might soon be gone, and moreover, said he, there were men of more influ-
ence than he in that country, who would show little mercy to foreigners. After this
he had the ship fitted out, and was himself present, until there came a favourable
wind for them to leave. When they parted, this man took a gold ring from his
hand, gave it to Gudleif, and with it a good sword, and said : " If it be thy lot
to reach Iceland, thou shalt bring this sword to Kjartan, master of FrdSa, and
the ring to Thurid, his mother." When Gudleif asked him who he was to say
was the sender of these costly gifts, he answered : " Say he sent them who was
more a friend of the mistress of Fr6Sa than of the * gode *• of Helgafell, her
brother. ..." Gudleif and his men put to sea and arrived in Ireland late in

II D 49

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
IX

Gu5-Leifr
and Leifr
hint!
Heppni

the autumn, stayed that winter at Dublin, and sailed next summer to Iceland
[cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., i. pp. 769, ff.].

It is clear that Bjorn Breidvikinge-kj aempe here is the
same as Are Marsson in the Landnama, who was also driven
by storms to Hvitramanna-land, had to stay there all his
life, and according to the report of Thorfinn earl of Orkney
(ob. circa 1064) had been recognised (by travellers like
Gudleif ?), and was much honoured there. This incident of
the travellers coming to an unknown island and there finding
a man who has been absent a long while has parallels in
many Irish legends. Thus it may be mentioned that Brandan,
in the Navigatio, comes to the convent-island of Alibius,
with the twenty-four Irish monks of old days, and meets
there the old white-haired man who was prior of the convent
and had been there for eighty years, but who does not tell
his name. Brandan asks leave to sail on, but this is not
permitted until they have celebrated Christmas there
[Schroder, 1871, pp. 15, ff.].^

The resemblance between the two names ** Gu6-Leifr "
(Gudleif = God-Leif) and "Leifr hinn Heppni" (Leif the
Lucky) also deserves notice, as perhaps it is not merely
accidental. One sails during the last years of St. Olaf from
Ireland to Iceland and is carried south-westwards to Hvitra-
manna-land ; the other sails during the last years of Olaf
Tryggvason from Norway to Greenland and is carried south-
westwards to Wineland the Good.

It might also be thought to be more than a mere coincidence that, while Leif
Ericson is given the surname of "hinn heppni," a closely related surname is
mentioned in connection with Gudleif in the Eyrbyggja Saga, where he is called
" GutSleifr GuSlaugsson hins auSga " (i.e., son of Gudlaug the rich). In the one
case, of course, it is the man himself, in the other the father, who bears the sur-
name. " AuSigr " means rich, but originally it had the meaning of lucky,

1 Before the convent on this island Brandan and his companions were met
by the monks " with cross, and cloaks [white clothes ?], and hymns " ; cf. the
men in white clothes who cried aloud and carried poles in Eric the Red's Saga.
On the *' Strong Men's Island " they also sang psalms, and one generation wore
white clothes.

WINELAND THE GOOD

and the rich man is he who has luck with him (cf. further " autJna " = luck, CHAPTER

*' auSnu-maSr " = favourite of fortune). Gudleif Gudlaugsson also occurs in the IX

Landnamabok, but this surname is not mentioned, nor is anything said about this

voyage, in exactly the same way as Leif Ericson is named there, but without

a surname and without any mention of a voyage or a discovery ; in both cases

this is an addition that occurs in later sagas. In spite of the difference alluded to,

one may suspect that there is here some connection or other. Possibly it might

be that, as GuSriSr is the Christian woman among all the names beginning with

Thor- and FreySis, so the name of GuSleifr, which was placed in association

with the Christian Hvitramanna-land, was used because it had a more religious

stamp than " happ " and •* heppen," which in any case are as nearly allied to

popular belief as to religiosity, and which were associated with the non-Christian

Wineland.

The following tale in Edrisi, the Arabic geographer, Voyage of
whose work dates from 1154, bears considerable resemblance ^^s^*
to the remarkable story of Gudleif 's voyage.^ in Edrisi

Eight "adventurers " from Lisbon built a merchant ship and set out with
the first east wind to explore the farthest limits of the ocean. They sailed for
about eleven days [westwards] and came to a sea with stiff (thick] waves [the
Liver-sea] and a horrible stench,^ with many shallows and little light (cf . precisely
similar conceptions, vol. i. pp. 38, 68, 181, 182, note i). Afraid of perishing
there, they sailed southward for twelve days and reached the Sheep-island (" Djazi-
rato '1-Ghanam "), with innumerable flocks of sheep and no human beings (cf.
Dicuil's account of the Faroes, and Brandan's Sheep-island, vol. i. pp. 163, 362}.
They sailed on for twelve days more towards the south and found at last an inhabited
and cultivated island. On approaching this they were soon surrounded by boats,
taken prisoners, and brought to a town on the coast. They finally took up their
abode in a house, where they saw men of tall stature and red complexion, with
little hair on their faces, and wearing their hair long (not curled], and women
of rare beauty. Here they were kept prisoners for three days. On the fourth day
a man came who spoke to them in Arabic and asked them who they were, why
they had come, and what country they came from. They related to him their
adventures. He gave them good hopes, and told them that he was the king's
interpreter. On the following day they were brought before the king, who asked
them the same questions through the interpreter. On their replying that they
had set out with the object of exploring the wonders of the ocean and finding
out its limits, the king began to laugh and told the interpreter to explain that
his father had once ordered one of his slaves to set out upon that ocean ; this

1 Cf. Dozy anddeGoeje, 1866, p. 223, ff. ; deGoeje, i89i,pp. 56, 59. Moltke
Moe has called my attention to this resemblance.

2 The stench may be connected with ideas like those in the " Meregarto,"i
tha sailors stuck fast and rotted in the Liver-sea, see vol. i. p. x8i.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER man had traversed its breadth for a month, until the light of heaven failed them
IX and they were obliged to renounce this vain undertaking. The king further caused

the interpreter to assure the adventurers of his benevolent intentions. They then
returned to prison and remained there until a west wind came. Then they were
blindfolded and taken across the sea in a boat for about three days and three
nights to a land where they were left on the shore with their hands tied behind
their backs. They stayed there till sunrise in a pitiable state, for the cords were
very tight and caused them great discomfort. Then they heard voices, and upon
their cries of distress the natives, who were Berbers, came and released them.
They had arrived on the west coast of Africa, and were told that it was two months'
journey to their native land.

Resem- As points of similarity to Gudleif's voyage it may be

between pointed out that the Portuguese sail for thirty-five days
Edrisi'staie altogether, to the west and afterwards to the south, and
andGud- arrive at a country which thus lies south-south-west,
voyage Gudleif is carried before a north-east wind towards the
south-west and reaches land after a long time. Both the
Portuguese and the Icelanders are taken prisoners shortly
after arrival ; the former are surrounded by boats, the latter
by hundreds of men. The Portuguese saw red-complexioned
men of tall stature with long hair, the Icelanders saw a tall,
stately man with white hair coming on horseback. They
had to wait awhile before they were addressed in a language
they could understand ; the Portuguese being first spoken to
by an interpreter in Arabic ^ who gave them good hopes, and
afterwards brought them before the king, who assured them of
his benevolent intentions ; while the Icelanders were sent
for by the great chief, who, when they came before him,
spoke to them in Norse and was friendly towards them, and
after long deliberations spoke to them again, and gave them
leave to depart. The Portuguese had to wait in prison for
a west wind before they could get away ; the Icelanders had
to wait for a favourable wind, which was again a west wind.
The Portuguese were led away blindfold, obviously in order
that they should not find their way back ; when the
Icelanders left it was enjoined upon them never to return.

^ As Portugal was at that time under the Moors, Arabic must be regarded as
these men's mother- tongue.

WINELAND THE GOOD

The Portuguese came to the west coast of Africa, from whence CHAPTER
they afterwards had to sail northward to Lisbon ; the ^^
Icelanders arrived in Ireland, and sailed thence the next
summer northward to Iceland. It seems reasonable to
suppose that there is some connection between the two
tales ; the same myth may in part form the foundation of
both, and this again may be allied to the myth alluded to
above of the Carthaginians' discovery of a fertile island out
in the ocean to the west of Africa. But there are also
striking resemblances between Edrisi's tale and the descrip-
tion in the Odyssey of Odysseus 's visit to the Phaeacians in the
western isle of Scheria. On his arrival there Athene warns
Odysseus to be careful, as this people is not inclined to tolerate
foreigners, and no other men come to them. Odysseus is
brought before the king, Alcinous, who receives him in
friendly fashion, and tells him that no Phaeacian shall '^ hold
him back by force," and Odysseus relates his many adven-
tures. Finally the Phaeacians convey him while asleep across
the sea in a boat, carry him ashore at dawn, and go away
before he awakes [Od. xiii. 79, ff.] ; this corresponds to the
Portuguese being taken blindfold across the sea and left
bound on the shore, until they are released at sunrise. The
promise of the Phaeacians, after Poseidon's revenge for their
helping Odysseus, never again to assist any seafarer that
might come to them, may bear some resemblance to the
incident of Bjorn Breidvikinge-kjaempe trying to prevent
Icelanders from seeking a land which ' ' would show little
mercy to foreigners."

Moreover, the tales, both of Gudleif's voyage and of
Edrisi's Portuguese adventurers, resemble ancient Irish
myths.

In the " Imram Snedgusa acus meic Riagla " [of the tenth or close of the Irish myth
ninth century, cf. Zimmer, 1889, pp. 213, f., 216], the men of Ross slay King
Fiacha Mac Domnaill for his intolerable tyranny. As a punishment, sixty couples
of the guilty were sent out to sea, and their judgment and fate left to God. The
two monks, Snedgus and Mac Riagail, afterwards set out on a voluntary
pilgrimage on the ocean— while the sixty couples went involuntarily — and, after

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER having visited many islands,^ reached in their boat a land in which there were
IX generations of Irish, and they met women who sang to them and brought them

to the king's house (cf. Odysseus's meeting first with the women in the Phaeacians'
land, and their showing him the way to the palace of Alcinous). The king received
them well and inquired from whence they came. " We are Irish," they replied,
" and we belong to the companions of Columcille." Then he asked : " How
goes it in Ireland, and how many of Domnaill's sons are alive ? " They answered :
" Three Mac Domnaills are alive, and Fiacha Mac Domnaill fell by the men of
Ross, and for that deed sixty couples of them were sent out to sea." " That is
a true tale of yours ; I am he who killed the King of Tara's son [i.e., Fiacha],
and we are those who were sent out to sea. This commends itself to us, for we
will be here till the Judgment [i.e., the day of judgment] comes, and we are glad
to be here without sin, without evil, without our sinful desires. The island we
live on is good, for on it are Elijah and Enoch, and noble is the dwelling of
EUjah. . . ."

The similarity to the meeting of Gudleif and the Ice-
landers with the likewise exiled great man and chief, who
did not give his name but hinted at his identity, is evident.
If we suppose that the island Gudleif reached was originally
the white men's, or the holy (baptized) men's land, then it
may be possible that the great man's words to Gudleif about
there being men on the island who were greater (" rikari ")
than he is connected with the mention of Elijah and Enoch.

Thus we see a connection between Gudleif 's voyage (and
the exiled Breidvikinge-kjaempe on the unknown island)
and Irish myths and legends, the Arabic tale, and finally the

^ They first drifted to the north-west in the outer ocean, and after three days
suffered intolerable thirst ; but Christ took pity on them and brought them to a
current which tasted like tepid milk. Zimmer's explanation [1889, p. 216] of
this current as the Gulf Stream to the west of the Hebrides is due to modern maps,
and is an example of how even the most acute of book-learned inquirers may be
led astray by formal representations. That the Irish should have possessed such
comprehensive oceanographical knowledge as to regard this ocean-drift as a
definitely limited current is not likely, and still less that they should have regarded
it as so much warmer than the water inshore as to be compared to tepid milk.
The difference in temperature on the surface is in summer (August) approximately
nil, and in spring and autumn perhaps three or four degrees ; and of course
the Irish had no thermometers. Last summer I investigated this very part of
the ocean without finding any conspicuous difference. The feature may be derived
from Lucian's Vera Historia, where the travellers come to a sea of milk [Wie-
land, 1789, iv. p. 188].

WINELAND THE GOOD

Odyssey. What the mutual relationship may be between chapter

Edrisi's tale and the Irish legends is to us of minor import- ^^

ance. As the Norse Vikings had much communication with

the Spanish peninsula ^ it might be supposed that the Norse

tale, derived from Irish myths, had reached Portugal ; but

as the Arabic tale has several similarities to the voyages of

Brandan and Maelduin, and to Dicuil's account of the

Faroes (with their sheep and birds), which are not found in

the Norse narrative, it is more probable that the incidents

in the experiences of the Portuguese adventurers are derived

directly from Ireland, which also had close connection with

the Spanish Peninsula, chiefly through Norse ships and

merchants. We must in any case suppose that the Icelandic

tale of Gudleif's voyage came from Ireland ; but it may

have acquired additional colour from northern legends.

There is a Swedish tale of some sailors from Getinge who were driven by storms Northern
over the sea to an unknown island ; surrounded by darkness they went ashore tales
and saw a fire, and before it lay an uncommonly tall man, who was blind ;
another equally big stood beside him and raked in the fire with an iron rod. The
old blind man gets up and asks the strangers where they come from. They answer
from Halland, from Getinge parish. Whereupon the blind man asks : ** Is the

^ It is doubtless due to this communication that an unknown Arabic author
(of the twelfth century) relates that the ** Fortunate Isles " lie to the north of
Cadiz, and thatthence come the northern Vikings (" Magus "), who are Christians.
" The first of these islands is Britain, which lies in the midst of the ocean, at a
great distance to the north of Spain. Neither mountains nor rivers are found there ;
its inhabitants are compelled to resort to rain-water both for drinking and for
watering the ground " [Fabricius, 1897, p. 157]. It is clear that there is here a
confusion of rumours of islands in the north — of which Britain was the best
known, whence the Vikings were supposed to come — with Pliny's Fortunate Isles :
" Planaria " (without mountains) and ** Pluvialia " (where the inhabitants had
only rain-water). That the Orkneys in particular should have been intended, as
suggested by R. Dozy [Recherches sur I'Espagne, ii. pp. 317, ff.] and Paul Riant
[Expeditions et Pelerinages des Scandinaves en Terre Sainte, Paris, 1865, p. 236]
is not very probable. We might equally well suppose it to be Ireland, which through
Norse sailors (** Ostmen ") and merchants had communication with the Spaniards
from the ninth till as late as the fourteenth century [cf. A. Bugge, 1900, pp. i, f.].
The Arabic name "Magus" for the Norman Vikings comes from the Greek
HayoQ (Magian, fire- worshipper), and originally meant heathens in general.

CHAPTER
IX

Japanese
fairy-tale

IN NORTHERN MISTS

white woman still alive ? " They answered yes, though they did not know what
he meant. Again he asks : " Is my goat-house still standing ? " They again
answered yes, though ignorant of what he meant. He then said : "I could not
keep my goat-house in peace because of the church that was built in that place.
If you would reach home safely, I give you two conditions." They promised to
accept these, and the blind old man continued : " Take this belt of silver, and
when you come home, buckle it on the white woman ; and place this box on the
altar in my goat-house." When the sailors were safely come home, the belt was
buckled on a birch-tree, which immediately shot up into the air, and the box
was placed on a mound, which immediately burst into flame. But from the church
being built where the blind man had his goat-house the place was called Getinge
[in J.Grimm, ii. 1876, p. 798, after Bexell's "Halland,"G6teborg, 1818, ii.p. 301].
Similar tales are known from other localities in Sweden and Norway. The old
blind man is a heathen giant driven out by the Christian church or by the image
of Mary (the white woman) ; sometimes again he is a heathen exile.

Here we have undeniable parallels to the storm-driven
Icelanders' meeting with the exiled Breidvikinge-kjaempe,
who asks after his native place and his woman, Thurid,^ and
who also sends two gifts home, though with very different
feelings and objects. It may be supposed that the Swedish-
Norwegian tale is derived from ancient myths, and the
Icelandic narrative may have borrowed features, not, of
course, from this very tale, but from myths of the same
type.

Remarkable points of resemblance both to the voyages of
the Irish (Bran's voyage) to the Fortunate Isles in the west,
and to those of Gudleif and of the eight Portuguese (in
Edrisi), are found in a Japanese tale of the fortunate isles
of ** Horaisan," to which Moltke Moe has called my attention.^

This happy land lies far away in the sea towards the east ; there on the moun -
tain Fusan grows a splendid tree which is sometimes seen in the distance over
the horizon ; all vegetation is verdant and flowering in eternal spring, which
keeps the air mild and the sky blue ; the passing of time is unnoticed, and death
never finds the way thither, there is no pain, no suffering, only peace and happi-
ness. Once on a time Jofuku, body physician to a cruel emperor of China, put to

^ In one of his lays Bjom Breidvikinge-kjaempe also, as it happens, speaks
of Thurid as the snow-white (" fannhvit ") woman.

' See D. Brauns : Japanische Marchen und Sagen. Leipzig, 1885, p. 146, ff.

WINELAND THE GOOD

sea on the pretext of looking for this country and seeking for his master the plant CHAPTER
of immortality which grows on Fusan, the highest mountain there. He came first *^
to Japan ; but went farther and farther out into the ocean until he really reached
Horaisan ; there he enjoyed complete happiness, and never thought of returning
to prolong his tyrant's life.

The old Japanese wise man, Vasobiove, who had withdrawn from the world
and passed his days in contemplative peace, was one day out fishing by himself
(to avoid many trivial visits), when he was driven out to sea by a violent storm ;
he then rowed about the sea, keeping himself alive by fishing. After three months
he came to the '* muddy sea," which nearly cost him his life, as there were no
fish there. But after a desperate struggle, and finally twelve hours* hard rowing,
he reached the shore of Horaisan. There he was met by an old man whom he
understood, for he spoke Chinese. This was Jofuku, who received Vasobiove in
friendly fashion and told him his story. Vasobiove was overjoyed on hearing
where he was. He stayed there for a couple of hundred years, but did not know
how long it was ; for where all is alike, where there is neither birth nor death,
no one heeds the passing of time. With dancing and music, in conversation with
wise and brilliant men, in the society of beautiful and amiable ladies, he passed
his days.

But at last Vasobiove grew tired of this sweet existence and longed for death.
It was hopeless, for here he could not die, nor could he take his own life, there
were no poisons, no lethal weapons ; if he threw himself over a precipice or ran
his head against a sharp rock, it was like a fall on to soft cushions, and if he
threw himself into the sea, it supported him like a cork. Finally he tamed a
gigantic stork, and on its back he at last returned to Japan,i after the stork had
carried him through many strange countries, of which the most remarkable was
that of the Giants, who are immensely superior to human beings in everything.
Whereas Vasobiove was accustomed to admiration wherever he propounded his
philosophical views and systems, he left that country in humiliation ; for the
Giants said they had no need of all that, and declared Vasobiove 's whole philosophy
to be the immature cries of distress of the children of men.

A connection between the intellectual world of China
and Japan and that of Europe in the Middle Ages may well
be supposed to have been brought about by the Arabs, who
penetrated as far as China on their trading voyages, and who,
on the other hand, had close communication with Western
Europe. Furthermore, it must be remembered how many
of our mythical conceptions and tales are more or less
connected with India, just as many of the Arabian tales

^ Cf. the resemblance to the second voyage of Sindbad, to the tales in Abtt
Hamid, Qaswini, Pseudo-Callisthenes' romance of Alexander, Indian tales, etc.
[cf. E. Rohde, 1900, p. 192].

IN NORTHERN MISTS
CHAPTER evidently had their birthplace there [cf. E. Rohde, 1900,

pp. 191, ff.] ; while on the other side there was, of course, a
close connection between India and the intellectual world of
China and Japan, as shown by the spread of Buddhism.
A transference of the same myths both eastward to Japan
and westward to Europe is thus highly probable, whether
these myths originated in Europe or in India and the East.
It is striking, too, that even a secondary feature such as the
curdled, dead sea (cf. ** Morimarusa," see vol. i. p. 99; the
stinking sea in Edrisi, vol. ii. p. 51) is met with again here as the
** muddy sea " without fish (cf. resemblances to Arab ideas,
chapter xiii.).

Retrospect If we now look back upon all the problems it has

been sought to solve in this chapter, the impression may
be a somewhat heterogeneous and negative one ; the
majority will doubtless be struck at the outset by the
multiplicity of the paths, and by the intercrossing due to
this multiplicity. But if we force our way through the
network of by-paths and follow up the essential leading lines,
it appears to me that there is established a firm and powerful
series of conclusions, which it will not be easy to shake.
The most important steps in this series are :

(i) The oldest authority,^ Adam of Bremen's work, in
which Wineland is mentioned, is untrustworthy, and, with
the exception of the name and of the fable of wine being
produced there, contains nothing beyond what is found in
Isidore.

(2) The oldest Icelandic authorities that mention the
name of ** Vinland," or in the Landnama ** Vindland hit
Go^a," say nothing about its discovery or about the wine
there ; on the other hand. Are Erode mentions the Skraelings
(who must originally have been regarded as a fairy people).

* The Ringerike runic stone is not given here, as its mention of Wineland is
uncertain.

WINELAND THE GOOD
The name of Leif Ericson is mentioned, unconnected with chapter

Wineland or its discovery.

(3) It is not till well on in the thirteenth century that Leif 's
surname of Heppni, his discovery of Wineland ( ' * Vinland ' *
or ** Vindland "), and his Christianising of Greenland are
mentioned (in the Kristni-saga and Heimskringla), but still
there is nothing about wine.

(4) It is not till the close of the thirteenth century that
any information occurs as to what and where Wineland
was, with statements as to the wine and wheat there, and
a description of voyages thither (in the Saga of Eric the
Red). But still the accounts omit to inform us who gave
the name and why.

(5) The second and later principal narrative of voyages
to Wineland (the Flateyjarbok's Gr6nlendinga-]?attr) gives
a very different account of the discovery, by another, and
likewise of the later voyages thither.

(6) The first of the two sagas, and the one which is
regarded as more to be relied on, contains scarcely a single
feature that is not wholly or in part mythical or borrowed
from elsewhere ; both sagas have an air of romance.

(7) Even among the Greeks of antiquity we find myths
of fortunate isles far in the western ocean, with the two
characteristic features of Wineland, the wine and the
wheat.

(8) The most significant features in the description of
these Fortunate Isles or Isles of the Blest in late classical
times and in Isidore are the self-grown or wild-growing
vine (on the heights) and the wild-growing (uncultivated,
self-sown or unsown) corn or wheat or even cornfields
(Isidore). In addition there were lofty trees (Pliny) and mild
winters. Thus a complete correspondence with the saga's
description of Wineland.

(9) The various attempts that have been made to bring
the natural conditions of the North American coast into
agreement with the saga's description of Wineland are more

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER or less artificial, and no natural explanation has been offered
of how the two ideas of wine and wheat, both foreign to the
Northerners, could have become the distinguishing marks of
the country.

(id) In Ireland long before the eleventh century there
were many myths and legends of happy lands far out in the
ocean to the west ; and in the description of these wine and
the vine form conspicuous features.

(ii) From the eleventh century onward, in Ireland and
in the North, we meet with a Grape-island or a Wineland,
which it seems most reasonable to suppose the same.

(12) From the Landnamabok it may be naturally
concluded that in the eleventh century the Icelanders had
heard of Wineland, together with Hvitramanna-land, in
Ireland.

(13) Thorkel Gellisson, from whom this information is
derived, probably also furnished Are Frode with his state-
ment in the Islendingab6k about Wineland ; this is therefore
probably the same Irish land.

(14) The Irish happy lands peopled by the sid correspond to
the Norwegian huldrelands out in the sea to the west, and
the Icelandic elf-lands.

(15) Since the huldre- and sid-people and the elves are
originally the dead, and since the Isles of the Blest or the
Fortunate Isles of antiquity were the habitations of the happy
dead, these islands also correspond to the Irish sid-people 's
happy lands, and to the Norwegian huldrelands and the
Icelandic elf-lands.

(16) The additional name of " hit G6tSa " for the happy
Wineland and the name ** Landit G6t5a " for huldrelands in
Norway correspond directly to the name of " Insulae Fortu-
natae," which in itself could not very well take any other
Norse form. And as in addition the huldrelands were
imagined as specially good and fertile, and the underground,
huldre- and sid-people or elves are called the * * good people, ' '
and are everywhere in different countries associated with the
60

WINELAND THE GOOD

idea of " good," this gives a natural explanation of both the CHAPTER
Norse names.

(17) The name *' Vinland hit G6^a " has a foreign effect
in Norse nomenclature ; it must be a hybrid of Norse and
foreign nomenclature, through " Vinland " being combined
with '* Landit G6tSa," which probably originated in a trans-
lation of " Insulae Fortunatse."

(18) The probability of the name of Skraelings for the
inhabitants of Wineland having originally meant brownies or
trolls — that is, small huldre-folk, elves or pygmies — entirely
agrees with the view that Wineland was originally the fairy
country, the Fortunate Isles in the west of the ocean.

(19) The statement of the Icelandic geography, that in
the opinion of some Wineland the Good was connected with
Africa, and the fact that the Norwegian work, Historia
Norwegiae, calls Wineland (with Markland and Helluland) the
African Islands, are direct evidence that the Norse Wineland
was the Insulae Fortunatae, which together with the Gor-
gades and the Hesperides were precisely the African Islands.

(20) Even though the Saga of Eric the Red and the
Gronlendinga-^^dttr contain nothing which we can regard as
certain information as to the discovery of America by the
Greenlanders, we yet find there and elsewhere many features
which show that they must have reached the coast of America,
the most decisive amongst them being the chance mention of
the voyagers from Markland in 1347. To this may be added
Hertzberg's demonstration of the adoption of the Icelandic
game of " knattleikr " by the Indians. The name of the
mythical land may then have been transferred to the country
that was discovered.

(21) Hvitramanna-land is a mythical land similar to the
wine-island of the Irish, modified in accordance with Christian
ideas, especially perhaps those of the white garments of the
baptized — as in the Navigatio Brandani in reference to the
Isle of Anchorites or the " Strong Men's Isle " (= Starkra-
manna-land) — and of the white hermits.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER (22) Finally, among the most different people on earth,

from the ancient Greeks to the Icelanders, Chinese and
Japanese, we meet with similar myths about countries out
in the ocean and voyages to them, which, whether they be
connected with one another or not, show the common
tendency of humanity to adopt ideas and tales of this kind.

But even if we are obliged to abandon the Saga of Eric
the Red ^ and the other descriptions of these voyages as
historical documents, this is compensated by the increase
in our admiration for the extraordinary powers of realistic
description in Icelandic literature. In reading Eric's Saga
one cannot help being struck by the way in which many of
the events are so described, often in a few words, that the

% whole thing is before one's eyes and it is difficult to believe
that it has not actually occurred. This is just the same
quality that characterises our Norwegian fairy-tales : all
that is supernatural is made so natural and realistic that it
is brought straight before one. The Icelanders created the
realistic novel ; and at a time when the prose style of
Europe was still in its infancy their prose narrative often
reaches the summit of clear simplicity. In part this may
doubtless be explained by their not being merely authors,
but men of action ; their presentment acquired the stamp of
real life and the brevity that belongs to the narrator of
things seen. And to this, of course, must be added the

^. fact that as a rule the tales were sifted and abridged by
generations of oral transmission. In later times this style
became corrupted by European influence.

Postscript After I had given, on October 7, 1910, the outlines

of this examination of the sagas of the Wineland voyages
before the Scientific Society of Christiania, attention

1 It should be remarked that the beginning of this saga, dealing with the
discovery of Greenland by Eric the Red, is taken straight out of the Landnamab6k,
and is thus much older.

WINELAND THE GOOD

was called in Sweden, by Professor F. Laffler, to the fact CHAPTER
that the Swedish philologist, Professor Sven Soderberg, ^^
whose early death in 1901 is much to be regretted, had
announced views about Wineland similar to those at which
I have arrived. The manuscript of a lecture that he delivered
on the subject at Lund in May 1898, but which was never
printed, was then found, and has been published in the
" Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snallposten " for October 30, 1910.
As I have thus become acquainted with this interesting
inquiry too late to be able to include it in my examination,
I think it right to mention it here.

Professor Soderberg thinks, as I do, that there can be no
doubt about the Norsemen having discovered a part of North
America ; but he looks upon the tales of the wine and
everything connected therewith as later inventions. He
maintains that the name of " Vinland " originally meant
grass-land or pasture-land (from the old Norse word ,^
** vin " = pasture), therefore something similar to the
meaning of Greenland, and that it may have been the
name of a country discovered in the west. Curiously enough,
I took at first the same view, and thought too that Adam of
Bremen might have misunderstood such a word, just as
Soderberg thinks ; but I allowed myself to be convinced by
the linguistic objection that the word ** vin " (pasture) seems to
have gone out of use before the eleventh century (cf. vol. i.
P- 367)' However, Soderberg's reasons for supposing that
the word was still in use appear to have weight ; and he also
makes it probable that the name formed thereby might be
Vinland and not Vinjarland. (In support of this Mr. A.
Kisr gave me as an example the Norwegian name Vinas.)
Professor Soderberg then thinks that Adam of Bremen heard
this name in Denmark, and, misinterpreting it as a foreigner
to mean the land of wine, himself invented the explanation
of the country's being so called. Soderberg gives several
striking examples to show how this kind of '* etymologising "
was just in Adam's spirit (e.g., Sconia or Skane is derived

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER from Old German " sconi " or " schon " ; Greenland comes
^^ from the inhabitants being bluish-green in the face, etc.).

An example from a country lying near Denmark, which
appears to me even more striking than those given by
Soderberg, is Adam's explanation of Kvsenland as the Land
of Women (cf. vol. i. pp. i86, f., 383), the Wizzi as white people,
or Albanians, the Huns as dogs, etc. Soderberg has difficulty
in explaining the statement about the unsown corn in Wine-
land ; but if he had noticed Isidore's description of the
Insulas Fortunatae with the self-grown vine and the wild-
growing corn, he would have found a perfectly natural
explanation of this also. If Adam had misunderstood a
* * Vinland " ( = grass-land), and then perhaps Finland (Fin-
mark, cf. vol. i. p. 382), as meaning the land of wine, it would be
just in his spirit to transfer thither Isidore's description of
the Insuls Fortunatse ; a parallel case is that in interpreting
Kvaenland as Womanland he transfers thither the myth of the
Amazons and its fables, and this in spite of its being a country
on the Baltic about which it must have been comparatively
easy for him to obtain information. In the same way he
transfers to the " island " of Halagland, mentioned imme-
diately before Wineland, an erroneous account of the mid-
night sun and the winter night taken from older writers
(cf . vol. i. p. 194, note 2). But one reason for thinking that * * Vin-
land ' ' really meant the land of wine as early as that time is
the circumstance put forward above (vol. i. p. 365), that at
about the same time there occurs a Grape-island in the
Navigatio Brandani.

Professor Soderberg then goes through the Icelandic
accounts of Wineland, and points out, in the same way as
has been done in this chapter, that the oldest authorities
^ have nothing remarkable to report about the country, and do
not mention wine there, and he rightly lays stress on this
being particularly significant in the case of Snorre Sturlason,

" knowing as we do how prone Snorre is to digress from his proper subject, when
he has anything really interesting to communicate. The reason must be that he

WINELAND THE GOOD

did not know anything particularly remarkable about Wineland ; and without CHAPTER
doubt this is due to his not having known Adam of Bremen. It has, in fact, IX
been shown that Snorre has not a single statement from Adam."

Later, Soderberg thinks, Adam of Bremen's fourth book
became known in Iceland, and on the foundation of that the
tale of Leif's discovery of the country with the wine and
corn arose, and the later sagas developed, especially that of
Thorfinn Karlsevne's voyage, which he thinks in the main
** rests on a truthful foundation," though he points out
that a particular feature like that of the two Scottish runners
must be ** pure invention, or rather . . . borrowed from
another saga." If Professor Soderberg had remarked how
most of the incidents in this saga are spurious, he would
have found even stronger support for his views in this fact.

n t 6f

CHAPTER
X

Distribution

CHAPTER X

ESKIMO AND SKR-SLING

,F all the races of the earth that of the Eskimo is the one
that has established itself farthest north. His world
is that of sea-ice and cold, for which nature had not intended
human beings. In his slow, stubborn fight against the
powers of winter he has learnt better than any other how to
turn these to account, and in these regions, along the ice-
bound shores, he developed his peculiar culture, with its
ingenious appliances, long before the beginning of history.
As men of the white race pushed northward to the " highest
latitudes " they found traces of this remarkable people, who
had already been there in times long past ; and it is only
in the last few decades that any one has succeeded in
penetrating farther north than the Eskimo, partly by learning
from him or enlisting his help. In these regions, which are
his own, his culture was superior to that of the white race,
and from no other people has the arctic navigator learnt

so much.

The north coast of America and the islands to the north
of it, from Bering Strait to the east coast of Greenland, is
66

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

the territory of the Eskimo. The map (below) shows his chapter
present distribution and the districts where older traces of
him have been found. Within these limits the Eskimo
must have developed into what they now are. In their
anthropological race-characteristics, in their sealing- and
whaling- culture, and in their language they are very different

S^ Distribution at the present day. ^i." 1 Former distribution.
Distribution of the Eskimo (after W. Thalbitzer, 1904)

from all other known peoples, both in America and Asia,
and we must suppose that for long ages, ever since they
began to fit themselves for their life along the frozen shores,
they have lived apart, separated from others, perhaps for a
long time as a small tribe. They all belong to the same
race ; the cerebral formation, for instance, of all real Eskimo
from Alaska to Greenland is remarkably homogeneous ;
but in the far west they may have been mixed with
Indians and others, and in Greenland they are now mixed
with Europeans. They are pronouncedly dolichocephalic ;
but have short, broad faces, and by their features and
appearance are easily distinguished from other neighbouring

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER peoples. Small, slanting eyes ; the nose small and flat,
^ narrow between the eyes and broad below ; cheeks broad,

prominent and round ; the forehead narrowing compara-
tively above ; the lower part of the face broad and powerful ;
black, straight hair. The colour of the skin is a pale brown.
The Eskimo are not, as is often supposed, a small people
on an average ; they are rather of middle height, often
powerful, and sometimes quite tall, although they are a good
deal shorter, and weaker in appearance, than average Scan-
dinavians. In appearance, and perhaps also in language, they
come nearest to some of the North American Indian
tribes.
Original From whence they originally came, and where they

home developed into Eskimo, is uncertain. The central point of

the Eskimo culture is their seal-hunting, especially with
the harpoon, sometimes from the kayak in open water and
sometimes from the ice. We cannot believe that this sealing,
especially with the kayak, was first developed in the central
part of the regions they now inhabit ; there the conditions of
life would have been too severe, and they would not have
been able to support themselves until their sealing- culture
had attained a certain development. Just as in Europe we
met with the "Finnish" sea-fishing on a coast that was
connected with milder coasts farther south, where seaman-
ship was able first to develop, so we must expect that the
Eskimo culture began on coasts with similar conditions,
and these must be looked for either in Labrador or on
Bering Strait.

As the coasts of Labrador and Hudson Bay are ice-
bound for a great part of the year, it is not likely that traffic
by sea began there at any very early time ; and consequently
no particularly favourable conditions existed there for an
early development of seamanship. Nor is this the case to
any great extent on the east coast of North America farther
south, which, with the exception of the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
has little protection from the sea, and offers few facilities
68

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

for coastal traffic.^ Nor has it produced any other maritime CHAPTER
people or any similar fishing-culture. Again, if the Eskimo ^
culture had arisen there, it would be impossible to under-
stand how they learned to use dogs as draught-animals. It
is otherwise on the northern west coast of North America,
which is indented by fjords and has many outlying islands,
with protected channels between them and the land. Here
seamanship might be naturally developed and form the
necessary basis for a higher sealing-culture like that of the
Eskimo. In addition there is abundance of marine animals
which afforded excellent conditions for hunting. Here too we
have many different peoples with maritime habits : on the
one side the Eskimo northwards along the coast of Alaska ;
on the other side the Aleutians on the islands extending out
to sea, besides Indian tribes along the coast of southern
Alaska and British Columbia. Until, therefore, research has
produced sufficient evidence for a different view, it must
seem most natural that in these favourable regions with a
rich supply of marine animals of all kinds we must look for
the cradle of the culture that was to render the Eskimo
capable of distributing themselves over the whole Arctic
world of America. To this must be added that in these
regions, by intercourse with people on the Asiatic side of
Bering Strait, the seafaring Eskimo may have learnt the
use of the dog as a draught-animal, which is an Asiatic, and
not an American invention, and which is also of great
importance to the whole life and distribution of the Eskimo
in the ice-bound regions. We cannot here pursue further
the inquiry into the still open question of the origin of the
Eskimo and the development of their culture.^

^ It would be otherwise on the west coast of Greenland, with its excellent
belt of skerries ; but as the Eskimo could not reach this coast without having
developed, at least in part, their peculiar maritime culture, it is, of course, out
of the question that this can have been their cradle.

2 Cf. on this subject H. Rink [1871, 1887, 1891] ; F. Boas [1901] ; cf. also
H. P. Steensby [1905], Axel Hamberg [1907] and others. These authors hold
various views as to the origin of the Eskimo, which, however, are all different

CHAPTER
X

Earlier
distribution

IN NORTHERN MISTS

One might get the impression from the map, which shows
where older traces of the Eskimo have been found, that they
were more numerous and more widely distributed in former
times. This is probably a mistake. They are hunters and
fishermen who are entirely dependent on the supply of game,
and who therefore frequently become nomadic and search
for fishing-grounds where they think the prospects are good.
Sometimes they settle in a good district for a considerable
time, and then they may move again ; but sometimes, if

Kayak-fishers and a women's boat ("umiak"). Woodcut from
Greenland, drawn and engraved by a native

exceptionally severe winters chance to come, they may
succumb to famine or scurvy. But everywhere they leave
behind them their peculiar sites of houses and tents and other
traces, and thus these must always be found over larger
areas than are actually inhabited by the Eskimo them-
selves. It might be objected that on the American Arctic
Islands they no longer live so far north as older traces
of them are found ; thus Sverdrup found many relics of

from that set forth here. While Rink thought the Eskimo came from
Alaska and first developed their sea-fishing on the rivers of Alaska, Boas thinks
they come from the west coast of Hudson Bay, and Steensby that they developed
on the central north coasts of Canada. Since the above was written W. Thal-
bitzer has also dealt with the question [i 908-1 910].
70

ESKIMO AND SKR^ELING

Eskimo in the new countries discovered by him, especially CHAPTER
along the sound by Axel Heiberg Land. But these people ^
may, for instance, have migrated eastward to Greenland.
If we suppose the reverse to be the case, that the most
northerly Eskimo tribe now known, on Smith Sound, had
moved westward to Sverdrup's new islands or to the Parry
Islands, then we should have found numerous traces of
them in the districts about Smith Sound and Cape York,
and might thus have concluded that the Eskimo were
formerly more widely distributed towards the north-east.

How early the Eskimo appeared, and came to the most
northern regions, we have as yet no means of determining.
All we can say is that, as they are so distinct in physical
structure, language and culture from all other known races
of men, with the exception of the Aleutians, we must assume
that they have lived for a very long period in the northern
regions apart from other peoples. It would be of special Period of
interest here if we could form any opinion as to the date of ^^"^jg'^a-
their immigration into Greenland. It has become almost a Greenland
historical dogma that this immigration on a larger scale did
not take place until long after the Norwegian Icelanders had
settled in the country, and that it was chiefly the hordes of
Eskimo coming from the north that put an end, first to the
Western Settlement, and then to the Eastern. But this is
in every respect misleading, and conflicts with what may be
concluded with certainty from several facts ; moreover, the
whole Eskimo way of life and dependence on sealing and
fishing forbids their migration in hordes ; they must travel
in small scattered groups in order to find enough game to
support themselves and their families, and are obliged to
make frequent halts for sealing. They will therefore never
be able to undertake any migration on a large scale.

There can be no doubt that the Eskimo arrived in Green-
land ages before the Norwegian Icelanders. The rich finds
referred to, amongst others, by Dr. H. Rink [1857, vol. ii.],
of Eskimo whaling and sealing weapons and implements of

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER stone from deep deposits in North Greenland show that the
Eskimo were living there far back in prehistoric times.^
They must originally have come by the route to the north of
Baffin Bay across Smith Sound, and must have had at the
time of their first immigration much the same culture in the
main as now, since otherwise they would not have been able
to support themselves in these northern regions.^ Their
means of transport were the kayak and the women's boat in
open water, and the dog-sledge on the ice. Their whaling
and sealing were conducted in kayaks in summer, but with
dog-sledges in winter, when they hunted the seal at its
breathing-holes in the ice, the walrus, narwhale and white
whale in the open leads, and pursued the bear with their
dogs. In winter they usually keep to one place, living in
houses of stone, or snow, but in summer they wander about
with their boats and tents of hides to the best places for
kayak fishing. In this way they came southward from
Smith Sound along the west coast of Greenland to the
districts about Umanak-fjord, Disco Bay, and south to the
present Holstensborg (the tract between 72° and 68° N. lat.).
Here they found an excellent supply of seal, walrus, small-
whale and fish, there was catching from kayaks in summer

^ This has been definitely and finally proved by the researches of Dr. O. Solberg
[1907]* referred to in vol, i. (p. 306). It results from these that the oldest stone
implements of the Eskimo from the districts round Disco Bay must be of very
great age — far older, indeed, than I was formerly [1891, pp. 6, f. ; Engl, ed.,
pp. 8, ff.] inclined to suppose. It results also from Solberg's researches that,
while the Eskimo occupied the districts from Umanak-fjord southward to
Egedesminde and Holstensborg (from 71° to 68° N. lat.) during long prehistoric
periods, they do not appear to have settled in the more southern part of Green-
land until much later. As will be pointed out later (p. 83), it was especially in the
districts around Kroksfjar^arheidr that according to the historical authorities
the Skraelings were to be found. Since we may assume, as shown in vol. i.
p. 301, that this was Disco Bay, the conclusion from historical sources agrees
remarkably well with the archaeological finds.

^ Solberg, however, in the researches referred to, has been able to show some
development in Eskimo sealing appliances in the course of the period since
their first arrival in Greenland, but perhaps chiefly after they had come in contact
with the Norsemen and learnt the use of iron.
72

ESKIMO AND SKR-^LING

and on the ice in winter : altogether rarely favourable CHAPTER
conditions for their accustomed life, and it is therefore
natural that they settled here in large numbers.^ Some
went farther south along the coast ; but they no longer
found there the same conditions of life as before, the ice was
for the most part absent, the walrus became rare, seal-
hunting became more difficult in the open sea, and winter
fishing from the kayak was not very safe. Southern Green-
land therefore had no great attraction, so long as there was
room enough farther north. When they came round Cape
Farewell to the east coast they found the conditions more
what they were used to, although the sealing and whaling were
not so good as on the northern west coast.

It has been assumed by several inquirers that the Eskimo immigrated to Routes of
Greenland by two routes. One branch is supposed to have come southward along immigra-
the west coast from Smith Sound, as suggested above, while the other branch tion
went northward from Smith Sound and Kaiie Basin along the coast, where
relics of Eskimo are found as far north as 82° N. lat. They thus gradually worked
their way round the north of Greenland and turned southward again along the
east coast. The Eskimo who formerly lived on the northern east coast, and
whom Clavering found there in 1823, are supposed to have come by that route
and possibly also the tribe that still lives at Angmagsalik. But in the opinion of
some they may have travelled farther south, right round Cape Farewell, and
have populated the south-west coast as far north as Ny-Herrnhut by Godthaab.
The Dane Schultz-Lorentzen [1904, p. 289] ^ thinks that support may be found
for this theory of the southern immigration from the east coast in the sharp line
of demarcation that exists between the dialect spoken by the Eskimo in Godthaab
and northward along the whole west coast, and that spoken to the south and on
the east coast ; furthermore, there are other points of di^erence : in the build
and fitting together of the kayaks, in the use of partitions between the family
compartments on the couches in houses and tents, etc. Although in an earlier
work [1891, pp. 8, f. ; Engl.ed. pp. 12, H.] I put forward reasons that are opposed
to such an immigration round the north of Greenland, I must admit that there is
much in favour of the Eskimo who formerly lived on the northern east coast having
come that way ; on the other hand, it does not appear to me very likely that this
should have been the case with the Eskimo of the southern east coast and of the

^ As will be seen (cf. p. 72), this agrees surprisingly well with the conclusions
which Dr. Solberg has reached in another way in the work already mentioned
[1907], which was published since the above was written.

2 Cf. also William Thalbitzer's valuable work on the Eskimo language [1904].

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER west coast. The difference alluded to, at Godthaab, may be accounted for by a later
X immigration from the north to the northern west coast, which did not come any

farther south than this. That the boundary-line between the two kinds of Eskimo
should be so sharp just between Ny-Herrnhut and Godthaab, which lie close
together on the same peninsula, is easily explained by the fact of the former
settlement having always belonged to the recently abandoned German Moravian
mission, while the latter was the seat of Egede's and the later Danish mission.
There is always the essential objection to be made against the Eskimo having
migrated to the southern east coast round the north of Greenland, that the
conditions of life for Eskimo, who live principally by sealing and whaling, were
poor on the north coast of Greenland, where there are no seals worth mentioning
and few bears ; and they can scarcely have got enough musk-oxen to support
themselves. Their diffusion to the east coast could not have gone on rapidly.
In the ice-bound regions they may have forgotten the use of the kayak, as the
Eskimo of Smith Sound had done until thirty years ago, when they became
acquainted with it again through a chance immigration from the west. In any
case their practice in building and using kayaks must have greatly fallen off.
But when the Eskimo came southward on the east coast they again had use
for both the kayak for sealing and the women's boat for travelling, and it is
scarcely likely that the craft they produced after such a break in the development
should be so near to the women's boats and handsome kayaks of the northern
west coast as we now find them ; unless, indeed, we are to suppose that they
improved them again through contact with the Eskimo of the northern west
coast, but in that case the whole theory appears somewhat strained.

Meeting of We will now look at what the known historical authorities

Eskimo have to tell us about the Eskimo in Greenland during the
peans " early days of the Norse settlement. I have already stated
(pp. 12, ff.) that the Norse name " Skraeling " for Eskimo
must originally have been used as a designation of fairies
or mythical creatures. Furthermore, there is much that
would imply that when the Icelanders first met with the
Eskimo in Greenland they looked upon them as fairies ;
they therefore called them "trolls,** an ancient common
name for various sorts of supernatural beings. This view
persisted more or less in after times. Every European who
has suddenly encountered Eskimo in the ice-covered wastes
of Greenland, without ever having seen them before, will
easily understand that they must have made such an impres-
sion on people who had the slightest tendency to superstition.
The mighty natural surroundings, with huge glaciers, floating

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

icebergs and drifting ice-floes, all on a vaster scale than chapter
anything they had seen before, might in themselves fur- ^
nish additional food for superstition. Such an idea must
from the very beginning have influenced the relations
between the Norsemen and the natives, and is capable of
explaining much that is curious in the mention of them,
or rather the lack of mention of them, in the sagas, since
they were supernatural beings of whom it was best to say
nothing.

In connection with what has been said earlier (pp. 12, ff.) The fairy
as to the Skraelings being regarded as fairies (of whom the ^h^^skrsi-
name was originally used), it may be adduced that, as Storm ings
pointed out, the word was always translated in Latin by
" Pygmaei " in the Middle Ages (cf. above, p. 12). But
the Pygmies were precisely " short, undergrown people of
supernatural aspect " — that is, like fairies — and the Middle
Ages inherited the belief in them from the Greeks and
Romans, and, as Moltke Moe has pointed out, the northern
Pygmies (Bo/o«oi nvyfialoi) were already spoken of in
classical times as inhabiting the regions about Thule. But
authors like Apollodorus and Strabo denied their existence,
and consigned them, together with Dog-headed, One-eyed,
One-footed, Mouthless, and other similar beings, to the
ranks of fabulous creatures in which classical tradition was
so rich. Through St. Augustine the enumeration of these
creatures reached Isidore ; and from him the knowledge of
the Pygmies was disseminated over the whole of mediaeval
Europe — partly in the same sense, that of a more or less
fabulous people from the uttermost parts of the earth ; and
partly in the sense of a fairy people [cf. the demons in the
form of Pygmies in the * * Imram Brenaind, ' ' see above,
p. 10]. Supported by popular belief in various countries,
the latter meaning soon became general. Of this Moltke
Moe gives a remarkable example from the Welshman Walter
Mapes (latter half of the twelfth century), who in his curious
collection of anecdotes, etc. (called ** De nugis curialium "),

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER has a tale of a prehistoric king of the Britons called
^ Herla.^

To him came a fairy- or elf-king, ** rex pygmaeorum," with a huge
head, thick hair and big eyes ; the pygmy-king foretells to King Herla
something that is to happen, and when this is fulfilled King Herla promises as a
mark of gratitude to be present at his wedding. The moment the pygmy-king
turns his back he vanishes. Herla comes to the wedding of the fairy-king. Enter-
ing a vast cave he comes through darkness to the banqueting-hall inside the
mountain, lighted by a multitude of lamps, where he is splendidly entertained.
When he returns, believing he has been away for three days, he discovers that
he has been absent for several hundred years.

This is a typical elf-myth, with many of the features
characteristic of elves and fairies : the low stature, the big,
hairy head with large eyes, the gift of prophecy, and the
power of making themselves invisible in an instant, their
dwelling in caves and mountains far from the light of day,
the way thither through darkness and mist, the rapid dis-
appearance of time in the fairy world, etc. But we recognise
most of these, and even more fairy features, precisely in the
Icelandic descriptions of the Skrselings in Wineland, Markland
and Greenland, as appears from what is said about them on
pp. 12, ff. ; and when, for instance, ugly hair (" ilt hdr")
and big eyes are expressly attributed to the Skrselings, this
applies neither to Indians nor Eskimo, but it applies exactly
to fairies. Further, we may point to the Skraelings of Mark-
land being governed by kings (cf. p. 20), which again does
not apply either to Indians or to Eskimo, while the elves
and huldre-folk have kings. It was mentioned earlier (p. 20)
that the name " Vaetilldi '» or " Vethilldi " may be Vaetthildr,
compounded of the word " vaettr *' or " vettr " (fairy).

Everything points in the same direction, that the
Skrslings of Wineland, Markland and Greenland were
regarded as a kind of fairy people. Nor can this surprise us
when we consider that even the Lapps of Finmark, who lived
so near to and were so well known by the Norwegians, were

1 Cf. Gualteri Mapes, De nugis curialium. Ed. by Thomas Wright, 1850,
pp. 14, ff.

ESKIMO AND SKRiELING

regarded as a half-supernatural people, and had various chapter
magical properties attributed to them.

From the statement quoted earlier from Are Frode's The oldest
islendingabdk (circa 1130) it appears that the Skraelings, or authorities
Eskimo, had been in South Greenland before Eric the skrsUngs
Red and his men, and that the latter found dwelling-sites
and other traces of them, from which they could tell that the
same kind of people had been there who ** inhabited Wine-
land and whom the Greenlanders call Skraelings (' Vinland
hefer bygt oc Gronlendingar calla Scraelinga *)." These
words of Are have generally been understood to imply that
he did not know of any meeting of Norsemen and Skraelings
in Greenland, but only in Wineland, and that consequently
it must have been after his time that the Norsemen
encountered the Eskimo in Greenland. I am unable to
read Are's meaning in this way. He uses the present tense :
** calla,** and what one *' calls Skraelings ** must presumably
be a people one knows, and not one that one's ancestors had
met with more than a hundred years ago. In that case we
should rather expect it to be those ancestors who *' called **
them by this nickname.^ I have already suggested (p. 16)
the possibility of a connection between this statement and
the view of the Skrae'ings as trolls ; but we have besides a
remarkable parallel to Are*s whole account of the first coming
of the Icelanders to Greenland and the natives there in his
account of the Norwegians' first settlement of Iceland, where
he says that there were Christian men before they came,
"whom the Norwegians call (* calla*) Papar '* (i.e., priests).
They left behind them traces ** from which it could be seen
that they were Irish men.*' From these words it might be
concluded, with as much justification as from the statement
about the traces of Skraelings, that the newcomers did not

^ If it was the tradition of Karlsevne's encounter with the Skraelings that
was referred to, then of course neither he nor the greater part of his men were
Greenlanders, but Icelanders, so that it might equally well have been said that
the Icelanders called tk^m Skraelings.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER come in contact with the earlier people ; but in the latter
^ case this is incredible, and moreover conflicts with Are's own

words in the passages immediately preceding, according to
which the Christians left after the heathen Norsemen
arrived. Three kinds of traces are mentioned in each case :
the Papar left Irish books, bells and croziers ; the Skrselings
left dwelling-places, fragments of boats, and stone implements.
This may have somewhat the look of a turn of style in the
sober Are, who thought it of more value to lay stress on
visible signs of this kind than to give a possibly less trust-
worthy statement about the people themselves. We must
also bear in mind how terse and condensed the form of the
islendingabdk is. I therefore read Are's words as though he
meant to say something like the following : "As early as Eric's
first voyage to Greenland they found at once dwelling-places
both in the Eastern and Western Settlements, and fragments
of boats, and stone implements, so that from this it can be
seen that over the whole of that region there had been present
the same kind of people who also live in Wineland, and who
are the same as those the Greenlanders call Skrselings."
Nothing is said about the waste districts of Greenland, where
the Skrselings especially lived, and it is only in passing that
Wineland is mentioned in this one passage. Are's Islendinga-
bok cannot therefore be used as evidence that the Norsemen
had not yet met with the Skrselings of Greenland in Are's
time. As he expressly says that they found ** manna vistir
b3B]?e austr oc vestr a lande " (human dwelling-places both
east and west in the land — i.e., both in the Eastern and
Western Settlements), this, too, shows that the stay of the
Eskimo in south Greenland cannot have been merely a short
and cursory summer visit ; but there must have been many
of them who stayed there a long time, for otherwise they
would hardly have left remains so conspicuous and distributed
over so wide an area as to be mentioned with such emphasis
as this.

That Eskimo were living on the south coast of Greenland when the Icelanders

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

arrived there may also possibly be concluded from the mention, in the list of CHAPTER

fjords of the Eastern Settlement in Bjom Jdnsson's " Vetus chorographia," of X

an " Utibliks fjord " [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 228 ; F. Jdnsson, 1899, p. 319],

which does not sound Norwegian and may recall the Eskimo *' Itiblik," a tongue

of land. As Finnur J6nsson [1899, P* ^7^] points out, the name of the fjord in

Amgrim J6nsson's copy of the same list is *' MakleiksfjorSr," and both names

may be misreadings of a man's name ending in " -leikr," from which the fjord

was called (in the same way as Eiriks-fjorSr, etc.) ; but as " Utiblik " has such

a pronounced Eskimo sound, it appears to me more probable that " Makleik-'*

may have arisen through a misreading of this name, which was incomprehensible

to Amgrim J6nsson and may have been indistinctly written, rather than that

both names should be corruptions, of what ? In that case it would afford strong

evidence, not only that there were Eskimo in the Eastern Settlement when the

Icelanders established themselves there, but also that they had intercourse with

them.

The " Historia Norwegiae ** (thirteenth century) shows
that a hundred years later the Skraelings of Greenland were
known in Norway, and perhaps it is because they there
seemed stranger that the Norwegian author mentions them.
He says [Storm, 1880, pp. y6f 205] :

" On the other side of the Greenlanders towards the north [i.e., on the northern
west coast of Greenland] there have been found by hunters certain small people
whom they call Skrselings ; when these are struck while alive by weapons, their
wounds turn white without blood, but when they are dead the blood scarcely
stops running. But they have a complete lack of the metal iron ; they use the
tusks of marine animals [' dentibus cetimes,' here walrus and narwhale tusks]
for missiles and sharp stones for knives."

The curiously correct mention of the Skraelings' weapons
must be derived from a well-informed source, and the
statement established the fact that the Norsemen met with
the Eskimo of Greenland at any rate in the thirteenth
century, while at the same time it may imply that at that
time the Skraelings were not generally seen in the settle-
ments of Greenland. The statement as to their wounds,
although connected with myth, may further point to there
having been conflicts between them and the Norse hunters, who
in Viking fashion dealt with them with a heavy hand ; but
at the same time it discloses the view of the Skraelings as
troll-like beings (see p. 17).

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
X

Silence
about
Skraelings
in Icelandic
literature

A valuable piece of evidence of the Norsemen having
early had intercourse with the Skraelings in Greenland is a
little carved walrus, of walrus-ivory, which was found during
excavations on the site of a house in Bergen, and which
appears to be of Eskimo workmanship.^ Unfortunately the
age of the find has not been determined, nor has it been
recorded at what depth it lay ; but as it was amongst the
deepest finds *' right down in the very foundations," and so
far as can be made out from the description
much deeper than ** a burnt layer, which lay
under the remains of the fire of 1413," this
walrus may be of the twelfth, or at the latest
of the thirteenth, century. It might, no doubt,
have been accidentally found by Greenlanders
in a grave or dwelling-site of Skraelings, and
afterwards accidentally found on the site of
this house in Bergen ; but this is assuming a
good many accidents, and it is most natural
to suppose that the Greenlanders obtained it
from the Skraelings themselves, and that it is
thus an evidence of intercourse with the latter
at that time.

It is striking that the Skraelings are scarcely
ever mentioned in the descriptions of the
Norsemen in Greenland in the Icelandic saga
literature, and that it is only in one or two
places that Greenland Skraelings are mentioned in passing
in Icelandic narratives ; but at the same time there are
detailed descriptions of both peaceful and warlike encounters
with the Skraelings in Wineland, and also in Markland (see
vol. i. pp. 327, ff.). This is like what we found in Are
Frode. The explanation must be that, while the saga-teller
could bring out the distant Skraelings of Wineland in large

1 Cf. Christian Koren-Wiberg : " Bidrag til Bergens Kulturhistorie," Bergen,
1908, pp. 151, £. I owe it to Professor A. Bugge that my attention was drawn
to this interesting find.

Carved walrus
of Eskimo
work, of the
twelfth cen-
tury (?I;
found on the
site of a house
in Bergen
(after Koren-
Wiberg, 1908)

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

bodies and as dangerous opponents, quite worthy of mention CHAPTER
even for nobles, the harmless and timorous Skraelings of ^
Greenland were too well known to be used as interesting
material ; they were met with in small, scattered bands,
and could be maltreated without any particular danger.
They belonged to the commonplace, and commonplace was
what a saga-writer had to avoid above all ; it is for the
same reason that we scarcely hear anything about the
Greenlanders' and other Norsemen's whaling and sealing
and their expeditions for this purpose (e.g., to Nordrsetur) ;
only here and there a few words are let fall about these
things, which to us would be of so much greater value than
all the tales of fighting and slaughter. But as regards
the Skraelings of Greenland there was the additional circum-
stance that they were heathens ; consequently intercourse
with them was forbidden by the laws of the Church, and it
was therefore best to say nothing about it. Besides, they
were always regarded in Iceland as fairies or trolls, and, as
we have said, their name was translated by " pygmsei," and
it has been the same with them as with huldre-folk and
goblins, who as a rule are not mentioned in the sagas either
in Iceland or Norway, though of course they were believed
in, and there can have been no lack of " authentic " stories
about them. In several passages of Icelandic literature the Allusions to
Skraelings are alluded to as trolls ; to kill them was perhaps Skraelings

... t^ . .. < . « . , < in Icelandic

meritorious, but it was nothing to boast about. In the literature
Floamanna-saga it is related that Thorgils Orrabeinsfostre,
on his wonderful voyage along the east coast of Greenland,
one morning saw a large sea-monster stranded in a creek,
and two troll-hags (in skin-kirtles) were tying up big bundles
of it ; he rushed up, and as one of them was lifting her
bundle he cut off her hand so that her burden fell, and she
ran away. They may be regarded as Eskimo. It is true that
this saga is so full of marvels and inventions (cf. vol. i. p. 281)
that we cannot attribute much historical value to it, but it
shows nevertheless the way in which they were looked upon.
II F 81

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER In another passage of this description Thorgils saw two
•^ ** women," which must mean the same. It is stated that

*' they vanished in an instant " ("]?aer hurfu skjott "), just
like the underground beings. In the description of the
voyage of Bjorn Einarsson Jorsalafarer (given in Bjorn
Jonsson's Annals of Greenland) it is related that when in
1385 the same Bjorn (together with three other vessels) on
his way to Iceland was driven out of his course to Greenland,
and had to stay there till 1387, he rescued on a skerry two
" trolls," a young brother and sister, who stayed with him
the whole time [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 438]. These, then,
were Skraelings in the Eastern Settlement ; but the designa-
tion troll is here used as a matter of course, although nothing
troll-like is related of them.

It may further be mentioned that in legendary tales and in many of the fan-
ciful sagas we hear of trolls in Greenland, who may originally have been derived
from the Skraelings, but who have acquired more of the troll- or giant-nature
of fairy-tale. In the tale of the shipwreck of the Icelandic chief Bjorn Thorleifsson
and his wife on the coast of Greenland,^ the two were saved by a troll man and
a hag who each took one of them in panniers on their shoulders and carried them
to the homestead enclosure at Gardar. In the *' pattr af Jokli Biiasyni " Jokul
is wrecked in the fjord ** Ollum Lengri " on the east coast of Greenland, which
was peopled by trolls and giants, and where a friendly troll woman helps him to
slay King Skramr, etc. [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 521]. It will be seen that here
there is nothing left of the Skraelings* nature, but the usual Norse ideas of trolls
and giants predominate.

The most important records of Skraelings in Greenland in older times, in
addition to the works named above and the Islendingab6k, are: the "Icelandic
Annals," where they are mentioned in one year, 1379, besides the allusion to
the voyage from Nordrsetur in 1267 (cf. vol. i. p. 308), Ivar Bardsson's description
of Greenland [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 259], and finally Gisle Oddsson's
Annals, where they are called " the people of America " [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii.
p. 459 ; G. Storm, 1890a, p. 355].

As the Norsemen, at all events during early days in
Greenland, were to a great extent dependent on keeping
cattle, as they had been in Iceland, they must have stayed a
good deal at their homesteads within the fjords ; while the
Eskimo, being engaged in fishing and sealing, kept to the

^ J6n Egilsson's continuation of Hiingurvaka, Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 469.
82

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

outer coast. And even if the latter, after the arrival of the chapter
Icelanders in the country, had lived scattered along the ^
southern part of the coast, there may thus have been little
contact between them and the Norsemen.

From the statements cited earlier (vol. i. pp. 308, f.) about
the Nordrsetur expeditions we may conclude that the Green-
landers came across Skrselings in those northern districts.
It is true that the expression " Skraelingja vistir " has
usually been interpreted as Skrseling sites or abandoned
dwelling-places ; but in this account a distinction is made
between " Skraelingja vistir " and " Skraelingja vistir forn-
ligar.'* The latter are old dwelling-places that have been
abandoned, while the former must be dwelling-places still in use.
In the account of the voyage to the north, about 1267, we read
that at the farthest north there were found some old
Skraeling dwelling-places ("vistir fornligar "), while farther
south, on some islands, were found some " Skraelingja
vistir " — that is, inhabited ones. In agreement with this it is
also stated of the men who came from the north in 1266 that

" they saw no ' Skraelingja vistir ' except in [i.e., farther north than in]
Kroksfjardarheidr, and therefore it is thought that they [the Skraelings] must
by that way have the shortest distance to travel wherever they come from.
From this one can hear [adds Bjorn J6nsson] how carefully the Greenlanders
took note of the Skraelings' places of abode at that time."

It is clear enough that this refers to dwelling-places in
use and not to old sites, for this is absolutely proved by the
expression that " they have the shortest distance to travel
. . .*' ; and we thus see that the Skraelings were found in
and in the neighbourhood of Kroksfjord,^ but on the other
hand not in the extreme north, where only old sites left by
them were found ; ' and from this the conclusion was drawn

1 It is striking how accurately this agrees with what we have arrived at in
an entirely different way with regard to the places inhabited by the Eskimo in
ancient times (see p. 73).

2 From this it cannot, of course, be concluded that they were not living there
too at that time ; it only shows that the voyagers did not meet with them in the

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER that they could not come from the north, but by the route
^ through Kroksfjord, wherever their original home may have

been. As they cannot well have come from inland, nor
from out at sea either, this statement may give one the
impression of something semi-supernatural. It is significant
that the Skraelings themselves are not spoken of here
either ; this may be due to the fact that there was nothing
remarkable in meeting with them ; what, on the other
hand, was interesting was their distribution in the unknown
regions farther north.

It was remarked in an earlier chapter (vol. i. p. 297) that
the runic stone, found north of Upernivik, shows that Norsemen
were there in the month of April, perhaps about 1300, and
possibly it may also point to intercourse with the Eskimo.
It was further mentioned (vol. i. p. 308) that the finding in 1266
** out at sea " of pieces of driftwood shaped with " small
axes" (stone axes?) and adzes (i.e., the Eskimo form of
axe), and with wedges of bone imbedded in them, shows
that there were Eskimo on the east coast of Greenland at
that time. It is true that nothing is said as to what part
of the sea the driftwood was found in ; but from the context
it must have been between the west coast of Greenland and
Iceland ; so that in any case it was within the region of
the East Greenland current, and it cannot very well be
supposed that these pieces of driftwood came from any-
where but the east coast of Greenland, unless indeed they
should have come all the way from Bering Strait or Alaska.
The way in which they are spoken of shows that they were
regarded as something out of the common, which was not
due to Norsemen.
Allusions to The brevity of Icelandic literature in all that concerns
Eskimo m ^j^^ Skraelings is again striking when we compare it with
literature the information about the Eskimo that appears in the maps

most northerly regions, although they saw empty sites. As the Eskimo leave
their winter houses in the spring and lead a wandering life in tents, this need
not surprise us.

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

and literature of Europe in the fifteenth century. Claudius chapter
Clavus in his description of the North (before the middle of ^
the fifteenth century) speaks of Pygmies (" Pigmei ") in the
country to the north-east of Greenland ; they were one
cubit high, and had boats of hide, both short and long
(i.e., kayaks and women's boats), some of which were hanging
in the cathedral at Trondhjem (see further on this subject

Eskimo playing ball with a stuffed seal. Woodcut from Greenland
illustrating a fairy-tale, drawn and engraved by a native

under the mention of Claudius Clavus). He further speaks
of " the infidel Karelians," who " constantly descend upon
Greenland in great armies." i The name may be derived,
as shown by Bjornbo and Petersen, from the Karelians to the
north-east of Norway on older maps and have been trans-
ferred to the west, and it may then perhaps also have been
confused with the name of Skrseling.

Michel Beheim, who travelled in Norway in 1450, gives in his poem about the
journey [Vangensten, 1908, p. 18] a mythical description of the Skraelings
(" schrelinge "), who are only three "spans " high, but are nevertheless dangerous
opponents both on sea and land. They live in caves which they dig out in the
mountains, make ships of hides, eat raw meat and raw fish, and drink blood with

^ Cf. Bjornbo and Petersen, 1904, pp. 179, 236.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER it. This points to his having found in Norway ideas about the Skraelings as super-
X natural beings of a similar kind to those already mentioned.

In a letter to Pope Nicholas V. (1447-1455) it is related [cf. G. Storm, 1899] :
*' And when one travels west [from Norway] towards the mountains of this
country [Greenland], there dwell there Pygmies in the shape of little men, only a
cubit high. When they see human beings they collect and hide themselves in
the caves of the country like a swarm of ants. One cannot conquer them ;
for they do not wait until they are attacked. They live on raw meat and boiled
fish." This resembles what is said about the Pygmies in Clavus, but as additional
information is given here, it is probable that both Clavus and the author of this
letter, and perhaps also Beheim, have derived their statements from older sources,
perhaps of the fourteenth century, which either were Norwegian or had obtained
information from Norway. The description of the Pygmies and how they fly on
the approach of strangers points to knowledge of the Eskimo and their habits.
The idea about caves is, perhaps, more likely to be connected with pixies and
fairies, who lived in mounds and caves (cf. pp. 15, 76) ; but reports of the
half-underground Eskimo houses may also have had something to do with it.
It is possible that the common source may be the lost work of the English author
Nicholas of Lynn, who travelled in Norway in the fourteenth century (cf. chapter
xii. on Martin Behaim's globe).

Archbishop Erik Walkendorf (in his description of Finmark of about 1520)
has a similar allusion to the Eskimo, which may well have the same origin.
He transfers them to the north-north-west of Finmark, like the Pygmies on
Claudius Clavus' map. He says: "Finmark has on its north-north-west a
people of short and small stature, namely a cubit and a half, who are commonly
called ' Skrslinger ' ; they are an unwarlike people, for fifteen of them do
not dare to approach one Christian or Russian either for combat or parley. They
live in underground houses, so that one can neither examine them nor capture
them. They worship gods " [Walkendorf, 1902, p. 12].^

We thus see that while Icelandic literature, subsequent to
Are Frode, affords scarcely any information about the Green-
land Skraelings themselves, it is a Norwegian author, as early
as the thirteenth century, who makes the first statements
about them and their culture ; and a Danish author of the
fifteenth century, whose statements may originally have

^ Jacob Ziegler (circa 1532], who probably made use of statements from
Walkendorf, confuses the Norsemen and Eskimo in Greenland together into
one people, who breed cattle, have two episcopal churches, etc. ; but " on account
of the distance and the difficulty of the voyage the people have almost reverted
to heathendom, and are . . . especially addicted to the arts of magic, like the
Lapps. ..." They use light boats of hides, with which they attack other ships
[cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 499].

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

been derived from Norway (like those in the letter to the chapter
Pope and in Walkendorf), mentions no other inhabitants of
Greenland but the Eskimo (Pygmies and Karelians) ; ^ but
they are still referred to as semi-mythical and troll-like beings.

The explanation must doubtless be sought in a fundamental
difference in the point of view. To the Icelandic authors,
brought up as they were in saga-writing (and for the most
part priests), the life and struggles of their ancestors in
Greenland were the only important thing, while ethno-
graphical interest in the primitive people of the country, the
heathen, troll-like Skraelings, was foreign to them. To this
must be added the reasons already pointed out (p. 8i). In
Norway, on the other hand, kinship with the Icelandic
Norsemen in Greenland was more distant, and interest in
the strange, outlandish Skraelings was correspondingly
greater. Here also different intellectual associations, and
intercourse with a variety of nationalities, caused on the
whole a greater awakening of the ethnographical sense.

A remarkable exception is the "King's Mirror" (circa Silence of
1250), which makes no mention of the Skraelings, although ^.®"^/,"^'*
a good deal of space is devoted to Greenland and the Green- about the
landers. But this, as it happens, throws light upon the Skraelings
curious silence on the Skraelings in Icelandic literature.
From the " Historia Norwegiae,'* which seems to have been
written approximately at the same time as or soon after the
" King's Mirror " (perhaps between 1260 and 1264), it appears,
as we have said, that the Greenland Skraelings were known
in Norway at that time ; and in that case it is incredible
that the well-informed author of the ** King's Mirror," who
shows such intimate knowledge of conditions in Greenland,
should not have heard of them. If he, nevertheless, does
not allude to them, it appears that this must be for a similar
reason to that which caused them to be so little mentioned in
Icelandic literature. That the Skraelings should have been

^ In the account attributed to Ivar Bardsson, first written down in Norway,
the Skraelings also receive a good deal of attention.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER spoken of in a missing portion of the "King's Mirror," which
^ perhaps was never finished by the author, is improbable, as

the account of Greenland and its natural conditions seems
to be concluded. 1

Concerning the "King's Mirror" as a whole one ought to
be cautious in drawing conclusions from its silence on
various subjects ; from its mentioning whales in the Iceland
sea and seals in Greenland but not in Norway one might
conclude that neither whale nor seal occurred in Norway ;
and the same is the case with the aurora borealis, which is
only mentioned in Greenland.
Summary of If we attempt to sum up what we may conclude from the
the allu- historical sources as to the Eskimo or Skraelings of Green-
Skraelings land during the first centuries of the Norse settlement there,
in Green- something like the following is the result : When Eric the
Red arrived in Greenland he found everywhere along the
west coast traces left by the Skraelings, but whether and to
what extent he met with the people themselves we do not
hear. The probability is that the primitive people retired
from those parts of the coast, the Eastern and Western
Settlements, where the warlike and violent Norsemen estab-
lished themselves ; while they continued to live in the
"wastes" to the north. The Historia Norwegiae (besides
the accounts of the voyages to the north from Nordrsetur
in 1266 and 1267) shows that the Norsemen met with them

1 William Thalbitzer, the authority on the Eskimo, has lately [1909, p. 14]
adduced the silence of the " King's Mirror ** and of the Icelandic Annals on the
subject of the Skraelings of Greenland as evidence that the Norsemen had not
met with them on their northern expeditions to Nordrsetur ; but what has been
brought forward above shows that nothing of the kind can be concluded from
the silence of the "King's Mirror" (which, moreover, says nothing about theNordr-
setur expeditions) ; and why in particular the Icelandic Annals should allude
to the Skraelings in Greenland seems difficult to understand. This is no evidence,
especially as we see that the Skraelings are mentioned in other contemporary
authorities, such as the Historia Norwegiae, Ivar Bdrdsson's description, the
account of the voyages in 1266 and 1267, etc. Besides, in the last authority it
is expressly stated that there were Skraelings in Nordrsetur (Kroksfjardarheidr,
of. p. 83).
88

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

there, but at the same time speaks of immediate fighting, chapter
The mythical tale of Thorgils Orrabeinsfostre (p. 8i) also ^
points in the latter direction, as does the myth in Eric the
Red's Saga of the Greenlanders in Markland stealing Skraeling
children. We have further the stories in Claudius Clavus
and Olaus Magnus of hide-boats and Eskimo (Pygmies)
that were captured at sea. This points to the Norsemen of
that early time having looked upon the Skraelings as legitimate
spoil, wherever they met them. Doubtless upon occasion the
latter may have offered resistance or taken revenge, as may
be shown by the statement in the Icelandic Annals of the
" harrying " in 1379 ; but as a rule they certainly fled, as
is their usual habit. I have myself seen on the east coast
of Greenland how the Eskimo take to their heels and leave
their dwellings on the unexpected appearance of strangers,
and this has been the common experience of other travellers
in former and recent times. It is not likely that the ancient
Norsemen, when they came upon a dwelling-place thus
suddenly abandoned, had any hesitation about appropriating
whatever might be useful to them ; unless indeed a super-
stitious fear of these heathen ** trolls " restrained them
from doing so. It is therefore natural that the Skraelings
avoided that part of Greenland where the Norsemen lived in
large numbers. But where they came in contact we may
suppose that friendly relations sometimes arose between
Eskimo and European at that time, as has been the case
since ; nor can the Norsemen of those days have been so
inhuman as to make this impossible ; and gradually as time
went by the relations between them probably became alto-
gether changed, as will be discussed in the next chapter,
particularly when imports from outside ceased and the
Norsemen were reduced to living wholly on the products of
the country ; they then had much to learn from the Eskimo
culture, which in these surroundings was superior.

In course of time the Eskimo of North Greenland grew
in numbers, partly by natural increase — which may have

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER been constant there, where their catches were assured for
^ the greater part of the year, and they were free from famine

and ravaging diseases — and partly perhaps through a fresh
gradual immigration from the north. They therefore slowly
spread farther to the south, and gradually the whole of the
southern west coast received a denser Eskimo population,
probably after the Norsemen of the Western and Eastern
Settlements had declined in prosperity and numbers, so that
they no longer appeared so formidable, and at the same time
they undoubtedly behaved in a more peaceful and friendly
fashion, in proportion as their communication with Europe
fell off, and their imaginary superiority to the Skraelings
proved to be more and more illusory.
The Skrae- "vVe have Still to speak of the Skraelings whom the

Whfeland Greenlanders, according to the sagas, are said to have met
with in Wineland. G. Storm [1887] maintained that
they must have been Indians, which of course seems natural
if we suppose, with him, that the Greenlanders reached
southern Nova Scotia ; but in recent years several authors
have endeavoured to show that they were nevertheless
Eskimo. 1 From what has been made out above as to the
romantic character of these sagas it may seem a waste of
time to discuss a question like this, since we have nothing
certain to go by ; especially when, as already mentioned,
the name of Skraeling may originally have been used of the
pixies who were thought to dwell in the Irish fairyland, the
land of the ** sid," which was called Wineland. But even
if this origin of the name be correct, it does not prevent later
encounters with the natives of America (besides those of
Greenland) having contributed to make the Skraelings of
Wineland more realistic, and given them features belonging
to actual experience.

The description of them in these ** romance-sagas " may thus be considered
of value, in so far as it may represent the common impression of the natives

1 £. Beauvois, 1904, 1905 ; Y. Nielsen, 1904, 1905 ; W. Thalbitzer, 1904,
1905.
90

ESKIMO AND SKRiELING

of the western countries, with whom the Greenlanders may^ have had more inter- CHAPTER

course than appears from these tales ; but even so we cannot in any case draw X

any conclusions from it with regard to the distribution of Indians or Eskimo

on the east coast of America at that period. If it could really be established, as it

cannot, that the Wineland Skrselings of the saga were Eskimo, then this alone

would lead to the conclusion that the Greenlanders on their voyages had not

been so far south as Nova Scotia, but at the farthest had probably reached the

north of Newfoundland. If the authors mentioned have thought themselves

justified in concluding that the Greenlanders found Eskimo in Nova Scotia,

because the natives of Wineland are called Skraelings and are consequently

assumed to be the same people with the same culture as those in Greenland,

they cannot have been fully alive to the difficulty involved in its being impossible

for the Skraelings of Nova Scotia, with its entirely different natural conditions,

to have had the same arctic whaling and sealing culture as the Skraelings of

Greenland, even if they belonged to the same race. For we should then have to

believe that they had reached Nova Scotia from the north with their culture,

which was adapted for arctic conditions. They would have to have dislodged the

tribes of Indians who inhabited these southern regions before their arrival, although

they possessed a culture which under the local conditions was inferior, and were

doubtless also inferior in warlike qualities. In addition, these Eskimo with

their Eskimo culture in Nova Scotia must have completely disappeared again

before the country was rediscovered 500 years later, when it was solely inhabited

by Indian tribes. We are asked to accept these various improbabilities chiefly

because the word " Skraeling " — ^which, it must be remembered, was not originally

an ethnographical name, but meant dwarf or pixy — is used of the people both

in Wineland and Greenland, because the word " keiplabrot " is used by Are

Erode (see vol. i. p. 260), and because in two passages of Eric the Red's Saga,

written down about 300 years after the "events," the word "huSkeipr " is

used of the Skraelings' boats in Wineland, while in four passages they are called

** skip " (i.e., vessel), and in another merely " keipana." It appears to me that

this is attributing to the ancient Icelanders an ethnographical interest which

Icelandic literature proves to have been just what they lacked (see above, pp.

80, ff.). In any case there is no justification for regarding these tardily recorded

traditions as ethnographical essays, every word of which has a scientific meaning ;

and for that they contain far too many obviously mythical features. It is not

apparent that any of the authors mentioned has decided of what kind of hide

the Skraelings in southern Nova Scotia, or even farther south (" where no snow

fell "), should have made their hide-boats.

Opportunities of supporting themselves by sealing cannot have existed on
these southern coasts. The species of seal which form the Eskimo's indispensable
condition of life farther north are no longer found. The only species of seal which
occurs frequently on the coast of Nova Scotia is, as Professor Robert CoUett
informs me, the grey seal (Halichcerus grypus), which is also found on the
coast of Norway and is caught, amongst other places, on the Fro Islands. But
this seal cannot have been present in sufficiently large numbers in southern

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Nova Scotia or farther south to fulfil the requirements of the ordinary Eskimo
X sealing culture. They must therefore have adopted hunting on land as their chief

means of subsistence, like the Indians ; but what then becomes of the similarity
in culture between the Skraelings of Greenland and Wineland, which is just
what should distinguish them from the Indians ? The very foundation of the
theory thus disappears. Professor Y. Nielsen [1905, pp. 32, f.] maintains that
the Skraelings of Nova Scotia need only have had *' transport boats " or " women's
boats " of hides, and that *' what is there related of them does not even contain
a hint that they might have used kayaks. ' ' This makes the theory even more
improbable. If these Skraelings were without kayaks, which are and must be
the very first condition of Eskimo sealing culture on an open sea-coast, then they
cannot have had seal-skins for women's boats or clothes or tents either. They
must then have covered these boats with the hides of land animals ; but what ?
True, it is known that certain Indian tribes used to cover their canoes with double
buffalo hides, a fact which the authors mentioned cannot have remarked, since
they regard hide-boats as decisive evidence of Eskimo culture ; moreover, the
Irish still cover their coracles with ox-hides ; but neither buffaloes nor oxen
were to be found in Nova Scotia ; are we, then, to suppose that the natives used
deer-skin ? The whole line of argument thus leads us from one improbabiUty to
another, as we might expect, seeing it is built up on so flimsy a foundation.

The Greenlanders may well have called the Indians' birch-bark canoes " keipr"
or '* keipuU " (a little boat) ; but it is still more probable that as the details of
the tradition became gradually obliterated in course of time, the designation of
the Skraeling boat came to be that which was used for the only boats known
in later times to be peculiar to the Skraelings, namely, the hide-boats of Green-
land. In addition to this, hide-boats were also known from Ireland, while the
making of boats of birch-bark was altogether strange to the Icelanders. Besides,
if we are to attach so much importance to a single word, " huSkeipr," which
plays no part in the narrative, what are we to do with the Skraelings' catapults
(*' valslongur ") and their black balls which made such a hideous noise that
they put to flight Karlsevne and his men ? — these are really important features
of the description, to say nothing of the glamour. If these, like many other inci-
dents of the saga, are taken from altogether different quarters of the world, it
is scarcely unreasonable to suppose that a word like "huSkeipr" is borrowed
from Greenland and from Irish legend.

The names which according to the saga were communicated by the two Skrae-
ling children captured in Markland, and which are supposed to have lived in
oral tradition for over 250 years, have no greater claim to serious consideration.
Everything else that these children are said to have related is demonstrably
incorrect ; the tale of Hvitramanna-land is a myth from Ireland (cf. pp. 42, ff.) ;
the statement attributed to them that in their country people lived in caves is
improbable and obviously derived from elsewhere (cf. p. 19) ; ^ is it, then,

* As so much weight has been attached to single words in order to prove the
similarity of culture between the Skraelings in Wineland and Markland and those
92

ESKIMO AND SKR^LING

likely that the names attributed to them should be any more genuine ? W. Thai- CHAPTER
bitzer [1905, pp. 190, ff.] explains these names as misunderstood Eskimo sen- X
tences, and supposes them to mean: VxtiUdi, "but do wait a moment";
Vxgi, "wait a moment"; Av^ltdamon, "towards the uttermost"; Aval-
didida, "the uttermost, do you mean ? " As we are told that the two Skraeling
boys learned Icelandic, Thalbitzer must suppose the men to have mis-
interpreted these sentences as names during the homeward voyage from Mark-
land to Greenland, and then he must make the Skraelings die shortly afterwards,
before the misunderstanding could be explained. After that these meaningless
names must have lived in practically unaltered form in oral tradition for several
hundred years, until they were put into writing at the close of the thirteenth
century. It appears to me that such explanations of the words as are attempted
on p. 20 have a greater show of probability. In addition, as pointed out in the
same place, the " bearded " Skraeling and their " sinking into the earth " are
mythical features which are associated with these Skraelings.

While the points that have been mentioned are incapable of proving anything
about Eskimo, there are other features in the saga's description of the Skraelings
of Wineland which would rather lead us to think of the Indians : that they
should attack so suddenly in large numbers without any cause being mentioned
seems altogether unlike the Eskimo, but would apply better to warlike Indians.
We are told that the Skraelings attacked with loud cries ; this is usual in Indian
warfare, but seems less like the Eskimo. During the fight with the Skraelings
Thorbrand Snorrason was found dead with a " hellustein " in his head. Whether
this means a flat stone or a stone axe (as Storm has translated it [1887, 1899]),
it is in any case not a typical Eskimo weapon ; while a stone axe used as a missile
might be Indian. But, as stated above, there is too much romance and myth
about the whole tale of the Wineland voyages to allow of any certain value being
attached to such details. I have already (p. 23] maintained that the descrip-
tion of hostilities with the natives, in which the Greenlanders were worsted,
cannot be derived from Greenland, but may be due to something actually
experienced. In that case this, too, points rather to the Indians.^

William Thalbitzer [1904, pp. 20, f.] has adduced, as a possible evidence of the
more southerly extension of the Eskimo in former times, the fact that the name

in Greenland, it is strange that no notice has been taken of points of difference
such as this, that the Skraelings in Markland are said to dwell in caves, while
the Greenlanders must have known, at any rate from the dwelling-sites they
had found, that the Skraelings in Greenland lived in houses and tents.

^ If we might suppose (which is not probable J that the missile mentioned on
p. 7, note, from a myth of the Algonkin Indians has any connection with
the Skraelings' black ball which frightened Karlsevne's people, this would be
another feature pointing to knowledge of the Indians. Hertzberg's demonstration
that the Indian game of lacrosse is probably the Norse "knattleikr " (pp.38, ff.J
may point in the same direction ; for it seems less probable that the transmission,
if it occurred, should have been brought about by the Eskimo.

CHAPTER

Ultimate
fate of the
Eskimo

IN NORTHERN MISTS

" Nipisiguit," of a little river in New Brunswick (46° 40' N. lat.], bears a strong
resemblance to the Eskimo place-name " Nepisait " in Greenland, and he also
mentions another place-name, "Tadoussak," which has a very Eskimo look.
But in order to form any opinion we should have to know the language of the
extinct Indian tribes of these parts, as well as the original forms of the names
given. They are now only known from certain old maps ; but we cannot tell
how they got on to those maps.

The Eskimo are one of the few races of hunters on the
earth who with their peculiar culture have still been able to
hold their own fairly well in spite of contact with European
civilisation ; the reason for this is partly that they live so far
out of the way that the contact has been more or less
cursory, partly also, as far as Greenland is concerned, that
they have been treated with more or less care, and it has
been sought to protect them against harmful European
influences. In spite of this it has not been possible to
prevent their declining and becoming more and more
impoverished. The increase of their population in recent
years might doubtless give a contrary impression ; but here
other factors have to be reckoned with. When the Eskimo
first came in contact with European culture, it was, as will
be shown in the next chapter, their own culture which in
these surroundings gained the upper hand as soon as com-
munication with Europe was cut off. This would happen
again if European and Eskimo could be left to themselves,
entirely cut off from the outer world. But as this is impos-
sible, the Eskimo culture is doomed to succumb slowly to our
trivial, all-conquering European civilisation.

CHAPTER XI

THE DECLINE OF THE NORSE SETTLEMENTS
IN GREENLAND

THE Eastern and Western Settlements in Greenland seem, chapter
as we have said, to have grown rapidly immediately ^^
after the discovery of the country and the first settlement P^^^i"® °^
there. Their flourishing period was in the eleventh, twelfth, land settie-
and part of the thirteenth centuries ; but in the fourteenth ments
they seem to have declined rapidly ; notices of them become
briefer and briefer, until they cease altogether after 1410,
and in the course of the following hundred years the Norse
population seems to have disappeared entirely. The causes
of this decline were many.^ It has been thought that it
was chiefly due to an immigration into Greenland on a
large scale of Eskimo, who gradually overpowered and ex-
terminated the Norsemen ; but, as will be shown later,
there is no ground for believing this ; even if hostile en-
counters took place between them, these cannot have
been of great importance.

1 That it was due to changes in the climate, as some have thought, is not
the case. The ancient descriptions of the voyage thither and of the drift-ice (cf.
for instance, the " King's Mirror,' ' vol. i. p. 279} show exactly the same conditions
as now.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XI

Decline in
reproduc-
tion

In the first place the decline must be attributed to changes
in the relations with Norway. From the ** King's Mirror '*
(cf. vol. i. p. 277), amongst other authorities, we see that
the Greenlanders doubtless had to manage to some extent
without such European wares as flour and bread ; they
lived mainly by sealing and fishing, and also by keeping
cattle, which gave them milk and cheese. But there were
many necessary things, such as iron for implements and
weapons, and to some extent even wood ^ for larger boats
and ships, which had to be obtained from Europe, besides
the encouragement and support which were afforded in many
ways by communication with the outer world. This was not
of small moment to people who lived in isolation under such
hard conditions, at the extreme limit at which a European
culture was possible ; it wanted little to turn the scale. It
is therefore easy to understand that as soon as communica-
tion with the mother country declined, the conditions of
life in Greenland became so unattractive that those who
had the chance removed elsewhere, and doubtless in most
cases to Norway.

But at the same time there was certainly a physiological
factor involved. For the healthy nourishment of a European
cereals (hydro-carbons) are necessary, and there can be no
doubt that a prolonged exclusive diet of meat and fat
will in the case of most Europeans reduce the vital force,
and not least the powers of reproduction. This agrees with
my own experience and observation under various conditions,
as, for instance, during ten consecutive months' exclusive
diet of meat and fat. It is also confirmed by physiological
experiments on omnivorous animals. The Greenlanders were
reduced to living by sealing, fishing, and keeping cattle ;
milk, with its sugar of milk, was their chief substitute for
the hydro-carbons in cereals ; besides this, they no doubt

^ The driftwood that was washed ashore along the coasts could not possibly
suffice for shipbuilding ; but they doubtless obtained timber also from Markland
(cf. pp. 25, 37).
96

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

collected crowberries, angelica and other vegetables ; but CHAPTER
even during the short summer this cannot have been sufficient
to counterbalance the want of flour. It is therefore probable
that their powers of reproduction underwent a marked
decrease, and they became a people of small fecundity. The
Eskimo have had thousands of years for adapting them-
selves through natural selection to their monotonous flesh-diet,
since those among them who were best fitted for it had the
better chance of producing offspring ; there is certainly a
great difference between individuals in this respect ; some of
us are by nature more vegetarian, while others are more
carnivorous. It is therefore natural that the present-day
Eskimo should be better suited for this diet ; but it is
none the less striking that the rate of productiveness among
them is also low.

As, then, the Greenlanders' communications with Norway
fell off more and more, their imports of corn and flour finally
ceased altogether. Their cattle-keeping must then have
declined as well, since they would have little opportunity of
renewing their stock or getting other kinds of supplies, when
bad years intervened and the greater part of the stock had
to be slaughtered or died of hunger. Consequently the people
became still more dependent on sealing ; and thereby the
cattle must have been neglected. In this way their diet
would become even less varied, since milk would be lacking,
and their reproduction would be further restricted. Add
to this that their average proficiency in sealing, at first in
any case, was doubtless not to be compared with that of
the Eskimo, and that they were without salt for preserving
their catch, which therefore had to be dried or frozen. They
were thus not able to lay up a large provision, and were
always more and more dependent on occasional catches. It
is easy to understand that their power of resistance was not
great, when bad seasons for sealing occurred, or when
they were ravaged by disease, and it is not surprising
if the population decreased.

II G 97

IN NORTHERN MISTS
CHAPTER The cessation of the communication of Greenland with

Iceland and Norway came about in the following way :
communi- between 1247 and 1261, during the reign of Hakon Hakons-
cation with son, Greenland voluntarily became subject to the Norwegian
urope crown, whilst before this it had been a free State like
Iceland. In 1294, trade with the tributary countries of Nor-
way, Greenland among them, was declared a sort of royal
monopoly or privilege, which the king could farm out to
Norwegian subjects. The result of this was that only the
king's ships — and of these there was as a rule only one, called
** Knarren," for the Greenland traffic — were permitted to
sail there for the purposes of trade, ^ and this was the
beginning of the end. Even before that time communication
with Greenland was rare. Thus we read in the "King's
Mirror ' * that people seldom went there. But now, when the
royal trading ship was practically the only one that made
the voyage, things were to be much worse. Frequently
several years were occupied on one trip. As some time
elapsed also between each voyage, it will be understood that,
at the best, the communication was not lively. But when
it occasionally happened that ** Knarren " was wrecked,
things were still worse. That the communication may have
been defective as early as the beginning of the fourteenth
century is seen from a letter from Bishop Arne, of Bergen,
to Bishop Tord in Greenland, of June 22, 1308, wherein it
is taken for granted that the death of King Eric nine years
before, in 1299, was not yet known in Greenland. In the
middle of the fourteenth century, for instance, " Knarren "
returned to Bergen in 1346 safe and sound and with a
very great quantity of goods ; but perhaps did not sail
again until 1355, and we hear nothing of her return before
1363 (?). In 1366 we hear that "Knarren" was again
fitted out ; but she was wrecked north of Bergen in the

^ Existing royal documents show that the prohibition of trade with these
tributary countries was again strictly enforced by Magnus Smek in 1348, and
by Eric of Pomerania in 1425.

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

following year, probably on the outward voyage. In the chapter
year following a new trading ship must actually have ^^
arrived with the new bishop, Alf ; but it is stated that
Greenland had then been without a bishop for nineteen
years. In 1369 the Greenland ship seems again to have
been sunk oif Norway.^

It looks as if these voyages of " Knarren '* became rarer
and rarer, until at the begininng of the fifteenth century
(1410) they presumably ceased altogether ; in any case, we
hear no more of them. Even though the Greenland traffic
may have paid, it cost money to fit out " Knarren," and
when there was so much doing in other quarters, it was not
always easy to procure the necessary funds. Another reason
for the decline was the growing influence and power of the
Hanseatic League over trade and navigation in Norway.
Together with the Victualien Brethren and the adherents of the
captive King Albrekt of Sweden, the Leaguers took and sacked
Bergen in 1393. In 1428 the town was again taken by the
Hanseatic League. It may easily be understood that events
of this kind had a disturbing and perhaps entirely paralysing
effect on the Greenland traffic, which had its headquarters in
this town. Moreover, Norway had before this been much
weakened by the Black Death, which visited the country in
1349. It raged with special virulence in Bergen ; but there
is no notice of the disease having spread to Greenland ;
perhaps that country was spared through " Knarren " not
having sailed there before 1355, and probably no other ship
having made the voyage in the interval. In 1392 there was
again a severe pestilence throughout Norway, and many
people died. In that year too a great many ships were
wrecked. There were thus a number of misfortunes at
that time, and the people of Norway had enough to occupy
them in their own affairs. Another circumstance unfavour-
able to the communication with Greenland was the union
of Norway with Denmark, and for a time with Sweden. The

^ Cf. Islandske Annaler, ed. by Storm, z888, p. aaS.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER seat of government was thereby removed to Copenhagen,
^^ and interest in Norway, and especially in its so-called

tributary countries, was further greatly diminished by the
larger claims of Denmark and Sweden.

It is reasonable to suppose that under such conditions
the settlements in Greenland, which were almost entirely
cut off, must have decayed ; comparatively few, perhaps, were
able to get a passage, and left the country by degrees ; but
the people declined in numbers; they adopted an entirely
Eskimo mode of living, and mixed with the Eskimo, who
perhaps at the same time spread southwards in greater
numbers along the west coast of Greenland. It was remarked
in the last chapter that the Norsemen, when they arrived in
the country, evidently looked down upon the stone-age,
troll-like Skraelings, whom they could hunt and ill-use with
impunity ; with their iron weapons, their warlike pro-
pensities, and their larger vessels, they may perhaps have
been able to maintain this imaginary superiority in the early
days, so long as they still had some kind of supplies from
abroad. But it is obvious that these relations must have
been fundamentally changed when this communication
gradually ceased, and they were reduced, without any support
from Europe, to make the best of the country's resources ;
then the real superiority of the Eskimo in these surroundings
asserted its full rights, and the Greenlanders had to begin
to look upon them in a very different light. It is therefore
perfectly natural that from this very fourteenth century a
fundamental change in the relations between Norsemen and
Skraelings set in. And that such was the case seems to
result^in many ways from the meagre information we
possess.
Gisle In the Annals of Bishop Gisle Oddsson, written in

annak'on Iceland in Latin before 1637, we read under the year 1342
the decline [G. Storm, 1 890a, pp. 355, f. ; Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 459] :

of the

Green- "The inhabitants of Greenland voluntarily forsook the true faith and the

landers religion of the Christians, emd after having abandoned all good morals and true

100

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

virtues turned to the people of America (* ad Americae populos se conver- CHAPTER
terunt 'J ; some also think that Greenland lies very near to the western lands of XI
the vyorld. From this it came about that the Christians began to refrain from
the voyage to Greenland."

It is not known from whence Gisle Oddsson took this
statement. As the expression " the people of America "
(" Americae populi ") is a curious one, and as the state-
ments in the bishop's annals following that quoted above
are entirely myths and inventions taken from Lyschander's
" Gronlands Chronica " (but originally derived from Saxo
and Adam of Bremen), Storm regarded the whole account
as spurious and lacking any mediaeval authority. Inter-
preting, curiously enough, " ad Americae populos se con-
verterunt " to mean that the Greenlanders had emigrated to
America, Storm supposes that this may be a hypothesis
** formed to explain the disappearance from Greenland of
the old Norwegian-Icelandic colony." But the meaning of
the passage can scarcely be interpreted otherwise than as
translated above, that the Greenlanders had forsaken Chris-
tianity, given up good morals and virtues, and had been
converted to the belief and customs of the American people
(i.e., the Skraelings). The people of America must be a
strained expression the bishop has used to denote the heathen
Skraelings (who inhabited Greenland and the American lands)
in contradistinction to the Christian Europeans. Greenland
was frequently regarded in Iceland in those times as a part
of America (cf. the map, p. 7). Hans Egede, for example,
thought the natives of Greenland were " Americans." In
other words, the statement simply means that in 1342 a
report came that the Greenlanders were associating amicably
with the heathen Skraelings (which was forbidden by the
ecclesiastical law of that time), and had begun to adopt
their mode of life ; which, in fact, is extremely probable.

The question is, then, from whence Gisle Oddsson may
have derived this, which is not known from any other source.
Storm thought it out of the question that it was taken from

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Lyschander (from whom the same annals have borrowed

^^ so much else) ; but we cannot be so sure of this. After

having related the volcanic eruption and disasters in Iceland

in 1340 (also recorded by Gisle Oddsson)^ Lyschander continues :

" Norway and Sweden and Greenland also
They were hereafter well able to perceive
That such things boded ill to them.
These kingdoms they came into the hands of the Dane,
And Greenland went astray on the strand,
Not long after these times."

Whatever may be meant by this strained, obscure expres-
sion about Greenland (is " strand " a misprint for " stand "
— "went astray in its condition"?), it might at any rate be
interpreted to mean that its inhabitants had been converted
(gone astray) to a heathen religion (the people of America) ;
" not long after these times " (i.e., after 1340) may thus
have been made into 1342. But the mention of a definite
date — which, it may be remarked, would suit very well for
the time when the Greenlanders passed into Eskimo in
larger numbers, at any rate in the Western Settlement (cf.
Ivar Bdrdsson's description, see below, p. 108) — may possibly
indicate that some ancient authority or other is really the
foundation for the statement, and perhaps also for the lines
quoted from Lyschander. Finn Magnussen [Gronl. hist.
Mind., iii. p. 459] thinks that Gisle Oddsson may have derived
much information from the archives and library of Skdlholdt
cathedral, which was burnt in 1630.
Conversion Whether genuine or not, this statement may correctly

of the describe the fate of the Greenland settlements. Deserted by

landers into the mother country, and left to their own resources, the
Eskimo Greenlanders were forced to adopt the Eskimo mode of
life, and became absorbed in them. This took place first in
the more northerly and more thinly populated Western
Settlement, and later in the Eastern Settlement as well. The
Eskimo with their kayaks and their sealing appliances were
the superiors of the Greenlanders in sealing (as appears from
102

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS
the account of Bjorn Jorsalafarer), and their mode of life CHAPTER

was better suited to the conditions of Greenland ; it is there-
fore incredible that their culture should not gain the upper
hand in an encounter, under conditions otherwise equal,
with that of Europeans, even though there were certain
things that they might learn of the Europeans, especially
the use of iron/ Furthermore, the Greenlanders' stock of
cattle, goats and sheep had, as we have seen (p. 97), greatly
declined owing to the long severance from Europe, and for
this reason also they were obliged to adopt more of the
Eskimo way of life.
But then their places
of residence within
the fjords, far from
the sealing-grounds,
were no longer ad-
vantageous, and by
degrees they entirely
adopted the Eski-
mo's more migratory
life along the outer
coast. Then, again^
the Eskimo women

were probably no less attractive to the Northerners of that
time than they are to those of the present day, and thus
much mixture of blood gradually resulted. The children
came to speak the Eskimo language, and took at once to a
wholly Eskimo way of life, just as at the present day the
children of Danes and Eskimo in Greenland do. As the
Norsemen at that time must also have been very inferior to
the Eskimo in numbers, they must by degrees have become
Eskimo both physically and mentally ; and when the country
was rediscovered in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
there were only Eskimo there, while all traces of the
Norwegian-Greenland culture seemed to have disappeared.

^ It is shown by Solberg's [1907] researches that they did so.

103

Ruins of church at Kakortok in the Eastern
Settlement (after Th. Groth)

CHAPTER
XI

Norse traces
among the
Greenland
Eskimo

IN NORTHERN MISTS

Let us suppose that we could repeat the experiment and
plant a number of European sealers in Baffin Land, for
instance, with their women, together with a greater number of
Eskimo, and then cut off all communication with the
civilised world. Can we have any doubt as to the kind of
culture we should find there if we could come back after

two hundred
years ? All the
inhabitants would
be Eskimo, and
we should find few
traces of Euro-
pean culture.

It would
doubtless seem
reasonable to ex-
pect that the de-
scendants of the
ancient Norsemen
of Greenland and
of the Eskimo
with whom they
became absorbed
should have
shown signs in their external appearance of this descent,
when discovered in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ;
but unfortunately we have no descriptions of them from
that time which allow of any conclusions being drawn on
the subject. It is true that Hans Egede says [1741, p. 66]
that the Eskimo of Greenland ** have broad faces and thick
lips, are fiat-nosed and of a brownish complexion ; though
some of them are quite handsome and white " ; but nothing
definite can be concluded from this, and in the period after
Egede 's arrival the natives on the west coast became so
mixed that it is now hopeless to look for any of the original
race. It is, however, remarkable that Graah found in
104

Salmon-fishing in Vazdalby Ketils-f jord in the East-
ern Settlement (see map, vol. i, p. 265), where the
" birch forest " is as high as 20 ft. From a photo-
graph by Dr. T. N. Krabbe (A. S. Jensen, 19 10)

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

1829-1831 Eskimo on the east coast of Greenland, many of chapter
whom struck him as resembling Scandinavians in appearance ^^
— a fact which he sought to explain by European sailors
having perhaps been wrecked there.

But if it is now difficult to prove in this way the partially
Norse descent of the natives on the southern west coast of
Greenland, it is to be expected that there should be many
vestiges in their myths and fairy-tales which would give
evidence of this. And this is precisely what we find. In
an earlier work [1891, pp. 207, £f. ; Engl, ed., pp. 248, ff.] I
think I have pointed out numerous features in their tales that
bear a resemblance to the Norse mythical world, and that must
have been derived from thence ; and many more might be
adduced. The similarities are sufficiently numerous to bear
witness to a quite intimate intellectual contact, and are in full
agreement with what we should expect. But it may seem
strange that their religious ideas did not show more Christian
influence, especially when we see that even so late as 1407
Christianity was powerful enough in the Eastern Settlement
for a man to be burnt for having seduced another's wife by
witchcraft. There are, however, many features in their
conceptions of another world, of which Egede speaks,
which appear to be necessarily of Christian origin ; we must
suppose, too, that Christian education was at a very low ebb
in Greenland at the close of the fourteenth century, and soon
ceased altogether.

Only a few words in the language of the Greenland Norse words
Eskimo on the southern west coast have been shown to be j?*^®
of Norse origin. Hans Egede himself pointed out the following : language
" kona " (= wife. Old Norse kona), " sava " or " savak "
(= sheep, O.N. sau^r, gen. sau(5a), " nisa " or ** nisak '*
(= porpoise, O.N. hnisa), ** kuanek " (= angelica, O.N.
hvonn, plur. hvannir). Some of these words recur in
Labrador Eskimo, but may have been introduced by the
Moravian missionaries from Greenland. We may also men-
tion the name the Eskimo of southern Greenland apply to

105

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER themselves, " karalek " or ** kalalek," which may come

^^ from the word Skraeling (which in Eskimo would become

** sakalalek "). This, as the Eskimo told Egede, was the

name the ancient Norsemen had called them by ; otherwise

the Eskimo call themselves * * inuit " ( = human beings) ;

and curiously enough ** kalalek " is not used by the Eskimo

of northern Greenland ; on the other hand, it is known to

the Labrador Eskimo, but may have been brought by the

missionaries, although the latter asserted that it was known

when they came. It is perhaps of more importance that,

according to H. Rink, a similar word (** kallaluik," " katla-

lik " or " kallaaluch," for chief or shaman) occurs in the

dialects of Alaska.

Complaints Through all the notices of Greenland and its condition,

of apostasy especially those from religious sources, there runs after the

in notices of *^ ■' ** '

Greenland fourteenth century a cry of apostasy, which is ominous of
this mixture of the Norsemen with the Skrslings : we see it
in the doubtful statement from 1342 about their conversion
to " the people of America " ; a little later, according to
Ivar Bardsson's account (see p. 108), the heathen Skraelings
were predominant in the Western Settlement ; furthermore,
the trading ship was fitted out in 1355 to prevent the
** falling away " of Christianity [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii.
p. 122] ; Bjorn Einarsson's account (see below, p. 112)
concludes with the statement that when he was there (1386)
" the bishop of Gardar was lately dead, and an old priest
. . . performed all the episcopal ordinations " [Gronl. hist.
Mind., iii. p. 438] ; after that time no bishop came to Green-
land ; and finally the papal letter of 1492-93 describes the
Greenlanders as a people abandoned by bishop and priest,
for which reason most of them had fallen from the Christian
faith, although they still preserved a memory of the Christian
church service (see later). ^ This may all point in the same

^ As stated on p. 86, Jacob Ziegler (circa 1532) also says that the people
of Greenland "have almost lapsed to heathendom," etc. Although mythical,
this shows a similar tradition.
106

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

direction : that the Norsemen in Greenland became more and chapter
more absorbed by the Eskimo. ^^

Of course there may have been occasional hostile en- War of ex-
counters between the Eskimo and Norsemen in Greenland, termination

' improbable
especially as the latter, as pointed out in the last chapter,

must frequently have acted with a heavy hand when they

had the power. But that the Eskimo should have carried

on a regular war of extermination, which resulted in the

complete destruction first of the Western and then of the

Eastern Settlement, as has been generally assumed until

quite recently — this is incredible to any one who knows the

Eskimo and considers what their conditions of life were.

Where should they have developed this warlike propensity

which was afterwards foreign to them, and where should they

have had training in the art of war ? This idea of the

destruction of the settlements by hostilities is the result

mainly of three statements about Greenland, of which one is

very improbable and on many points impossible, another

deals possibly with an actual attack, and the third is

demonstrably false. We must here examine these notices a

little more closely.

In 1 341 Bishop Hdkon of Bergen sent a priest, Ivar IvarB6rds-

Bardsson, to Greenland. He was for a number of years fo"o"the

Western
steward of the bishop's residence at Gardar, and is said also Settlement

to have visited the Western Settlement. We do not know

for certain how long he was in Greenland, but in 1364 he

again appears in Norway [cf. G. Storm, 1887, p. 74]. There

exists in Danish a description of the fjords, more especially

of the Eastern Settlement, which, according to its own words,

must to a great extent be derived from oral communications

of this Ivar (see below). These must originally have been

taken down by another Norwegian, in Norwegian, and were

thence translated into Danish [cf. F. Jonsson, 1899, p. 279].

There is thus a double possibility that the third-hand version

we possess may contain many errors and misconceptions,

of which, in fact, it bears evident marks. After speaking of

107

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER the fjords in the Eastern Settlement, it says of the Western
^^ Settlement and of the journey thither : ^

" Item from the Eastern Settlement to the Western is a dozen sea- leagues and
all is uninhabited, and there in the Western Settlement stands a great church
which is called Stensness Church ; this church was for a time a cathedral and the
see of a bishop.^ Now the Skraelings possess the whole Western Settlement ; there
are indeed horses, goats, cattle and sheep, all wild, and no people either Christian
or heathen.

" Item all this that is said above was told us by Iffuer bort [or Bardsen], a Green-
lander, who was steward of the bishop's residence at Gardum in Greenland for
many years, that he had seen all this and he was one of those who were chosen
by the * lagmand ' to go to the Western Settlement against the Skraelings to
expel the Skraelings from the Western Settlement, and when they came there
they found no man, either Christian or heathen, but some wild cattle and sheep,
and ate of the wild cattle, and took as much as the ships could carry and sailed
with it home [i.e., to the Eastern Settlement], and the said Iffuer was among
them.

"Item there lies in the north, farther than theWestern Settlement, a great moun-
tain which is called * Hemelrachs felld ' [or ' HiminraSz fjall,' cf. vol. i. p. 302],
and farther than to this mountain must no man sail, if he would preserve his life
from the many whirlpools which there lie round the whole sea."

Strangely enough no author has expressed a doubt of the
credibility of this description, although as usually interpreted
it contains an impossibility, which must strike any one on
a closer examination. It is still commonly interpreted as
though Ivar Bardsson had found the whole Western Settle-
ment destroyed by Eskimo.^ But if this was so, how could
he have found there wild cattle, sheep, horses and goats ?
The whole Western Settlement must then have been destroyed
the summer that he was there ; for the wild cattle could
not possibly have supported themselves through the winter

1 Cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 258 ; F. J6nsson, 1899, p. 328.

^ This seems very doubtful, as it is not known that a bishop ever resided in
the Western Settlement.

^ It is true that this is not stated in the narrative ; it is only said that the
Skraelings possessed the whole Western Settlement, and that Ivar and his com-
panions found no people there, either Christian or heathen, but only wild cattle ;
and it may, of course, be doubtful whether the meaning was that the whole settle-
ment had been destroyed by a predatory incursion.
108

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

in Greenland ; evidently the author, who was unacquainted chapter
with the conditions in Greenland, did not think of this. ^^
Besides, can any one who knows the Eskimo imagine that
they slaughtered the men, but not the cattle ? This repre-
sented food to them, and that is what they would first have
turned their attention to. It is not stated which fjord of the
Western Settlement it was that Ivar visited ; but in any
case it is hardly to be supposed that it was all the fjords,
which thus would all have been destroyed at the same time.
The conclusion that Ivar found the whole Western Settlement
laid waste is therefore in any case unfounded ; it can at the
most have been one fjord, or perhaps only one homestead (?).

From an Iceleindic MS. of the fourteenth century

If there should really be some historical foundation for the
description of Ivar Bdrdsson's voyage, then it may perhaps
be interpreted in an altogether different way. The people of
the Western Settlement, where the conditions for keeping
cattle were far less favourable than farther south in the
Eastern Settlement, undoubtedly became earlier absorbed
among the Eskimo and went over to their mode of living.
This may also be what is alluded to in the perhaps approxi-
mately contemporary statement of 1342, already quoted
(p. 1 01), which says that the Greenlanders ** turned to the
people of America." It is possible that it was just this same
state of things that was the cause of Ivar's being sent to
expel the Skraelings from the Western Settlement. When he
arrived in the summer at the fjord which he possibly visited,
the people may therefore, in Eskimo fashion, have been

109

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER absent on sealing expeditions somewhere out on the sea-
^^ coast and living in tents, while the cattle were turned out at

pasture round the homesteads, i This would explain how
they came to be found alive. The men of the Eastern
Settlement then, with or against their better conscience,
stole and carried off the property of the half-Eskimo men of
the Western Settlement during their absence, and when the
latter returned they found their homesteads plundered, not
by Eskimo but by Greenlanders. But it is perhaps very
questionable whether the whole account of this voyage is
particularly historical. The statement about the whirlpools, for
one thing, is mythical, pointing to an idea that this was near
the end of the earth, and in the description immediately
following like and unlike are mixed together in a way that is
calculated to arouse doubt. We read thus :

" Item in Greenland there are silver-mines [which are not found there], white
bears having red spots on the head [sic I]. . . . Item in Greenland great tempests
never come. Item snow falls much in Greenland, it is not so cold there as in Ice-
land and Norway, there grows on high mountains and down below fruit as large
as some apples and good to eat, the best wheat that can be grows there." ^

As will be seen, one absurdity succeeds another. It may
be objected that as it is not stated that this last paragraph is
due to Ivar the Greenlander, it may have been added later ;
but it contains an admixture of statements that must come from
Greenland — e.g., about the white bears, whales' tusks (i.e., of
walrus or narwhale), walrus hides, soapstone (steatite), of which
they make pots, and large vessels ; it is also stated that
" there are many reindeer," and it seems probable that it is
all derived from the same untrustworthy source.

To what has here been said some will object that, even if
this description ascribed to Ivar Bdrdsson bears evident

* This explanation offers, of course, the difficulty that it would not be appli-
cable to dairy cattle ; but in this way of life the settlers may have had to
give up milking.

' These last ideas may well be supposed to have originated in a confusion with
the tales about Wineland.
IIO

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

marks of being inexact, it shows at any rate that in Norway, chapter
when it was taken down, the view prevailed that the ^^
Western Settlement had been destroyed by an attack of the
Skraelings. But nothing of the kind is really stated in the
account (cf. above, p. io8, note 3) ; and the possibly con-
temporary statement (of 1342 ?) which has already been
given (p. 100) shows that in Iceland, at any rate in the
seventeenth century, the contrary view prevailed, unless
indeed we are to explain this statement as having arisen
through a misunderstanding of Lyschander.

Under the year 1379 the so-called " Gottskalks Anndll " (of Eskimo
the second half of the sixteenth century) has a statement which ^^^^ ^^
cannot be regarded as certain, as it is not found in the other
Icelandic annals, but which may have been taken from older
sources. It reads [G. Storm's edition of Islandske Annaler,
1888, p. 364] :

" The Skrselings harried the Greenlanders and killed of them eighteen men
and took two boys and made slaves of them."

It is possible that this may have some historical founda-
tion, and in that case it doubtless refers to some collision or
attack, perhaps at sea, in which the Eskimo were superior
and the Greenlanders were defeated, which latter circum-
stance is the reason of our hearing something about it ; in
the contrary case it would not have been reported. That the
Eskimo took two boys is conceivable if they were quite
young, so that they could be trained for sealing ; they would
thus provide an increase of the capital of the community.
It is not unlikely that rumours of some such collisions as this
may have contributed to form the ideas prevalent in Norway
as to the formidable character of the Skraelings,^ while at
the same time there existed ideas of their flying from
Europeans, which appear in the reports of the Pygmies

^ We find conceptions of the Skraelings as dangerous opponents or assailants
in Michel Beheim in 1450 [Vangensten, 1908, p. 18], Paulus Jovius in 1534,
Jacob Ziegler in 1532, Olaus Magnus in 1555, and others. But it is evident that
these conceptions are to a great extent due to myth and superstition.

Ill

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER (cf. the letter to the Pope, about 1450, and Walkendorf, above,
p. 86). Whether the encounter referred to took place in
the Western or in the Eastern Settlement (or perhaps in
Nordrsetur ?) we do not know. If we are to place any
reliance on Ivar Bardsson's description, we must suppose
that the Western Settlement and its fate were little known at
that time. But that friendly relations between the Green-
landers and the Eskimo may have prevailed also in the
Eastern Settlement later than this seems to result from the
Bjorn Jor- account of the widely travelled Icelander Bjorn Einarsson
account Jorsalafarer's stay in Greenland from 1385 to 1387. On a
1385-87 voyage to Iceland in 1385 he was in distress, and was driven
out of his course to the Eastern Settlement with four ships,
which all arrived safe and well in Iceland in 1387.^ It seems
that there was a difficulty in feeding all these crews, but
Bjorn is said to have had the district of Eric's fjord handed
over to him while he was there (?), and received as a
contribution 130 fore-quarters of sheep (?). There is also
related a fable that on his coming there and going down
to the sea to look for seals he happened to witness a combat
between a polar bear and a walrus, ** who always fight when
they meet,^ and he afterwards killed them both."

" Then Bjorn the franklin found maintenance for his people through one of
the largest rorquals being driven ashore, with a marked harpoon belonging to
Olaf of Isafjord in Iceland, and finally it was also of importance that he came
to the assistance of two trolls [i.e., Eskimo], a young brother and sister, on a
tidal skerry [i.e., one that was under water at high tide]. They swore fidelity
to him, and from that time he never was short of food ; for they were skilled
in all kinds of hunting, whatever he wished or needed. What the troll girl liked
best was when Solveig, the mistress of the house, allowed her to carry and play
with her boy who had lately been born. She also wanted to have a linen hood
like the mistress, but made it for herself of whale's guts. They killed themselves,
and threw themselves into the sea from the cliffs after the ships, when they were
not allowed to sail with the franklin Bjorn, their beloved master, to Iceland."

1 Cf. Islandske Annaler, ed. by Storm [1888], pp. 365, f., 414, f. , Gronl.
hist. Mind., iii. pp. 135, ff., 436, ff.

2 According to my experience the bear avoids the walrus, and I have never
seen a sign of their fighting on land or on the ice.

112

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

The description of Bjorn Einarsson's voyage is full of CHAPTER
extravagances and anything but trustworthy ; but his stay ^*
in Greenland with the four ships is certainly historical ; and
the description of the two young Eskimo has many features
so typical of the Eskimo — such as the girl's fondness for
children, her making a hood of whale's guts, and their
superior skill in sealing — that they show without doubt that
at that time there was intercourse with the Eskimo in the
Eastern Settlement.

From an existing royal document of 1389 it appears that,
when Bjorn and his companions came from Iceland to
Bergen in 1388, they were prosecuted for illegal trading with
Greenland, which was a royal monopoly ; but they were
acquitted, since they had been driven there in great distress
and were obliged to trade in order to obtain food [Gronl.
hist. Mind., iii. pp. 139, f.].

A document to which much weight has been attached is Papal letter
a papal letter which has been preserved, from Nicholas V. in °n Eskimo
1448 to the two bishops of Iceland. It is there said of attack
Greenland, amongst other things [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii.
p. 170] :

" From the neighbouring coasts of the heathens the barbarians came thirty
years ago with a fleet, attacked the people living there [in Greenland] with a cruel
assault, and so destroyed the land of their fathers and the sacred edifices with
fire and sword that only nine parish churches were left in the whole island [Green-
land], and these are said to be the most remote, which they could not reach on
account of the steep mountains. They carried the miserable inhabitants of both
sexes as prisoners to their own country, especially those whom they regarded as
strong and capable of bearing constant burdens of slavery, as was fitting for
their tyranny. But since, as the same complaint adds,^ in the course of time most
of them have returned from the said imprisonment to their own homes, and
have here and there repaired the ruins of their dwellings, they long to establish
and extend divine service again, as far as possible. . . ." Then follows a lengthy
discourse on their religious needs, and what might be done to relieve them, without
costing the rich Papacy anything.

As the barbarians here must undoubtedly mean the

^ A complaint previously sent to the Pope, which, however, was false, as
will be shown later.

II H 113

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Eskimo, it has been regarded as a historical fact that the
^^ latter about 141 8 made a devastating attack on the Eastern

Settlement, and this document has thus lent weighty support
to the general opinion that the Greenland settlements perished
as the result of an Eskimo war of extermination. But the
letter itself shows such obvious ignorance of conditions in
Greenland, especially with regard to the Eskimo, that there
must be some doubt about the complaint on which it
is based. To begin with, it is in itself unlikely that the
peaceful and unwarlike Eskimo, who can have had no
practice in warfare, since they had previously had no one to
fight with, except walruses and bears, should have come
with a ** fleet '* and made an organised attack in large
masses, and destroyed people and houses and churches in the
Eastern Settlement. Even if they might have been provoked
to resistance or even revenge by ill-usage on the part of
the Greenlanders, or perhaps have coveted their iron imple-
ments, it is an impossibility that they should have organised
themselves for a campaign. But it is added that they carried
off the inhabitants of both sexes to use them as slaves ; for
what work ? — in sealing they were themselves superior, in
preparing skins and food their women were superior ; and
other work they had none. To a Greenland Eskimo it would
be an utterly absurd idea to feed unnecessary slaves, and it
betrays itself as of wholly European origin. The statement
that after the incursion only nine parish churches were left
also betrays ignorance ; as pointed out by Storm, there were
never more than twelve, even in the flourishing period of the
Settlement, and by about 141 8 there were certainly not nine
in all. Furthermore, the letter is not addressed to the two
bishops really officiating in Iceland, but to the two impostors,
the German Marcellus and his confederate Mathseus, who by
means of false representations had induced Pope Nicholas V.
to consecrate them bishops of Iceland [ef. G. Storm, 1892,
P' 399]* The probability is that the two impostors them-
selves composed the complaint from Greenland which was
114

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

the cause of the papal letter, and which thus did not reach chapter
the Pope until thirty years after the alleged incursion ; their ^^
object must have been to obtain further advantages. The
papal document of 1448 must therefore be entirely discarded
as historical evidence so far as its statements about Greenland
are concerned.

Consequently the only possibly historical statement left to
us, to prove that the Eskimo took the offensive, is that of
their " harrying " in 1379 ; but from this we can doubtless
only conclude that at the most there was a collision between
Eskimo and Greenlanders. It has also been adduced that
the Eskimo of Greenland have a few legends of fighting Eskimo
with the ancient Norsemen, and one which tells how the legends of
last of the Norsemen was slain. It must, however, be with Norse-
remembered that these legends were taken down in the last men
century, when the Eskimo had again been in contact with
Europeans for several hundred years, and when Norwegians
and Danes had been living in the country for over a hundred
years. Some of the legends certainly refer to recent collisions
with Europeans, and it is not easy to say what value can be
attached to the others as evidence of an extermination of the
last Norsemen. It is also to be remarked that *che Norsemen,
or Long-Beards, are not spoken of with ill-will in these
legends, but rather with sympathy, which is difficult to
understand if there had been such hatred as would account
for a war of extermination. Add to this that the particular
encounter which led to the last Long-Beard being pursued
and slain arose, according to the tale, quite accidentally,
which is difficult to imagine if it was the conclusion of a
lengthy war of extermination, in which homestead after
homestead and district after district had been harried and
laid waste. The legends of the Eskimo cannot therefore
be cited as evidence of the probability of any such war.

It has been said that even if such warlike proceedings Unwariike
would be entirely incompatible with the present nature, oJ^J^e^**""
disposition and way of thinking of the Greenland Eskimo, Eskimo

115

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER it may formerly have been otherwise. But in any case no
^^ long time can have elapsed between the alleged final over-

throw of the Eastern Settlement, perhaps about 1500, and
the rediscovery of Greenland in the sixteenth century. It is
not likely that the Eskimo should have so completely changed
their nature in the few intervening years ; those whom the
discoverers then found seem, from the accounts, to have
strikingly resembled those we find later. And if one reads
Hans Egede's description of the Eskimo among whom he
lived and worked, it appears absolutely impossible that
the same people two hundred years earlier should have
waged a cruel war of extermination against the last of the
Norsemen.

There is, it is true, a possibility, as Dr. Bjornbo has
pointed out to me, that the mixture of race which gradually
took place between Eskimo and Norsemen may for a time
have produced a mixed type, which possessed a more
quarrelsome disposition than the pure Eskimo, and may
have inherited the not very peaceful habits of the Norsemen,
and that in this way, for instance, a possible attack in
1379 may be explained. But this can only have been
the case at the beginning of the period of intermixture, and
the type must have changed again in proportion as the Eskimo
element in race and culture became preponderant.^
No tradition The allusion to the Pygmies of Greenland in the letter

o£ £L ^^^r of

extermina- *® Nicholas V., quoted above (p. 86), gives us the Eskimo

tion can be as we are accustomed to see them ; and the description of

proved

* Mention should be made of two other factors, which Dr. Bjornbo has sug-
gested to me. It is possible that while the majority of the Norsemen were com-
pelled more and more to adopt the Eskimo mode of life in order to support
themselves, some more strong-minded individuals among them, and a few zealous
priests, may have resisted stubbornly, and this may have led to fighting such
as is spoken of in the legends. Nor must it be forgotten that the relentlessness
of the Eskimo is usually accentuated when dealing with individuals who are
only a burden to the community without benefiting it ; and no doubt some among
the Norsemen may have been reduced to such a position after the cessation of
imports from abroad, since they were inferior to the Eskimo in skill as fishermen
and sealers.
116

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

these small men, a cubit high, who fly in a body at the sight CHAPTER
of strangers, gives a surer and truer picture of the Skraelings
than when they are represented as warlike and dangerous
barbarians. The statements about the Pygmies in Claudius
Clavus also enable us to see how the Norsemen sometimes
treated the Eskimo, when they caught them

"at sea in a hide-boat, which now hangs in the cathedral at Trondhj em ; there
is also a long boat of hides [i.e., a women's boat] which was also once taken with
such Pygmies in it."

But that these little Pygmies, a cubit high, were regarded
as formidable warriors, engaged in exterminating the Norse-
men, is difficult to believe, 1 even though Michel Beheim
attributes warlike qualities to them (cf. p. 85). Walkendorf,
who had so carefully collected all traditions about Greenland,
describes (circa 1520) the Skraelings as an " unwarlike "
and harmless people (see above, p. 86). It is impossible to
reconcile this with a tradition of a war of extermination.

There are therefore good grounds for supposing that
Arne Magnussen was approximately correct when he said
in 1691 [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 138]:

" It is probable that owing to the daily increase of the ice and its drifting down
from the Pole, it thus befell Greenland, and the Christian inhabitants either died
of hunger or were constrained to practise the same Vitae genus as the savages,
and thus degenerated into their nature."

In the year 1406 the Icelanders Thorstein Helmingsson, Last
Snorre Thorvason and Thorgrim Solvason, in one ship, were ^ °^g ^^
driven out of their course to Greenland. ** They sailed out the Eastern
from Norway, and were making for Iceland. They stayed Settlement
there [in Greenland] four winters" [cf, Islandske Annaler,
ed. Storm, 1888, p. 288]. While they were there, in the
following year [1407]

" a man named Kolgrim was burnt in Greenland for that he lay with Thorgrim
Solvason 's wife, who was the daughter of a ' lagmand ' of high standing in
Iceland. This man got her consent by black art ; he was therefore burnt

1 It is true that Clavus mentions the warrior hosts of the infidel Karelians
in Greenland ; but this is evidently myth or invention (cf. chapter xiii.).

117

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XI

Trade with
Norway's
tributary
countries

according to sentence ; nor was the woman ever after in her right mind, and
died a little later."

In 1408 one of the Icelanders married in Greenland, which
is of intere^ from the fact that several documents bearing
witness to the marriage are extant. In 1410 "Thorstein
Helmingsson and Thorgrim Solvason and Snorre Thorvason
and the rest of their crew sailed to Norway." Whether this
was in their own ship we do not know ; but as they sailed
to Norway and not to Iceland it is doubtless most probable
that their ship was destroyed and that they had to wait these
four years for a passage to Norway. In 1 411 ^ a small vessel
was wrecked on the coast of Iceland ; on board her came
Snorre Thorvason from Norway. His wife, Gudrun, had
during his absence married another man in 1410. She
** now rode to meet him. He received her kindly."
" Snorre took his wife to him again, but they only lived a
little while together before he died, and she then married
Gisle [the other man] again."

This is the last certain information we have of any
voyage to the ancient settlements of Greenland. After that
time all notices cease. As Holberg says [Danm. Hist., i.
531], after the time of Queen Margaret the succeeding kings
had so much to do that they had no time to think of old
Greenland.'

In 1 43 1 King Eric of Pomerania complained to the
English king, Henry VI., of the illegal trading which the
English had carried on for the previous twenty years (that is,
since 141 1) with " Norway's Lands and Islands " : Iceland,
Greenland, the Faroes, Shetland, the Orkneys, Helgeland
and Finmark ; and of the acts of violence and piratical

^ According to another authority it was not till 1413. In any case it looks
as if travelling took a good time in those days.

2 As evidence of the state of things it may be mentioned that we read in the
Icelandic Annals [Storm, 1888, p. 290] under 1412 : "No tidings came from
Norway to Iceland. The queen, Lady Margaret, died. ..." When communi-
cation even with Iceland had fallen off to this extent, we can understand its having
ceased altogether with Greenland.
118

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

incursions, with fire and rapine, that they had committed in chapter
this period, by which they had carried off many ships laden ^^
with fish and other goods, and many people had perished.^
As early as 141 3 King Eric's ambassador to the English
king, Henry V., had made a strong protest against all
foreign and unprivileged trade with these countries. On
Christmas Eve, 1432, a treaty was signed between the two
kings, whereby Henry VL engaged himself to make good
all the damage the English had caused to King Eric's
subjects in the said countries, and all the people who during
those twenty years had been violently carried off were, by
the direction of the English king, wherever they might be
found in his dominions, to receive payment for their services
and to return freely to their native places. Further, the old
prohibition of trading with the Norwegian tributary lands
was renewed. The same prohibition was renewed and
enforced on the English side by Henry VI. in 1444, and by
a new treaty between him and Christiern I., concluded at
Copenhagen, July 17, 1449 ; but this was only to remain in
force till Michaelmas 1451. After that time the English
merchants, some of whom no doubt were Norwegians
established at Bristol, seem to have seized upon nearly the
whole of the trade with Iceland, and often conducted them-
selves with violence there. But in 1490 this trade was made
free on certain conditions.

These negotiations give us an insight into the state of
things in Northern waters at that time. At the same time
there were difficulties with the Hanseatic League, which
tried to seize upon all trade.

Among these so-called Norwegian tributary countries was
Greenland, which is mentioned with the others in the com-
plaint of 1431 ; but whether this means that the English
extended their trading voyages, which frequently became
piratical expeditions, so far, we do not know ; in any case it
is not impossible, although of course the voyage to Iceland

^ Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. pp. 160, ff.

119

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XI

Possibility of
voyages to
Greenland
in the isth
century (?)

with its rich fisheries was much more important. We
know that this was carried on from Bristol in particular,
where, as has been said, many Norwegians were estab-
lished.

The statements about Greenland contained in the papal
letter of 1448 were, as we have seen, false. Perhaps not
very much more weight is to be attached to the story, in
Peyrere's " Relation du Groenland " (Paris, 1647), of Oluf
Worm of Copenhagen having found in an old Danish MS.
a statement that about 1484 there were more than forty
experienced men living at Bergen, who were in the habit of
sailing to Greenland every year and bringing home valuable
goods ; but as they would not sell their wares to the Hanse
merchants, the latter revenged themselves by inviting them
to a supper and killing them all at night. This then was
said to be the end of the Greenland voyage, which had to
cease thenceforward, because no one knew the course any
more [cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. pp. 471, f.]. The story as
given here is in many respects improbable ; but even if the
forty or more men and the annual voyage are exaggerations,
there are other indications that about that time there may
have been some sort of communication with Greenland or
the countries to the west of it, as will be mentioned later.
The royal monopoly of the Iceland trade was no longer in
force, and the same may have applied to Greenland. It is
then conceivable that merchants may have gone there ; and
if their trading prospered they had every reason to keep it as
secret as possible, lest others should interfere with their
livelihood. This would explain why such voyages are not
mentioned by historical authorities. Just then, too, was an
uneasy time, with a sort of war of privateers between
England and Denmark-Norway, which was not concluded
until the provisional peace of 1490 ; there were thus many
pirates and privateers in Northern waters, who may well
have extended their activity upon occasion to the remote
and unprotected Greenland, where they could plunder with
120

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

even greater impunity than in Iceland, and perhaps they chapter
increased the ruin of the settlements there. ^^

Of great interest is a letter from Pope Alexander VI.^ p^ ai letter
of the first year of his papacy, 1492- 1493, which was written on Green-
in consequence of a Benedictine monk named Mathias having ^^^^* H92
applied to the Pope to be appointed bishop of Greenland, and
declared himself willing to go there personally as a missionary
to convert the apostates. The letter runs :

" As we are informed, the church at Gade [i.e., Gardar] lies at the world's end
in the land of Greenland, where the people, for want of bread, wine and oil, live
on dried fish and milk ; and therefore, as well as by reason of the extreme rarity
of the voyages that have taken place to the said land, for which the severe freezing
of the waters is alleged as the cause, it is believed that for eighty years no ship
has landed there ; and if such voyages should take place, it is thought that in
any case it could only be in the month of August, when the same ice is dissolved ;
and for this reason it is said that for eighty years or thereabouts no bishop or
priest has resided at that church. Therefore, and because there are no Catholic
priests, it has befallen that most of the parishioners, who formerly were Catholics,
have (oh, how sorrowful 1 } renounced the holy sacrament of baptism received
from them ; and that the inhabitants of that land have nothing else to remind
them of the Christian religion than a corporale [altar-cloth] which is exhibited
once a year, and whereon the body of Christ was consecrated a hundred years
ago by the last priest who was there." For this reason, " to provide them with
a fitting shepherd," Pope Alexander's predecessor. Innocent VIII., had appointed
the Benedictine monk Mathias bishop of Gade [Gardar], and he "with much
godly zeal made ready to bring the minds of the infidels and apostates back to
the way of eternal salvation and to root out such errors," etc. Then follow exhor-
tations to the Curia, the chancellors, and all the religious scriveners under pain
of excommunication to let the said Mathias, on account of his poverty, escape
all expenses and perquisites connected with the appointment and correspondence,
etc.

The statements in the letter agree remarkably well with
what we gather from other historical sources. In 1410 —
that is, eighty-two years before the date of the letter — the
last ship of which we have any notice arrived in Norway
from Greenland (see above, p. 118). This agrees with the
statement in the letter that no ship had been there for eighty

^See G. Storm, 1892, pp. 399-401. The letter was discovered some years ago
in the papal archives by a priest from Dalmatia, Dr. Jelic. Cf. also Jos. Fischer,
1902, p. 49.

121

CHAPTER
XI

IN NORTHERN MISTS

years. In 1377 the last officiating bishop of Gardar died,
and six years later the news reached Norway, that is, 109
years before the date of the letter. This agrees with what
is said about the altar-cloth being used a hundred years
before by the last priest ("ultimo sacerdote," perhaps
meaning here bishop ?) at the administration of the sacra-
ment. The assertion that it was not until August that
Greenland became free of ice and that voyages could be made

A portion of Gourmont's map of 1548, with the north-west coast
of Iceland and the rocky island of Hvitserk

thither also shows a certain local knowledge ; for it was
not till late in the summer, usually August, that " Knarren '*
was accustomed to sail from Bergen to Greenland.

Whether news had recently arrived from Greenland at
the time the letter was written does not appear from the
words of the letter, and cannot, in my opinion, be inferred
therefrom, though Storm [1892, p. 401] thought it could.
The only thing which might point to this is the story of the
altar-cloth being exhibited once a year ; but this, of course,
may be a tradition which goes back to the last ship, eighty
years before.
122

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

Meanwhile we meet with obscure information in other CHAPTER
quarters about a possible communication with Greenland at ^^
that time. In a map of Iceland, printed in Paris in 1548 by possufie^
Hieronymus Gourmont,^ a rocky island is marked to the voyages to
north-west of Iceland, with a compass-card and a Latin Green an
inscription. This, as A. A. Bjornbo has pointed out,^ is of
interest ; it reads in translation :

*' The lofty mountain called Witsarc, on the summit of which a sea-mark

De Pygmxis Gmntlandiae, ft rupe HuitfarK.

The rock Hvitserk, and a fight with a Greenland Pygmy
(Olaus Magnus, 1557)

was set up by the two pirates (piratis), Pinnigt and Pothorst, to warn seamen
against Greenland."

The map is a modified copy of Olaus Magnus's well-
known large chart of 1539, on which the island with the
compass-card is found, but not the inscription.

It is possibly a fuller version or adaptation of the sub-
stance of this inscription, or of the source from which it is
taken, that is met with again in Olaus Magnus's work on the
Northern peoples, of 1555, where he says of "the lofty

1 Published by J. Metelka [1895].

2 A, A. Bjornbo, Berlingske Tidende, 1909 ; Bjornbo and Petersen, 1909,
p.>49.

123

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER mountain ' Huitsark/ which lies in the middle of the sea
^ between Iceland and Greenland " :

" Upon it lived about the year of Our Lord 1494 two notorious pirates (pi-
ratse), Pining and Pothorst, with their accomplices, as though in defiance and
contempt of all kingdoms and their forces, since, by the strict orders of the Nor-
thern kings, they had been excluded from all human society and declared outlaws
for their exceedingly violent robberies and many cruel deeds against all sailors
they could lay hands on, whether near or far." . . . " Upon the top of this very
high rock the said Pining and Pothorst have constructed a compass out of a
considerable circular space, with rings and lines formed of lead ; thereby it was
made more convenient for them, when they were bent on piracy, as they thus
were informed in what direction they ought to put to sea to seek considerable
plunder."

It may be the expression * * piratae, ' ' which might be
used both of an ordinary pirate and of a privateer or free-
booter, which misled Olaus Magnus into constructing this
wonderful story. The mere fact that, both in his map of
1539 and in his work of 1555, he makes Hvitserk, which of
course was in Greenland, into a rocky island out at sea
between Greenland and Iceland, where no island is to be
found, is enough to shake one's belief in the trustworthiness
of this strange report. His incomprehensible story of the
compass constructed there does not make things any better.
G. Storm [1886, p. 395] thought it might have come about in
this way : that Olaus Magnus, who was no great sailor or
geographer, read on a chart a note about Fining's voyage to
Greenland, and saw in its proximity the name Hvitserk and
a compass-card in the middle of the sea ; and then, without
understanding its real meaning, he made it an island and
gave it his own explanation. Bjornbo and Petersen [1909,
pp. 250, 251] have, it is true, pointed out that something of
the same sort is told of the North Cape by Sivert Grubbe,
who accompanied Christian IV. on his voyage to Finmark,
and who writes in his journal (in Latin) on May 12, 1599 :
** We sailed past the North Cape. On the top of this moun-
tain is a compass cut into the rock." But as they " sailed
past," Grubbe cannot have been up and seen this compass ;
124

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

it may therefore be supposed that a similar error is at the CHAPTER
base of this improbable statement ; it is difficult to see what
value for mariners such a compass could have. But not-
withstanding Olaus Magnus's fantastic story, Pining and
Pothorst may really have been in Greenland. The former
must be the Norwegian nobleman Didrik Pining, who together
with Pothorst ("Pytchehorsius ") is said to have distin-
guished himself during the later years of Christiern I., "not
less as capable seamen than as matchless freebooters "
(piratse). He was much employed by Christiern I. and
King Hans against the English and sometimes against the
Hanseatic League, and is mentioned by several historical
authorities.^ He seems also to have extended his activity
upon occasion to the Spaniards, Portuguese and Dutch, for
about 1484 he captured, off the English coast or off Brittany
and in the Spanish Sea, three Spanish or Portuguese ships,
and brought them to the king at Copenhagen. In a treaty
which was concluded in 1490 between King Hans and the
Dutch it is expressly stipulated that Didrik Pinning and a
certain Busch were to be excluded from the peace. Didrik
Pining is spoken of as lord over Iceland, or perhaps
over the eastern and southern part, in 1478 ; but on the
death of Christiern I. in 1481, another was appointed as
" hirdstjore " (or stadtholder), and it is stated in the letter
of appointment, issued by the council at Bergen in 1481,
that Pining had " gone out of Iceland " ; but a few years
later he is again mentioned as hirdstjore there. When in
1487 King Hans took possession of Gotland, Pining accom-
panied him thither, doubtless as commander of the Danish-
Norwegian squadron ; he is called * ' Skipper Pining, ' ' which
corresponds to commodore or admiral in our time (cf.
Christiern I.'s "Skipper Clemens"). In July 1489 Didrik
Pining was among the Norwegian noblemen who paid homage

1 Cf. L. Daae, 1882. Besides the authorities mentioned by Daae, see " Scrip-
tores rerum Danicarum," ii. 563, where " Puthorse " is mentioned as " pirata
Danicus " together with " Pynning." Cf. also Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. pp. 473, ff.

125

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XI

A new
document
on Pining

at Copenhagen to the king*s son, Christiern (II.) as heir
to the kingdom of Norway ; and in August and September
1490 he took part in the settlement of a suit concerning a
large inheritance at Bergen ; but in two Icelandic laws or
edicts of that time, 1489 and 1490, the so-called " Fining's
Laws," he is described as " * hirdstjore ' over the whole of
Iceland," and a later chronicler speaks of him as one of the
most famous men in Iceland, and he says that " he was in
many ways a serviceable man and put many things right
that were wrong." It must be the same Didrik Pining
who was appointed in 1490 governor of Vardohus, and it
may be supposed that he was commander-in-chief on sea and
land in northern waters.

We hear of Pining, and his associate Pothorst, in an
old (Icelandic ?) report which, together with Ivar Bardsson's
description of Greenland, was found in an old book of
accounts in the Faroes, and which in an English translation
was included in " Purchas his Pilgrimes " (London, 1625,
vol. iii.), where we read :

" Item» Punnus [corruption of Pinning] and Potharse, have inhabited Island
certa3me yeeres, and sometimes have gone to Sea, and have had their trade in
Groneland. Also Punnus did give the Islanders their Lawes, and caused them to
bee written. Which Lawes doe continue to this day in Island, and are called by
name Punnus Lawes."

As this last statement agrees with the two " Pining's
Laws " mentioned above, there may also be some truth in
the voyages to Greenland. An unexpected confirmation of
this recently came to light in the discovery of a document by
Louis Bob6 [1909] at Copenhagen ; it is a letter, dated
March 3, 1551, from Burgomaster Carsten Grip, of Kiel, to
King Christiern III. Grip was, as we are told in the letter, the
king's commissioner for the purchase of books, paintings,
and the like. He tells the king that he has not found any
valuable books or suitable pictures, but sends him two maps
of the world,

"from which your majesty may see that your majesty's land of Greenland
126

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

extends on both maps towards the new world and the islands which the Portu- CHAPTER

guese and Spaniards have discovered, so that these countries may be reached ^^I

overland from Greenland. Likewise that they may be reached overland from

Lampeland [i.e., Lapland], from the castle of Vardohus, etc.^ This year there is

also published at Paris in France a map of your majesty's land of Iceland and

of the wonders there to be seen and heard of ; it is there remarked that Iceland

is twice as large as Sicily, and that the two skippers [' sceppere,' i.e., commodores

or admirals] Pyningk and Poidthorsth, who were sent out by your majesty's

royal grandfather. King Christiern the First, at the request of his majesty of

Portugal, with certain ships to explore new countries and islands in the north,

have raised on the rock Wydthszerck [Hvitserk], lying off Greenland and

towards Sniefeldsiekel in Iceland on the sea, a great sea-mark on account

of the Greenland pirates, who with many small ships without keels {'szunder

bodem *i fall in large numbers upon other ships," etc.

It seems, as Dr. Bjornbo has suggested,^ that the Paris
map here spoken of may be Gourmont's of 1548, mentioned
above. But Grip's letter contains information about the
despatch of the expedition and about the Eskimo kayaks,
which cannot be taken from the inscription attached to
Hvitserk on that map. The statement about the Eskimo
(the Greenland pirates) recalls what Ziegler says in his work
** Scondia '* (1532) of the inhabitants of Greenland, that
' ' they use light boats of hide, safe in tossing on the sea and
among rocks ; and thus propelling themselves they fall upon
other ships " [Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 499]. It also has
some resemblance to what Olaus Magnus says in his later
work of 1555 of the Greenland "pirates, who employ hide-
boats and an unfair mode of seamanship, since they do not
attack the upper parts of merchant ships, but seek to destroy
them by boring through the hull from outside, down by the
keel," etc. These statements may be derived from mythical
accounts of the Greenland Eskimo, which have come down
by some channel we do not know of. Something of the
sort may have appeared on some now lost map, from which
Grip may have taken it ; but his statement as to the two

^ This was the usual representation at that time ; cf . Ziegler's map of 1532.
2 A. A. Bjornbo, Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen, July 17, 1909 ; Bjornbo
and Petersen, 1909, p. 249.

127

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER skippers having been sent out by Christiern I. shows that in
any case there was in his day a tradition of the voyage of
Pining and Pothorst. We must therefore assume that they
were despatched on a voyage of discovery by Christiern I.
(some time before 1481, when he died), probably at the
request of the well-known King Alfonso V. of Portugal
(1438-1481). As Hvitserk must be on the coast of Green-
land, they seem, in agreement with the other sober statement
in Purchas, to have really reached Greenland, perhaps more
than once, and to have traded by barter with the natives,
which may have ended, as it frequently did later, in skirmishes
brought about by the encroachments of the Europeans. This
last possibility would explain Grip's statement about the
Greenland pirates attacking in many small ships without
keels, as also the mythical statements of Ziegler and Olaus
Magnus. Nor is it impossible that Pining may have set up
some sea-mark or other there. All this sounds more probable
than Olaus Magnus's wonderful story. But nevertheless it
does not appear to me that the authorities now known justify
us in altogether rejecting the latter and the date 1494. As
there is mention in 1491 of a new " hirdstjore " in Iceland,
we must suppose that Pining was either dead or had left
the island ; if we compare with this the fact that Pining was
excluded from the peace that King Hans concluded in 1490
with the Dutch, and thus in a way became an outlaw to the
latter, and that in the same year a provisional peace was
made with the king of England, by which, of course, all
privateering against English subjects on the part of Norwe-
gians and Danes was strictly forbidden, we may possibly
perceive a connection. Pining and Pothorst were not able
to break themselves of old habits, and thus had both the
English king and their own, besides the Dutchmen, against
them, and were compelled to fly the country as outlaws. This
would also agree with Olaus Magnus's words, that they were
outlawed by the strict edict of the northern kings (" aqui-
lonarium regun? severissimo edicto "). It may be supposed
128

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

that, like the outlawed Eric the Red 500 years before, they chapter
took refuge in distant Greenland, which they already knew. ^^
But finally they may have come to grief ; for among the
many *' pirates '* who "met with a miserable death, being
either slain by their friends or hanged on the gallows or
drowned in the waves of the sea," Paulus Eliae mentions
** Pyning " and " Pwthorss." ^

We have yet to mention certain obscure statements about Johannes
another Northern sailor of this time, Johannes Scolvus (J6n Scoivus's

' •' ^•' voyage

Skolv ?).^ The Spanish author Francesco Lopez de Gomara, toGreen-
who was a priest in Seville about 1550, and published his ^^"^
** Historia de las Indias " (i.e., America) in 1553, says there
of "la Tierra de Labrador " :

" Hither also came men from Norway with the pilot [* piloto,' i.e.,
navigator] Joan Scoluo, and Englishmen with Sebastian Gaboto."

As, according to Storm's showing [1886, p. 392], Gomara
met Olaus Magnus " in Bologna and Venice '* (perhaps
about 1548), and says himself that the latter had given him
much information about Northern waters and the sea- route
from Norway, the statement about Scolvus may also be due
to him.

An English State document — probably of 1575, and written
on the occasion of the preparations for Frobisher's first
voyage (1576) — gives a brief survey of earlier attempts to
find the North-West Passage,' and mentions among others

1 Monumenta Historise Danicse, ed. Holger Rordam, i. Copenhagen, 1873,
p. 28 ; L. Daae, 1882.

2 Cf. G. Storm [1886]. B. T. de Costa [1880, p. 170] points out that Hakluyt
says that the voyage of this navigator is mentioned by Gemma Frisius and Girava.
Gemma Frisius published amongst other works a revised edition of Petrus
Apianus's " Cosmographicus Liber " in 1529. Girava published in 1553 "Dos
Libros de Cosmographia," Milan, 1556. I have not had an opportunity of refer-
ring to these authorities ; the former, if this be correct, may have given informa-
tion about Scolvus earlier than Gomara. De Costa also says that on the Rouen
globe [i.e., the L'Ecuy globe, see p. 131] in Paris, of about 1540, there is an inscrip-
tion near the north-west coast of Greenland stating that Skolnus [Scolvus] reached
that point in 2476.

* Cf. R. Collinson, 1867, pp. 3, f.

n I 129

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Scolvus. This the historians who have written about him
^ have not noticed. After stating that Sebastian [should be

John] Cabotte was sent out by King Henry VII. of England
in 1496 [should be 1497] to find the passage from the North
Sea [i.e., the Atlantic Ocean] to the South Sea [i.e., the Pacific],
and that ** one Caspar Cortesreales, a pilot of Portingale,'*
had visited these islands on the north coast of North America
in 1500, the document continues :

" But to find oute the passage oute of the North Sea into the Southe we must
sayle to the 60 degree, that is, from 66 unto 68. And this passage is called the
Narowe Sea or Streicte of the three Brethren [i.e., the three brothers Corte-Real] ;
in which passage, at no tyme in the yere, is ise wonte to be found. The cause
is the swifte ronnyng downe of sea into sea. In the north side of this passage,
John Scolus, a pilot of Denmerke, was in anno 1476."

Then follows a story of a Spaniard who in 1541 is said
to have been on the south side of this passage with a troop
of soldiers, and to have found there some ships that had
come thither with goods from Cataya (China). Complete
impossibilities, like this last story, are thus blended together
with statements that have a sure historical foundation, like
the voyage of Caspar Corte-Real. As the statement about
Scolus or Scolvus contains things that are not found in
Comara, it seems to be derived from another source ; the
date in particular is remarkable. That Scolus is a pilot
from Denmark, while the pilot Scolvus in Comara came
from Norway, is perhaps immaterial, as of course Norway
and Denmark were under a common king, who resided
in Denmark.

On an English map of 1582 (after Frobisher's voyages),
which is attributed to Michael Lok, there is a country to the
north-west of Creenland, upon which is written : " Jac.
Scolvus Croetland." As the name is here written Jac.
Scolvus, it is not likely that it can be derived from the
document we have quoted of 1575. The corresponding
country on Mercator's map of 1569 is inscribed : ** Croclant,
insula cuius incole Suedi sunt origine ' ' (island whose inhabi-
130

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

tants are Swedes by descent). It may seem as if this inscrip- chapter
tion also was connected with Scolvus, and we thus get the ^^
third Scandinavian country as his native land ; but this
word " Suedi '* may be derived from Olaus Magnus, who
happens to have often used it in the sense of Scandinavians —
i.e., Swedes and Norwegians.

In 1597 the Dutchman Cornelius Wjrtfliet in his description
of America ("Continens Indica ") states that its northern
part was first discovered by " Frislandish " fishermen [i.e.,
from the imaginary Frisland of the Zeno map], and sub-
sequently further explored about 1390 during the voyage of
the brothers Zeno (which is fictitious).

* * But [he continues] the honour of its second discovery fell to the Pole Johannes
Scoluus (Johannes Scoluus Polonus), who in the year 1476 — eighty-six years
after its first discovery — sailed beyond Norway, Greenland, Frisland, penetrated
the Northern Strait, under the very Arctic Circle, and arrived at the country of
Labrador and Estotiland."

Estotiland is another fictitious country on the notorious
Zeno map (a fabrication from several earlier maps). Apart
from this introduction of the Zeno voyage the statement
contains nothing that has not already appeared in Gomara
and in the English document of 1575, with the exception
that Scolvus is called a Pole (Polonus), but this, as pointed
out by Storm [1886, p. 399], must be due to a misreading of
" Polonus " for '* piloto." * As Norway is named first
among the countries beyond which the voyage extended, it
may have started from thence in Wytfliet's authority.^

On the L'Ecuy globe, of the sixteenth century, there
is written in Latin between 70° and 80° N. lat. and in long.

* Lelewel's conjecture [1852, iv. p. 106, note 50, 52] that Scolvus's name was
Scolnus and that he came from a little Polish inland town near the frontier of
East Prussia, is, as shown by Storm [1886, p. 400], improbable.

* Storm [1886, p. 399] thought that Wytfliet might have borrowed from
Gomara, and himself invented and added the date 1476, in order to disparage
the Spaniards and Portuguese as discoverers ; but Storm was not aware that
this date, as we have seen, is mentioned in an earlier English source.

131

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER 320° : ^ ** These are the people to whom the Dane Johannes
^^ Scowus penetrated in the year 1476." The description of

Scolvus as a Dane may indicate the same source as the
English mention of him in 1576.^

Finally it may be mentioned that Georg Horn in his
work " Ulysses peregrinans " (Louvain, 1671), after speaking
of voyages of the Icelanders (Thylenses) to " Frisland or
Finmark " (sic !), to Iceland, Greenland, Scotland, and
Gotland under ** auspiciis Margaretae Semiramis Dan., Sued.,
Norv.," and then of the voyages of the Zenos in the year
1390, says :

" Joh. Scolnus Polonus discovered under the auspices of Christian I., King
of the Danes, the Anian-strait and the country Laboratoris in the year 1476."

The Anian-strait was the m3rthical strait between Asia
and north-western America, which was talked about and

1 Cf. Hamsse, 1892, pp. 286, ff., 658. The inscription reads : " Quii populi
ad quos Johannes Scowus danus pervenit. Ann. 1476."

2 Just as the above is at press, I have received a sheet of Dr. Bjombo's new
work [1910, pp. 256, ff.], from which it appears that the inscription mentioned
above is already found on Gemma Frisius's globe engraved by Gerard Mercator,
probably 1536-1537 (found at Zerbst, and reproduced for the first time in Bjombo's
work|. The inscription is placed on the polar continent, to the north-west of
Greenland, and reads : ** Quij populi ad quos Joes Scoluss danus peruenit circa
annum 1476." Bjombo translates it : " Quij, the people to whom the Dane
Johannes Scolvuss (Scolwssen ?) penetrated about the year 1476." (The inter-
pretation of the word " Quij " as the name of a people may be probable, especially
as the same word occurs, as pointed out by Bjombo, as the name of a people on
Vopell's map of the world of 1445.] This is therefore the oldest notice of Scolvus's
voyage at present known, and it may seem possible, though not very probable,
that he reached a land to the west of Greenland. The L'Ecuy or Rouen globe (of
copper J is evidently a copy of the Frisius-Mercator globe, and has the same inscrip-
tions. It may be to the same source (or to a contemporary work of Gemma Frisius)
that Hakluyt referred (cf. above, p. 129, note 2), and several statements in the
English document of about 1575 (p. 129I seem also to be derived from it. As
Gomara calls Joan Scolvo " piloto," which is not on the globe (but on the other
hand is found in the English document ! }, and as, further, he has not the dates,
he may possibly have had a somewhat different authority. It is interesting to
note, as shown by Bjombo, that the Frisius-Mercator globe seems to betray
Portuguese associations, and thus its information about Scolvus may also have
come from Portugal.

132

DECLINE OF GREENLAND SETTLEMENTS

which appeared upon maps more than a hundred years before chapter
Bering Strait was discovered by the Russian Deshenev in ■^^
1648. But the name may sometimes have been extended
to the whole of the strait, called above, p. 130, the Strait of
the Three Brethren, which was assumed to go north of
America to the Pacific. What is new in Horn's statement
is that the voyage is said to have been made under the
auspices of Christiern I. ; it may be supposed that he knew
enough of the history of Denmark to draw this conclusion
from the date 1476.

This is what is known from old sources about this
Scolvus and his voyage. It must be remembered that the
name of Labrador (in various forms) was used on the maps
of the sixteenth century both for Greenland and Labrador,
and was originally the name of the former. It is there-
fore most probable that the statements about Scolvus's
voyage referred in the first instance to Greenland, which in
the first part of the sixteenth century was known as
Labrador.

To sum up what has been said above, we have, on the Pining, Pot-

one hand, statements, from wholly different sources, of one Jorstand

Scolvus on
or more voyages to Greenland under the leadership of the same

Pining and Pothorst, in the time of Christiern I. — i.e., before voyage

1 481 ; on the other hand, we have statements, probably

from several, but at least from two sources independent of

each other, about a voyage, also to Greenland, with the

pilot Johannes Scolvus, from Denmark or more probably

from Norway, in the time of Christiern I., and this is even

referred to a particular year, 1476. One is therefore led to

conclude, as G. Storm has already done, that we are here

concerned with the same voyage or voyages to Greenland,

which were made under the leadership of the two " skippers "

and freebooters Pining and Pothorst, with Johannes Scolvus

(J6n Skolvsson ?) as pilot or navigator. In some authorities

of Scandinavian origin the voyage was connected with the

names of the real leaders, while in Southern authorities it

133

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER was connected with that of the pilot or navigator, in the
^^ same way as, for instance, the name of William Barentsz

was associated with the voyages in which he took part,
instead of those of Hemkerck and the other leaders. There
seem thus to be sufficiently good historical documents in
support of at least one expedition having reached Greenland
in the latter part of the sixteenth century, possibly sent out
by Christiern I. in 1476, and perhaps there were more.
Possibly it was rumours of this new communication with
Greenland that awoke a desire in the monk Mathias to go
there as bishop.

But then we hear no more of it. For a while longer
bishops continued to be appointed to Greenland, a land which
was no longer known to any one, and to these bishops least of
all. Thus ends the history of the old Greenland settlements.
Notices of them become rarer and rarer, with long inter-
missions, until after this time they cease altogether, and we
know no more of the fate of the old Norsemen there.

" The standing-stone on the mound bears no mark,
and Saga has forgotten what she knew."

134

CHAPTER XII

EXPEDITIONS OF THE NORWEGIANS TO THE WHITE

SEA, VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA, WHALING

AND SEALING

EXPEDITIONS TO THE WHITE SEA

EVEN if Ottar was perhaps not the first Norwegian to CHAPTER
reach the White Sea, his voyage is in any case a ^^^
remarkable exploring expedition, whereby both the North tJ^^e *°"'
Cape and the White Sea became known, even in the literature White Sea
of Europe, nearly seven hundred years before Richard
Chancellor reached the Dvina in the ship " Edward Buona-
ventura " in 1553, from which time the discovery of this
sea has usually been reckoned.

In Ottar 's time, or soon after, the Norwegian king asserted
his sovereignty over all the Lapps as far as the White Sea,
and in the Historia Norwegise it is said that Hdlogaland
reached to Bjarmeland. The headland Vegistafr is mentioned
in the Historia Norwegiae, in the laws, and elsewhere,
as the boundary of the kingdom of Norway towards the
Bjarmas (Beormas). This may have been on the south side
of the Kola peninsula by the river Varzuga, already mentioned,

135

CHAPTER
XII

Harold
Grafeld's
expedition
to the
Dvina

IN NORTHERN MISTS

or by the river Umba (see the map, vol. i. p. 170).^ After
Ottar's time the Norwegians more frequently undertook expedi-
tions, doubtless for the most part of a military character, to the
White Sea and Bjarmeland. We hear about several of them in
the sagas.

Eric Blood-Axe marched northward, about 920, into
Finmark and as far as Bjarmeland, and there fought a great
battle and gained the victory. His son, Harold Grafeld, went
northward to Bjarmeland one summer about 965 with his
army, and there ravaged the country and had a great fight
with the Bjarmas on ** Vinu bakka " [i.e., the river bank of
the Dvina (Vina)], in which King Harold was victorious and
slew many men ; and then laid the country waste far and wide,
and took a vast amount of plunder. Of this Glumr Geirason
speaks :

"Eastward the bold-spoken king
intrepidly stained his sword red,
north of the burning town ;
there I saw the Bjarmas run.

For the master of the body-guard good spear-weather
was given on this journey,
on Vina's bank ; the fame
of a young noble travelled far."^

At that time, then, the Norwegians must have reached the
Dvina and discovered the east side of the White Sea, which
was still unknown to Ottar. They had thus proved it to be
a gulf of the sea. The Bjarmas probably lived along the whole
of its south side as far as the Dvina, and the name of ** Bjarme-
land ' ' was now extended to the east side also, and thus became
the designation of the country round the White Sea. As a
people of strange race of whom they knew little, the Norwegians
regarded the Lapps as skilled in magic ; but it was natural
that the still less known and more distant Bjarmas gradually
acquired an even greater reputation for magic, and in these
regions stories of trolls and giants were located. The Polar

1 G. Storm [Mon. hist. Norw., 1880, p. 78] thought that " Vegistafr " might
be " Sviatoi Nos " at the entrance to Gandvik {the White Sea).
136

VOYAGES TO THE WHITE SEA

Sea was early called " Hafsbotn," later " Trollebotten, " and CHAPTER
the White Sea was given the name of " Gandvik," to which ^^^
a similar meaning is attributed, since it is supposed to be
connected with *' gand " (the magic of the Lapps) ; but the
name evidently originated in a popular-etymological corrup-
tion of a Karelian name, KanSanlaksi, as already shown
(vol. i. pp. 218, f., note).

Snorre Sturlason (ob. 1241) included in the Saga of St. Olaf
a legend from Nordland about an expedition to Bjarmeland,
supposed to have been undertaken in 1026 by Thore Hund, in Thore
company with Karle and his brother Gunnstein from Haloga- expedition
land, men of the king's bodyguard. The tale may be an to Bjarme-
indication that at that time more peaceful relations had been ^"
established between the Nordlanders and the Bjarmas. They
went in two vessels, Thore in a great longship with eighty men,
and the brothers in a smaller longship with about five-and-
twenty. When they came to Bjarmeland, they put in at the
market-town ; ^ the market began, and all those who had
wares to exchange received full value. Thore got a great
quantity of skins, squirrel, beaver and sable. Karle also had
many wares with him, for which he bought large quantities
of furs. But when the market was concluded there, they
came down the river Vina ; and then they declared the truce
with the people of the country at an end. When they were
out of the river, they held a council of war, and Thore proposed
that they should plunder a sanctuary of the Bjarmas' god
Jomale,^ with grave mounds, which he knew to be in a
wood in that part of the country.* They did so by night,

1 This was the market-place on the bank of the Dvina, presumably the same
that the Russians afterwards called Kholmogori, and that lay a little higher up
the river than Archangel (founded in 1572).

2 This is Karelian for heaven or the sky-god ; the Kvaens (Finlanders) called
their god " Jumala," and the Finns (Lapps) theirs "Ibmel," which is the same
word. [Cf. G. Storm's translation of Heimskringla, 1899, p. 322.]

3 From the account it would look as though Thore Hund was already
well acquainted with the country. Even if the tale as a whole is not historical, a
feature like this may point to the Norwegians having been in the habit of visiting

137

XII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER found much silver and gold, and when the Bjarmas pursued
them, they escaped through Thore's magical arts, which made
them invisible. Both ships then sailed back over Gandvik.
As the nights were still light they sailed day and night until
one evening they lay to off some islands, took their sails down
and anchored to wait for the tide to go down, since there
was a strong tide-rip (whirlpool) in front of them (** rost mikil
var fyrir )?eir "). This was probably off " Sviatoi Nos " (the
sacred promontory), where Russian authorities speak of a
strong current and whirlpool. Here there was a dispute
between the brothers and Thore, who demanded the booty as
a recompense for their having escaped without loss of life
owing to his magical arts. But when the tide turned,
the brothers hoisted sail and went on, and Thore followed.
When they came to land at " Geirsver " (Gjesvaer, a fishing
station on the north-west side of Magero) — where we are told
that there was " the first quay as one sails from the north "
(i.e., east from Bjarmeland) — ^the quarrel began again, and
Thore suddenly ran his spear through Karle, so that he died
on the spot ; Gunnstein escaped with difficulty in the smaller
and lighter vessel ; but was pursued by Thore, and finally
had to land and take to flight with all his men at Lenvik,
near Malangen fjord, leaving his ship and cargo.

Even if this expedition is not historical, the description of
the voyage and the mention of place-names along the route
nevertheless show that these regions were well known to
Snorre's informants ; and journeys between Norway and
Bjarmeland cannot have been uncommon in Snorre's time or
before it. Many things show that the communication with
Gandvik and Bjarmeland continued through the whole of the
Middle Ages, and was sometimes of a peaceful, sometimes of a
warlike character ; but of the later voyages only three are,
in fact; mentioned in Norwegian authorities : one of them
was undertaken by the king's son Hakon Magnusson about

Bjarmeland, and therefore looking upon it as natural that a man like Thore
knew the country.

138

VOYAGES TO THE WHITE SEA

1090 ; of this expedition little is known. In Hakon CHAPTER

Hlikonsson's time we have an account ^ of another expe- ^'^

dition to Bjarmeland in the year 1217, in which took part Expedition

to Bjarme-
land, 1217

Bjarmas and Skridfinns fighting on ski and riding reindeer
(after Olaus Magnus, 1555 }

Ogmund of Sp^nheim from Hardanger, Svein Sigurdsson from
Sogn, Andres of Sjomaeling from Nordmor, all on one ship*
and Helge Bograngsson and his men from Hdlogaland, on

^ Hakon Hakonsson's Saga in Fommanna-sogur, ix. p. 319,

139

CHAPTER
XII

Expedition
to Bjarme-
land, 1222

Warlike and
peaceful re-
lations with
the White
Sea in the
twelfth cen-
tury and
later

IN NORTHERN MISTS

another. Svein and Andres went home with their ship the
same autumn ; but Ogmund proceeded southward through
Russia to the Suzdal kingdom in East Russia, on a tributary
of the Volga. Helge Bograngsson and his Nordlanders stayed
the winter in Bjarmeland ; but he came in conflict with the
Bjarmas and was killed. After this Ogmund did not venture
to return that way, but went on through Russia to the sea
(i.e., the Black Sea) and thence to the Holy Land. He came
safely home to Norway after many years.

When the rumour of what had happened to Helge and his
men reached home, a punitive expedition was decided on.
The king's officers in Nordland, Andres Skjaldarbrand and
Ivar Utvik, placed themselves at the head of it ; and they
came to Bjarmeland with four ships in the year 1222, and
accomplished their purpose ; ** they wrought great havoc in
plunder and slaughter and obtained much booty in furs and
burnt silver." But on the homeward voyage Ivar's ship was
lost in the whirlpool at " Straumneskinn," and only Ivar and
one other escaped. " Straumneskinn *' is probably Sviatoi
Nos (see p. 138).

This is the last Norwegian expedition to Bjarmeland of
which Norwegian accounts are known ; but that the White
Sea traffic continued, though it was never very active, may be
concluded from other sources. The name of the Bjarmas them-
selves disappears after the middle of the thirteenth century,
when it is related that a number of Bjarmas fled before the
** Mongols " and received permission from King Hakon to
live in Malangen fjord. After that time in the districts near
the Dvina we only hear of Karelians and their masters the
Russians of Novgorod.

That there was considerable navigation, probably combined
with piratical incursions, between the north of Norway and
the countries to the east, may also appear from a provision
of the older Gulathings Law, where in cap. 315, in a codex of
1 200-1250, we And :

" The inhabitants of Hdlogaland are to fit out thirteen twenty-seated and one
140

VOYAGES TO THE WHITE SEA

thirty-seated ship in the southern half, but six in the northern half ; since they CHAPTER
[i.e., the inhabitants of the northern half] have to keep guard on the east." XII

This keeping guard might, it is true, refer to Kvaens in
Finmark, but it seems rather to point to ships coming from
the east. In the negotiations of 1251, between the Grand
Duke of Novgorod (Alexander Nevsky) and Hakon Hakonsson,
there is express mention of disturbances from the east in
Finmark, and after that time we hear more frequently of
hostile incursions of Karelians and Russians in Finmark ; they
may have come by land, but occasionally also by sea.

A treaty of 1326 between Norway and Novgorod shows
that Norwegian mer-
chants traded with
the people of Nov-
gorod on the White
Sea. The erection
of the fortress of
Vardohus, as early
as 1307, also shows
the importance
attached to these
eastern communica-
tions, and the for-
tress certainly

afforded them a fixed point of support. Thus about 1550 we
see that * * Vardohus weight ' ' (mark and pound) had penetrated
into northern Russia and was generally used in the North
Russian fish and oil trade. The Norwegians chiefly bought furs
in Bjarmeland, but what they exported thither is not mentioned
in the Norwegian notices ; it may even at that time have been
to some extent fish, which in later times was the most important
article of export to North Russia from the north of Norway.

As G. Storm [1894, P- 100] has pointed out, the Russian
chronicles tell of many hostile expeditions by sea between
Norway and the White Sea in the fifteenth century. In 141 2
the inhabitants of " Savolotchie " (the countries on the

141

On snow-shoes through the border-lands of
Norway (Olaus Magnus, 1555)

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Dvina) made a campaign against the Norwegians. A com-

^^^ plaint from Norway of 1420 shows that the attack was directed

against northern Hdlogaland, without informing us whether

it was made by land or by sea. Some years later, in 141 9, the

Norwegians made a campaign of reprisal and came

" with an army of 500 men in trading-vessels and sloops and ravaged the
Karelian district about the Varzuga [on the Kola peninsula on the north side of
the White Sea] and many parishes in Savolotchie [on the Dvina], amongst others
St. Nikolai [at the mouth of the Dvina], Kigo and Kiaro [in the Gulf of Onega],
and others. They burned three churches and cut down Christians and monks,
but the Savolotchians sank two Norwegian sloops, and the rest fled across the
sea." ^ "In 1444 the Karelians went with an army against the Norwegians, and
fought with them, and in 1445 the Norwegians came with an army to the Dvina,
ravaged Nenoksa [in the gulf off the mouth of the Dvina] with fire and sword,
killed some and carried off others as prisoners ; but the inhabitants on the Dvina
hastened after them, cut down their ' voivods ' [leaders, chiefs] Ivar and Peter,
and captured forty men who were sent to Novgorod." ^

This will be sufficient to show that the White Sea voyage
remained familiar in Norway. This communication increased
about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and this had a
decisive influence on the so-called rediscovery of the White
Sea by the English.
Early con- In reading Ottar's narrative and the earliest Norse accounts

nection of q£ yoyages to Bjarmeland it must strike us that the Biarmas

theBjarmas j a j j

with we hear about seem to have possessed a surprisingly high

southern degree of culture. As Professor Olaf Broch has also pointed
out to me, this may be an indication that a comparatively
active communication had existed long before that time along
the Dvina and the Volga between the people of the White
Sea and those on the Caspian and the Black Sea (by transport
from the Volga to the Don). In those early times, before the
Russians had yet established themselves in the territory of
the upper Volga, this communication may have passed to the
east of the Slavs through Finnish-speaking peoples the whole
way from the lower Volga and the Finnish Bulgarians (cf. the
Mordvin tribes of to-day).

^ The Russian chronicles in translation, " Suomi " for 1848.
142

VOYAGES TO THE WHITE SEA

It appears to me that various statements in Arabic literature CHAPTER
may indicate such a connection.^ The Arabs received infor-
mation about northern regions through their commercial
communications with the Mohammedan Finnish nation of
the Bulgarians, whose capital Bulgar lay on the Volga ^ (near
to the present town of Kazan), and was a meeting-place for
traders coming up the river from the south and coming down
the river from the north. Special interest attaches to the
mention of the mysterious people ** Wisu," far in the north.
This is evidently the same name as the Russian Ves ^ for the
Finnish people who, according to Nestor * (beginning of the
twelfth century), lived by Lake Byelo-ozero (the white lake)
in 859 A.D. They are mentioned together with Tchuds, Slavs,
Merians and Krivitches, and were doubtless the most northerly
of them, possibly spreading northwards towards the White
Sea. They are probably the same people that Adam of Bremen
[iv., c. 14, 19] calls ** Wizzi " (see vol. i. p. 383 ; vol. ii. p. 64),
and possibly those Jordanes calls ** Vasinabroncae,*' ^ who
together with * * Merens ' ' (Merians ?) and * * Mordens ' '
(Mordvins ?) were subdued by Ermanrik, king of the Goths.
But the Arabic Wisu seems sometimes to have been a common
name for all Finnish (and even Samoyed) tribes in North Russia
and on the coast of the Polar Sea.

According to Jaqut,« Ahmad Ibn Fadhlan (about 922 A.D.) '
stated in his work that

^ Professor Alexander Seippel has given me valuable help in the translation
of the Arabic authors.

' The Volga was often called Itil after the town of that name, but was later
named after Bulgar (Bolgar = Volga).

3 Cf. FrShn, 1823, p. 218.

* Chronica Nestoris, ed. Fr. Miklosisch, Vindobonae, i860, pp. 9, f. ; Nestors
russiske Kronike, overs, og forkl. af C. W. Smith, Copenhagen, 1869, p. 29.

5 Cf. T. Mommsen, 1882, pp. 88, 166.

« Jaqut, 1866, i. p. 113 ; cf. also Mehren, 1857, p. 171.

'^ Ibn Fadhldn's mission as ambassador from the Caliph al-Muktadir billah
of Bagdad to Bulgar took place, according to his own statements, reproduced by
Jaqfit (ob. 1229}, in the years 921 and 922 A.D. Ibn Fadhlftn, like Jaqfit, was a
Greek by birth.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER ** the King of the Bulgarians had told him that behind his country, at a dis-
XII tance of three months' journey, there lived a people called Wisu, among whom

the nights [in summer] were not even one hour long." Once the king is said
to have written to this people, and in their answer it was stated that the people
"Yagug and MSgOg [on the Ob ?] lived over three months' journey distant from
them [i.e., the Wisu] and that they were separated from them by the sea " {?).
The Yagug and Magug lived on the great fish that were cast ashore. The same
is told by Dimashqi (ob. 1327) about the YagGg and Magflg, and by Qazwini (thir-
teenth century) about the people " Yura " on the Pechora.

Jaqut (ob. 1229) in his geographical lexicon ^ has an
article on

** * Wisu * situated beyond Bulgar. Between it and Bulgar is three months'
journey. The night is there so short that one is not aware of any darkness, and
at another time of year, again, it is so long that one sees no daylight." In his
article on " Itil " Jaqfit says : " Upon it [the river Itil or Volga] traders travel
as far as ' Visu ' ^ and bring [thence] great quantities of furs, such as beaver,
sable and squirrel."

Al-Qazwini (ob. 1283) says : '

** The beaver is a land- and water-animal, which dwells in the great rivers
in the land of ' Isu ' [i.e., Wisu, cf. al-BirGni], and builds a house on the bank of
a river." He further relates that " the inhabitants of * Wisu * never visit the land
of the Bulgarians, since when they come thither the air changes and cold sets
in — even if it be in the middle of summer — so that all their crops are ruined. The
Bulgarians know this, and therefore do not permit them to come to their country."
Qazwini also gives the information that "Wisu" is three months' journey
beyond Bulgar, and continues : " The Bulgarians take their wares thither for
trade. Each one lays his wares, which he furnishes with a mark, in a certain spot
and leaves them there. Then he comes back and finds a commodity, of which he
can make use in his own country, laid by the side of them. If he is satisfied with
this, he takes what is offered in exchange, and leaves his wares behind ; if he is
not, he takes his own away again. In this way buyer and seller never see one
another. This is also the proceeding, as we have related, in the southern lands,
in the land of the blacks." The same story of dumb trading with a people in the
north is met with again in Abu'lfeda (ob. 1321} and Ibn Batuta (cf.also Michel
Beheim, later, p. 270],

Ibn Batuta (i 302-1 377) has no name for this people, any
more than Abu'lfeda ; but he calls their country " the Land

1 Jaqut, 1866, iv. p. 944 ; i. p. 113.

2 This agrees with reality. Along the Volga one can reach the land of the
Vesses on Lake Byelo-ozero.

3 Al-Qazwini, 1848, ii. p. 416.

J44

VOYAGES TO THE WHITE SEA

of Darkness," and has an interesting description of the journey CHAPTER
thither/ ^"

He himself, he says, wished to go there from Bulgar, but gave it up, as little
benefit was to be expected of it. " That land lies 40 days' journey from Bulgar,
and the journey is only made in small cars ^ drawn by dogs. For this desert has
a frozen surface, upon which neither men nor horses can get foothold, but dogs
can, as they have claws. This journey is only undertaken by rich merchants,
each taking with him about a hundred carriages [sledges ?], provided with suffi-
cient food, drink and wood ; for in that country there is found neither trees,
nor stones nor soil. As a guide through this land they have a dog which has
already made the journey several times, and it is so highly prized that they pay
as much as a thousand dinars [gold pieces] for one. This dog is harnessed with
three others by the neck to a car [sledge ?], so that it goes as the leader and the
others follow it. When it stops, the others do the same. . . . When the travellers
have accomplished forty days* journey through the desert, they stop in the Land
of Darkness, leave their wares there, and withdraw to their quarters. Next morning
they go back to the same spot ..." and then follows a description of the dumb
barter, like that in Qazwini. They receive sable, squirrel and ermine in exchange
for their goods. "Those who go thither do not know with whom they trade,
whether they be spirits or men ; they see no one." ^

Of special interest for our subject is the following state-
ment in Abu Hamid (1080-1169 or 1170) which may point
to the peoples on the shores of the Polar Sea having obtained
steel for their harpoons and sealing weapons from Persia :

" The traders travel from Bulgar to one of the lands of the infidels which is
called isG [Wisu], from which the beaver comes. They take swords thither which
they buy in Adherbeigan [Persia], unpolished blades. They pour water often
over these, so that when the blades are hung up by a cord and struck, they ring.
. . . And that is as they ought to be. They buy beavers' skins with these blades.
The inhabitants of fsu go with these swords to a land near the darkness and lying
on the Dark Sea [the northern Atlantic or the Polar Sea] and sell these swords
for sables' skins They [i.e., the inhabitants of that country] again take some of
these blades and cast them into the Dark Sea. Then Allah lets a fish as big as a
mountain come up to them, etc. They cut up its flesh for days and months, and
sometimes fill 100,000 houses with it,'* etc. [Cf. Jacob, 1891, p. 76 ; 1891a,
p. 29 ; Mehren, 1857, PP« i69> f.]

It is not credible that the swords which rang in this way

1 Ibn BatOta, Voyages, etc., par Defr^mery et Sanguinetti, ii. pp. 399, ff.

2 This is doubtless an expression for a conveyance of some kind, which must
here have been a sledge.

* Cf. Frahn, 1823, pp. 230, ff.

II K 145

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER were harpoons, as Jacob thinks. We must rather suppose
^" that they were rough ("unpolished") steel blades, which

were used for making harpoons and lances (for walrus-hunting
and whaling). The blades having water poured over them
must doubtless mean the tempering of the steel, through which,
when it was afterwards hung up by a cord, it came to give
the true ring. Although Abu Hamid is no trustworthy writer,
it seems that there must be some reality at the base of this
statement ; and we here have information about some of the
wares that the traders carried to Wisu, and that were derived
from their commercial intercourse with Arabs and Jews.
The people to whom the inhabitants of Wisu or Vesses took
the steel blades must have been fishermen on the shore of the
Polar Sea, who carried on seal- and walrus-hunting, and
perhaps also whaling, and this is what is referred to by the
fish that Allah sends up. They may have been Samoyeds (on
the Pechora), Karelians, Tver-Finns, and even Norwegians. It
might be objected that sables cannot be supposed to have
been obtained from the last-named ; but this is doubtless not
to be taken too literally. Ibn Ruste (circa 912 A.D.) thus
says that the Rus (Scandinavians, usually Swedes) had no
other occupation but trading in sables, squirrel and other
furs, which they sold to any one who would buy them.

It seems to result from what may be trustworthy in these
statements that there was fairly active commercial intercourse
from Bulgar with the Vesses and with the peoples on the White
Sea, and perhaps in districts near the Polar Sea. A shortest
night of one hour would take us to a little north of the mouth
of the Dvina. In the land of the Vesses by Lake Byelo-ozero
there was an easy way across from the Volga's tributary
Syexna to Lake Kubenskoye, which has a connection with
the Dvina ; and there was also transit to the river Onega.
There was thus easy communication along the great rivers ;
but besides this the traders seem also to have travelled overland
with dogs ; this was probably when going north to Yugria and
the country of the Pechora, in the same way as traders in our
146

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

time generally go there with reindeer. The trade in furs was CHAPTER
then, as in antiquity, the powerful incentive ; it was that too ^^^
which chiefly attracted the Norwegians to Bjarmeland.

It is not likely that the Arabs themselves reached North
Russia ; one would suppose rather that travelling Jews assisted
as middlemen in the trade with these regions. But the finding
of Arab coins on the Pechora would point to Arab trade having
penetrated through intermediaries to the shores of the Polar
Sea.i

THE POLAR EXPEDITION OF THE FRISIAN NOBLES AND KING
HAROLD'S VOYAGE TO THE WHIRLPOOL

Among mediaeval voyages to the North there remain The Frisian
yet to be mentioned Harold Hardrade's expedition ^ and the Pojarexpe-
voyage of the Frisian nobles, related by Adam of Bremen dition
in the descriptions already given (vol. i. pp. 195, f.). That
the latter voyage must be an invention, and cannot contain
much of historical value, is obvious (cf. vol. i. p. 196). The
whole description of the abyss or maelstrom is taken from
Paulus Warnefridi (as will be seen by a comparison of the
descriptions on pp. 157 and 195, vol. i.) ; the Cyclopes of
marvellous stature, as well as the treasures of gold that they
guard, are originally derived from classical literature, although
Adam may have taken them from earlier mediaeval authors,
and Northern ideas about the giants in the north in Jotunheim
may have helped to localise the story.^ The great darkness, the
stiffened sea, chaos and the gulf of the abyss at the uttermost
end of the world or of the ocean are all classical conceptions,

1 Cf. Peschel, 2nd ed., 1877, P* lo?* There has also been found a metal mirror
with an Arabic inscription of the tenth or eleventh century at Samarovo in the
land of the Ostyaks, where the Irtysh and the Ob join.

2 Cf. on this subject G. Storm, 1890, pp. 340, ff. ; A. A. Bjornbo, 1909,
pp. 234, ff.

' Saxo also has conceptions of half-awake or half -dead (" semineces "J
giants in the underworld in the north as guardians of treasures (cf. Gorm's and
Thorkel's voyagej. Moltke Moe thinks they may be derived from ancient notions
of the giants as the evil dead, who guard treasures.

CHAPTER
XII

King
Harold's
voyage to
the mael-
strom

IN NORTHERN MISTS

and the description itself of the dangers of the voyage, of the
darkness that could scarcely be penetrated by the eyes, etc., is
just what we find in classical literature, and in many points bears
great resemblance to the poem of Albinovanus Pedo, for example
(see vol. i. p. 82). It is possible, of course, that there may
be thus much historical truth in the story, that some Frisian
nobles made a voyage to the Orkneys or perhaps to Iceland,
but even this is doubtful, and the rest is demonstrably invention.
In spite of this Master Adam asserts that Archbishop Adalbert
in person had told him all this, and that it happened in the
days of his predecessor. Archbishop Alebrand, who had the
story from the travellers* own lips ; for they returned to
Bremen and brought thank-offerings to Christ and to their
saint ** Willehad " for their safety. One might suppose that
these nobles themselves had invented the story and told it
to the archbishop ; ^ but it does not seem likely that they were
acquainted with Paulus Warnefridi's description of the mael-
strom, and the Cyclopes with their treasures in the north seem
also to be learned embroidery ; they might have heard oral
tales about them, but in any case we may doubtless suppose
that the story has been much * ' improved ' ' by Adam. There
is a mediaeval folk-song about the dangers of sailors at sea
which may also be supposed to have contributed to the
description.

Be that as it may, this story must weaken our confidence
in Adam's credibility, or rather in his critical sense. If his
narrative of a voyage which started from his own adopted town
of Bremen not long before his time is so untrustworthy, what
are we to think of his statement about the experienced Nor-
wegian king Harold's expedition to explore the extent of
the ocean ? No doubt it may appear as though he had his
information about this voyage from the Danish king Svein,

1 Kohl [1869, pp. II, ff.] supposes that they may have carried on piracy, and
invented their story to explain to the bishop how they had come by the booty
they brought home and how they had lost their companions, who may have been
killed in fighting.
148

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

who is mentioned as his authority for the statements imme- chapter
diately preceding, and so far this information might have a
good source ; but it has received precisely the same decoration
as the other voyage, with the mist or darkness that shuts'^
out the uttermost end of the world, and the vast gulf of the
abyss which was narrowly escaped. This is certainly of older
origin, and he has not even given himself the trouble to make
a little alteration in the dangers of the two stories. Another
thing that weakens our confidence in his statements is his
saying that the Danish king had told him that all the sea
beyond the island of Winland was filled with intolerable ice
and immeasurable darkness. It may doubtless be supposed
that classical conceptions had even at that time created super-
stitions of this kind in the North, and thus King Svein may
have told him this ; but it must be more probable that all
these ancient book-learned ideas are due, not to the unlearned
and travelled monarch, but to the well-read magister, who
moreover himself quotes in the same connection Marcianus's
words about the congealed sea beyond Thule.

It would be entirely in Adam's vein if some accidental
resemblance or association had given him an opportunity of
making use in this way of ideas he had from his learned
reading, just as the name of Kvaenland gave him the chance
of bringing in the myths of the Amazons, Cynocephali, etc.
(cf. vol. i. p. 383). It was pointed out earlier (vol. i. pp. 195,
197) that the statements about the sea " beyond this island "
and about Harold's voyage are possibly a later addition by Adam
himself, which has been inserted in the wrong place ; " this
island " might then mean Thyle (Iceland) and not Winland.
Whether we regard the latter as a newly discovered country in
America or as the Insulae Fortunatae, it is difficult to understand
why precisely the sea on the other side of this island should be
particularly associated with the ancient conceptions of the
dark or misty, and the congealed or ice-filled sea ; ice and
darkness are nowhere connected in this way with Wineland
in later authorities. It is true that in Arabian myth there

149

CHAPTER
XII

Whirlpool

IN ISrORTHERN MISTS

are islands in the west near the Sea of Darkness (cf. chapter xiii.)
and that the Promised Land in Irish myth is surrounded by
darkness (=fog) like the Norwegian huldrelands and the
Icelandic elflands ; but if Adam got his ideas in this way, it
would only show more conclusively how mythical his narrative
is. If Adam confused the names of Vinland and Finland
(i.e., Finmark) (cf. vol. i. pp. 198, 382 ; vol. ii. p. 31), it would
also be natural for him to imagine that beyond it were ice
and darkness.

The view has been held that the whirlpool in which King
Harold and the Frisian nobles were nearly drawn down was
of Scandinavian or Germanic origin [cf. S. Lonborg, 1897,
pp. 173, f.]. It seems undoubtedly to correspond to the
Norse " Ginnungagap " [cf. G. Storm, 1890, pp. 340, ff.] ;
but it is a question how early this idea arose. I have already
(vol. i. pp. II, 12, 17) pointed out the probable connection
between it and the Greek Tartaros (and Anostos) or Chaos, and
have shown (vol. i. pp. 158, f.) that Paulus Warnefridi took his
whirlpool from this source, and called it Chaos. But now it is
evident, as we have seen, that Adam took his description of the
whirlpool from Paulus, and thus we have the full connection.
It may also be mentioned as curious that Lucian in his Vera
Historia tells of just such an abyss :

" We sailed through a crystal-clear, transparent water until we were obliged
to stop before a great cleft in the sea. . . . Our ship was near being drawn down
into this abyss, if we had not taken in the sails in time. As we then put our heads
out and looked down, we saw a depth of a thousand stadia, before which our minds
and senses stood still. ..." Finally with great difficulty they rowed across a
bridge of water that stretched over the abyss [Wieland, 1789, iv. p. 222].

With this may be compared that in the Irish legend (Imram Maelduin) Mael-
duin and his companions came to a sea like green glass, so clear that the sun and
the green sand of the sea were visible through it. Thence they came to another
sea which was like fog (clouds), and it seemed to them that it could hardly support
them or their boat ; they saw in the sea beneath them people adorned with
jewels and a delightful land, etc. ; but when they also saw down below a huge
monster which devoured a whole ox, they were seized with fear and trembling,
for they thought they would not be able to get across this sea without falling
through to the bottom, because it was as thin as cloud ; but they came over
it with great danger [cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 164].
150

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

Although, as already mentioned (vol. i. p. 362), Lucian CHAPTER
does not seem to have been read in western Europe before the ^^^
fourteenth century, I cannot get away from the impression
that in some oral way or other (cf. vol. i. pp. 362, f.) there must
be a connection between the Irish tale (written down long before
Adam of Bremen's work) and the above-mentioned fable (as
well as many others) which Lucian reproduces, whether the
connection be with Lucian himself or with the authors he
parodies. But then it will not be rash to conclude further that
there may also be a connection between the cleft in the sea or
profound abyss of Lucian or of Greek fable, from which mariners
escaped with difficulty, and Adam's whirlpool, which King
Harold avoided by turning back.

But it is also conceivable that the various currents in Maelstrom
northern waters may have furnished food for these constantly i^^^ ^
recurring ideas about maelstroms and whirlpools. Such
maelstroms appear also in Irish legends. In the '* Imram
Brenaind" [cf. Zimmer, 1889, p. 134] it is related that :

One day the voyagers saw on the ocean deep, dark currents [whirlpools]
and their ships seemed to be drawn into them with the £orce of the storm. In
this great danger all eyes were turned upon Brandan. He spoke to the sea, saying
that it should be satisfied with drowning him alone, but spare his comrades.
Thereupon the sea became calm, and the rushing of the whirlpool ceased imme-
diately ; from that time until now it has done no harm to others.

The Historia Norwegiae places " Charybdis, Scylla, and Maelstrom
unavoidable whirlpools" in the north in '' Hafsbotn " j^J^^^'^^^^^^'
(cf. later). This must have been a general idea in Norway ; strom
for about one hundred years later, in 1360, the Englishman,
Nicholas of Lynn, who travelled in Norway in the middle of
the fourteenth century, wrote his lost work, " Inventio
Fortunata," on the northern countries and their whirlpools
from 53° to the North Pole ; but unfortunately we do not
know its contents.^ The conceptions of these whirlpools
may doubtless be connected with reports of dangerous currents

^ Giraldus Cambrensis also mentions the dangerous whirlpool north of the
Hebrides.

151

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER in the north. The Moskenstrom by the Lofoten Islands may
^^^ in particular have given rise to much superstition at an early

time. In winter with a westerly wind it runs at a rate of as
much as six miles an hour, and with a rising tide it may be
altogether impassable. It may set up a high topping sea,
which breaks over the whole current so that it can be heard
three or four miles off.^ In later times there are terrifying
descriptions of this dangerous current. Thus Olaus Magnus
(1555) says that between Roest and Lofoten

"is so great an abyss, or rather Charybdis, that it suddenly swamps and
swallows up in an instant those mariners who incautiously approach " (see the
illustration, vol. i. p. 158). ..." Pieces of wreckage are very seldom thrown up
again, and if they come to light, the hard material shows such signs of wear and
chafing through being dashed against the rocks, that it looks as if it were covered
with rough wool." And the natural force here manifested exceeds all that is
related of Charybdis in Sicily and other wonders.

The Englishman, Anthony Jenkinson, who made a voyage
to the White Sea in 1557, writes of it : ^

* * Note that there is between the said Rost Islands & Lof oot, a whirle poole called
Malestrand, which from halfe ebbe untill halfe flood, maketh such a terrible
noise, that it shaketh the ringes in the doores of the inhabitants houses of the
sayd Islands tenne miles off. Also if there commeth any Whale within the current
of the same, they make a pitifuU crie. Moreover, if great trees be caried into it
by force of streams, and after with the ebbe be cast out againe, the ends and
boughs of them have bene so beaten, that they are like the stalkes of hempe
that is bruised."

Schonnerbol in 1591 gives a more detailed description of
the current, in which the same things are reported

of the iron ring ** in the house door ... it is shaken hither and thither by
the rushing of the current " ; of the whale, who when " he cannot go forward
on account of the strong stream, gives a great cry, as it were a great ox, and
then he is gone . . ." ; and, finally, of great trees, spruce or fir, which disappear
in this current, and when at last they come up again, ** then all the boughs, all
the roots and all the bark is torn off, and it is shaped as though it had been cut
with a sharp axe." He says that ** many people are of the opinion that there

1 Cf. Amund Helland, Lofoten og Vesteraalen. Norges geologiske Under-
sogelse. No. 23. Christiania, 1897, p. 106.

* Hakluyt : Principal Navigations, Glasgow, 1903, ii. p. 415.
152

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

is a whirlpool in this current or immediately outside it " ; and ** when the stream CHAPTER
is strongest, one can see the sun and the sky through the waves, since they go XII
as high as other high mountains." ^

Peder Clausson Friis gives a similarly exaggerated de-
scription of the current (circa 1613), sometimes using the same
expressions as the authors quoted. The resemblance between
these various descriptions is so great that it cannot easily be
explained merely by their reporting the same oral tradition ;
what they have in common must rather be derived from an
older written source (Nicholas of Lynn ?), which again has
adopted ancient mythical conceptions. It is strange how few
more recent ideas have been added even in Schonnebol, who
was sheriff of Lofoten and Vesteralen for at least twenty years
(from 1570), and must have had plenty of opportunity for
gathering information on the spot ; but it is the usual experi-
ence that everything that could be got from old books was
preferred. That stories of the Moskenstrom may have been
known in Adam of Bremen's time is highly probable, perhaps
even Paulus Warnefridi had heard of it (cf. vol. i. p. 158).

When we have shorn Adam's tale of all borrowed features, Possible
is there enough left to make it possible that the Norwegian Harold's
king Harold undertook a voyage out into the ocean ? It is ocean
not easy to form a definite opinion on this, but the probability ^^^y^s®
must be that King Svein or the Danes told some such story,
which was then adorned by Master Adam. As the voyage
was supposed to have taken place recently, it must be Harold
Hardrade who was intended, otherwise one might be led to
think of Harold Graf eld's celebrated voyage to Bjarmeland.^

1 Cf. storm, 1895, pp. 190, f.

2 It is not impossible that it was of this Norwegian king Harold's voyage
that Adam heard from the Danes ; in that case he may readily be supposed to
have made a mistake and connected it with the King Harold who was then living,
to whom he also attributes a voyage in the Baltic ; it is a common experience
that many similar incidents in which different persons were engaged collect
about one of them. The circumstance that Harold is here mentioned without any
term of abuse, with which Adam is elsewhere in the habit of accompanying any
mention of him, is perhaps, as already said (vol. i. p. 195, notej, of no particular

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER What the object may have been, and what direction the voyage
^^^ took, we do not know. As Adam says it was to explore ' ' the

breadth of the northern ocean" (" latitudinem septen-
trionalis oceani "), one must suppose that in his opinion it
set out from Norway northward or north-westward over the
ocean towards its uttermost limit, since according to the maps
and ideas of that time he imagined the ocean as surrounding
the disc of the earth like a ribbon (see vol. i. p. 199), and he
may then have sailed across this to find out its extent.^ But
it is quite possible, as P. A. Munch [1852, ii. pp. 269, ff.]
suggested, that Master Adam may have heard something
about a northward voyage undertaken by Harold, during
which he had been exposed to some danger in the Saltstrom or
the Moskenstrom ; ^ or if it was a voyage to Bjarmeland
(Harold Grafeld's ?) that he heard of, then it might be the

significance. Harold Grafeld was much in Denmark, and reports of his expedition
to Bjarmeland may well have lived there, as in Iceland. If it is this to which
Adam's words refer, this would also explain the curious silence of the Icelandic
authorities about Harold Hardrade's alleged voyage in the Arctic Ocean.

^ Professor Yngvar Nielsen [1904, 1905] thinks that Adam's description cannot
be explained otherwise than as referring to a voyage to the west, and probably
a Wineland voyage. The Icelandic historian Tormodus Torfaeus regarded it in
the same way two hundred years ago. Prof essor Nielsen even thinks he can point to
the Newfoundland Banks with their " surf caused by the current " (?] as a probable
place where King Harold turned back to avoid the gulf of the abyss. I will not
here dwell on the improbability of so daring a man as Harold, whom we are to
suppose to have sailed across the Atlantic in search of Wineland, being frightened
by a tide-race (of which he knew worse at home] on the Newfoundland Banks,
so as to believe that he was near the abyss ( * ' Ginnungagap "), and therefore making
the long voyage home again without having accomplished his purpose, without
having reached land, and without having renewed his supplies— of fresh water,
for instance. I can only see that all this is pure guesswork without any solid
foundation and far beyond the limits of all reasonable possibility. But in addition,
as Dr. A. A. Bjornbo [1909, pp. 121, 234, ff.] has clearly shown, the whole of
this view becomes untenable if we pay attention to the universal cartographical
representation of that time, by which Adam of Bremen was obviously also
bound, and in particular it is impossible to conclude from his words that
Harold's voyage should have been made to the 'Oiest

2 Suhm (Historic af Danmark, 1790) was the first to think that the gulf of
the abyss was the maelstrom by Mosken.

154

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

current at Sviatoi Nos or Straumneskinn, often spoken of in CHAPTER
the sagas, that Adam has made into the whirlpool.

XII

WHALING AND SEALING VOYAGES OF THE NORWEGIANS
IN THE POLAR SEA

The skill of the Norwegians as fishermen, whalers and The Nor-
sealers had, of course, a great deal to do with the development "^^^^^^ ^^
of their seamanship and ability to travel and support themselves
along unknown and uninhabited shores. The accurate know-
ledge of the many species of seals and whales shown in the
** King's Mirror," to which] "no
parallel is met with earlier in the
literature of the world, proves how
important the hunting of these
animals must have been ; for
otherwise so much attention would
not have been paid to them.^
When in speaking of the greater
whales a distinction is made be-
tween those that are shy and keep
away from the hunters, and those
that are tamer and easier to
approach, and when the longest of
all (" reySr ") is mentioned as
being specially tame and easily

caught, we can only regard this as showing that whaling
was also carried on in the open sea ; that is, not in a merely
accidental fashion, as when the whales entered narrow fjords
where they could be intercepted, or when they ran aground.

^ A peculiarity of the account in the " King's Mirror " is that whales, seals
and walruses are mentioned only in the seas of Iceland and Greenland, and not
off Norway, although the Norwegian author must undoubtedly have heard of
most of them in his native land. In the same way the northern lights are only
spoken of as something peculiar to Greenland. Of the six species of seal that
are mentioned, one (" orknselr ") must be the grey seal or " erkn " (Hali-
choerus grypus), which is common on the coast of the northern half of Norway,
but is not found in Greenland.

Cutting up a whale (from
an Icelandic MS. of the
fourteenth century of
Magnus Lanaboter's Ice-
landic Land Law)

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER From Ottar's statement to King Alfred (cf. vol. i. p. 172)—

^" that " in his own land [i.e., Norway] there is the best whaling.

They are forty-eight cubits long, and the largest are fifty cubits
long " — we may conclude that the Norwegians, and perhaps
the Lapps also, hunted the great whales as early as the ninth
century, and doubtless long before that time, while King Alfred
does not seem to have known of any such whaling being prac-
tised in England.^ We are not told in what way the whale
was caught in those days, but from statements elsewhere it
is probable that the Norwegians had several methods of taking
whales, as is the case even to the present day in Norway : one
way was with the harpoon and harpoon-line in open waters,
that is, without cutting off the whale's escape with nets.

The Arab cosmographer, Qazwini (of the thirteenth century),
quoting the Spanish- Arabic writer Omar al-*Udhri ^ (of the
eleventh century), says that the Norsemen in Irlanda (Ireland).

" hunt young whales, and they are very great fish. They hunt their young
and eat them. ... Of the method of catching them al-'Udhri relates that
the hunters collect in their ships. They have a great iron hook [i.e., harpoon]
with sharp teeth, and on the hook a strong ring, and in the ring a stout rope.
When they come to a young one, they clap their hands and make a noise. The
young one is amused by the clapping of hands and approaches the ship, delighting
therein. Thereupon one of the seamen approaches and scratches its forehead,
which the yovmg one likes. Then he lays the hook to the middle of its head,
takes a heavy iron hammer and gives three blows with all his force upon the
hook. It does not heed the first blow, but with the second and third it makes
a great commotion, and sometimes it catches some part of the ship with its tail,
and knocks it to pieces, and it continues in violent agitation until it is overcome
by exhaustion. Then the crew of the ship draw it to shore with their combined
force. Sometimes the mother notices the movements of the young one, and
pursues them. Then they have a great quantity of crushed onions in readiness,

* One might receive a different impression from Bede's statement that in Britain
" seals are frequently taken (' capiuntur '), and dolphins, as also whales (' ba-
lenje ') " [Eccles. hist. gent. Angl. i. c. i]. But it is uncertain whether this refers
to regular hunting of great whales with harpoons in the open sea, or whether
it does not rather refer to stranded whales, which must have been of frequent
occurrence in those days, to judge from the Norman and later English regula-
tions regarding them.

* He belonged to the South Arabian tribe 'Udhra, "die da sterben, wann
sie lieben."

156

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

and throw it into the water. When the whale perceives the smell of the onions CHAPTER
it finds it detestable, turns round and retreats. Then they cut the flesh of the XII
young one in pieces and salt it.^ And its flesh is white as snow, and its skin
black as ink." ^

This is, clearly enough, a layman's naive description of
whaling with harpoon and harpoon-line in open waters, a
method which had therefore already been introduced into
Ireland by the Norwegians at that time. It may consequently
be regarded as certain that the
Norwegians were acquainted with
harpooning. That this was very
usual appears also from the ** King's
Mirror " and the ancient Norwegian
laws, where whaling and whale-
harpoons (" skutill ") are often men-
tioned.

On the west coast of Norway, in
the neighbourhood of Bergen, there
is still practised to-day another
method of catching whales which
must be very ancient. When the great

whales enter certain fjords which have a narrow inlet, their
escape is cut off by nets, and they are shot with poisoned arrows
from bows which entirely resemble the crossbows of the Middle
Ages. The arrows used are old and rusty, and convey bacteria
from one whale to another. When the whale has been hit by
these arrows it is rapidly weakened from blood-poisoning, so
that it may easily be harpooned and then killed by lances, after
which it is cut up and divided among the inhabitants of the
fjord, according to ancient, unwritten rules. In spite of the
blood-poisoning, the whale's flesh and blubber are eaten, and
are regarded as very valuable provisions. I have myself often
taken part in this kind of whaling. Possibly Peder Clausson

^This is exactly what is still done with the whale on the west coast of
Norway.

2 Cf. G. Jacob, 1896, pp. 23, ff.

157

Cutting up a whale (from
an Icelandic MS.)

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Friis [cf. Storm, 1881, p. 70] refers to a similar method of
^^^ whaling when he says that

"in ancient times many expedients or methods were used for catching whales,
which ... on account of men's unskilfulness have fallen out of use."

They had " a spear with sharp irons, so that it could not
be pulled out again." This was hurled into the whale, which
died in a short time, or became so weakened that it could be
drawn to land ;

" which whales were then cut up and divided among those who had shot, and
him who owned the land, or him who had first found the whale driven in, according
to the provisions of the law."

We must suppose that this iron was poisoned with bacteria
from former whales, in a similar way to the arrows mentioned
above, whereby the animal's wound was infected. However,
Peder Clausson's description of the hunt is evidently taken in
great measure from older literary sources, since similar descrip-
tions are found as early as in Albertus Magnus (ob. 1280) [De
animalibus, xxiv. 651], and in Vincent of Beauvais [Speculum
universalis, i. 1272]. In all three authors the whale dives after
being struck, and tosses about on the bottom or rubs itself
against it, thereby driving the spear farther in ; but in Peder
Clausson it does so in order to ** get rid of the shot," while in
Albertus it is on account of salt water getting into the wound,
and in Vincentius the salt water penetrates and kills the wounded
whale. As the descriptions of Albertus and Vincentius evidently
refer to ordinary harpoon-whaling, it may be doubtful whether
Peder Clausson's statement really relates to a method of
catching different from the usual one with harpoon and line,
although one is disposed to believe that it does. He also men-
tions in the same place other whales that they could * * pursue
with boats and drive into bays and small fjords, and kill them
there with hand-shot and bow-shot." This may be supposed
to refer to a method similar to that mentioned above, with
poisoned arrows ; but, on the other hand, it may relate to a
third method of taking small whales, which was certainly

158

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

practised from very early times in Norway, and which consists CHAPTER
in schools of small whales being driven into bays and inlets,
where they are intercepted with nets and driven ashore.

The method of whaling with poisoned arrows or throwing-
spears must, as has been said, be very ancient. Whether it was
invented by the Norwegians themselves, or whether they
did not rather learn it from the older hunter-people of Norway,
the " Finns," is difficult to determine. Nor do we know how
ancient whaling in general may be in the North ; it may date
from early times, though Ottar's mention of it is the earliest
known in literature.

It is evident that a high development of seamanship, skill
in hunting, and resourcefulness were required before men could
venture to encounter the great whales of the ocean in open
fight with free sea-room, where the whale was not crippled
by having run aground or into narrow fjords with no outlet.
This whaling in the open sea demanded the invention of special
appliances, of which the harpoon with its line was of special
importance. It may be possible, though it is not certain, that
the Norwegians were the first Europeans to practise this kind
of whaling, and as, from numerous documents, we may con-
clude that whaling was actively carried on by the Normans in
Normandy as early as the tenth and eleventh centuries, one is
inclined to suppose that it was the Normans who first intro-
duced the method of harpoon and line there,^ and then passed
it on to the Basques. But we ought not to lose sight of the fact

1 Louis the Gentle confirms a division of the property of the abbey of
St. Dionysius, which the abbot Hilduien had made in 832 [cf . Bouquet, Historiens
de France, vi. p. 580]. He says in this document that ** we give them this
property ... on the other side of Sequana the chapel of St. Audoenus for
repairing and clearing fishing nets ... in Campiniago two houses for fish
... the water and fish in Tellis . . . and Gabaregium in Bagasinum with all
the manorial rights and lands attached, of which part lies in the parish of
Constantinus [Coutances] for taking large fish ('crassus piscis 'J." It is
probable that " crassus piscis '* means Biscayan whale (Baloena Biscayensis or
glacialis], which at that time was common on these shores. In that case the
people of C6tantin would have carried on whaling £is early as the beginning of the
ninth century, but of their methods we can form no conclusions.

CHAPTER
XII

Harpoon-
fishing in
the Mediter-
ranean in
antiquity

IN NORTHERN MISTS

that there are other possibilities, since the harpoon was probably
known to and used on smaller marine animals by the neolithic
people of Europe, and the taking of larger fish with harpoon
and line was known in the Mediterranean in antiquity,^ as
appears, for instance, from Polybius's description of the catch-
ing of swordfish at Scyllaeum (on the Straits of Messina), which
is reproduced in Strabo, i. 24 :

" A common look-out man goes at their head, while they collect in many
two-oared boats to lie in wait for the fish ; two in each boat. One of them rows,
the other stands in the bow with a spear, while the look-out man gives warning
of the appearance of the fish ; for the animal swims with a third of its body
above water. As soon as the boat has reached the fish, the spearman pierces it
by hand, and immediately draws the spear out of its body again, with the excep-
tion of the point ; for this is provided with barbs, and is purposely attached
loosely to the shaft, and has a long line fastened to it. This is paid out after the
wounded fish, until it is tired by fioundering and attempts at flight ; then it is
drawn to land, or taken into the boat if it is not very large." No better descrip-
tion of harpoon-fishing is to be found in the Middle Ages. The dolphin was to
the Greeks Poseidon's beast, and they did not take it ; but from Oppian's account
we see that the barbarian fishermen on the coast of Thrace had no such scruples,
but caught dolphins with harpoons to which a long line was attached [cf. Noel,
1815, p. 42].

If the Iberian people of the western Mediterranean practised
this kind of fishing, the Basques may also have been acquainted
with it. But if they used the harpoon on swordfish and small
whales, the further step to using it for the Biscay whale was
not insuperable to these hardy seamen, and they may thus have
themselves developed their methods of whaling without having
learnt from the Normans, even if no evidence is forthcoming
of their having been acquainted with whaling so early as the

^ It is possible that the peoples on the shores of the Indian Ocean (and
Red Seal even in early antiquity caught whales and ate whales' fiesh [cf. Noel,
181S, p. 23]. Strabo [xv. 725, f. ; xvi. 767, 773] tells of the great numbers of
whales, 23 fathoms long, that Nearchus is said to have seen in this ocean, and
says that the Ichthyophagi (fish-eatersj used whales* bones for beams and rafters
in their huts. Strabo thinks [i. 24] that the mention of the monster Scylla (who
catches dolphins, seals, etc. J in the Odyssey [xii. 95, ff.] would point to large
marine animals having been taken in ancient times ; but all this may be very
doubtful.
160

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA]

latter.^ It may also be supposed that the Norsemen in the chapter
beginning, far back in grey antiquity, took their harpoon- Xil
fishing from the south, just as they obtained the form of their
craft to some extent from the Mediterranean.

Thus, although we cannot regard it as certain that the
Norwegians introduced the knowledge of whaling with the
harpoon and line in Normemdy, it is in any case probable that
they were particularly active in practising and developing this
method, and we may conclude that they must have been
acquainted with whaling before they came there, since we see
that the whalers of Normandy bore the Scandinavian name of
** walmanni." ^ If they had learnt their whaling in the foreign
land, it goes without saying that they would also have taken
the name from thence, and it is extremely improbable that
they should have acquired a Scandinavian designation for an

^ Cf. M. P. Fischer, 1872, pp. 3, fi. In 1202 the merchants of Bayonne bound
themselves to pay King John Lackland ten pounds sterling a year for permission
to catch whales between St. Michael's Mount (in Normandy] emd a place called
Dortemue [cf. Delisle, 1849, p. 131]. This may point to a connection in the whale-
fishery between the south of France and Normandy.

^ Cf. Johannes Steenstrup, i876,vol. i.p. 188. Professor Steenstrup puts forward
the view that it was the Danes who developed this whaUng in Normandy. This is
scarcely possible. There cannot be much doubt that it was the comparatively
valuable Biscay whale or nord-caper that was the chief object of the active whaling
on the coast of Normandy, and that was specially called " crassus piscis " ; for it
was precisely this species of whale which then at certain times of the yeeir appeared
in great numbers along the whole French coast, and which the Basques also
pursued so actively along the shores of the Bay of Biscay, Brittany and Normandy.
The name '' crassus piscis " (i.e., the thick or fat fish] would also exactly describe
this species, which is remarkable beyond all other whales that occur on the coasts
of France for its striking breadth and bulk in proportion to its length, which is
about fifty feet. This whale was more valuable than the other great whales that
occurred along these coasts, and was in addition much easier to catch. But this
species certainly never regularly frequented the shallow Danish waters, any more
than other great whales that might be an object of hunting. There is, therefore,
scarcely a possibiUty that Danish Vikings should have brought with them from
their native land any escperience in hunting great whales. If we may assume
that the Normans were already acquainted with the hunting of great whales
before they came to Nornumdy, then it may have been Norwegians who possessed
this experience, which, in fact, agrees with the statement of Qazwini (see above).

II L 161

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER occupation the knowledge of which they had not brought with

^" them from their native land.

The Normans also took with them the knowledge of whaling
as far as the Mediterranean. In Guillelmus Appulus's descrip-
tion (of about 1099-1111) of the Norman conquest of southern
Italy it is related ^ that when Robert Guiscard comes to the
town of Regina in Calabria he hears

*' the rumour that there is a fish not far from the town in the waves of the
Adriatic, a great one with an immense body, of an incredible aspect, which the
people of Italy had not seen before. The winds of spring, on account of the
fresh water, had driven it thither. It was captured by the ingenuity of the leader
[i.e., Robert] by means of various arts. It swam into a net made of fine ropes,
and when it was completely entangled in the nets with the heavy iron, it dived
down to the depths of the sea, but at last it was hit by the seamen in various

Cutting up a whale (from an Icelandic MS. of the sixteenth century).

projecting places, and with much pains dragged ashore. There the people look
at it as a strange monster. Then it is cut in pieces by order of the leader.
Thereof he obtains for himself and his men much food, and also for the people
who dwelt on the coasts of Calabria. And the Apulian people also have a share
of it."

It looks as though the author *s view was that the whale
was caught with nets and killed by the throwing of lances,
which is not impossible ; but it may also be supposed that the
poetical description is somewhat misleading, and that the
** nets with the heavy iron " were the harpoon with its line (?).

It may be regarded as doubtful whether the harpooning
of great whales in open waters was ever so actively carried on
and brought to such perfection during the Middle Ages in
Norway, Iceland and Greenland as was evidently the case
in Normandy and especially among the Basques, from whom

1 Muratori : Script, rer. Ital., v. p. 265. Cf. also Joh. Steenstrup, 1876,
i. p. 188.
162

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

later the English and the Dutch learned it. As in those days CHAPTER
there was abundance of whales to be caught on the Norwegian ^
coast (the nord-caper was then numerous there), this kind of
whaling would not tempt the Norwegians to seek better hunting-
grounds along other coasts in northern waters. On the other
hand, it is evident that practice in whaling must have been of
great importance to them, wherever they settled in these
regions.

Albertus Magnus (ob. 1280), who gives a detailed descrip- Aibertus
tion of the harpoon and of whaling (cf. above, p. 158), has JJ^i^^gf **"
also the following description of walrus-hunting : hunting

** Those whales which have bristles, and others, have very long tusks, ^ and
by them they hang themselves up on stones and rocks when they sleep. Then
the fisherman approaches, and tears away as much as he can of the skin from
the blubber by the tail, and makes fast a strong rope to the skin he has loosened,
and he binds the ropes fast to rings fixed in the rocks or to very strong posts or
trees. Then he throws large stones at the fish and wakes it. When the fish is

^ The text has "culmi " (literally, straw), which gives no sense. We must
suppose that something has been omitted in the MS. of Albertus that was used
in the printed edition ; or else he has taken the description from an older source,
which had it correctly, and from which later authors have taken the same expres-
sion ; for otherwise it is difficult to understand their using it in a reasonable way.
Erik Walkendorf (circa 1520) says of the walrus in Finmark : " They have a
stiff and bristly beard as long as the palm of a hand, as thick as a straw (' crassi-
tudine magni culmi '), they have rough bristly (* hirsuta ') skin, two fingers
thick, which has an incredible strength and firmness " ; but he says nothing
about the method of catching them [Walkendorf, 1902, p. 12]. Olaus Magnus
[i, xxi. c. 25] says that walruses (" morsi " or " rosmari ") appear on the nor-
thern coast of Norway. * * They have a head like an ox, have rough (bristly,
' hirsutam ') skin, and hair as thick as straw (' culmos ') or the stalks of corn
(* calamos frumenti '} which stands in all directions. They heave themselves
up by their tusks to the tops of rocks as with ladders, in order to eat the grass
bedewed with fresh water, and roll themselves back into the sea, unless in the
meantime they are overcome by very deep sleep and remain hanging." Then
follows the same story of catching them as in Albertus Magnus. This is done, he
says, chiefly for the sake of the tusks, *' which were highly prized by the Scythians,
Rutens and Tartars," etc. *' This is witnessed also by Miechouita." This descrip-
tion of Olaus is evidently put together from older statements which we find in
Albertus Magnus, in Walkendorf, and in Russian sources, of which he himself
quotes Mikhow (who is also mentioned in Pistorius ; see below}.

163

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XII

awake and wants to go back [into the sea], it pulls its skin off from the tail along
the back and head, and leaves it behind there. And afterwards it is caught not
far from the spot, when it has exhausted its strength, as it floats bloodless upon
the sea, or lies half -dead on the shore."

He also tells us that walrus-rope ^ was commonly^sold at
the fair at Cologne, which shows that walrus-hunting must
have acquired great importance at that time. It can only
have been carried on by the Norwegians (and Icelanders ?),
the Finns or Lapps, the peoples of the north coast of Russia,
and the Greenlanders. It is unlikely that the ropes were brought
all the way from Russia by land to Cologne ; they must rather
have come from Norway. The Norwegians obtained a certain
quantity of walrus-rope (" svartSreip ") through the trade with
Greenland, and perhaps with North Russia, but they probably
got most from their own hunting in northern waters. The
quantity of walrus they could kill in Finmark would not be
sufficient to satisfy the demand, and, as suggested earlier
(vol. i. p. 177), they must certainly have sought fresh hunting-
grounds, above all eastwards in the Polar Sea.
Hunting ex- Norse-Icelandic literature does not tell us that the Nor-
peditions of wegians in their voyages to Bjarmeland went any farther east
wegians' ^^^^ " Gandvik " (the White Sea) and the Dvina. But it is
eastward to be noted that the sagas as a rule only mention the expeditions
ward"in*the ^^ chiefs, with warlike exploits, fighting and slaughter of one
Polar Sea kind or another ; while peaceful trading voyages, which were
certainly numerous, are not spoken of, nor walrus-hunting
and hunting expeditions in general, since such occupations
were not usually followed by chiefs. We cannot therefore expect
to find anything in the sagas about countries or waters where
there were no people, and where only hunting was carried on.
From Ottar, however, who was not a saga-writer, we
learn that walrus-hunting was practised, and doubtless very
perseveringly, in the ninth century (vol. i. p. 176), and that even
at that time he went in pursuit of it as far as the White Sea*

^ This was very valuable on account of its strength, and was much used for
ships' cables, mooring-hawsers, and many other purposes.
164

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

It is thus extremely improbable that such hardy hunters chapter

XII

should have stopped there, and not continued to move east-
ward, where there was such valuable prey to be secured.
We must suppose that at least they reached the west coast
of Novaya Zemlya, where there were walrus and seal in abun-
dance. That such was the case is just as probable as the
reverse is improbable, and as it is improbable that expeditions
of this kind should have found mention in the sagas. That
the Norwegians knew Novaya Zemlya may perhaps be concluded
from the mediaeval Icelandic geography (cf. vol. i. p. 313 ;
vol. ii. p. i), according to which the land extended northward
from Bjarmeland round the north of Hafsbotn (the Polar Sea)
as far as Greenland, making the latter continuous with Europe
(cf. the map, p. 2). The knowledge that the west coast of
Novaya Zemlya extended northwards into the unknown may
have given rise to such an idea. It was general in Scandinavia
and Iceland in the latter part of the Middle Ages, whilst Adam
of Bremen speaks of Greenland as an island, like Iceland and
other islands in the northern ocean. The discovery of * * Sval-
bard " (Spitzbergen ?) in 1194 may, as we shall see directly,
have lent support to the belief in this connection by land.

Saxo Grammaticus in his Danish history, of the beginning Saxo's
of the thirteenth century, also has mythical tales of voyages Bjarmeland
to Bjarmeland. Amongst others the legendary king Gorm
and Thorkel Adelfar on a mythical voyage to the north and
east came first to Hdlogaland, then to " Hither Bjarmeland,"
which had steep shores and much cattle, and then to a land
with continual cold and heavy snow, without any warmth
of summer, rich in impenetrable forests, which was without
produce of the fields, full of beasts unknown elsewhere, and
where many rivers rushed through rocky beds. This land
was ** Farther Bjarmeland." ^ If we except the forests this
description suits Novaya Zemlya better than the Kola peninsula ;

but it is extremely doubtful whether any real knowledge of

1 Saxo, viii. 287, f. ; ed. by H. Jantzen, 1900, pp. 447, ff. ; ed. by P.^^Herr-
mann, 190 1, pp. 385, ff.

i6s

CHAPTER
XII

Discovery
of SvalbarS

IN NORTHERN MISTS

these regions lies at the root of Saxo's mythical tales, in which,
for instance, the travellers come to the river of death and the
land of the dead. The designation Farther Bjarmeland may
nevertheless point to a land having been known beyond the
often-mentioned Bjarmeland.

In the old legendary sagas there is frequent mention of
** the Farther Bjarmeland," which lay to the north or north-
east of the real Bjarmeland (Permia), and where there was a
people of gigantic size and immense riches. This fabulous
country may, it is true, be entirely mythical, perhaps originally
derived from ancient Greek myths ; but on the other hand it
may be the knowledge of Novaya Zemlya that has influenced
the formation of the myths about it. However this may be,
we may be sure that the voyages of the Norwegian hunters
in those days extended into the eastern Polar Sea far beyond
the limits of Ottar's voyage, and much farther than the chance
mentions in the sagas of more or less warlike expeditions of
chiefs to the White Sea would indicate.

A notice that is extant relating to the year 1194 shows
better than anything else that the Norwegians probably made
extensive voyages in the Polar Sea, and the mention of it is
purely fortuitous. In the ** Islandske Annaler " (in six different
MSS.) it is briefly stated of the year 1194 : " SvalbarSs
fundr " or ** Svalbart5i fundinn " (Svalbard was dis-
covered) ; but that is all we are told ; surely no great geo-
graphical discovery has ever been more briefly recorded in
literature. Svalbart5i means the cold edge or side, and must
here mean the cold coast. In the introduction to the Land-
namabok we read about this land :

"FromReykjaneson the south side of Iceland it is five [in Hauk's Landnama
three] doegr's sea [i.e., sail] to JoUdulaup in Ireland to the south, but from Lan-
ganes on the north side of Iceland it is four dcegr's sea to Svalbard on the north
in Hafsbotn,^ but it is one doegr's sail to the uninhabited parts of Gieenland from
Kolbeins-ey in the north."

^ In the description of Greenland attributed to Ivar Bardsson we read : ' ' Item
from Langanes, which lies uppermost (or northernmost) in Iceland by the
166

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

As will be seen, Svalbard is spoken of, here and in the chapter
Annals, as a land that is known. It is also mentioned in ^^^
Icelandic legendary sagas of the later Middle Ages.

The Historia Norwegiae says of a country in the north : '

" But in the north on the other side of Norway towards the east there extend
various peoples who are in the toils of heathendom (ah, how sad), namely the
Kiriali and Kwseni, homed Finns ^ and both Bjarmas. But what people
dwell beyond these we do not know for certain, though when some sailors
were trying to saii back from Iceland to Norway, and were driven by contrary

,1 .' ^ A .' . . ■ . |'° 12 hours sail

Countries and seas discovered by the Norwegians and Icelanders. The
shaded coasts were probably all known to them. The scale gives
" dcegr "-sailing, reckoning 2° (or 120 geographical miles) to each

*' doegr's " sail

winds to the northern regions, they landed at last between the Greenlanders and
the Bjarmas, where they asserted that they had found people of extraordinary
size and the Land of Virgins (' virginum terram '), who are said to conceive
when they taste water. But Greenland is separated from these by ice-clad skerries
(• scopulis ')."

aforesaid Hornns it is two days' and two nights' sail to Sualberde in haHsbaane (or
haffsbotnen]." [F. J6nsson, 1899, p. 323.]

1 Monumenta hist. Norv., ed. G. Storm, 1880, pp. 74, f., 79.

2 In the " Rymbegla " [1780, p. 350] is mentioned, together with other
fabulous beings in this part of the world, '* the people called * Hornfinnar,' they
have in their foreheads a horn bent downwards, and they are cannibals."

167

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER And in a later passage we read :

* ' The fourth part [of Norway] is Halogia, whose inhabitants live in great measure
with the Finns [Lapps], and trade with them ; this land forms the boundary of
Norway on the north as far as the place called Wegestaf, which divides it from
Bjarmeland (* Biarmonia 'I ; there is the very deep and northerly gulf which
has in it Charybdis, Scylla, and unavoidable whirlpools ; there are also ice-
covered promontories which plunge into the sea immense masses of ice that
have been increased by heaving floods and are frozen together by the winter cold ;
with these traders often collide against their will, when making for Greenland,
and thus they suffer shipwreck and run into danger."

It may seem probable that this description of a country in
the north referred to Svalbard ; and the naive allusion to
glacier-ice plunging from the land is most likely to be derived
from voyagers to the Polar Sea ; for it seems less probable
that it should be merely information about Greenland'transf erred
to the North. Storm, it is true, dated the Historia Norwegiae
between 1180 and 1190, that is, before the discovery of Svalbard
according to the Annals ; but later writers place it in the
thirteenth century, even as late as 1260 (see vol. i. p. 255).
The ideas of the people of great size and of the Land of
Virgins are obviously taken from Adam of Bremen, and may
be a literary ornament.
^"fB.tttaxA There have been different opinions as to what country

Spitzbergen* Svalbard was. Many have thought that it might be the
northern east coast of Greenland ; Jan Mayen has also been
mentioned ; while others, like S. Thorlacius, a hundred
years ago (1808), supposed that it was " the Siberian coasts
of the Arctic Ocean, lying to the east of Permia (Bjarmeland),
that the ancient Norsemen included under the name of Svalbard,
i.e., the cold coast." Gustav Storm [1890, p. 344] maintained
that Svalbard in all probability must be Spitzbergen,^ and
many reasons point to the correctness of this supposition.

No certain conclusion can be drawn about Svalbard from
the passage quoted from the Landndmab6k. " On the north
in Hafsbotn " must mean in some northerly direction ; for
it is only the chief points of the compass, north, south and

1 Cf. also A. Bugge, 1898, p. 499 ; G. Isachsen, 1907.
168

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

west, that are mentioned, and no intermediate po'nts : '"or chapter

XII

one course alone, from Bergen to Hvarf in Greenland, the
direction ** due west ** is given, whxh must be true west/
Langanes is said to lie on the north side of Iceland instead of
on the north-east, from Reykjanes to Ireland the course was
south, instead of south-east, etc. The points of the compass
are ev'dently used in the same way as is still common in
Norway ; ''in the north of the valley " may be used even if
the valley bends almost to the west. The Landnama's state-
ment (Stur^ub6k) that it is four ** dcegr's sea '* from Snaefellsnes
"west " to Greenland (i.e., Hvarf) then agrees entirety with
the common mode of expression that I have found among
the arctic sailors of our day in Denmark Strait, where they
never talk of anything but sailing east or west along the edge
of the ice, even though it is north-east and south-west ; we
sail westward from Faerder to Christianssand, or we travel
south from Christiania to Christianssand. Consequently " on
the north in Hafsbotn ** means the same as when we say
north in Finmark (cf. Ottar*s directions, vol. i. p. 171), or
even north in the White Sea, and speak of sailing north to Jan
1 True north of Langanes there is no land : Jan Mayen lies nearest, N.N.E.,
and Greenland W.N.W. As the ** leidar-stein " (compass) was known in Iceland
when Hauk's Landnamab6k was written (cf. vol. i. p. 248), magnetic directions
might be meant here, and the variation of the compass may at that time have
been great enough to make Greenland lie north (magnetic) of Langanes. In
that case it is perhaps strange that Langanes should be mentioned as the starting-
point, and not some place that lay nearer ; but it might be supposed that this
was because one had first to sail far to the east to avoid the ice, when making
for the northern east coast of Greenland. A large eastern variation would also
agree with Jolldulaup in Ireland lying south of Reykjanes, the uninhabited parts
of Greenland lying north of Kolbeins-ey (Mevenklint, see vol. i. p. 286), and the
statement in the Sturlub6k that from Snsefellsnes it was " four * dcegr's ' sea
west to Greenland " [i.e., Hvarf]. But it does not agree with this that from Bergen
(or Henno) the course was ** due west " to Hvarf in Greenland ; and still less
does it agree with its being, according to the Sturlub6k, ** seven * dcegr's * sail
west from Stad in Norway to Horn in East Iceland." If these are courses by
compass, we must then suppose a large eAstern variation between Norway and
Iceland, which indeed is not impossible, but which will not accord with a large
ivestern variation between Reykjanes and Ireland. The probability is, therefore,
that magnetic courses are not intended.

169

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Mayen. As Langanes in particular, the north-east point of
^^^ Iceland, is mentioned as the starting-point, we should be

inclined to think that Svalbard was supposed to lie in a north-
easterly direction ; it is true that the course to Ireland is
calculated from Reyk janes and not from the south-east point
of Iceland ; but this may be because the voyage was mostly
made from the west country.

The distances given in these sailing directions in the
Landnamabdk are even less accurate than the points of the
compass. From Stad in Norway to the east coast of Iceland
is said to be seven ** doegr's " sail, while from Snsefellsnes to
Hvarf is four ** doegr,*' from Reyk janes to Ireland three or
five " doegr," from Langanes to Svalbard four " doegr," and
from Kolbeins-ey to the uninhabited parts of Greenland one
** dcegr." The actual distances are, however, approximately :
from Norway to Iceland 548 nautical miles, from Snsefellsnes
to Hvarf 692, from Reyk janes to Ireland 712, from Langanes
to Spitzbergen 840 (from Langanes to Jan Mayen 288), and
from Mevenklint to the east coast of Greenland 184 nautical
miles. It is hopeless to look for any system in this ; the
distances from Iceland to Greenland and from Iceland to
Ireland are given as being much less {^ and f or f ) than the
distance from Norway to Iceland, whereas in reality they are
considerably more. In the fourth part of the " Rymbegla '*
[1780, p. 482] a " doegr's " sail is given as equal to two
degrees of latitude, that is, 120 nautical miles (or twenty-four
of the old Norwegian sea-leagues), but according to the
measurements given there would be 80 nautical miles in
a ** doegr's " sail between Norway and Iceland, 172 between
Iceland and Greenland, and 236 (or 144) between Iceland and
Ireland. These measurements of distance are therefore far
too uncertain to be of any use in finding Svalbard. According
to the scale in the "Rymbegla " it would be two and a half
" dcegr " to Jan Mayen, and seven ** doegr " to Spitzbergen
from Langanes.^

* As already mentioned, a "doegr " was half a day of twenty-four hours,
170

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

The old Norwegians imagined Hafsbotn [or Trollabotn] * as chapter
the end (** botn ") of the ocean to the north of Norway and ^^^
north-east of Greenland, as far as one could sail to the north in
the Polar Sea. But Svalbard lay according to the Landnamabok
in the north of Hafsbotn ; and if one tries to sail northward
in summer-time, either from Langanes, the north-east point
of Iceland, or from Norway, endeavouring to keep clear of
the ice, it will be difficult to avoid making Spitzbergen. If
one followed the edge of the ice northwards from Iceland in
July, it would infallibly bring one there. Such a voyage
would correspond to the sailing directions from Snaefellsnes
when they steered west to the edge of the ice off Greenland,
and then followed it south-westwards round Hvarf. On the
other hand, it would be impossible to arrive at the northern
east coast of Greenland without venturing far into the ice,
and it is not likely that the ancient Norsemen would have
done this unless they knew that there was land on the inside
and consequently hunting-grounds (cf. vol. i. p. 286). No doubt
one might make Jan Mayen ; but it is difficult to suppose
that this little island should have been given such a name,
which is only suited to the coast of a larger country. The
conclusion that Svalbard was not the northern east coast of
Greenland seems also justified from the latter being mentioned

and a " dcEgr's " sail is thus the distance sailed in a day or in a night. One might,
perhaps, be tempted to think that here, where it is a question of sailing over the
open sea, and where it would therefore be impossible to anchor for the night, as
on the coast, a " doegr's " sail might mean the distance covered in the whole
twenty-four hours [cf. G. Isachsen, 1907] ; but it appears from a passage in
St. Olaf's Saga (in " Heimskringla "), amongst others, that this was not the usual
way of reckoning ; for we read there (cap. 125) that Thorarinn Nevjolfsson sailed
in eight "doegr" from More in Norway to Eyrar in south-western Iceland.
Thorarinn went straight to the Althing and there said that " he had parted from
King Olaf four nights before. ..." The eight " doegr " mean, therefore, four
days' and four nights' sailing. Precisely the same thing appears from the sailing
directions given above (p. 166) from Ivar Bardsson's description, where four
*' dcegr's " sea is taken as two days' and two nights' sail.

^ Sometimes also called Nordbotn (cf. vol. i. pp. 262, 303), perhaps mostly in
fairy-tales. This form of the name is still extant in a fairy-tale from Fyresdal
and Eidsborg about " Riketor Kraemar " [H. Ross in " Dolen," 1869, vii. No. 23].

171

XII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER immediately afterwards in Hauk's Landnamabok under the
name of " the uninhabited parts of Greenland," one ** doegr's "
sail north of Kolbeins-ey* (see vol. i. p. 286 ; vol. ii. p. 166).
As has already been said, the Norwegians (cf. Historia
Norwegiae and the "King's Mirror") and Icelanders (cf.
the mediaeval Icelandic geography) thought that '* land
extended from Bjarmeland to the uninhabited parts in the
north, and as far as the beginning of Greenland," that is»
round the whole of the north of Hafsbotn. From several
legendary sagas of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries we
can see that Svalbard was in fact reckoned among these unin-
habited parts in the north, which were reached by sailing
past Halogaland and Finmark, and northward over Dumbshav
(see map, p. 34).

Thus, in Samson Fagre's Saga [of about 1350] we read in
the thirteenth chapter, " On the situation of the northern
lands":

" Risaland lies east and north of the Baltic, and to the north-east of it lies
the land that is called Jotunheimar, and there dwell trolls and evil spirits, but
from thence until it meets the uninhabited parts of Greenland goes the land
that is called Svalbard ; there dwell various peoples." [Gronl. hist. Mind.,iii.
p. 524.]

The outcome of what has been advanced above will be
briefly : there can be no doubt, from the sober statement in
the Icelandic Annals and in the Landnama, that the land of
Svalbard really was discovered, even though the date need
not be accurate ; and it may further be regarded as probable
that this land was Spitzbergen.

It may be supposed that it was discovered accidentally by
a ship on the way between Iceland and Norway, as stated in
the Historia Norwegiae, being driven by storms to the north
of Hafsbotn ; but the mention of the country in the Land-
namabok may indicate that the voyage was made more than
once, and that knowledge of the country cannot in any case
have been limited to an accidental discovery of this sort.
It is more probable that the Norwegians and Icelanders carried
172

wegians'

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

on seal- and walrus-hunting northwards along the edge of chapter
the ice in the Polar Sea, and in that case it was unavoidable xii
that they should arrive at Svalbard or Spitzbergen. And when
it was once discovered they must often have resorted to it ;
for the valuable walrus was at that time very plentiful there.

As we nowhere find mention of these sealing expeditions
of the Norwegians in the Polar Sea, except in Ottar's narrative,
it may be difficult to show certain evidence of their having
taken place ; but the Russians' seal-hunting in the Polar jy^^
Sea, of which we hear as early as the sixteenth century, can in Russians'
my opinion scarcely be explained in any other way than as a ■ ^ ^^^_
continuation in the main of the Norwegians' sealing. When tinuation of
the English, and later the Dutch, came to the Murman coast *^® ^°^~
and the coasts eastwards as far as the Pechora, Vaigach and
Novaya Zemlya, they found fleets of Russian smacks engaged
in fishing and walrus-hunting ; most of them were from the
Murman coast, some from the White Sea, and a few from the
Pechora. Stephen Burrough thus found in June 1556 no less
than thirty smacks in the Kola fjord, which had come sailing
down the river, on their way to fishing- and sealing-grounds
to the east. These smacks sailed well with the wind free,
could also be rowed with twenty oars, and had each a crew of
twenty-four men.

Pistorius ^ refers to Andrei Mikhow as saying that the
" Juctri " (Yugrians in the Pechora district) and ** Coreli "
(Karelians) on the coast of the Polar Sea hunted seals and
whales, of whose skins they made ropes, purses, and . . . ?
(** redas, bursas et coletas "), and used the blubber (for light-
ing ?) and sold it. They also hunted walrus (called by Mikhow
by its Norwegian name ** rosmar "),^ the tusks of which they
sold to the Russians. The latter kept a certain quantity for
their own use, and sent the rest to Tartary and Turkey. The

^ Pistorius, Polonicae historise corpus, 1582, i. 150. I have not had an oppor-
tunity of consulting this work. We saw above (p. 163, note} that Olaus Magnus
also quotes Mikhow.

2 a. Noel, 1815, p. 215.

173

CHAPTER
XII

Russians
and Lapps
learned
walrus-
hunting
from the
Norwegians

IN NORTHERN MISTS

hunting was said to proceed in a curious fashion ; the walruses,
which were very numerous, clambering up on to the mountain-
ridges and there perishing in great numbers.^ The Yugrians
and Karelians then collected the tusks on the shore. Is there
here some confusion with stories of the collection of mammoth
tusks ?

What was said earlier (p. 145) from an Arabian source
about steel blades being sold to the peoples on the coast of
the Polar Sea in North Russia seems to point to sea-hunting
having been well developed in these regions as early as the
twelfth century ; for otherwise steel for hunting appliances
could not have been a common article of commerce.

That Norwegians and Russians often met in northern waters
may apparently be concluded from the words already quoted
from Erik Walkendorf, about 1520 (cf. p. 86), that fifteen
of the Skraelings did not venture to approach a Christian or
Ruten (i.e., Russian). As he places the land of the Skrselings
north-north-west of Finmark, this seems to be a legend that
is brought into connection with the Polar Sea. Of walrus-
tusks he says that ** these are costly and greatly prized among
the Russians." Unless this is taken from older literary
sources (?), one might suppose that it was information he
himself had obtained in Finmark, and it might then poin
to the Norwegians having sold walrus-tusks to the Russians.

The fact that, as mentioned above, a Russian author of
the sixteenth century (Mikhow) uses the Norwegian name
*' rosmar " seems also to point to Russian connection with
the Norwegians in the arctic fisheries. In addition to this,
the Russian word ** morsh '* for walrus is evidently the same
as the Lappish " morssa *' (Finnish ** mursu **), and may
originally be the same word as ** rosmar " (** rosmhvalr ").
For it is striking that the same letters are present in * * morsh * *
or ** morssa " as in ** rosm(hvalr)," or in ** rosmar " ; there

^ The idea may have arisen through a misunderstanding of stories that the
walruses often lie in great herds, close together, on the tops of skerries and
small islands, and are there speared in great numbers by the hunters.

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

is only a transference of consonants, which is often met with chapter
in borrowed words in different languages. -^^^

I asked Professor Konrad Nielsen what he thought about this, and whether he
could imagine any Finnish-Ugrian origin of the word, or whether any similar
word was known, for instance, in Samoyed. He considers that my assumption
may " be quite well founded." ^ He has consulted Professor Setala of Helsingfors
about it, and the latter thinks that if the word was borrowed from Finnish into
Russian, there is nothing to prevent its being connected with the Norse rosm(hvalr)
— the latter would then, of course, be the primary form. Similar metatheses are
found in other Norse loan-words in Finnish. Konrad Nielsen thinks that ' ' the
Lappish word is pretty certainly borrowed from Finnish, ; o that the idea of its
Norse origin meets with no difficulty from that quarter." And as to the possible
Russian origin of the word, he has spoken to the Slavic authority. Professor
Mikkola, who informs him that in popular language the Russian word is only
found in the most northern dialects, and there is no point of connection in other
Slavic languages, so that he regards it as probable that it is not originally a Slavic
word. No Finnish-Ugrian etymology for the word can, according to Konrad
Nielsen, be put forward. ** In Samoyed," he says, *' the name for walrus is only
known as far as Jura-Samoyed (the most western dialect of Samoyed) is con-
cerned : ' t'ewot'e,' ' tiut'ei.' I have compared this with the Lappish name for
seal, ' daevok ' — ' davak ' — ' daevkka.' In this I see evidence that the Lapps
(contrary to Wiklund's view) were acquainted with the Polar Sea and its animals
before they came to Scandinavia." He also draws my attention to the fact that
*' the Finnish ' norsu ' (in the older language also ' nursa '), * elephant,' seems
to be connected with ' mursu,' which is easily explained by the analogous use
of walrus-tusks and elephant-tusks."

Professor Olaf Broch also considers my assumption probable, and has sub-
mitted the question of the etymology of the Russian "morsh " to Professor
Bemeker, who may doubtless be regarded as the first authority in questions of
this kind. He replies that a " wild " etymologist might connect the word with
a series of words in Slavic languages which express various movements ; but

^ He calls my attention to two papers by Professor Sophus Bugge [in " Ro-
mania," iii. 1874, p. 157, and iv. 1875, p. 363], in which the etymology of the
French word ** morse " is discussed. Bugge first seeks to explain the word (pre-
cisely as above) as a metathesis for " rosme," from the Danish " rosmer " =
Old Norwegian " rosmall," " rosmhvalr." In the second paper he withdraws
this explanation, and says that V. Thomsen has pointed out to him the identity
of "morse" with the Russian "morsh," Polish "mors," Czeckish " mrz,"
Finnish " mursu," Lappish " mors." The word would " according to V. Thomsen
be rather of Slavic (cf. ' more,' sea ?) than of Finnish origin." After what has
been advanced above, this last conclusion may be somewhat improbable. Professor
Nielsen also refers to Matzenauer, Cizi slova, p. 257, which I have not had an
opportunity of consulting.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

rHAPTFR *^® Russian word, being so definitely localised, must doubtless be derived from

YjT the North-Finnish linguistic region. Whether the Finnish "mursu," Lappish

" morssa," " morsa," can be referred to a metathesis of Old Norse rosmhvalr,

Danish rosmer, etc., Professor Berneker is unable to determine. " Buc with

loan-words all sorts of anomalies take place, and no rules can be laid down."

If we compare these various utterances of such eminent
authorities, it appears to me that there are paramount reasons
for regarding the Russian-Finnish name for walrus as of
Norse origin. But in that case it also becomes probable that
the Norwegians were the pioneers in walrus-hunting along
the cocLsts of the Polar Sea, and that both the Finnish peoples
and the Russians learned from them.

It will doubtless be difficult to find a natural explanation
of the peoples on the northern coasts of Russia having from
the first developed their arctic sea-hunting with large craft,
unless we suppose that they learned it from the Norwegians,
and that it is thus a continuation of the methods of the latter.
It should also be remembered that the Kola peninsula as far
as the White Sea itself was reckoned a tributary country of
Norway (cf. p. 135), and that the name of the Murman coast
means simply the Norwegians' coast. None of the peoples
on the north coast of Russia can have been a seafaring
people very far back, as is shown by their boats and appli-
ances ; and it is difficult to believe that they should have
been able to develop independently a system of navigation
on a coast presenting such unfavourable conditions ; no
doubt they could have done so with small boats, originally
river- boats, ^ but not with larger craft ; this they must most

^ Professor Olaf Broch has described to me the peculiar river-boat that is used
far and wide in North Russia, and that is evidently a very old type of boat. Broch
saw it on the Sukhona, a tributary of the Dvina. The bottom of the boat is a dug-
out tree-trunk of considerable size, which can only be found farther up the
country. By heating the wood the sides are given the desired shape, and to the
dug-out foundation is fastened a board on each side ; Broch did not remember
whether it was sewed or nailed on. The boat is thus a transitional form between
the dug-out canoe and the clinker-built boat. This type of boat may also have
reached the shore of the Polar Sea ; but there cannot have been timber for building
it there.

176

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

probably have learned from their nearest seafaring neighbours, CHAPTER
the Norwegians, who were masters at sea. ^^^

It is remarkable that already as early as in Adam of Bremen
white bears (polar bears) are mentioned as occurring in Norway
(cf. vol. i. pp. 191, f.). That this might be due to the connec-
tion with Iceland and Greenland, even at that time, is perhaps
possible, but not very probable, as these countries are mentioned
separately by Adam. The white bears in Norway may rather
point to a connection with the Polar Sea and to the Norwegians
having practised sealing there.

It is perhaps due to the same connection of the Norwegians with the Polar Sea Mention of
that we find on the Italian Dalorto's map of 1325 (see next chapter) and on several white bears
later maps the statement that there are white bears in northern Norway. Probably in Norway
polar bears' skins were brought to the south from Norway as an article of com-
merce and the Norwegians may have obtained the skins partly by their own
hunting in the Polar Sea, partly by the trade with Greenland, and partly, no doubt,
by that with the peoples on the north coast of Russia. The Arab Ibn Sa'id (thir-
teenth century) mentions white bears in the northern islands, amongst them the
island of white falcons (i.e., Iceland). " These bears' skins are soft, and they are
brought to the Egjrptian lands as gifts." In the " Geographia Universalis " of
the thirteenth century (see next chapter) the white bears in Iceland are described.
It was a common idea in southern Europe in the Middle Ages that Greenland,
and sometimes also Iceland (cf. Fra Mauro's map), lay to the north of Norway,
or they were made continuous with it, and even a part of it.

The Venetian Querini, who was wrecked on Rost Island and travelled south
through Norway in 1432, says that he saw a perfectly white bear's skin at the
foot of the Metropolitan's chair in St. Olaf 's Church at Trondhjem.^ As Greenland
was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Trondhjem, this skin may have
been a gift from pious Greenlanders, as perhaps were also the Eskimo hide-canoes
mentioned by Claudius Clavus (cf. p. 85). In Norse literature polar bears are
always connected with Icelanders or Greenlanders, who sometimes brought them
alive as gifts to kings.

We may thus conclude from what has been advanced
above that the hunting of whales, seals, and particularly
walrus was of great importance to the Norwegians in ancient
times, and for the sake of the last they certainly made extended
expeditions in the Arctic Ocean. It may therefore be difficult
to understand how it came about that this sea-hunting declined

1 Cf. A. Helland, Nordlands Amt, 1908, ii. p. '888.
II M 177

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER to such an extent in more recent times that we hear nothing
^^^ , about the Norwegians' hunting in the Polar Sea, while in the

the*^Nor-° sixteenth century fleets from the northern coasts of Russia
wegians' were engaged in Ashing and walrus-hunting ; and Peder
sea-hunting da^sson Friis is able to say of whaling in Norway (about
1613) :

"In old time many expedients or methods were used in these lands [i.e.,
Norway] for catching whales . . . but on account of men's unskilfulness they
have fallen out of use, so that they now have no means of hunting the whale
unless he drifts ashore to them."

This seems to show that the Norwegians' whaling in open
sea had really gone out of practice, for otherwise this author
must have known of it ; on the other hand, whale-hunting
in the fjords, which were closed by nets, has continued to
our time. Walrus-hunting (as well as sealing) appears to
have been still carried on in Finmark in Peder Clausson Friis's
time.

His description of the animal and its hunting is in part accompanied by stories
similar to those in Olaus Magnus and Albertus Magnus (see p. 163), and he
mentions the great strength of walrus-hide ropes, and their use "for clappers
in hanging bells, item for shore-ropes and other ropes, and for the screws on the
quay at Bergen, with which the dried fish is screwed into barrels, and for such
other uses as no hawser or cable can so well serve for." This shows that these
ropes must have been widely employed and that there must have been considerable
hunting of walrus. According to an order of Christian IV., dated from Bergenhus
Castle, July 6, 1622, fifteen walrus-hides were to be bought yearly for the King's
service,^ and from K. Leem's description it seems that walrus was still hunted in
Finmark in his time (1767). He says too [1767, p. 302] that " even the Sea-Lapps
of the Varanger-Fiord formerly practised whaling, using for that purpose appliances
invented and made by themselves." To this is added in a note by Gunnerus :
*' The same thing may also be said in our time of the Lapps in Schjerv-island and
of a few peasants in Nordland, especially in Ofoten."

But in none of these accounts is there any hint that the
Norwegians carried on their hunting beyond the limits of the
country, as Ottar did in the ninth century.

The decline of this productive hunting may have come
about through the concurrence of many circumstances. Hostile

1 Cf. K. Leem, 1767, p. 216.

178

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

relations with the Karelians and Russians on the east may have CHAPTER

XII

had some influence on it ; as the latter in increasing numbers
took up the same hunting in their smacks, the eastward waters
may have become unsafe for the Norwegians, who, though
superior in seamanship, were inferior in numbers. But a
more important factor was the rapid growth of the fisheries
on the home coasts in Finmark after the fourteenth century,
which may have claimed all available hands, leaving none
over for fishing in more distant waters. Besides which the
influence of the Hanseatic League no doubt contributed ;
then, as later, they learned to prefer the valuable trade in
dried fish to fitting out vessels for the more uncertain and
dangerous hunting in the Polar Sea, which they knew nothing
about. Finally came the royal edict of April 1562, which
enforced Bergen's monopoly in the trade with Finmark,
whereby the dead hand was laid upon this part of the country,
as formerly upon Greenland. In those days a corresponding
displacement of the arctic fisheries must have taken place
from Norway to north Russia, as in the last century again a
displacement took place in the contrary direction, when the
Russian hunting in the Arctic Ocean and Spitzbergen ceased
and the Norwegians again became the only hunters in these
waters.

It was a concatenation of unfortunate accidents that pro- Decline of
duced the gradual decline of the voyages of the Norwegians navigation
and of their unrestricted command of all northern waters
from the White Sea, and probably also Novaya Zemlya and
Spitzbergen, over all the northern islands, Shetland, the
Orkneys (to some extent the Hebrides, Man and Ireland),
the Faroes, Iceland, and as far as Greenland, and probably
also for a time the north-east coast of America. Unfavourable
political conditions had a great deal to do with this, not the
least of them being the long union with Denmark, with the
removal of the seat of government to Copenhagen, which was
extremely unfavourable to the interests of Norwegian commerce.
To this was added the growing power of the Hanseatic League

179

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER in Norway, the effect of which was as demoralising to all
^^^ activity in the country as it was paralysing to our navigation.

But not the least destructive were the royal monopolies of
trade with the so-called tributary countries of the kingdom ;
like all State monopolies, they laid their dead hand upon all
private enterprise. In this way the Norwegian command of
northern waters received its death-blow ; while the mercantile
fleets of other nations, especially the English, came to the fore,
to a large extent by making use of Norwegian seamanship and
enterprise ; thus the English seaport of Bristol seems to have
had many Norwegians among its citizens, who certainly
found there better conditions to work under than at home.

The mass of knowledge the Norwegians had acquired
about the northern regions, before their time entirely unknown,
was to a great extent forgotten again ; and at the close of
the Middle Ages all that remained was the communication
with Iceland and the knowledge of the neighbouring seas,
besides the continuance of the connection between the White
Sea and Norway ; while the voyage to Greenland, to say
nothing of America, was forgotten, at any rate by the mass of
the people.

The development of humanity often proceeds with a strangely
lavish waste of forces. How many needless plans and unsuc-
cessful voyages, how much toil and how many human lives
would not a knowledge of the Norwegians' extensive discoveries
have been able to save in succeeding ages ? How very different,
too, might have been the development of many things, if by the
chances of an unlucky destiny the decline of Norwegian navi-
gation had not come just at a time when maritime enterprise
received such a powerful impetus among more southern nations,
especially the Portuguese, then the Spaniards, later the French,
the English and the Dutch. By their great discoveries it was
these nations who introduced a new era in the history of
navigation, and also in that of polar voyages. But if Norwegian
seamanship had still been at its height at that time, then cer-
tainly the Scandinavians of Greenland would once more have
1 80

VOYAGES IN THE POLAR SEA

sought the already discovered countries on the west and south- chapter
west, and the Greenland settlements might then have formed ^^^
an important base for new undertakings, whereby a new
period of prosperity for Norwegian navigation and Norwegian
enterprise might have been introduced. This was not to be ;
it was only reserved for the Norwegians to be the people who
showed the way to the other nations out from the coasts and
over the great oceans.

i8i

CHAPTER
XIII

CHAPTER XIII

THE NORTH IN MAPS AND GEOGRAPHICAL WORKS
OF THE MIDDLE AGES

T the beginning of the Middle Ages and down to the
fifteenth century the cartography of the Greeks, which
had reached its summit in the work of Ptolemy, was entirely
unknown in Europe ; while the early Greek conceptions (those
of the Ionian school) of the disc of the earth or * * oecumene ' ' as
a circle (called by the Romans " orbis terrarum," the circle of
the earth) round the Mediterranean — and externally surrounded
by the universal ocean — had persisted through the late Latin
authors, and probably also through Roman maps. At the
same time Parmenides' doctrine of zones (cf. vol. i. pp. 12, 123)
remained prevalent owing to its enunciation by Macrobius,
and maps exhibiting this doctrine were common until the
sixteenth century. These two conceptions became the founda-
tion of the learned view and representation of the world, and
consequently also of the North, throughout the greater part of
the Middle Ages. It was the age of speculation, not of observa-
tion. The Scandinavians were the first innovators in geography,
182

maps

MEDIAEVAL CARTOGRAPHY

by going straight to nature as it is, unfettered by dogmas, chapter
The Italian and Catalan sailors followed later with their ^"^
portulans (sailing-books) and compass- charts.

We find what is perhaps the oldest known Christian map Oldest

. . , . , , , . mediseval

of the world (cf . vol. i.

p. 126) in the "Chris-
tian Topography ' ' of
Cosmas Indico-
pleustes.i An attempt
is made to combine
the Roman classical
view of the world, as
lands grouped round
the Mediterranean,
with Cosmas 's pious
conception of it as
formed on the same
rectangular plan as
the Jews* tabernacle.
A map of the world
of somewhat similar
form is found in a
MS. (by Orosius and
Julius Honorius) of
the eighth century,
preserved in the
library at Albi in
Languedoc. But these

attempts must be regarded as accidental. Typical of that time
were the so-called wheel- or T-maps, the shape of which was The wheel-
due especially to Isidore Hispaliensis (cf. vol. i. pp. 151, ff.). "i^p type
The circular Roman maps of the world seem already to have
had a tendency to a tripartition of the world : Europe, Asia
and Africa. Sallust (in the " Bellum Jugurtinum ") indicates
something of the sort, and Orosius's geographical system

* The Florentine MS. of it dates from the ninth century.

183

Map of the world from Albi in Languedoc,
also called the Merovingian map (eighth
century). The east is at the top, the
Mediterranean in the middle, and the
universal ocean outside, with its three bays :
the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the
Red Sea

XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER seems to be founded upon a map of this kind. In St. Augustine
we first find the division of the T-map clearly expressed. This
dogmatic-schematic form was fixed by Isidore, according to
whom the round disc of the earth surrounded by the outer
ocean was to be compared to a wheel (or an 0), divided into
three by a T.^ Mechanical map-forms after this prescription

Beatus map, from Osma, 1203. The east is at the top

(cf . vol. i. pp. 125, 150) were common during the whole of the first
part of the Middle Ages until the fourteenth century ; indeed
they circulated and exercised influence far into the sixteenth ;
but sometimes, in accordance with the four corners of the earth
in the Bible, the maps were given a square form instead of a

^ For this reason they were also called OT-maps, which corresponded to the
initial letters of " orbis terrarum."
184

MEDIEVAL CARTOGRAPHY

round. In spite of the fact that most authors, among them CHAPTER
Isidore himself, expressly declare that the earth had the form ^^^^
of a globe, this does not seem to have been anything more than
a purely theoretical doctrine, for in cartographical representa-
tions, through the whole of the Middle Ages to about the close
of the fifteenth century, there is never any hint of projection,
or of any difficulty in transferring the spherical surface of the
earth to a plane, which had been so clearly present to the minds
of the Greeks.

The wheel-maps were, as we have said, from the first
purely formal ; r,p.«nt,.o

but by degrees
an attempt was
made to bring
into the scheme
real geographi-
cal informa-
tion, although
the endeavour
to approach
reality in the
representation
is scarcely to
be traced. To

this type of map belongs the so-called Beatus map, which The Beatus
the Spanish monk Beatus (ob. 798) added to his commentary '"^P
on the Apocalypse, and which was reproduced in very vary-
ing forms, ten of which have been preserved. The original
map, which is not known, was probably round, but in the
reproductions the circle of the earth is sometimes more or
less round (as in the illustration, p. 184), sometimes oblong
(cf. vol. i. p. 199), and sometimes four-sided with rounded
corners [cf. K. Miller, ii., 1895]. Jerusalem was frequently
placed in the centre of the wheel-maps, Paradise (often with
Adam and Eve at the time of the Fall, or with the four rivers
of Paradise) in the extreme east of Asia, which is at the top of

185

Northern Europe on Heinrich of Mainz's map,
at Cambridge (mo)

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER the map, and the Mediterranean (Mare magnum), which forms
^" the stem of the T, pointing down (cf. vol. i. p. 150). The cross-

stroke of the T was formed by the rivers Tanais (with the Black
Sea) and Nile. In the band of ocean surrounding the disc of the
earth the oceanic islands were distributed more or less according
to taste, and as there happened to be room. Thus in the version
of the Beatus map here given, from Osma in Spain (of 1203),

Northern Europe on the Hereford map (circa 1280)

Sallust-
maps

Scandinavia appears as an island ( ' ' Scada insula ' ') by the North
Pole, as in the Ravenna geographer (cf. the map, vol. i. p. 152),
and the " Orcades " (the Orkneys) and " Gorgades " (the
fabulous islands of the Greeks to the west of Africa) are
placed on the north-east of Asia. The so-called Sallust-maps,
drawn up from Sallust's description of the world in the Bellum
Jugurtinum [cf. K. Miller, iii., 1895, pp. no, ff.], were another
type of very formal wheel-maps that were still current in the
fourteenth century.
186

MEDIEVAL CARTOGRAPHY

But by degrees many changes were introduced into the
strict scheme. The outer coast-line of the continents was in
parts indented by bays and prolonged into peninsulas, and the
islands were given a less formal shape. Such attempts appear,
for instance, in Heinrich of Mainz's map, which is taken to
have been drawn in mo [cf. K. Miller, iii., 1895, p. 22], and
the closely related *' Hereford map " of about 1280 by Richard
de Holdingham [cf. K. Miller, iv., 1896 ; Jomard, 1855]. Some
resemblance to these maps is shown by the ** Psalter " map
in London, of the
second half of
the thirteenth
century, and the
closely related
** Ebstorf " map
of 1284 [cf.1 K.
Miller, iii. pp.
37, ff. ; iv. p. 3 ;
v.] ; and it is
quite possible
that they may all
be derived from
the same original source ; there is in particular a great
resemblance in their representation of Britain and Ireland.
On the first three of these maps Scandinavia or Norway
("Noreya" or "Norwegia") forms a peninsula with gulfs
on the north and south sides. On Heinrich's map there is
beyond this an island or peninsula, called " Ganzmir," a name
which occurs again on the Hereford map (cf. vol. i. p. 157) ;
Miller explains it as a corruption of Canzia, Scanzia (Scandi-
navia). On the " Lambert '* map in the Ghent codex of
before 1125 [cf. K. Miller, iii., 1895, p. 45], " Scanzia," also
with the name " Norwegia," is represented as a peninsula with
narrow gulfs running up into the continent on each side.
** Island " (or " Ysland ") appears on Heinrich's and the
Hereford maps as an island near Norway. On the Ebstorf map

187

CHAPTER
XIII

The North
on known
wheel-maps
of the
Middle Ages

Northern part of the Psalter map (thirteenth century)

CHAPTER
XIII

Higden's
work and
the Geo-
graphia
Universalis

IN NORTHERN MISTS

" Scandinavia insula '* and " Norwegia " are also shown as
islands. Many fabulous countries, such as " Iperboria " (the
land of the Hyperboreans), " Arumphei " (on the Psalter map,
i.e., the land of the Aremphaeans, cf. vol. i. p. 88), etc.,
appear as peninsulas or islands in the northern regions on
several of these maps ; on the other hand, neither Green-
land nor Wineland occurs on any of them.

Ranulph Higden's map of the world, which accompanied
his already mentioned work, " Polychronicon " (of the first
part of the fourteenth century), is more fettered by the scheme

Northern Europe on the Lambert map at Ghent (before 1 125)

of the wheel-maps in the form of the outer coast-line and
of the islands. He took his vows in 1299, was a monk of
St. Werburg's Abbey at Chester, and died at a great age in 1363.
Various reproductions of his map are known, but they display
little sense of realistic representation. " Scandinavia " is
placed in Asia on the Black Sea, together with the Amazons
and Massagetae, and to the north of it ** Gothia " (Sweden ?).
Islands in the ocean off the coast of northern Europe are called
" Norwegia," " Islandia," " Witland " (or " Wineland," etc.),
with " gens ydolatra," " Tile " (Thule) and '* Dacia " (Den-
mark) with " gens bellicosa " somewhere near the North Pole.
In spite of this representation on the map, the Polychronicon
(cf. above, p. 31) contains various statements about the
North, which may point to a certain communication with it, or
may be echoes of Northern writers. Higden to a large extent
copied an earlier work, the " Geographia Universalis," a sort
188

MEDIEVAL CARTOGRAPHY

of geographical lexicon by an unknown author of the thirteenth CHAPTER
century/ which is for the most part based on earlier writers, ^"^
especially Isidore. Both works are practically untouched by
the knowledge of the North that had already appeared in King

0%,

Ranulph Higden's map of the world, in London (fourteenth century)

^ The work is preserved in the British Museum in a MS. of the fourteenth
century, which unfortunately has not been published. The geographical descrip-
tions in the Eulogium Historiarum of about 1360 (vol. ii. Rerum Britann. Medii
JE'vi Script., London, i860, cf. the introduction by F. S. Haydon) may be taken
from this work. It is evidently a MS. of the same ** Geographia " that W. Wacker-
nagel found in the library at Berne, and of which he published extracts relating
to the North [1844]. I* is probably the same " Geographia Universalis," again,
that is published in Bartholomaeus Anglicus : De proprietatibus rerum, and in
Rudimenta Novitiorum, Liibeck, circa 1475.

189

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Alfred and in Adam of Bremen, and show how much ignorance
Xin could still prevail in learned quarters on many points connected

with these regions. The " Geographia " speaks of '* Gothia,"
or lower Scythia, as a province of Europe, but obviously
confuses Sweden (the land of theGotar) and Eastern Germania
(the land of the Goths). Norway (" Norwegia ") was very
large, far in the north, almost surrounded by the ocean ; it
bordered on the land of the Goths (Gotar), and was separated
from Gothia (Sweden) on the south and east by the river Albia
(the Gota river). The inhabitants live by fishing and hunting
more than by bread ; crops are few on account of the severity
of the cold. There are many wild beasts, such as white
bears, etc. There are springs that turn hides, wood, etc., into
stone ; there is midnight sun and corresponding winter dark-
ness. Corn, wine and oil are wanting, unless imported. The
inhabitants are tall, powerful and handsome, and are great
pirates. " Dacia " ^ was divided into many islands and
provinces bordering on Germania. Its inhabitants were de-
scended from the Goths (Gotar ? cf. Jordanes, vol. i. p. 135),
were numerous and finely grown, wild and warlike, etc.
" Svecia " (the land of the Svear) is also mentioned. That
part of it which lay between the kingdoms of the Danes and of
the Norwegians was called Gothia. Svecia had the Baltic Sea
on the east and the British Ocean on the west, the mountains
and people of Norway on the north, and the Danes on the
south. They had rich pastures, metals and silver mines. The
people were very strong and warlike, they once ruled over the
greater part of Asia and Europe.

** * Winlandia ' is a country along the mountains of Norway on the east,
extending on the shore of the ocean ; it is not very fertile except in grass and
forest ; the people are barbarously savage and ugly, and practise magical arts,
therefore they offer for sale and sell wind to those who sail along their coasts, or
who are bebalmed among them. They make balls of thread and tie various knots

^ The name of "Dacia" for Denmark, which frequently occurs on maps
of the Middle Ages, arose through a confusion of the name of the Roman province
on the Danube with " Dania."
190

MEDIEVAL CARTOGRAPHY

on them, and tell them to untie three or more knots of the ball, according to the CHAPTER
strength of wind that is desired. By making magic with these [the knots] through XIII
their heathen practices, they set the demons in motion, and raise a greater or
less wind, according as they loosen more or fewer knots in the thread, and some-
times they bring about such a wind that the unfortunate ones who place reliance
on such things perish by a righteous judgment."

It is possible that the name '' Winlandia " itself is a
confusion of Finland (i.e., the land of the Finns [Lapps],
Finmark) with Vinland (cf. above, p. 31) ; although the
description of the country must refer to the former. It may be
supposed that a misunderstanding of the name was the origin
of the myth of selling wind being connected with it. The idea
persisted, and the same myth is given so late as by Knud Leem
[1767, p. 3] from an anonymous book of travels in northern
Norway.

Of Iceland the " Geographia '* says :

** ' Yselandia ' is the uttermost part of Europe beyond Norway on the north.
... Its more distant parts are continually under ice by the shore of the ocean
on the north, where the sea freezes to ice in the terrible cold. On the east it has
Upper Scythia, on the south Norway, on the west the Hibernian Ocean. . . .
It is called Yselandia as the land of ice, because it is said that there the mountains
freeze together to the hardness of ice. Crystals are found there. In that region
are also found many great and wild white bears, that break the ice in pieces with
their claws and make large holes, through which they plunge down into the
water and take fish under the ice. They draw them up through the said holes,
and carry them to the shore, and live on them. The land is unfertile in crops
except in a few places. . . . Therefore the people live for the most part on fish
and hunting and meat. Sheep cannot live there on account of the cold, and
therefore the inhabitants protect themselves against the cold and cover their
bodies with the skins of the wild beasts they take in hunting. . . . The people
are very stout, powerful, and very white (' alba ')."

In Higden's Polychronicon Gothia is also spoken of as
lower Scythia, but among the provinces of Asia, although it is
said that it lies in Europe ; it has on the north Dacia and the
Northern Ocean. But the geographical confusion in this work
is greater ; as already mentioned (p. 31), the countries of the
Scandinavians are described together with the Insulae For-
tunatae, Wyntlandia, etc., as islands in the outer ocean. The
disagreement between Higden's text and his map gives us an

191

CHAPTER
XIII

The Cot-

toniana

map

IN NORTHERN MISTS

insight into how little weight was attached at that time to the
relation between maps and reality ; they are for the most part
merely graphic schemes. Probably Higden's map was partly
copied from an older one, and the desirability of bringing it into
better agreement with his text did not occur to him.

The so-called ** Anglo-Saxon mappamundi " or " Cotto-
niana " (reproduced vol. i. pp. i8o, 183), which is in the
British Museum, occupies a position of its own among early
mediaeval maps. Its age is uncertain ; it may at the earliest
date from the close of the tenth century, but possibly it is as
late as the twelfth [cf. K. Miller, iii., 1895, p. 31]. It exhibits
no agreement with the text of Priscian (Latin translation of
Dionysius Periegetes, see vol. i. p. 114), to which it is appended.
Many of the names might rather be derived from Orosius, there
is also great resemblance to Mela (cf. vol. i. pp. 85, ff.),
and in some ways to the mediaeval maps already mentioned,
although the representation of the North is different. Probably
an older, perhaps Roman (?) map formed the basis of it.
Name-forms like Island, Norweci ^ (Norwegia), Sleswic, Sclavi,
may remind us of Adam of Bremen, but they may also be
older. This map is doubtless less formal than the pronounced
wheel-map type, but it does not bear a much greater resemblance
to reality, although the form of Britain, for instance, may show
an effort in that direction. The peninsula which has been
given the name of Norweci (Norway) has most resemblance to
Jutland, and the name seems to have been misplaced. No doubt
it ought rather to have been attached to the long island lying
to the north, which has been given the names Scridefinnas and
Island. The representation has great resemblance to Edrisi's
map (cf. p. 203), where Denmark forms a similar peninsula,
and Norway a similar long island, with two smaller islands to
the east of Denmark, which is also alike. The '' Orcades
Insule " are given a wide extension on the Cottoniana map,
and Tyle (Thule) lies to the north-west of Britain, as it should

^ " Nero," which appears before this word on the map (see vol. i. p. 183 J, is
crossed out, and was evidently an error,
192

MEDIEVAL CARTOGRAPHY

do according to Orosius. This map does not therefore indicate, chapter
any more than the others, any particular increase of knowledge ^^^^
of the North, and compared with King Alfred's work it is still
far behind in the dark ages.

The zone-maps, already alluded to, which are derived from Macrobius's
Macrobius (cf. vol. i. p. 123), gave a formal representation of zone-^naps
the earth of a peculiar kind, which was common throughout
the whole of the Middle Ages ; they may be regarded as mathe-
matical geography more than anything else. The earth is
divided in purely formal fashion into five zones, two of which
are habitable : our temperate zone and the unknown temperate
zone of the antipodes (in the southern hemisphere) ; and three
uninhabitable : the torrid zone with the equatorial ocean, and
the two frigid zones, north and south. These conceptions also
reached the North at an early time, and are mentioned in the
** King's Mirror," amongst other works, although its author
thought that the inhabited part of Greenland really lay in the
frigid zone. A zone-map from Iceland is also known of the
thirteenth century. Another of the fourteenth century and a
kind of wheel-map of the twelfth century, but with geographical
names only without coast-lines, are also found in Icelandic
MSS., besides a small wheel- and T-map.^ Otherwise it is not
known that maps were drawn in the North during the Middle
Ages. A purely formal wheel- and T-map is known from Lund
before 1159 [see Bjornbo, 1909, p. 189]. Another Danish wheel-
map of the sixteenth century is known [see Bjornbo, 1909,
p. 192], and Bjornbo reproduces [1909, pp. 193, ff.] two wheel-
maps of i486 from Liibeck, belonging to Professor Wieser,
where the lands and islands of the North are drawn as round
discs (with names) in the outer universal ocean.

^ Cf. Rafn, Antiquites Russes, ii. pp. 390, ff., PI. IV. ; K. Miller, iii., 1895,
p. 125.

II N 193

IN NORTHERN MISTS

many con
nections

CHAPTER THE ARAB GEOGRAPHERS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

xni

If we turn now from the intellectual darkness of Christian

Western Europe in the early Middle Ages to contemporary-
Arabic literature, it is as though we entered a new world ;
not least is this shown in geographical science, where the
authors follow quite different methods. Through their contact
The Arabs' with the intellectual world of Greece in the Orient, the Arabs
kept alive the Greek tradition ; they had translations in their
own language of Euclid, Archimedes, Aristotle, the now lost
work of Marinus of Tyre, and others, and of special importance
to their geographical knowledge was their acquaintance with
Ptolemy's astronomy and geography, which had been forgotten
in Europe, and which first became known there through the
Arabs (cf. vol. i. p. 1 16). They were also acquainted with Greek
cartography. To this education in Greek views and interests
was added the fact that they had better opportunities than any
other nation of collecting geographical knowledge ; through
their extensive conquests and through their trade they reached
China on the east — where for a considerable time their
merchants had fixed colonies, first in Canton (in the eighth
century), and later, in the ninth century, even in Khanfu (near
Shanghai) 1 — and the western coasts of Europe and Africa on
the west, the Sudan and Somaliland (and even Madagascar) on
the south, and North Russia on the north. In spite of the
religious fanaticism which in the seventh century made them
an irresistible nation of conquerors, they had civilisation
enough to remember that ** the ink of science is worth more
than the blood of martyrs," and there flourished among them
a remarkably copious literature, with an endless variety of
works, from the ninth century through the whole of the Middle
Ages.

Although the Arabs never attained the Greeks' capacity
for scientific thinking, their literature nevertheless reveals an

The Arabs'
sense for
geography

* Cf. M. de Goeje in the *' Livre des Merveilles de I'lnde," ed. by v. d. Lith
and Devic, Leiden, iBS^^Sd, p. 295.
194

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

intellectual refinement which, with the dark Middle Ages chapter
of Europe as a background, has an almost dazzling ^^^^
effect. The Arab geographers have a special gift for collecting
concrete information about countries and conditions, about
peoples' habits and customs, and in this they may serve as
models ; on the other hand sober criticism is not their strong
side, and they had a pronounced taste for the marvellous ; if
classical writers, and still more the learned men of the
European Middle Ages, had blended together trustworthy
information and fabulous myth more or less uncritically, the
Arabs did so to an even greater degree, and we often find in
them a truly oriental splendour in the mythical ; thus it must
not surprise us to hear of whales two hundred fathoms long
and snakes that swallow elephants in the same author (Ibn
Khordadbah) who says that the earth is round like a sphere,
and that all bodies are stable on its surface because the air
attracts their lighter parts [thus we have the buoyancy of the
air], while the earth attracts towards its centre their heavy
parts in the same way as the magnet influences iron [a perfectly
clear description of gravitation].

Chiefly on account of the language the new fund of geo-
graphical knowledge, which, together with much that is
mythical, is contained in the rich literature of the Arabs, did
not attain any great importance in mediaeval Europe ; on the
other hand the Arabs exercised more influence through the
geographical myths and tales which they brought orally from
the East to Europe, and, as we have seen, the world of Irish
myth, amongst others, was influenced thereby.

The ideas of the Arabs about the North are, in most cases. The Arabs'
very hazy. Putting aside the partly mythical conceptions ^thThe°"
that they had derived from the Greeks (especially Ptolemy), North
they obtained their information about it chiefly in two ways :
(i) by their commercial intercourse in the east with Russia —
chiefly over the Caspian Sea with the towns of Itil and Bulgar i

^ Bulgar was the capital of the country of the Mohammedan Bulgarians.
These were a Finnish people. From Bulgar or Bolgar comes the name Volga.

CHAPTER
XIII

Ibn Khor-
dadbah,
A.D. 885

IN NORTHERN MISTS

on the Volga — they received information about the districts in
the north of Russia, and also about the Scandinavians, com-
monly called Rus, sometimes also Warank. (2) Through their
possessions in the western Mediterranean, especially in
Spain, they came in contact with the northern peoples of
Western Europe, the Scandinavian Vikings (** Magus ") in
particular, and in that way acquired information.

" Magus " ^ means in the west the same northern people,
the Scandinavians, whom in the east the Arabs called Rus or
Warangs, which word they may have got from the Greek
** Varangoi " {Bdpayyoi) and the Russian ** Varyag."

All that the Arab authors of the oldest period have
about the North, and that is not taken from the Greeks, they
got through their commercial connections with Russia ; but it
is not until the ninth century and later that anything worth
mentioning appears, and even in the tenth and eleventh
centuries their ideas on the subject are very much tinged with
myth. Professor Alexander Seippel in his work ** Rerum
Normannicarum fontes Arabici " [1896], printed in Arabic, has
collected the most important statements about the North in
mediaeval Arabic literature, and has been good enough to
translate parts of these, which I give in the following pages. I
have also made some additions from other sources. In an
earlier chapter (pp. 143, ff.) several Arabic authors have already
been quoted on the connection with Northern Russia.

The imperfection of Arabic script and its common omission
of vowels easily give rise to all kinds of corruptions and mis-
understandings ; this is especially fatal to the reproduction of
foreign words and geographical names, which explains the
great uncertainty that prevails in their interpretation.

In the oldest Arab writers, of the ninth century and later,
there is little or no knowledge of the North. We are only told
in some of their works that furs come from there, and that the
ocean in the north is entirely unknown. Abu'l-Qasim Ibn
Khordadbah (ob. 912), a Persian by descent and the Caliph's

1 For the origin of the ticune, see p. 55, note.
196

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

postmaster in Media, thus relates in his '* book of routes and CHAPTER
provinces " (completed about 885) : ^ "^^^^

" As concerns the sea that is behind [i.e., to the north of] the Slavs, and
whereon the town of TuUa [i.e., Thule] lies, no ship travels upon it, nor any boat,
nor does anything come from thence. In like manner none travels upon the sea
wherein lie the Fortunate Isles, and from thence nothing comes, and it is also in
the west." "The Russians,^ who belong to the race of the Slavs [i.e., Slavs and
Germans], travel from the farthest regions of the land of the Slavs to the shore
of the Mediterranean (Sea of Rum), and there sell skins of beaver and fox, as
well as swords " (?).

The Russian merchants also descended the Volga to the
Caspian Sea, and their goods were sometimes carried on camels
to Bagdad.^

There was no great change in knowledge of the North in ibn ai-

the succeeding centuries. Ibn al-Faqih, about 900 A.D., has ^^''^J'j-v

nothing to say about the North. He mentions in the seventh

climate women who ** cut off one of their breasts and burn it

at an early age so that it may not grow big, ' ' ^ and he says that

Tulia (Thule) is an island in the seventh sea between Rumia

(Rome) and Kharizm (Khwarizm in Turkestan), ** and there

no ship ever puts in." Ibn al-Bahlul, about 910 A.D., gives ibn al-

information after Ptolemy about the latitudes of the northern ^^^^"^'

^ 910 A.D.

regions and mentions two islands of Amazons, one with men

1 Cf. Ibn Khordadhbeh, 1889, pp. xx., 67, 88, 115 ; 1865, pp. 214, 235, 264.

- " Rus " was the name of the Scandinavians (mostly Swedes) in Russia
who founded the Russian empire ("Gardarike" or "SviJ'joS hit mikla ").

3 Among the four wonders of the world Ibn Khordadbah mentions "a
bronze horseman in Spain [cf. the Pillars of Hercules], who with outstretched
arm seems to say : Behind me there is no longer any beaten track, he who
ventures farther is swallowed up by ants." So De Goeje translates it. It might
seem to be connected with the swarms of ants that came down to the shore and
wanted to eat the men and their boat on the first larger island out in the ocean
that Maelduin arrived at in the Irish legend (cf. vol. i. p. 336) ; but Professor
Seippel thinks it possible that the original reading was " is swallowed up in
sand " (and not by ants).

^ This comes very near to Hippocrates' words about the Amazons, that the
mothers burn away the right breast of their girl children, ' * thereby the breast
ceases to grow and all the strength and fullness goes over to the right shoulder
and arm " (cf. also vol. i. p. 87).

197

CHAPTER

XIII

Qodama

Ibn Ruste,
912 A.D.

Al-Mas*udi,
before 950
A.D.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

and one with women, in the extreme northern ocean [Seippel,
1896]. Qodama Ibn Gafar (ob. 948 or 949 A.D.) says of the
encircling ocean (the Oceanus of the Greeks) in which the
British Isles lie that

" it is impossible to penetrate very far into this ocean, the ships cannot get
any farther there ; no one knows the real state of this ocean." [Cf. De Goeje
in Ibn Khordadhbeh, 1889, p. 174.]

Abu 'All Ahmad Ibn Ruste, about 912 A.D., says of the
Russians (" Rus," that is, Scandinavians, usually Swedes)
that they live on an island, which is surrounded by a sea, is
three days* journey (about seventy-five miles) long, and is
covered with forest and bogs ; it is unhealthy and saturated
to such a degree that the soil quakes where one sets foot on it.
They come in ships to the land of the Slavs and attack them, etc.
They have neither fixed property, nor towns, nor agriculture ;
their only means of support is the trade in sable, squirrel and
other skins, which they sell to any one who will buy them.
They are tall, of handsome appearance, and courageous, etc.^
Probably there is here a confusion of various statements ; the
ideas about the unhealthy bog-lands are doubtless connected
with northern Russia, and the trade in sables can scarcely be
referred to the Swedes on the Baltic.^

The well-known historian, traveller and geographer, Abu'l
Hasan 'AH al-Masudi (ob. 956), in his book (allegorically
entitled *' Gold- washings and Diamond-mines ") repeats certain
Arab astronomers who say

' ' that at the end of the inhabited world in the north there is a great sea, of
which part lies under the north pole, and that in the vicinity of it there is a town
[or land] which is called Tulia, beyond which no inhabited country is found."
He mentions two rivers in Siberia : " the black and the white Irtish ; both are
considerable, and they surpass in length the Tigris and Euphrates ; the distance
between their two mouths is about ten days. On their banks the Turkish tribes
Kaimak and Ghuzz have their camps winter and summer."

He also states that the black fox's skin, which is the most
valuable of all, comes from the country of the Burtasians

^ Cf. V. Thomsen, 1882, p. 34.
^ As to the trade in furs, etc., see above, pp. 144, f.
198

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

(a Finnish people in Russia, Mordvins ?), and is only found chapter
there and in the neighbouring districts. Skins of red and white ^"^
foxes are mentioned from the same locality, and he gives an
account of the extensive trade in furs, whereby these skins are
brought to the land of the Franks and Andalusia [i.e., Spain],
and also to North Africa, ' ' so that many think they come from
Andalusia and the parts of the land of the Franks and of the
Slavs that border upon it." ^ He also has a statement to the
effect that before the year 300 of the Hegira [i.e., 912 A.D.]
ships with thousands of men had landed in Spain and ravaged
the country. | " .^^^ . ^^^i^,J •

" The inhabitants asserted that these enemies were heathens, who made an
inroad every two hundred years, and penetrated into the Mediterranean by another
strait than that whereon the copper lighthouse stands [i.e., the Straits of Gibraltar].
But I believe (though Allah alone knows the truth) that they come by a strait
[canal] which is connected with Maeotis [the Sea of Azov] and Pontus [the Black
Sea], and that they are Russians [i.e., Scandinavians] . . . for these are the
only people who sail on these seas which are connected with the ocean." ^

This is evidently the ancient belief that the Black Sea was
connected through Maeotis with the Baltic.

The celebrated astronomer and mathematician, Abu-r- Ai-Birani,
Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni (973-1038, wrote in 1030),^ a '°3o a.d.
Persian by birth, is of interest to us as the first Arabic author
who uses the name * * Warank " * for Scandinavian, and
mentions the Varangians' Sea or Baltic.

1 Seippel, 1896 ; cf. Macoudi, 1861, p. 275 ; 1896, pp. 92, f. ; i86i, p. 213.

2 Macoudi, i86i, pp. 364, f.

3 Seippel, 1896, pp. 42, 43.

* In the Russian chronicles the word is *' Varyag " (plur. " Varyazi "J, and
the Baltic is called ** Varyaz'skoye More " (the Varaegian Sea J. It is the same
word as Varaeger, Varanger, or Vaeringer (in Greek VarangoiJ for the originally
Scandinavian life-guards in Constantinople. The Greek princess Anna Comnena
(circa iioo), celebrated for her learning, speaks of the " Varangians from Thule "•
as the " axe-bearing barbarians." In a Greek work of the eleventh century, by
an unknown author, it is said of Harold Hardrade that " he was the son of the
king of ' Varangia ' (BapayytaJ." The word is evidently from a Scandinavian
root ; but its etymology can hardly be regarded as certain. It was probably
used originally by the Russians in Gardarike of their kindred Scandinavians,
especially the Swedes on the Baltic [cf. Vilhelm Thomsen, 1882, pp. 93, if.].

199

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER ^^ ^^^ text-book of the elements of astronomy he says that from " the Encir-

XIII cling Ocean " [the Oceanus of the Greeks], out into which one never sails, but

only along the coast, "there proceeds a great bay to the north of the Slavs,
extending to the vicinity of the land of the Mohammedan Bulgarians [on the
Volga]. It is known by the name of the Varangians' Sea (' Bahr Warank 'J,
and they [the Varangians] are a people ^ on its coast. Then it bends to the east
in rear of them, and between its shore and the uttermost lands of the Turks [i.e.,
in East Asia] there are countries and mountains unknown, desert, untrodden."

Al-Biruni also has a very primitive map of the world as a
round disc in the ocean, indented by five bays, of which the
Varangians' Sea is one [cf. Seippel, 1896, PI. I]. The peoples
who are beyond the seventh climate, that is, in the northern-
most regions, are few, says he, ''such as the Isu [i.e., Wisu],
and the Warank, and the Yura [Yugrians] and the like."
Ai-Gazai's ^^® Arabs of the West came in contact with the North

voyage to through the Norman Vikings, whom they called Magus (cf.
the Magfls p ^^^^ ^^^ ^j^^ ^^ ^^^ ninth century and later made several

predatory expeditions to the Spanish Peninsula. Their first
attack on the Moorish kingdom in Spain seems to have taken
place in 844, when, amongst other things, they took and
sacked Seville. After that expedition, an Arab writer tells us,
friendly relations were established between the sultan of
Spain, 'Abd ar-Rahman II., and "the king of the Magus," and,
according to an account in Abu'l-Khattab 'Omar Ibn Dihya^
(ob. circa 1235), the former is even said to have sent an

^ The Persian version and as-Shirazi add " tall, warlike."

2 The Christian Jew Assaf Hebraeus's cosmography, of the eleventh century,
was probably written in Arabic, but is only known in a Latin and a Hebrew
translation [cf. Ad. Neubauer, in ** Orient und Occident," ed. Th. Benfey, ii.,
Gottingen, 1864, pp. 657, ff.]. He mentions beyond " Scochia " [Scotland] the
land of " Norbe " [Norway] with an archbishopric and ten bishoprics. In these
northern lands, and particularly in Ireland, there are no snakes. Many other
countries and islands are beyond Britain and the land of " Norve " [Norway],
but the island of * ' Tille ' ' [Thule] is the most distant, far away in the northern
seas, and has the longest day, etc. There is the stiffened, viscous sea. Next the
Hebrides (" Budis ") are mentioned, where the inhabitants have no com, but
live on fish and milk (cf. vol. i. p. 160}, and the Orcades, where there dwell
naked people (" gens nuda," instead of " vacant homines," see vol. i. p. 161).

3 Cf. R. Dozy, 1881, pp. 267, ff.
200

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

ambassador, al-Gazal, to the latter's country. Ibn Dihya says CHAPTER
that he took the account from an author named Tammam ^^^^
Ibn 'Alqama (ob. 896), who again is said to have had it from
al-Gazal's own mouth. It is obviously untrustworthy, but
may possibly have a historical kernel. The king of the Magfis
had first sent an ambassador to 'Abd ar-Rahman to sue for
peace (?) ; and al-Gazal accompanied him home again, in a
well-appointed ship of his own, to bring the answer and a
present. They arrived first at an island on the borders of the
land of the Magus people.^ From thence they went to the
king, who lived on a great island in the ocean, where there were
streams of water and gardens. It was three days' journey or
300 [Arab] miles- from the continent.

" There was an innumerable multitude of the Magus, and in the vicinity were
many other islands, great and small, all inhabited by Magus, and the part of
the continent that lies near them also belongs to them, for a distance of many
days' journey. They were then heathens (Magus) ; now they are Christians,
for they have abandoned their old religion of fire-worship, ^ only the inhabitants
of certain islands have retained it. There the people still marry their mothers
or sisters, and other abominations are also committed there [cf. Strabo on the
Irish, vol. i. p. 81]. With these the others are in a state of war, and they carry
them away into slavery."

This mention of many islands with the same people as those
established on the continent may suit the island kingdom of
Denmark ; but Ireland, with the Isle of Man, the Scottish
islands, etc., lies nearer, and moreover agrees better with the
300 miles from the continent.

We are next told of their reception at the court of the king
and of their stay there, and especially how the handsome and
wily Moorish ambassador paid court in prose and verse to

^ This island may have been Noirmoutier, in the country of the Normans of
the Loire (according to A. Bugge).

2 It is the name " Magus," from the Greek Mayoc (Magian, fire-worshipper,
cf. p. 55), that led the author into this error. Magus was used collectively of
heathens in general, but especially of the Norse Vikings [cf. Dozy, 1881, ii.
p. 271}.

201

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER the queen,! who was very compliant. When Ibn 'Alqama

XIII •

asked al-Gazal whether she was really so beautiful as he had

given her to understand, that prudent diplomatist answered :

" Certainly, she was not so bad ; but to tell the truth, I had

use for her. ..." When he was afraid his daily visits might

attract attention, she laughed and said :

" Jealousy is not among our customs. With us the women do not stay with
their husbands longer than they like ; and when their consorts cease to please
them, they leave them." With this may be compared the statement for which
Qazwini gives at-Tartfishi (tenth century) as authority, that in Sleswick the
women separate from their husbands when they please [cf. G. Jacob, 1876, p. 34].

After an absence of twenty months, al-Gazal returned to
the capital of the sultan 'Abd ar-Rahman. In the excellence
of its realistic description and the introduction of direct
speeches this tale bears a remarkable resemblance to the
peculiar method of narration of the Icelandic sagas.
Al-idrisi, The best known of the western Arab geographers is Abu

1 154 A.D. 'Abdallah Muhammad al-Idrisi (commonly called Edrisi), who
gives beyond comparison the most information about the
North. He is said to have been born in Sebta (Ceuta) about
1099 A.D., to have studied in Cordova, and to have made
extensive voyages in Spain, to the shores of France, and even
of England, to Morocco and Asia Minor. It is certain that
in the latter part of his life he resided for a considerable time
at the court of the Norman king of Sicily, Roger II., which
during the Crusades was a meeting-place of Normans, Greeks
and Franks. According to Edrisi 's account, Roger collected
through interpreters geographical information from all
travellers, caused a map to be drawn on which every place was
marked, and had a silver planisphere made, weighing 450
Roman pounds, upon which were engraved the seven climates
of the earth, with their countries, rivers, bays, etc.^ Edrisi

! Her name may be read ** Bud '* (Bodhild ?], or — according to Seippel's
showing — with a trifling correction, " Aud "

2 Probably this was made from Edrisi 's design and corresponded to the map
of the world in his work. Khalil as-Safadi (born circa 1296) also relates that
202

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS
wrote for him his description of the earth in Arabic, which was CHAPTER

XIII

completed in 1 154, and was accompanied by seventy maps and a
map of the world. Following the Greek model, the inhabited

;Edrisi's representation of Northern Europe, put J 'together, and much

reduced, from eight of his maps. (Chiefly after Seippel's reproduction

[1896] and after Lelewel [1851].) Some of the Arabic names are numbered

on the map and given below according to Seippel's reading

(I) "Khalia" (empty); (2) the first part of the 7th climate; (3]
" gazlrat Birlanda " (the island of Birlanda, by a common error for Ireland) ;
(4) "kharab" (desert); (5) the island of "Dans" or "Vans" (Seippel
reads Wales); (6) " gazirat Angiltara " (the island of England); (7)
" gazirat Sqdsia " (the island, or peninsula, of Scotland) ; (8) " al-bahr al-
muslim ash-shamali " (the dark northern ocean) ; (9) " gazirat Islanda "
(the island of Iceland); (10) "gazirat Danamarkha " (the island, or
peninsula, of Denmark) ; (11 " Hrsns " (Horsens) ; (12) " Alsia " (Als ?) ;
(13) "Sliaswiq " ; (14) " Lundunia "(Lund); (15) " sahil ar4 Poldnia "
(the coast of Poland) ; (16) " Derlanem " (Bornholm ?) ; (17) " Land-
su(d)den " (in Finland) ; (18) " Zwada " (Sweden) ; (19) " nahr Qutalw "
(the Gota river); (20) "gazirat Norwaga " (the island of Norway);
(21) may be read " Trdna " (Trondheim) ; (22) "'Osl6" (Oslo); (23) " Siq-
tun " ; (24) "bilad Finmark " (the district of Finmark) ; (25) " Qalmar ";
(26) " Abuda " (Abo ?) ; (27) " mabda' nahr D(a)n(a)st " (the beginning
of the river Dniestr ?) ; (28) " ard Tabast " (the land of Tavast) ;
(29) " Dagwada " (Dago ?) ; (30) " gazirat Amazanus er-rigal al-magus "
(the island of the male heathen Amazons); (31) "gazirat Amazanus
an-nisa " (the island of the female Amazons)

world, which was situated in the northern hemisphere, was divided
into seven climates, extending to 64° N. lat. ; farther north all

Roger and Edrisi sent out trustworthy men with draughtsmen to the east, west,
south and north, to draw from nature and describe everything remarkable ;
and their information was then included in Edrisi 's work. If this is true (which
is probably doubtful), these would be real geographical expeditions that were
sent out.

203

XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER was uninhabited on account of the cold and snow. Edrisi
describes in his great work the countries of the earth in these
climates, which again are divided each into ten sections, so
that the book contains in all seventy sections.'

On the outside of all is the Dark Sea [i.e., Oceanus, the
uttermost encircling ocean], which thus forms the limit of the
world, and no one knows what is beyond it. After describing
Angiltara [England] with its towns, Edrisi continues :

"Between the end of Sq6sia [Scotland], a desert island [i.e., peninsula],^ and
the end of the island of Irlanda is reckoned two days' sail to the west. Ireland
is a very large island. Between its upper [i.e., southern, as the maps of the Arabs
had the south at the top] end and Brittany is reckoned three and a half days' sail.
From the end of England to the island of Wales (?) ^ one day. From the end of
Sqdsia to the island of Islanda two-thirds of a day's sail in a northern direction.
From the end of Islanda to the great island of Irlanda one day. From the end of
Islanda eastward to the island of Norwaga [Norway] twelve miles (?).* Iceland
extends 400 miles in length and 150 in breadth."

Danamarkha is described as an island, round in shape and
with a sandy soil ; on the map it is connected with the continent
by a narrow isthmus. There are ** four chief towns, many
inhabitants, villages, well protected and well populated ports
surrounded by walls." The following towns are named :
"Alsia" [Als ?], "Tordira" or " Tondira " [Tonder],
" Haun " [Copenhagen], ** Horsnes " [Horsens], ** Lunduna '*
[Lund], " Slisbuli " [Sliaswiq ?]. From ** Wendilskada,"
written *' Wadi Lesqada " [Vendelskagen],itisahalf-day'ssail
to the island of ** Norwaga " [Norway]. An island to the east
of Denmark and near Lund is called on the map *' Derlanem "
[Bornholm?].

1 Cf. Jaubert's translation [Edrisi, 1836], where, however, the geographical
names must be used with caution. See also Dozy and De Goeje [Edrisi, 1866].

^ The Arabs have the same word for island and peninsula.

^ Professor Seippel considers this the probable interpretation of the name,
and not " the island of the Danes," as in Jaubert.

* Edrisi reckoned a degree at the equator as 100 Arabic miles, according to
which his mile would be fully a kilometre. According to other Arab geographers
the degree at the equator has been reckoned as 66 1 Arabic miles, in which case
the mile would be about 1.7 km., or nearly a statute mile.
204

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

On the continent to the south of Denmark is the coast of chapter

XIII

* * Polonia ' * [Poland], and to the east of it, also on the continent,
is *' Zwada " [Sweden], and a town *' Guta " [Gotaland], also
'* Landsu(d)den " [in Finland]. We have further the river
" Qutelw " [the Gota river], on which is the town of '* Siqtun."
There is also ** Qimia " [Kemi ?]. Farther east is " bilad
Finmark " [the district of Finmark],^ where we still find the
river Qutelw with the town of ** Abuda " [Abo ?] inland, and
** Qalmar " on the coast near another outlet of the Gota river.
These two towns are

" large but ill populated, and their inhabitants are sunk in poverty ; they
scarcely find the necessary means of living. It rains there almost continually.
. . . The King of Finmark has possessions in the island of Norwaga."

Next on the east comes the land of ** Tabast " [Tavast] with
** * Dagwada ' [Dago ?], a large and populous town on the
sea." In the land of Tabast

" are many castles and villages, but few towns. The cold is more severe than
in Finmark, and frost and rain scarcely leave them for a moment."

Farther east Esthonia and the land of the heathen are also
mentioned.

** As regards the great island of Norwaga [Norway], it is for the most part
desert. It is a large country which has two promontories, of which the left-hand
one approaches the island of Danamarkha, and lies opposite to the harbour that
is called Wendilskada, and between them the passage is short, about half a day's
sail ; the other approaches the great coast of Finmark. On this island [Norwaga]
are three inhabited towns, ^ of which two are in the part that turns towards Fin-
mark, the third in the part that approaches Danamarkha. These towns have all
the same appearance, those who visit them are few, and provisions are scarce
on account ot the frequent rain and continual wet. They sow [corn] but reap it
green, whereupon they dry it in houses that are warmed, because the sun so
seldom shines with them. On this island there are trees so great of girth as are
not often found in other parts. It is said that there are some wild people living
in the desert regions, who have their heads set immediately upon their shoulders

1 This name is doubtless a confusion of Finmark and Finland.

2 Of the names of these towns given on the map there can, according to
Seippel's interpretation, be read with certainty " Osld "and probably " Tr6na "
[Trondheim]. The third name is difficult to determine.

205

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER and no neck at all. They resort to trees, and make their houses in their interiors

XIII and dwell in them. They support themselves on acorns and chestnuts. Finally

there is found there a large number of the animal called beaver ; but it is smaller

than the beaver [that comes] from the mouth of Russia " [i.e., no doubt, from the

mouths of the Russian rivers].

" In the Dark Sea [i.e., the outer encircling ocean] there are a number of
desert islands. There are, however, two which bear the name of the Islands of
the Heathen Amazons. The western one is inhabited solely by men ; there is no
woman on it. The other is inhabited solely by women, and there is no man among
them. Every year at the coming of spring the men travel in boats to the other
isle, live with the women, pass a month or thereabouts there, and then return
to their own island, where they remain until the next year, when each one goes
to find his woman again, and thus it is every year. This custom is well known and
established. The nearest point opposite to these islands is the town of Anhd (?).
One can also go thither from Qalmar and from Dagwada [Dago ?], but the approach
is difificult, and it is seldom that any one arrives there, on account of the frequency
of fog and the deep darkness that prevails on this sea."

Edrisi says that there are many inhabited and uninhabited
islands in the Dark Sea to the west of Africa and Europe ;
indeed, according to Ptolemy ** this ocean contained 27,000
islands." He mentions some of them. There is an island
called " Sara," near the Dark Sea.

" It is related that Du'1-Qarnain (Alexander the Great ?) landed there before
the deep darkness had covered the surface of the sea, and spent a night there,
and that the inhabitants of the island attacked him and his companions with
stones and wounded many of them [cf. the Skrselings' attack in Eric the Red's
Saga, andtheislandof smiths in the NavigatioBrandani, vol. i. p. 328 ; vol. ii.p. 9].
Another island in the same sea is called the Isle of Female Devils ('gazirat
as-sa'ali '), whose inhabitants resemble women more than men ; their eye-
teeth protrude, their eyes flash like lightning, their cheeks are like burnt wood ;
they speak an incomprehensible language and wage war with the monsters of
the ocean. ..."

He also mentions the Isle of Illusion (" gaziratkhusran " =
«* Villuland," cf. vol. i. p. 377), of great extent, inhabited by men
of brown colour, small stature, and with long beards reaching
to their knees ; they have a large (broad) 1 face and long ears
[cf. the ideas of the Pygmies, dwarfs, underground people and

1 This may be the same idea that we meet with again in the description of
the Skrselings in Eric the Red's Saga, where we are told that they were " breit5ir
i kinnum."
206

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

brownies], they live on plants that the earth produces of itself, chapter
There was a further large island *' al-Gaur," with abundance ^^^^
of grass and plants of all kinds, where wild asses and oxen with
unusually long horns lived in the thickets. There was the Isle
of Lamentation (** gazirat al-mustashkin "), which was in-
habited, and had mountains, rivers, many trees, fruits and
tilled fields ; but where there was a terrible dragon, of which
Alexander freed the inhabitants. On the island of * * Kalhan ' '
in the same sea the inhabitants have the form of men but
animal heads ; another island was called the Isle of the Two
Heathen Brothers, who practised piracy and were changed into
two rocks. He also names the Island of Sheep and ** Raka,"
which is the Island of Birds (cf. pp. 51, 55).

" To the islands in this sea belongs also the island of • Shasland * [presumably
Shetland, perhaps confused with Iceland], the length of which is fifteen days'
journey, and the breadth ten. It had three towns, large and populous ; ships put
in and stayed there to buy ambra (amber ?) and stones of various colours ; but
the majority of the inhabitants perished in dissensions and civil war which took
place in the country. Many of them removed to the coast of the European con-
tinent, where large numbers of this people still live. ..."

What is here said about this island is approximately the
same as Edrisi elsewhere states about the island of Scotland,
following the " Book of Wonders," which is attributed to
Mas'udi.

It will be seen that he has a very heterogeneous mixture of
islands in this western ocean. Some of them, like the Island
of Sheep and that of Birds, as already suggested (p. 55),
probably came from Ireland, and this whole archipelago is
evidently related to the numerous islands of Irish legend, and
points to an ancient connection, which may have consisted in
reciprocal influence ; while many of these conceptions travelled
from the east through the Arabs to western Europe and Ireland,
the Arabs again may have received ideas from the Irish and
from western Europe and carried them to the east. Thus
Edrisi relates that, according to the author [Mas'udi] of the
" Book of Wonders," the king of France sent a ship (which

207

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER never returned) to find the island of Raka ; we may therefore
^^^^ conclude that the Arabs had this myth from Europe. That

many of these islands are inhabited by demons and little
people, who resemble the northern brownies and the Skraelings,
is interesting, and shows that whether the myths came from
the Irish to the Arabs or vice versa, there were in this
mythical world various similar peoples who may have helped
to form the epic conceptions of the Skraelings of Wineland
(cf. pp. 12, 75).

Edrisi's map of the world is to a great extent an imitation
of Ptolemy's, but shows much deviation, which may resemble
the conceptions of Mela, for instance. It might seem possible
that Edrisi was acquainted with some Roman map or other.
In his representation of the west and north coast of Europe, for
instance, there are also remarkable resemblances to the so-
called Anglo-Saxon map of the world (cf. vol. i. p. 183 ;
vol. ii. p. 192) ; this may point to both being derived from
some older source, perhaps a Roman map (P).^
Ibn Said, Abu'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Said (1214 or 1218-1274 or 1286)

thirteenth /.*.*,. ,, ^. , 7 ... 7 . i

century says (in his book : The extent of the earth in its length and
breadth ") ^ of Denmark (the name of which he corrupts to
** Harmusa ") that from thence are obtained true falcons (for
hunting) :

" Around it are small islands where the falcons are found. To the west lies the
island of white falcons, its length from west to east is about seven days and its
breadth about four days, and from it and from the small northern islands are
obtained the white falcons, which are brought from here to the Sultan of Egypt,
who pays from his treasury 1000 dinars for them, and if the falcon arrives dead
the reward is 500 dinars. And in their country is the white bear, which goes out
into the sea and swims and catches fish, and these falcons seize what is left over
by it, or what it has let alone. And on this they live, since there are no [other]

* As, amongst others, the name '* Norveci " is misplaced (in Jutland) in the
Cottoniana map (cf. p. 192), one might almost be tempted to suppose that the
cartographer had made use of Edrisi's map without understanding the Arabic
names ; but this would assume so late a date for the Cottoniana map that it is
scarcely probable.

2 Cf. Seippel, 1896, pp. 138, fl.
208

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

flying creatures there on account of the severity of the frost. The skin of these CHAPTER
bears is soft, and it is brought to the Egyptian lands as a gift." XIII

He speaks of the women's island and the men's island which
are separated by a strait ten miles across, over which the men
row once a year and stay each with his woman for one month.
If the child is a boy, she brings it up until it reaches maturity,
and then sends it to the men's island ; the girls stay on the
women's island.

*' To the east of these two islands is the great Saqlab isUnd [i.« the Slavs'
island, which is Edrisi's Norwaga], behind which there is nothing inhabited in
the ocean either on the east or north, and its length is about 700 miles, and its
width in the middle about 330 miles." Then he says a good deal about the inhabi-
tants, amongst other things that they are still heathens and worship fire, and
on account of the severity of the cold do not regard anything as of greater utility
than it. This is evidently the same error as in Ibn Dihya, due to the designation
of " Magias " (= Magian) for heathen (cf. p. 201).

Zakariya Ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (ob. 1283) has in his Qazwini,
cosmography ^ several statements about the North, some of thirteenth

f» '^ -f ' century

which have already been referred to (vol. i. pp. 187, 284 ; vol. ii.
p. 144). Of the northern winter he has very exaggerated ideas.
Even of the land of ** Rum " [the Roman, especially the Eastern
Roman Empire ; in a wider sense the countries of Central Europe]
he says that winter there has become a proverb, so that a poet
says of it :

' ' Winter in Ri^m is an affliction, a punishment and a plague ; during it
the air becomes condensed and the ground petrified ; it makes faces to fade,
eyes to weep, noses to run and change colour ; it causes the skin to crack and
kills many beasts. Its earth is like flashing bottles, its air like stinging wasps ;
its night rids the dog of his whimpering, the lion of his roar, the birds of their
twittering and the water of its murmur, and the biting cold makes people long
for the fires of Hell."

He says of the people of Rum [i.e., the Germanic peoplesof Central Europe]
that " their complexion is for the most part fair on account of the cold and the
northern situation, and their hair red ; they have hardy bodies, and for the most
part are given to cheerfulness and jocularity, wherefore the astronomers place
them under the influence of the planet Venus."

1 Al-Qazwini, 1848, ii. pp. 356, 334, 412.
II o 209

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Of the cold in " Ifranga " [the land of the Franks, Western

Xlli Europe] he says that it

" is quite terrible, and the air there is thick on account of the excessive cold." ^

'* * Burgfin ' [or ' Bergan,' as the first vowel is doubtful] is a land which lies
far in the north. The day there becomes as short as four hours and the night as
long as twenty hours, and vice versa [cf . Ptolemy on Thule, vol. i. p. 1 17]. The in-
habitants are heathens [* Magus '] and worshippers of idols. They make war on
the Slavs. They resemble in most things the Franks [West Europeans]. They
have a good understanding of all kinds of handicraft and ships."

Professor Seippel considers it not impossible that there may
here be a corruption of the Arabic Nurman [ = Normans] to
Burgan, and to a layman this looks probable. In any case
Burgan cannot here, as elsewhere in Arab authors, be Bulgar
[the Bulgarians] ; on the other hand it might be the Norwegian
town of Bergen. In any case the description seems to suit the
Norwegians best, and the mention of Ptolemy's latitude for
Thule (the longest night of twenty hours) also points to this.
That they are said to be heathens is due again to the name
" Magus " (cf. pp. 201, 209).

Qazwini also ' tells us that

" Warank is a district on the border of the northern sea. For from the ocean
in the north a bay goes in a southerly direction, and the district which lies on
the shore of this bay, and from which the bay has its name, is called Warank.
It is the uttermost region on the north. The cold there is excessive, the air thick,
and the snow continuous. [This region] is not suited either for plants or animals.
Seldom does any one come there, because of the cold and darkness and snow.
But Allah knows best [what is the truth of the matter]."

As mentioned above (p. 199), elsewhere in Arab writers the
Varangians' Sea undoubtedly meant the Baltic ; but here, as
is also suggested by Professor Seippel, one might be tempted
to think that it is Varanger or the Var anger-fjord in Finmark
that is intended.^ It may also be recalled that Edrisi already

^ Jacob, 1896, pp. II, f.

^ Seippel, 1896, p. 44.

' It might seem tempting to suppose that the name ** Varanger " is connected
with "Warank " ; but this can hardly be the case. Mr. J.Qvigstad informs
me that in his view the name of the fjord must be Norwegian, " and was originally
210

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

knew the name of Finmark. But as Qazwini has such exag- CHAPTER
gerated ideas of the cold in Rum and in Ifranga, he may also ^^^^
be credited with such a description of the regions on the
Baltic.^ No importance can be attached to the statement that
the bay proceeds from the northern ocean in a southerly
direction, as ideas of that kind were general.

Mahmud ibn Mas ud 'ash-Shirazi (ob. 1310) has the following *Ash-Sh£razi
about the northern regions :^ ^^^'^^ '^°**

" Thus far as regards the islands : you may know that in that part [of the
sea] which goes into the north-western quarter [of the earth] and is connected
with the western ocean there are three, whereof the largest is the island ' Anglisi '
[or ' Anglisei ' (-island), probably England], and the smallest the island Irlanda.
The most handsome of hunting-birds — those that are known by the name of
* sunqur ' [hunting-falcons] — are only found on it [this island]. The middlemost
of them is the island of Orknia." Probably Ireland and Iceland are here thrown
together under the name of Irlanda, as elsewhere falcons are especially attributed
to the latter. " The longest day reaches twenty hours where the latitude is 63° [cf.
Ptolemy, vol. i. p. 1x7]. There is an island that is called Tul§. Of its inhabitants
it is related that they live in heated bathrooms [literally, warm baths] on account of
the severe cold that prevails there. This is generally considered to be the extreme
latitude of inhabited land." It appears to be Norway that is here meant by Thule.

Shirazi says that "the sea that among the ancients was called Maeotis is
now called the Varangians' Sea, and these are a tall, warlike people on its shore.
And after the ocean has gone past the Varangians' country in an easterly direction

' *Verjangr ' (from * *Varianger ') ; thence arose * *Verangr,' and by progressive
assimilation ' Varangr,' cf. the fjord-names Salangen (from Selangr), Gratangen
(from Grytangr), Lavangen (from Lovangr] in the district of Tromso. In old
Danish assessment rolls of the period before the Kalmar war we find ' War-
anger.' " The first syllable must then be the Old Norse '* ver " (gen. pi. " verja ")
for "vaer," fishing-station, and the name would mean "the fjord of fishing-
stations " (" angr " — fjord]. In Lappish the Varanger fjord is called " Varjag-
vuodna " (" vuodna " = fjord), which " presupposes a Norwegian form ' *Var-
jang ' (' *Verjang '). The Lappish forms ' Varje- ' and ' Varja- ' are abbreviated
from 'Varjag.* The district of Varanger is called in Lappish 'Varja' (gen.
' Varjag,' root * Varjag '). Norwegian fjord-names in * -angr ' are transferred to
Lappish with the termination ' -ag ' ; only in more recent loan-words do we find
the termination ' -a»?gga ' or * -a»7ggo,' as in * Pors-a»;gga. ' " O. Rygh thought
that the first syllable in *' Varanger " might be the same as in " Vardo," Old
Norse " Vargey " ; but this may be more doubtful.

1 Cf. also Jordanes' description of the great cold in the Baltic (vol. i. p. 131).

» Seippel, 1896, pp. 142, 45.

211

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER it extends behind the land of the Turks, past mountains which no one traverses

XIII and lands where no one dwells, to the uttermost regions of the land of the Chinese,

and because these are also uninhabited, and because it is impossible to sail any

farther upon it [the ocean], we know nothing of its connection with the eastern

ocean."

Dimashqi, Shams ad-diti Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ad-Dimashqi

circa 1300 (1256-1327) in his cosmography has little of interest about the
North, and his ideas on the subject are obscure.

"The habitable part of the earth extends as far as 66^^^° > ^ ^^^ regions
beyond, up to 90°, are desert and uninhabited ; no known animals are found
there on account of the great quantity of snow and the thick darkness, and the
too great distance from the sun. ... It is the climate of darkness." It lies in
the middle of the seventh climate, which surrounds it as a circular belt, and
'• around it the vault of heaven turns like the stone in a mill."

"The sea beyond the deserts of the Qipdjaks [southern Russia, Turkestan
and western Siberia] in latitude 63° has a length of eight days' journey, with a
breadth varying to as little as three. In this sea there is a great island [probably
Scandinavia], inhabited by people of tall stature, with fair complexions, fair hair
and blue eyes, who scarcely understand human speech.^ It is called the Frozen
Sea because in winter it freezes entirely, and because it is surrounded by moun-
tains of ice. These are formed when the wind in winter breaks the waves upon
the shore ; as they freeze they are cast upon the icy edges, which grow in layers
little by little, until they form heights with separate summits, and walls that
surround them." ^

He has besides various strange fables about the northern
regions and the fabulous creatures there. Of the sea to the
north of Britain he says that its coasts

" turn in a north-westerly direction, and there is the great bay that is called
the Varangians' Sea, and the Varangians are an inarticulate people who scarcely
understand himian speech, and they are the best of the Slavs, and this arm of
the sea is the Sea of Darkness in the north."

^ In another passage [c. i. 3] he says that " the habitable part extends . . .
towards the north as far as 63° or 66J°, where at the summer solstice the day
attains a length of twenty hours " [cf. Ptolemy, vol. i. p. 117]. But he never-
theless thinks (like the Greeks) that at the north pole the day was six months and
the night equally long.

2 An expression from the Koran, which is used of barbarous peoples (Gog
and Magog) who do not understand the speech of civilised men.

3 Cf. A. F. Mehren, 1874, pp. 19, 158, f., 21, 193.
212

ARAB GEOGRAPHERS

Afterwards the coasts extend farther still to the north and CHAPTER

XIII

west, and lose themselves in the climate of Darkness, and no
one knows what is there.

Of the whales he says that in the Black Sea a kind of whale
is often seen which the ignorant assert to have been carried
by angels alive into Hell, to be used for various punishments,
while others think it keeps at the bottom of the sea and lives
on fish ;

" then Allah sends to it a cloud and angels, who lift it up out of the sea and
cast it upon the shore for food for Yagug and Magiig. The whales are very large
in the Mediterranean, in the Caspian Sea (!) and in the Varangians' Sea (!), as
also off the coasts of Spain in the Atlantic Ocean."

There is preserved an " abstract of wonders " (oldest MS. Book of
of 1484),! by an unknown Arab author, which gives a picture ^°?u^^\
of the Arabs' mythical ideas in the tenth century. It also tells tury
of islands in the west, which are of interest to us on account of
their resemblance to many of the mediaeval mythical concep-
tions of Western Europe.

" In the great ocean is an island which is visible at sea at some distance,
but if one tries to approach it, it withdraws and disappears. If one returns to the
place one started from, it is seen again as before. It is said that upon this island
is a tree that sprouts at sunrise, and grows as long as the sun is ascending ; after
midday it decreases, and disappears at sunset. Sailors assert that in this sea
there is a little fish called ' shSkil,' and that those who carry it upon them can
discover and reach the island without its concealing itself. This is truly a strange
and wonderful thing."

This is evidently the same myth as that of the Lost Isle, already referred to
(Perdita, cf. vol. i. p. 376J, and of the Norwegian huldrelands, etc. It also
bears resemblance to legends from China and Japan. The tree is the sun-tree of
the Indian legends, which was already introduced into the earliest versions of
the Alexander romance (Pseudo-Callisthenes, circa 200 A.D.), and which is met
with again in the fairy-tales and mythical conceptions of many peoples.^ Possibly
it is this same tree that grows on the mountain Fusan in the Japanese happy
land Horaisan, and which is sometimes seen over the sea horizon (see p. 56).

"The island of *as-Sayyara.' There are sailors who assert that they have
often seen it, but they have not stayed there. It is a mountainous and cultivated
island, which drifts towards the east when a west wind is blowing, and vice versa.

1 C. de Vaux, 1898, pp. 69, f.

2 Cf. Moltke Moe, " Maal og Minne," Christiania, 1909, pp. 9, ff.

213

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER The stone that forms this island is very light. ... A man is there able to carry
XIII a large meiss of rock." This floating island resembles those met with in tales

from the Faroes and elsewhere (cf . vol. i. pp. 375, f .). Even Pliny [Nat. Hist., ii. c. 95]
has statements about floating islands, and Las Casas, in 1552-61 [Historias de
las Indias in "Documentos ineditos," Ixii. p. 99], says that in the story of
St. Brandan many such islands (?) are spoken of in the sea round the Cape Verde
Islands and the Azores, and he asserts that " the same is mentioned in the book
of ' Inventio fortunata,' " that is, by Nicholas of Lynn [cf. de Costa, 1880,
p. 185].

" ' The Island of Women.' This is an island that lies on the borders of the
Chinese Sea. It is related that it is inhabited only by women, who become pregnant
by the wind, and who bear only female children ; it is also said that they become
pregnant by a tree, of which they eat the fruit.^ They feed on gold, which with
them grows in canes like bamboo." This myth, as will be seen, resembles Adam
of Bremen's tale of the land of women, Kvsenland (vol. i. p. 186). Myths of
women's islands are, moreover, very widespread ; they are found in various
forms in classical authors (p. 47J, in Arab writers (cf. above, pp. 197, 206), in
Indian legends, among the Irish (vol. i. pp. 354, 357), among the Chinese, etc. It
is partly the Amazon idea that appears here, partly the happy land desired by men.

The Arabs Through an apparently small thing the Arabs possibly

and the exercised more than in anything else a transforming influence

COliljpaSS

upon the navigation, geography and cartography of Europe ;
for it was probably they who first brought to Europe the know-
ledge of the magnetic needle as a guide. We know that the
Chinese were acquainted with it, at any rate in the second
century A.D., and used it for a kind of compass for overland
journeys. Whether they also used it at sea we do not know,
but it may readily be supposed that they did. That the Arabs
through their direct commercial intercourse with the Chinese
became acquainted with this discovery at an early date seems
probable ; but curiously enough we hear nothing of it in
Arabic literature before the thirteenth century. As the Arabs
and Turks after that date used the Italian word " bossolo "
for compass (bussol), it has been thought that they may have
derived their knowledge of it, not from China, but from Italy ;
but it seems more reasonable to suppose that, while they had
their first knowledge of the magnetic needle from China, they

^ The same ideas also occur in European fairy-tales and generally in the
world of mediaeval conceptions.
214

COMPASS-CHARTS

obtained an improved form of the compass from Italy, and with CHAPTER
it the Italian word. ^"^

COMPASS-CHARTS

We do not know how early the magnetic needle's property Oldest
of pointing to the north became known in Europe and used on^he^om-
for finding the way at sea. The first mention of it is found at pass in
the close of the twelfth century in the works of the Englishman ^"^op®
Alexander Neckam, professor in Paris about ii 80-1 190, and
of the troubadour Guyot de Provins from Languedoc. The
latter, in a satirical poem of about 11 90, wishes the Pope would
imitate the immutable trustworthiness of the polar star by
showing the steadiness of the heavenly guide ; for sailors come
and go by this star, which they are always able to find, even in
fog and darkness, by a needle rubbed with the ugly brown
lodestone ; stuck in a straw and laid upon water, the needle
points unfailingly to the north star. As late as in 1258 Dante's
teacher, Brunetto Latini, saw as a curiosity in the possession
of Roger Bacon at Oxford a large and ugly lodestone, which
was able to confer on an iron needle the mysterious power of
pointing to the star ; but he thinks that it cannot be of any
use, for ship-masters would not steer by it, nor would sailors
venture to sea with an instrument which was so like an inven-
tion of the devil. As always when the progress of humanity is
at stake, orthodoxy and religious prejudice raises its head.
It is certain that the use of the compass-needle must have
been known in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the
thirteenth century, and probably even in the twelfth. It has
been alleged that the compass was known long before that
time, even in the eleventh and tenth centuries ; but no proof
of this has been found, and it does not appear very probable.^
How early the compass, or lodestone, was known in the North

^ Cf. K. Kretschmer, 1909, pp. 67, ft. ; Beazley, iii. 1906, p. 511. It has
been asserted that the compass was discovered at Amalfi. This is not very probable,
but it seems that an important improvement of the compass may have been
made there about the year 1300.

215

CHAPTER
XIII

Oldest sea-
charts

IN NORTHERN MISTS

is uncertain. We only know that when the Hauksbdk was
written, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, it was
at any rate known in Iceland (cf. vol. i. p. 248) ; but it may of
course have been known before that time, and it does not
appear that any long time elapsed between the instrument's
being known in the Mediterranean and its reaching the
Scandinavians.

When the compass came into general use on Italian ships
in the thirteenth century, it naturally led to the development
of an entirely new type of map, the Italian sea-charts or
compass-charts, which were to be of fundamental importance
to all future cartography. The mediaeval maps of the world
already mentioned were learned representations which were of
no practical use to the navigator. The Greeks had drawn
land-maps which were also of no great use at sea, and we do
not know that they had sea-charts. On the other hand sailing-
books (** peripli "), which gave directions for coasting voyages,
were in use far back in antiquity. In the Middle Ages sailing-
books, called " portolani," which gave information about
harbours, distances, etc., were an important aid to the navigator,
especially in the Mediterranean. It was the Italians before
all others who at that period developed navigation. When
coasting was to some extent replaced by sailing in open sea,
after the compass came into use, sea-charts became a necessary
adjunct to the written sailing-books or portolani. How early
they began to be developed is unknown ; we only know that
charts were in use on Italian ships in the latter half of the
thirteenth century ; ^ and we must suppose that they were
employed long before that time. Whether, as some have
maintained, there was a connection between these charts and
the maps of the Greeks is doubtful, though there may indeed
have been an indirect connection through the Arabs, among
whom Edrisi, for instance, seems perhaps to have exercised
some influence. But in any case it is certain that the Italians

^ Cf. D'Avezac : Coup d'oeil historique sur la projection des cartes g6o-
graphiques. Paris, 1863, p. 37 ; Th. Fischer, 1886, pp. 78, f.
216

COMPASS-CHARTS

of the Middle Ages were not acquainted with Greek cartography, CHAPTER
and this may in a way be regarded as an advantage ; for they ^^^^
were thus obliged to invent their own mode of representation.
For Greek thought the chief thing was to find the best expression
for the system of the world and the " oecumene," to solve
problems such as the reduction of a spherical to a plane
surface by projection, etc. ; while the sense of accurate detail
was less prominent. The Italian sailor and cartographer went
straight to nature, unhindered by theory, and to him it appeared
a matter of course to set down on the map coasts and islands
as accurately as possible according to the course sailed and the
distance, without reflecting that sea and land form a spherical
surface.

The Italian sea-charts seem especially to have been
developed in the republics of northern Italy, Genoa and Pisa,
and to some extent Venice. Later the Catalans of the Balearic
Isles and of Spain (Barcelona and Valencia) also learned the
art, probably from Genoa. The charts have been justly
admired for their correct and detailed representation of the
coasts known to the Italians and the seamen of the Mediter-
ranean ; the world had never before produced any parallel to
such a representation. It shows that the sailors of that time
were masters in the use of their compass,^ and in making up
their reckoning. The remarkable thing is that the first known
compass-charts, of the beginning of the fourteenth century,
were already of so perfect a form that there was little to add
to or improve in them in later times. It looks as though this
type of chart suddenly sprang forth in full perfection, like
Athene from the brain of Zeus, without our knowing of any
forerunner ; it held the field with its representation of the
coasts of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and Western

^ How early the error of the compass became known is uncertain. Even
if it was known, it seems that at any rate no attention was paid to it at
first ; and thus the coast-lines were laid down on the charts according to the
magnetic courses and not the true ones. Later on a constant error was assumed
and the compass was corrected in agreement therewith ; but the correction
differed somewhat in the various towns where compasses were made.

217

CHAPTER
XIII

Extent of
the com-
pass-charts

IN NORTHERN MISTS

Europe almost unaltered through three centuries. There is
something puzzling in that. We must suppose in any case
that these charts were developed through many smaller special
charts throughout the whole of the thirteenth century, but even
that seems a short period for the development of a represen-
tation so complete as this, which thenceforward became almost
stereotyped. It is principally the coasts that are represented,
with many names, while inland there are comparatively few,
which of course is natural in sea-charts.

As Italian trade did not extend farther north than Flanders
and England (from whence came wool), it is also characteristic
of the compass-charts that their detailed representation of the
coast extends to the south of England and to Sluis in Flanders,
and to the mouth of the Scheldt. Farther than this the Italian
ships did not sail ; beyond this boundary began the commercia
domain of the Hanseatic League. The delineation on the
compass-charts of the greater part of Ireland, northern England,
Scotland, the north coast of Germany, Denmark, the Baltic
and Scandinavia has an entirely different character from
that of the more southern coasts. The coast-lines are
there evidently drawn in a formal way, and more or less
hypothetically ; the names (chiefly those of a few ports,
bishops' sees and islands) are also strikingly few. It is clearly
seen that these coasts cannot have been drawn from actual
compass courses and reckonings ; they are sketches based on
second- or third-hand information. For this reason too the
shape of the northern countries may be subject to considerable
variation in the different types of compass-charts.

We know little of the sources from which they may have
obtained their delineation of the North ; probably they were
many and of different kinds. A glance at the maps reproduced
(pp. 226, 232) will convince one that their image of the North
differed greatly from that which we find on the wheel-maps, and
from that which was probably shown on the maps of antiquity.
It is a decisive step in the direction of reality, although the
representation is still imperfect. In a whole series of these
218

COMPASS-CHARTS

charts the image of the North shows certain typical features. CHAPTER
The coast of Germany and Jutland goes due north from ^"^
Flanders, thus coming much too near Britain, and the North
Sea becomes nothing but a narrow strait. Even on the earliest
charts (Dalorto's chart, p. 226) the shape of Jutland is quite
good. Norway, the coasts of which are indicated by chains of
mountains, is placed fairly correctly in relation to Jutland,
but is put too far to the west and too near to England. It
is also made too broad. The Skagerak appears more or less
correctly, but the Danish islands, including Sealand, usually
as a round island, are placed in the Cattegat to the north-
east of Jutland. This greatly distorts the picture. Sweden
is much too small, and is given too little extension to the
south ; the Baltic has a curious form : it extends far to the
east and has a remarkable narrowing in the middle, through
the German coast making a great bend to the north towards
Sweden. Gotland lies in the great widening of its inner portion.
The Gulf of Bothnia seems to be unknown. The islands to the
north of Scotland: Shetland (usually called " scetiland,"
** sialanda " or " stillanda "), the Orkneys, and often Caithness
as an island, come to the west of Norway, frequently placed in
a somewhat arbitrary fashion, and in the wrong order.
" Tille " (Thule), the round island off the north-east coast of
Scotland, is a characteristic feature on many compass-charts.
Its origin is uncertain, but possibly it may be connected with
the Romans having thought they had seen Thule to the north
of the Orkneys (?) (cf . vol. i. p. 107). The names in the North are
in the main the same on most of the compass-charts,^ and one
cartographer has copied another ; by this means also many
palaeographic errors have been introduced, which are after-
wards repeated. As an example : the Baltic is originally
called * * mar allemania, ' ' this is read by Catalan draughtsmen
as " mar de lamanya," also written " de lamaya," and thus
we get ** mar de la maya *' (cf. pp. 231, 233). Another

1 Bjombo and Petersen [1908, tab. i, pp. 14, ff.] give a comparison of these
names from the most important compass-charts.

219

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER example: Bergen is originally called " bergis " (cf. p. 221),
^^^^ a draughtsman corrupts this to " bregis," and that becomes

the name of the town in later charts (cf. p. 232). Whence
these names first came we do not know ; partly, no doubt,
from sailors, and partly from literary sources. The latter must
be true of names in the interior. There are also various legends
or inscriptions on these charts, e.g., in Norway, in Sweden, in
the Baltic, on the islands in the Northern Ocean, and in Iceland.
Many of these legends can be certainly proved to have a literary
origin. Some of them (e.g., that attached to Norway) may be
derived in part from the Geographia Universalis. Others are
connected with such authors as Giraldus Cambrensis, Higden,
and others. Certain resemblances to Arabic writers, especially
Edrisi, might also be pointed out ; but it is uncertain whether
these are not due in part to their being derived from a common
source.
Carignano's The first known compass- chart, the so-called "Carte
1300*'""^ Pisane," of about 1300,^ goes no farther north than to the
coast of Flanders and southern England. But the compass-
chart^ drawn by the Genoese priest Giovanni da Carignano (ob.
1344), evidently a little after 1300, already gives a delineation of
Great Britain, Ireland, the Orkneys and Scandinavia, with the
Baltic. That these regions are only represented hypothetically,
and do not belong to the compass-chart proper, is also indicated
by their partly lying outside the network of compass-lines. It
is in the main a land map, with many names in the interior of
the continents, but the delineation of the known coasts (to the
south of Flanders) is evidently taken from the sea-charts. The
representation of the British Isles and of the North reminds
one a good deal of the Cottoniana map (cf. vol. i. p. 183), and of
Edrisi's representation (cf. p. 203) ; ^ as an example : it is

1 Reproduced by Jomard, 1879 ; Nordenskiold, 1897, P- 25.

2 Reproduced by Th. Fischer-Ongania, 1887, PL III. [cf. pp. 117, ff.] ; Nor-
denskiold, 1897, PI. V. Cf. Bjornbo, 1909, pp. 212, f. ; Hamy, 1889, pp. 350, f.

5 That, on the other hand, it should be directly connected with Ptolemy's
representation, as alleged by Hamy [1889, p. 350], is difficult to understand [cf.

220

COMPASS-CHARTS

difficult to suppose that the western inclination of Scotland chapter
should have come about independently on each of the three ^"^
maps. There is also considerable resemblance to Edrisi in the
names on other parts of the chart ; but Carignano has no hint
of Edrisi's " Island," nor of the Cottoniana's island of Tylen
(Thule). Whether his Scandinavia is a peninsula, as usually
asserted, and not rather a long island, as on the two maps in
question, is uncertain, since the delineation has suffered a good
deal and is indistinct in the inner part of the Baltic. To judge
from a photograph of the chart [Ongania, PI. III.] it appears to
me most prob-
able that it
was an island,
which then has
considerable re-
semblance to
the island of
Norwaga [Nor-
way] in Edrisi.
Names that are

legible on this island or peninsula are :

[Finmark or Finland], " suetia " ; also " bergis " [Bergen],
*' tromberg " [Tonsberg], " uamerlant " [Vermeland],
**scarsa" [Skara on Lake Vener], "kundgelf" [Kungelf],
"scania" [Skane], " lendes " [Lund], " stocol " [Stock-
holm], etc. On the two islands in the Baltic there are
" scamor " [i.e., " scanior " ? Skanor] and " gothlanda "
[Gotland]. Many of these names appear here for the first time
in any known authority. Carignano may have taken them
from older unknown maps, but he may also in some way or
other have received information from the North ; possibly, for
instance, he may have had the names of ports, etc., from
sailors. His representation of the western part of Scandinavia,
with three long peninsulas (cf. Saxo), is curious ; of these the

Bjornbo, 1909, p. 213] ; but an indirect influence, e.g., through Edrisi's map, is
possible.

221

Northern portion of Carignano's chart (a few years
later than 1300)

noruegia,

finonia

CHAPTER
XIII

Sanudo's
work and
Pietro
Vesconte's
charts,
circa 1320

IN NORTHERN MISTS

eastern, with " scania," might be south Sweden with Skane ;
the central one with " tromberg " [Tonsberg] might be Vest-
fold and Grenmar, and the western with Bergen might be western
Norway. The smaller peninsula to the north might be Tronde-
lagen [the district of Trondhjem] (cf. also Historia Norwegise,
below, p. 235).

Between the years 131 8 and 1321 the Venetian Marino
Sanudo wrote a work, *' Liber secretorum fidelium crucis "
(the Book of Secrets for Believers in the Cross), to rouse
enthusiasm for a new crusade, and himself presented a copy of
it with a dedication to the Pope at Avignon, which is probably
one of the two now preserved at the Vatican. The work is
accompanied by several charts which must have been drawn
by the well-known cartographer Pietro Vesconte in 1320, since
an atlas bearing his name has been found in the Vatican with
charts that completely correspond.^ Among them is a circular
map of the world of the wheel type, but on which the forms of
the coasts from the compass- charts are introduced. Scandinavia
is there represented as a peninsula with a mountain chain
(Kjolen ?) along the middle (see map, p. 223), and the names
*' Gotilandia," " Dacia," " Suetia," '* Noruega " may be
read. On the continent is written " Guenden [Kvaenland, or
else = ' * Suenden ' ' = Sweden ?] vel Gotia ' ' ; and on the
coast to the north of the peninsula is " Liuonia " and to the
south of it " Frixia " [Friesland]. As Kretschmer has shown,
Scandinavia was originally drawn (in both atlases) as an
island, but was afterwards connected with the continent by a
narrow isthmus. This representation of Scandinavia as a
peninsula resembles that on many of the wheel-maps men-
tioned above (see pp. 185, ff.). It also bears a strong
resemblance to the view of Saxo (beginning of the thirteenth
century), who says : ^

^ Cf. K. Kretschmer, 1891, pp. 352, ff. Vesconte was a Genoese, but resided
for a long time at Venice.

2 Cf. Saxo, ed. H. Jnsen, 1900, pp. 13, ff. ; ed. P. Hermann, 1901, p. 12.
222

COMPASS-CHARTS

" Moreover the upper arm of the ocean [i.e., the southern arm, the Baltic, as CHAPTER
the south is supposed to be at the top of the map], which cuts through and past XIII
Dania, washes the south coast of Gothia [Gotaland, i.e., Sweden] with a bay of
fair size ; but the lower [northern] branch, which goes past the north coast of
Gothia and Noruagia, turns towards the east with a considerable widening, and
is bounded by a curved coast. This end of the sea was called by our ancient
primaeval inhabitants Gandvicus. Between this bay and the southern sea lies
a little piece of continent, which looks out upon the seas washing it on both
sides. If nature had not set this space as a limit to the two almost united streams,
the arms of the sea would have met one another, and made Suetia and Noruagia
into an island."

It seems not improbable that the delineation on Vesconte's
map may have a connection with this description ; it has also
very nearly the same forms
of names. The regions far
in the north and east on his
map are pure fancy, and
the ** rifei montes " are still
found there.

Eight other MSS. (in vari-
ous libraries) of Sanudo's
work are known, accom-
panied by maps, and six of
them have the circular map-
pamundi ; but the repro-
ductions differ considerably
one from another, especially
in the representation of the

northern coast of Europe.^ The mappamundi in the MS. in Queen
Christina's collection in the Vatican (Codex Reginensis, 548),
and the exactly similar map in the MS. at Oxford, have a
remarkably good delineation of the Scandinavian Peninsula
(see map, p. 224), with the names ** Suetia " [Svealand],
** Gotia '* [Gotaland], and " Scania " on the east, " Noruegia "

^ On Marino Sanudo and Pietro Vesconte's maps cf. Hamy, 1889, pp. 349, f.,
and PI. VII. ; Nordenskiold, 1889, p. 51 ; 1897, pp. 17, 56, ff. ; Kretschmer,
1909, pp. 113, ff. ; Bjornbo, 1909, pp. 210, f. ; Bjombo, 1910, pp. 120, 122, f. ;
K. Miller, iii. 1895, PP* ^S^i ^^

223

Northern Europe in Vesconte's mappa-
mundi {1320) in the Vatican (Kretsch-
mer, 1891)

CHAPTER
XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

on the west, " Finlandia " and " Alandia " [Aland, or perhaps
Hallandia ?] in the extreme north-east. On the continent is
written *' Kareli infideles," ** Estonia," ** Liuonia," etc.
In the Baltic are two islands, " Gotlandia " in the middle,
and ** Ossilia ** [Osel] farthest in. The shape of Jutland
[with the names ** Dacia " and " Jutia "], the direction of
the coast of northern Europe and the Baltic, with Scandinavia
parallel to it, remind one a good deal of Edrisi's map, of
the Cottoniana and also of Carignano's map. Evidently there

is here new information
which Vesconte did not
possess when he drew the
map previously mentioned ;
the correct placing of the
names in Sweden and Nor-
way is especially striking.
These names, as also
" Jutia," occur in Saxo in
approximately the same
forms (cf. also Historia Nor-
wegiae). Marino Sanudo,
according to his own state-
ment, had himself sailed
from Venice to Flanders,
and had also travelled in
Holstein and Slavonia. He was thus able to collect geo-
graphical information, and, as suggested by Bjornbo [1909,
pp. 211, f.], may have received communications from North
German priests whose picture of the North had been formed
by the study of Adam of Bremen and Saxo ; but there does
not appear to me to be any necessity for such a hypothesis, he
may just as well have received direct information from people
who knew the localities, while doubtless the names are to a
great extent literary. If we suppose that it was Pietro Vesconte
who drew all the maps, he may have derived his information
about the North through Sanudo himself ; but in that case it
224

Northern Europe in the mappamundi

in the MS. of Sanudo 's work at

Oxford (Bjornbo, 1910, p. 123)

COMPASS-CHARTS

would be strange that he did not use it for his first map. We CHAPTER
must therefore suppose that it was after this that their real ^"^
collaboration began.

But here we come upon another difficulty, and this is the
third entirely different form of the delineation of the North
that is found in the corresponding mappamundi in the MS. of
Sanudo at Paris. There the Scandinavian Peninsula is divided
in an unaccountable way into several islands, the largest of
which bears the name ** scania de regno dacie " or
*' scadinaua." To the north of it is a long island, " got-
landia," which has been
read by some ' * yrlandia ' ' or
"yslandia," and made into
Iceland [as in Thoroddsen, i.,
1897, p. 84]. " Noruegia '*
is written outside the border
of the map to the north of
Jutland [called " dacia "],
and the name "prouincia
noruicie " is placed on the
west coast of Jutland, which
has been given a fantastic

extension towards the north Northern Europe in the mappamundi
with many bays. An island i" ^^^ Paris MS. of Sanudo's work
in the ocean to the north of (Bjdrnbo, 1910, p. 123)

Russia [ ' * rutenia ' '] is marked ' ' kareli infideles. ' * The whole
of this representation is in complete disagreement with the
other Sanudo maps, and it is difficult to understand that
Vesconte can have also drawn this one, although in other
respects it may bear much resemblance to the rest from his
hand. One might be inclined to think that some other man
had tinkered at this part of the map, introducing ideas which
he entirely misunderstood.

A remarkable thing about it is that it is, perhaps, the first that has a legend
about the North. For on the large island in the Baltic (?) we read : " In hoc
mari est maxima copia aletiorum " [in this sea is the greatest abundance of

n P 225

CHAPTER
XIII

Dalorto's
map, 1325

IN NORTHERN MISTS

herrings ?]. In the opinion of Bjombo this may allude to the herring fishery in
the Sound.^

The type which is first known from Angellino Dalorto's
map of 1325 (or 1330 ?), and from that of 1339 signed Angellino
Dulcert, which is undoubtedly by the same man, was of funda-
mental importance to the representation of the North on the
Catalan compass-charts. It has been thought that he belonged
to a well-known Genoese family named Dalorto, and that the

The|^North on Dalorto's map of 1325. The network of compass-
lines is omitted for the sake of clearness. Only a few of the
names are given

first map was drawn in Italy, while the latter was certainly
drawn in Majorca, either by a copyist who corrupted the name
of Dalorto to Dulcert, or by himself, who in that case must be
supposed to have given his name a more Catalan sound on
settling in Majorca. But in any case these maps had Italian
models ; this appears clearly in the form of the names
[cf. Kretschmer, 1909, pp. 118, f.].

The two maps are much alike. The oldest, of 1325

1 K. Miller [iii., 1895, P- I34] reads ** alcuorum " instead of " aletiorum,"
which would make it '* the greatest abundance of flying creatures " [i.e., birds,
which would also be appropriate to the North]. But Miller's reading is evidently
wrong, from what Bjdrnbo has seen on the original.
226

COMPASS-CHARTS

{1330 ?)/ gives a more complete representation of the North CHAPTER
and of the Baltic than any earlier map known (see illustration). ^^^^
In its names it shows a connection both with Carignano's map
and with Marino Sanudo, but new names and fresh information
have been added, the delineation of Great Britain and Ireland
is more correct, and there is also a more reasonable representa-
tion of Scandinavia and of the extent of the Baltic than on
Carignano^s map. Amongst new names in the North may be
mentioned ** trunde " [Trondhjem, cf. ** Throndemia " in the
Historia Norwegiae], and " alogia " for atown on the west side
of Norway ; this is evidently Halogia [Halogaland], a form of
the name which was used, for instance, in the Historia
Norwegiae and by Saxo. Another name in the far north, and
again at the south-western extremity of Norway, is * * alo-
landia '* (see illustration, p. 226). One might suppose that
the form of the name and its assignment to these two places
are due to a confusion of the name Halogaland with Hallandia
(in Saxo) and " alandia ** on the Sanudo- Vesconte map
(see p. 224).

It will be seen that Norway, which is represented as a
pronouncedly mountainous country,^ has on this map been
given a great increase of breadth, so that its west coast is
brought to the same longitude as the west coast of Great
Britain. In the legends attached to Norway we read that from
its deserts are brought ** birds called gilfalcos " (hunting
falcons), and in the extreme north is the inscription :

" Here the people live by hunting the beasts of the forest, and also on fish, on
account of the price of corn which is very dear. Here are white bears and many
animals."

The substance of this may be derived in the main from
the Geographia Universalis (cf. pp. 189, f. ; see also p. 177).
Islands in the ocean to the west of Norway are : farthest north,

1 Cf. A. Magnaghi, 1898. The date is somewhat indistinct on the map, and
it is uncertain whether it is MCCCXXV. or MCCCXXX.

* The dark shading along the coast and across the country represents moun-
tain chains.

227

CHAPTER
XIII

The Isle
of Brazil

IN NORTHERN MISTS

** Insula ornaya" [the Orkneys] ; farther south, ** sialand '*
[Shetland, '* Insula scetiland " on the map of 1339, and
** silland " or ** stillanda " on later maps]. The resemblance
to "shasland," the name of an island in Edrisi (cf. above,
p. 207), is great, but it cannot be supposed that we have here
a corruption of Iceland. At the north-eastern corner of
Scotland is the round island, " Insula tille " (cf. p. 219).

In the ocean to the west of Ireland we find for the first time
on this map an island called '' Insula de montonis siue de
brazile." This island is met with again on later compass-
charts under the name of ** brazil " as late as the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries.^ It is evidently the Irish fortunate
isle *' Hy Breasail," afterwards called ** O'Brazil," that has
found its way on to this map, or probably on to the unknown
older sources from which it is drawn. On this and the oldest
of the later maps the island has a strikingly round form, often
divided by a channel.

The Irish myth of Hy Breasail, or Bresail,^ the island out in the Atlantic
(cf. vol. i. p. 357), is evidently very ancient ; the island is one of the many happy
lands like " Tir Tairngiri " [the promised land]. In the opinion of Moltke Moe and
Alf Torp the name may come from the Irish " bress " [good fortune, prosperity],
and would thus be absolutely the same as the Insulse Fortunatae. The Italians
may easily have become acquainted with this myth through the Irish monasteries
in North Italy, unless indeed they had it through their sailors, and in this way
the island came upon the map. The form ** brazil " may have arisen through
the cartographer connecting the name with the valuable brazil-wood, used for
dyeing. The channel dividing the island of Brazil on the maps may be the river
which in the legend of Brandan ran through the island called " Terra Repromis-
sionis,^' and which Brandan (in the Navigatio) was not able to cross. It is probably
the river of death (Styx), and possibly the same that became the river at Hop
in the Icelandic saga of Wineland (see vol. i. p. 359). We thus find here again
a possible connection, and this strengthens the probability that Brazil was the
Promised Land of the Irish, which on the other hand helped to form Wineland.

^ As late as in Jeffery's atlas, 1776, it is pointed out that this island is very
doubtful, but, according to Kretschmer [1892, p. 221], a rock 6 degrees west of
the southern point of Ireland still bears the name Brazil Rock on the charts of
the British Admiralty (?).

* Cf. ** Lageniensis," 1870, pp. 114, ft. ; Liebrecht, 1872, p. 201 ; Moltke
Moe in A. Helland, 1908, ii. p. 516.

228

COMPASS-CHARTS

On later compass-charts several isles of Brazil came into existence. As early CHAPTER
as in the Medici Atlas (1351) an " Insula de brazi " appears farther south in the XIII
ocean, to the west of Spain, and on the Pizigano map (1367) and the Soleri map
(1385) there is to the west of Brittany yet a third " brazir," afterwards commonly
called " de manj," or " maidas," etc.^ The name "Insula de montonis " is
difficult to understand. If we may believe it to be an error for " moltonis " (or
perhaps " moutonis," a latinisation of the French " mouton " ?), it might mean
the sheep island of the Navigatio Brandani, which was originally Dicuil's Faroes
(cf. vol. i. p. 362). Thus this name also carries us to Ireland. ^

At the same time another Irish mythical conception has found its way on
to the map of 1325, and faithfully attends the isle of " Brazil " on its progress
through all the compass-charts of later times ; this is the fortunate lake, ' ' lacus
fortunatus," with its islands, " insuUe sci lacaris " [Lough Carra or Lough
Corrib ?], which were so numerous that there was said later to be one for every
day of the year. On Perrinus Vesconte's map of 1327 the same lake with its
many islands is found, and as far as I can read the greatly reduced reproduction

^ Kunstmann [1859, pp. 7, ff.] thought that the names of the more southerly
islands might be derived from that of the red dye-wood " brasile " or " bresil,"
which afterwards gave its name to Brazil. He [1859, pp. 35, f., 41], and after
him G. Storm [1887], were therefore misled into the belief that the island to the
west of Ireland had also got its name from the same dye-wood ; neither of them
can have known of the Irish myth about this island. Both connect the appearance
of the island on the Pizigano map (1367) with the arrival of the Greenland sailors
from Markland in Norway in 1348, not being aware that the island is found on
earlier maps. Storm went so far as to suppose that the word " brazil " might
have become a term for a wooded island in general, and might thus be an echo
of the Norse name Markland (wood-land). J. Fischer [1902, p. no] has again
fallen into the same error, but has remarked that the name was already found on
Dalorto's map of 1339. Kretschmer [1892, pp. 214, ff.] has devoted a chapter to
the island of " Brazil," but abandons the attempt to find the origin of the name
and of the island, regarding the derivation from the name of the dye-wood as
improbable. Hamy [1889, p. 361], however, noticed the connection of the
island with the Irish myth of " O 'Brazil."

2 Buache read the inscription on the northernmost isle of Brazil on the Pizi-
gano map as " ysola de Mayotas seu de Bracir," while Jomard makes it " h cotus
sur de Bracir." Kretschmer [1892, p. 219] has examined the map, but can read
neither one nor the other, as the text is indistinct. On the other hand, he points
out that on Graciosus Benincasa's map of 1482 the same island has a clearly
legible " montorio " (on a map of 1574 " mons orius " is found), which he is
equally unable to explain. It may be added that on an anonymous compass-chart
of 1384 [Nordenskiold, 1897, PI- XV.] a corresponding island is marked " monte
orius," on Benincasa's map of 1457 " montorius," and on Calapoda's map of
1552 "montoriu " [Nordenskiold, 1897, P^- XXXIII., XXVI.]. This is evidently
our " montonis " on Dalorto's map of 1325 appearing again.

229

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER »" Nordenskiold's Periplus (PI. VII.) the words are : " gulfo de issolle CCCLVIIL*
.XIII beate et fortunate " (the gulf of the 358 blessed and happy islands}, as also found

on some later maps.^ I have not had an opportunity of examining the map of
the British Isles in the same draughtsman's atlas of 1321, to see whether this
happy lake and the isle of Brazil are given there ; the gulf with the 358 islands
is stated to be on Vesconte-Sanudo maps [cf. Harrisse, 1892, pp. 57, f.], which
I have also had no opportunity of consulting.

map of
1339

Duicert's Angellino Dulcert's (Dalorto's) map of 1339' differs some-

(Daiorto's) what from the map of 1325 (1330 ?) in its delineation of the
North, in that Norway is given a narrower and more rectangular
form, with only those four headlands on the south side which are
largest on the map of 1325, while the country with the smaller
headlands to the west of these is cut away, whereby the
narrower shape is brought about.*

Dalorto's maps of 1325 and 1339 furnish the prototype for
the representation of the North in later compass-charts ; and
this persists without important alteration until well into the
fifteenth century. But while later Italian charts (cf. Pizigano's
of 1367) more closely resemble the Italian Dalorto map of 1325,
the Majorca map of 1339 represents the type of the later Catalan
charts. In the one preserved at Modena, and dating from
about 1350,*^ the Catalan compass-chart is combined with the
representation of the world of the wheel-maps. We find the
picture of the North to be the same in all its main outlines ;
but here a new feature is added, in that Iceland appears as a
group of eight islands in the far north-west, out on the margin
of the map, with the note : " questas illes son appellades
islandes " (these islands are called Icelands). The southern-
most island is called ** islanda," the others have incompre-
hensible names (" donbert," " tranes," " tales," " brons,*'

' The number with the preceding words is also evidently given in the line below.

2 Cf. Th. Fischer, 1886, pp. 42 ; Hamy, 1889, p. 366 ; Magnaghi, 1899,
p. 2. I have not been able to find this legend on Dalorto's map of 1339 (in the
reproduction in Nordenskiold's Periplus, PI. VIII,), where Magnaghi asserts that
it is to be found.

3 Cf. Hamy, 1888, 1903; Nordenski61d,i897,Pl.VIII.; Kretschmer, 1909,?. 188.
* This is the same form as on the later maps, pp. 231, 232, 233.
^ For a description and reproduction of the Modena chart, see Kretschmer,

1897 > PuUd and Longhena, 1907.
230

COMPASS-CHARTS

*' bres," *'mmau . . . ," ** bilanj " [?]) ; but the name of CHAPTER
Greenland is not found. In the ocean to the north of Norway ^^"
there is " Mare putritum congelatum " [the putrid, frozen sea].
This is evidently the idea of the stinking
Liver Sea (as in Arab myths, cf. p.
51), combined with that of the
frozen sea. On the ap-
proximately contem-
porary Catalan
compass-chart
(see

North-western Europe on the wheel-shaped compass-chart at

Modena (circa 1350). The network of compass-lines, names

and legends omitted. Mountains indicated by shading

reproduction, pp. 232-233), preserved in the National

Library at Florence (called No. 16), we find the same group

of islands called " Island," with a long inscription (see

p. 232 ; cf. also Bjornbo and Petersen, 1908, p. 16), which

is partly illegible, but wherein it is stated that ' ' the islands

are very large,** that " the people are handsome, tall and

fair, the country is very cold," etc. The name of Greenland

does not occur on this chart either.^

The same type of Catalan charts includes Charles V.'s Viladeste's

well-known mappamundi, or *' Catalan Atlas," of 1375,

1 In the reproduction, pp. 232-233, " gronlandia " is given in the inscription in
the Baltic, taken from the reading of Bjornbo and Petersen [1908, p. 16]. Mr.
O. Vangensten has examined the original at Florence and found that this is a
misreading, the correct one being " gotlandia.'^

231

chart of
14x3

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XIII

North-western Europe on the anonymous Catalan mappamundi of the middle of the
of the original made by Dr. A. A. Bjombo. The text of the names and legends has been

the Baltic the erroneous " gronlandia " is given, while the

232

COMPASS-CHARTS

CHAPTER
XIII

lUrteenth century, in the National Library at Florence. Reproduced mainly from a tracing
»mewhat enlarged to render it legible in the reduced reproduction. In the legend on
riginal has " gotlandia " (according to O. Vangensten)

233

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XIII

The Medici
Atlas, 1351

as well as Mecia de Viladeste's chart of 1413,^ and many
others.*

We find a different representation of the North, especially
of the Scandinavian Peninsula, in the anonymous atlas of
1 35 1, preserved at Florence and commonly called the " Medi-
cean Marine Atlas," ^ which is an Italian, probably a Genoese*
work. The North is here represented on a map of the world

1 On this chart there is a picture in the Northern Ocean to the west of Norway
of a ship with her anchor out by the side of a whale, with the following
explanation [cf. Bjombo, 1910, p. 121] : "This sea is called 'mar bocceano/
and therein are found great fish, which sailors take to be small islands and take
up their quarters on these fish, and the sailors land on these islands and make
fires, and cause such heat that the fish feels it and sets itself in motion, and they
have no time to get on board and are lost ; and those who know this, land on
the said fish, and there make thongs of its back and make fast the head of the
ship's anchor, and in this way they flay the skin off it, whereof they make saraianes
[ropes ?] for their ships, and of this skin are made good coverings for haystacks."

We have here a combination of two mythical features. One is the great fish
of the Navigatio Brandani, on which they land and make a fire to cook lamb's
flesh, when the fish begins to move, and the brethren rush to the ship, into which
they are taken by Brandan, while the island disappears and they can still see the
fire they have made two leagues away. Brandan told them that this was the
largest of all the fish in the sea ; it always tries to reach its tail with its head
[like the Midgards-worm, cf. vol. i. p. 364] and its name is lasconicus. The same
myth is referred to in an Anglo-Saxon poem [Codex Exoniensis, ed. Benj. Thorpe,
London, 1842, pp. 360, ff.] on the great whale Fastitocalon, where ships cast
anchor and the sailors go ashore and make fires, upon which the whale dives
down with ship and crew. The idea of such a fish resembling an island is also
found in the northern myth of the havguva (cf.the " King's Mirror "), or krake,
and is doubtless derived from the East. Tales of landing on an apparent island
which suddenly turns out to be a fish are found in Sindbad's first voyage, in
Qazwini (where the fish is an enormous turtle), and even in Pseudo-Callisthenes
in the second century [iii. 17, cf. E. Rohde, 1900, p. 192].

The second feature of flaying the skin is evidently the same as already found
in Albertus Magnus (ob. 1280), and must be referred to fabulous ideas
about the hunting of walrus, which was also called whale (see above, p. 163).
That walrus-hide was used for ships' ropes is, of course, well known, but that
it should be also used for coverings of haystacks is not likely, as it was certainly
far too valuable for that.

* Cf . also the anonymous Catalan chart in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Naples,
reproduced in Bjornbo and Petersen, 1908, PI. I.

» Cf. Nordenskiold, 1897, pp. 21, 58, PI. X. ; Hamy, 1889, pp. 414* '• ;
Fischer- Ongania, PI. V.

»34

COMPASS-CHARTS

and on a map of Europe (reproduced pp. 236, 260). The CHAPTER
representation to a great extent resembles the Dalorto type. Its ^^^^
division of western Scandinavia into three great promontories
no doubt recalls the Carignano map to such an extent that one
may suppose it to have been influenced by some Italian source
of that map ; but in the names it shows more resemblance
to the Dalorto maps : the delineation of the Baltic and of
the peninsula corresponding to Skane is practically the same,
it perhaps resembles in particular the Modena map and the
anonymous map at Florence (cf. pp. 232, 233). Jutland, on
the other hand, has been greatly prolonged and given a different
shape. The three great tongues of land in Norway, with a
smaller one on the east near Denmark, may correspond to
the four headlands on the south coast of Norway on the Dalorto
maps (cf. especially that of 1339). Through these being con-
siderably increased in size, and the bays between them being
enlarged, the west coast of Norway has been moved even
farther to the west than on the map of 1325, and has been
given a somewhat more westerly longitude than Ireland. On
the map of Europe " C. trobs " [** capitolum tronberg " ?
i.e., Tonsberg] is written on the first bay [like " trunberg " on
the Dalorto map], " c. bergis " [" capitolum bergis," i.e., the
see of Bergen] and *' c. trons " (?) [the see of Trondhjem] on
each of the two other bays. Finally, '* alogia," which on the
Dalorto map is marked as a town on the northern west coast
of Norway, to the north of Nidroxia [Nidaros], has followed
the west coast and is placed on the westernmost tongue of
land. How the whole of this delineation came about is
difficult to say. One might be tempted to think that it was
through a misunderstanding of a description of Norway, like
that we find in the Historia Norwegiae, where the country is
described as divided into four parts, the first being the land
on the eastern bay near Denmark, the second " Gulacia "
[Gulathing], the third " Throndemia, " the fourth " Halogia." »
^ Cf. Mon. Hist. Norv., ed. Storm, 1880, p. 77. The circumstance that on one
of the Sanudo maps (p. 224J Norway is divided into four peninsulas may be
connected with a similar conception.

235

CHAPTER
XIII

Pizigano's
map, 1367

IN NORTHERN MISTS

The map of the world in the Medici atlas is drawn in the
same way as the compass-charts. It has no names of towns
in Scandinavia, and the westernmost tongue of land is without
a name (see the reproduction). On the other hand, the name
* * alolanda ' ' occurs inland in eastern Norway, and is there
obviously a corruption of " Hallandia " (cf. p. 227). This

;*}«■■■ -iw • ■ -ite- •oi.-^^ii.- ■6io- ^0 K.M

The north-western portion of the mappamundi in the Medicean Marine
Atlas (1351). The degrees are here inserted after the maps of Ptolemy

mappamundi is interesting from the fact that it makes
the land-masses of the continent extend without a limit on
the north, whereas Africa is terminated by a peninsula on the
south.

The map of the Venetian Francesco Pizigano, of 1367,
resembles Dalorto's of 1325 in its delineation of the North ;
the south side of Norway has somewhat the same rounded
form with seven headlands, and ** Alogia " is a town on the
west coast.

236

NORTHERN AUTHORITIES

CHAPTER
XIII

From the Bayeux tapestry, eleventh century
VIEWS OF THE NORTH AMONG THE NORTHERN PEOPLES

It has been already pointed out that, while the oldest
northern authority, Adam of Bremen, regarded the countries
of the North, outside Scandinavia, as islands in the ocean
surrounding the earth's disc (in agreement with the learned
view and with the wheel-maps), the Scandinavians, unfettered Scandina-
by learned ideas, assumed that Greenland was connected with G^e"niand°
the continent, for the reason, amongst others, that, as the as mainland
author of the " King's Mirror ' ' expresses it, continental animals
such as the hare, wolf and reindeer could not otherwise have
got there. But, as we have seen, this land communication
could only be supposed to exist on the far side of Gandvik (the
White Sea) and the Bjarmeland (Northern Russia) that they
knew, and to go round the north of the sea that lay to the north
of Norway. Thus the sea came to be called Hafsbotn (i.e., the
bay or gulf of the ocean). We find the clearest expression of
this view in the Icelandic geography already referred to, which
may in part be attributed to Abbot Nikulas Bergsson of Thvera
(cf. vol. i. p. 313 ; vol. ii. pp. i, 172), and where we read :

" Nearest Denmark is lesser Sweden [so called to distinguish it from * Svi|?j6S
it Mikla,' Russia], there is Oland, then Gotland, then Helsingeland, then Verme-
land, then two Kvaenlands, and they are north of Bjarmeland. From Bjarmeland
uninhabited country extends northward as far as Greenland. South of Greenland
is Helluland," etc. [cf. the continuation, above, p. i]. In a variant of this
geography in an older MS. we read : " North of Saxland is Denmark. Through
Denmark the sea goes into * Austrveg ' [the countries on the Baltic]. Sweden
lies east of Denmark, but Norway on the north. To the north of Norway is Fin-
mark. From thence the land turns towards the north-east, and then to the east

1 Cf. Finnur J6nsson [1901, ii. p. 948], who thinks that the part dealing with
the northern regions is not due to Nikulas. The hjrpothesis put forward by Storm,
in Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. 219, that it was Abbot Nikolas of Thingeyre, appears
less probable.

237

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Ifjefore one comes to Bjarmeland. This is tributary to the Garda-king [the king

XIII of Gardarike]. From Bjarmeland the land stretches to the uninhabited parts of the

north, until Greenland begins. To the south of Greenland lies Helluland," etc.

We have yet a third, later and more detailed variant in the
so-called " Gripla,** given in vol. i. p. 288.

The belief in this land connection with Greenland may have
originated in, or at any rate have been considerably strengthened
by, the discovery of countries such as Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard
(Spitzbergen ?), and the northern uninhabited parts of the
cast coast of Greenland^ (cf. above, pp. 165, ff.). In addition
to this, those sailing the Polar Sea came across pack-ice
wherever they went in a northerly direction, closing in the
sea and making it like a gulf, and it must therefore have been
natural to believe in a continuous coast which connected
the countries behind the ice, and which held this fast. The
belief in a land connection seems to have been so ingrained
that it can scarcely have rested on nothing but theoretical
speculations, but must rather have been supported by tangible
proofs of this kind.

It was to be expected that the countries on the north of

Hafsbotn should become fairylands in popular belief, Jotun-

Saxo on the heimr and Risaland, inhabited by giants. Even Saxo

far North (beginning of the thirteenth century) says that to the north

of Norway

'' lies a land, the name and position of which are unknown, without human
civilisation, but rich in people of monstrous strangeness. It is separated from
Norway, which lies opposite, by a mighty arm of the sea. As the navigation there
is very unsafe, few of those who have ventured thither have had a fortunate
return."

As it can hardly be the Christian settlements in Greenland
that Saxo refers to as a land without human civilisation,
we must doubtless suppose that his land in the north is a
confusion of the eastern uninhabited tracts of Greenland
with Jotunheimr, as in Icelandic ideas. For Adam of

^ If the old fishermen of the Polar Sea landed on any of these countries (Novaya
Zemlya, Spitzbergen), they would there have found reindeer, which would again
have strengthened their belief in the connection by land.

NORTHERN AUTHORITIES

Bremen already had giants (Cyclopes) on an island in the north, chapter
and we have seen that there were similar conceptions in the ^"^
Historia Norwegiae (cf. p. 167).

A mediaeval Icelandic tale [inserted in Bjorn J6nsson's The tale of
Greenland Annals] says of Halli Geit that "^"' ^^'*

" he alone succeeded in coming by land on foot over mountains and glaciers
and all the wastes, and past all the gulfs of the sea to Gandvik and then to Norway.
He led with him a goat, and lived on its milk ; he often found valleys and narrow
openings between the glaciers, so that the goat could feed either on grass or in
the woods."

Ideas of this kind led to the view held by some that there Land at the
was land as far as the North Pole, which appears in an North Pole

From the Bayeux tapestry, eleventh century

Icelandic tract, included in the ** Rymbegla " [1780, p. 466].
Of a bad Latin verse, there reproduced, it is said ;

"Some will understand this to mean that he [i.e., the poet] says that land lies
under * leidarstjarna • [the pole star], and that the shores there prevent the
ring of the ocean from joining [i.e., around the disc of the earth] ; with this
certain ancient legends agree, which show that one can go, or that men have gone,
on foot from Greenland to Norway."

But the mediaeval learned idea of the Outer Ocean sur- The Outer
rounding the whole disc of earth also asserts itself in the ^®*"
North, and appears in Snorre's Heimskringla and in the
"King's Mirror," amongst other works. This ocean went
outside Greenland, which was connected with Europe, and
made the former into a peninsula. In the work already
referred to, " Gripla " (only known in a late MS. in Bjorn
J6nsson of Skardsa, first half of the seventeenth century),
we read, in continuation of the passage already quoted (p. 35) :
** Between Wineland and Greenland is Ginnungagap, it proceeds
from the sea that is called ' Mare oceanum,* which surrounds
the whole world." Since Wineland [i.e., the Insulae Fortu-
natae], as already stated (pp. i, ff.), was by some, evidently

239

CHAPTER
XIII

Ginnunga-
gap

IN NORTHERN MISTS

through a misunderstanding, made continuous with Africa/
it is clear that the Outer Ocean must be supposed to go com-
pletely round both Greenland and Wineland (cf. the illustration,
p. 2). Thus it was also natural to suppose that there was
an opening somewhere between these two countries, through
which the Outer Ocean was connected with the inner, known
ocean between Norway, Greenland, etc.^

At least as old as the Norsemen's conceptions of countries
beyond the ocean in the North was probably the idea of the
great abyss, Ginnungagap, which there forms the boundary of
the ocean and of the world, and which must be derived from
the Tartarus and Chaos of the Greeks (cf. p. 150). When the
Polar Sea (Hafsbotn) was closed by the land connection
between Bjarmeland and Greenland, it was natural that those
who tried to form a consistent view of the world could no
longer find a place for the abyss in that direction ; and
G. Storm [1890] is certainly right in thinking that it was for
this reason that Ginnungagap was located in the passage
between Greenland and Wineland ; since, no doubt, the idea
was that this " gap '* in some way or other was connected

^ The reason for this might be supposed to be the very name of Winelcind,
formed in a similar way to Greenland and Iceland, instead of Vin-ey (Wine
island). A " land," if one knew no better, would be more likely to be connected
with the continent ; whereas, if it had been called ** ey," it would have con-
tinued to be an island, as indeed it is in the Historia Norwegise (cf. p. i).

2 Storm [1890 ; 1892, pp. 78, ff.] and Bjornbo [1909, pp. 229, ft. ; 1910,
pp. 82, ff.] have put forward views about these ideas of the Scandinavians which
differ somewhat from those here given (cf. above, p. 2), but in the main we
are in agreement. I do not think Dr. Bjornbo can be altogether right in supposing
that the Icelanders and Norwegians connected Greenland with Bjarmeland,
and Wineland with Africa, because the learned views of the Middle Ages made
this necessary ; for this view of the world also acknowledged islands in the
ocean (cf. Adam of Bremen], perhaps indeed more readily than it acknowledged
peninsulas (cf. the wheel-maps). But perhaps, after Greenland and Wineland
had been connected with the continents on other grounds, the prevailing learned
view of the world demanded that the Outer Ocean should be placed outside these
countries, so that they became peninsulas. But we have seen that side by side
with this, other views were also held (cf., for instance, the Rymbegla and the
Medicean mappamundi, pp. 236, 239).

240

NORTHERN AUTHORITIES

with the void Outer Ocean. But this view is first found in CHAPTER
the very late copy (seventeenth century) of " Gripla," and of ^"^
the somewhat older map of Gudbrand Torlaksson [Torlacius]
of 1606 [Torfaeus, 1706 ; PI. I., p. 21], where ** Ginnunga
Gap " is marked as the name of
the strait between Greenland and
America. What Ginnungagap
really was seems never to have
been quite clear, different people
having no doubt had different
ideas about it ; but when, as here,
it is used as the name of a strait
through which the Outer Ocean
enters, it cannot any longer be
an abyss ; at the most it may
have been a maelstrom or whirl-
pool, which, indeed, is suggested
by the whirlpool on Jon Gud-
mundsson's map (cf. p. 34). But
even this interpretation of the
name became effaced, and in
another MS. of the seventeenth
century (see p. 35) it is simply

used as a name for the great ocean to the west of Spain
(that is, the Atlantic).

On the other hand we have seen (pp. 150, ff.) that ideas of
whirlpools in the northern seas appear to have been widely
spread in the Middle Ages. There is a possibility, as already
hinted (vol. i. p. 303), that when in Ivar Bardsson's description
of the northern west coast of Greenland " the many whirlpools
that there lie all over the sea " are spoken of, it was thought
that here was the boundary of the ocean and of the world,
and that it was formed by the many whirlpools, or abysses in
the sea. In that case these cannot be regarded merely as
maelstroms like the Moskenstrom, but more like the true
Ginnungagap. But this is extremely uncertain; it may
" 0 241

From an Icelandic MS. of 1363

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER again have been one of those embellishments which were often
xni used in speaking of the most distant regions.

Saxo Saxo Grammaticus (first part of the thirteenth century) in

the preface to his Danish history gives geographical informa-
tion about Scandinavia and Iceland, to which we have already
referred several times. He does not mention Greenland. He
says himself that he has made use of Icelandic literature to
a large extent ; but he has also mingled with it a good deal of
mythical material from elsewhere.

Beyond comparison the most important geographical
writer of the mediaeval North, and at the same time one of
the first in the whole of mediaeval Europe, was the unknown
The King's author who wrote the ** King's Mirror,"^ probably about
Mirror, ^.j^g middle of the thirteenth century.^ If one turns from
contemporary or earlier European geographical literature,
with all its superstition and obscurity, to this masterly work,
the difference is very striking. Even at the first appearance

* The name of the work (" Konungs-Skuggsja " or "Speculum Regale ")
had its prototype in the names of those books which were written in India for
the education of princes, and which were called Princes' Mirrors. In imitation
of these, " mirror " (speculum) was used as the title of works of various kinds
in mediaeval Europe.

2 Various guesses have been made as to who the author may have been
and when the work was written. It appears to me that there is much to be said
for the opinion put forward by A. V. Heffermehl [1904], that the author may
have been the priest Ivar Bodde, Hakon Hokonsson's foster-father. In that
case the work must have been written somewhat earlier than commonly supposed
[Storm put it between 1250 and 1260], and it appears that Heffermehl has given
good reasons for assuming that it may have been written several years before
1250. Considerable weight as regards the determination of its date must be
attached to the circumstance that, in the opinion of Professor Marius Haegstad,
a vellum sheet preserved at Copenhagen (new royal collection. No. 235g) has
linguistic forms which must place it certainly before 1250, and the vellum must
have belonged to a copy of an older MS. On the other hand, Professor Moltke
Moe has pointed out in his lectures that the quotations in the " King's Mirror ' ' from
the book of the Marvels of India, from Prester John's letter, are derived from a
version of the latter which, as shown by Zarncke, is not known before about
1300. Moltke Moe therefore supposes that the " King's Mirror," in the form we
know it, may be a later and incomplete adaptation of the original work. The latter
may have been written by Ivar Bodde in his old age between 1230 and 1240.
242

NORTHERN AUTHORITIES

of the Scandinavians in literature, in Ottar's straightforward CHAPTER

and natural narrative of his voyage to King Alfred, the ^"^

numerous trustworthy statements about previously unknown

regions are a prominent feature, and give proof of a sober

faculty of observation, altogether different from what one

usually meets with in mediaeval literature. This is the case

to an even greater degree in the "King's Mirror," and the

difference between what is there stated about the North and

what we find less than two hundred years earlier in Adam

of Bremen is obvious. Apart from the fact that the whole

method of presentation is inspired by superior intelligence,

it shows an insight and a faculty of observation which are

uncommon, especially at that period ; and in many points

this remarkable man was evidently centuries before his time.

Although well acquainted with much of the earlier mediaeval

literature, he has liberated himself to a surprising extent

from its fabulous conceptions. We hear nothing of the many

fabulous peoples, who were still common amongst much later

authors, nor about whirlpools, nor the curdled and dark

sea, but instead we have fresh and copious information about

the northern regions, and it comes with a clearness like that

which already struck us in Ottar. We have a remarkably good

description of the sea-ice, its drift, etc. (cf. vol. i. pp. 279, f.) ;

we have also a description of the animal world of the northern

seas to which there is no parallel in the earlier literature of

the world (cf. pp. 155, ff.). No less than twenty-one different

whales are referred to fully. If we make allowance for three

of them being probably sharks, and for two being perhaps

alternative names for the same whale, the total corresponds

to the number of species that are known in northern waters.

Six seals are described, which corresponds to the number of

species living on the coasts of Norway and Greenland. Besides

these the walrus [" rostung "] is very well described. But

even the author of the "King's Mirror" could not altogether

avoid the supernatural in treating of the sea. He describes in

the seas of Iceland the enormous monster " hafgufa," which

243

IN NORTHERN MISTS
CHAPTER seems more like a piece of land than a fish, and he does not
xni think there are more than two of them in the sea. This is

the same that the Norwegian fishermen now call the krake,
and certainly also the same that appears in ancient oriental
myths, and that is met with again in the Brandan legend as
the great whale that they take for an island and land on

(cf. p. 234). In the Green-
land seas the "King's
Mirror*' has two kinds of
trolls, '* hafstrambr " [a
kind of merman], with a
body that was like a glacier
to look at, and ** mar-
gygr " [a mermaid], both

Marginal drawing in the Flateyjarb6k e ■•• i r -n * •» «

(1387-1394) of which are fully described.

There is also mention in the
Greenland seas of the strange and dangerous ** sea-fences,"
which are often spoken of in the sagas [and about which
there is a lay, the **hafger^inga-drapa "]. The author
does not quite know what to make of this marvel, for " it
looks as if all the storms and waves that there are in that
sea gather themselves together in three places, and become
three waves. They fence in the whole sea, so that men
cannot find a way out, and they are higher than great moun-
tains and like steep summits," etc. It is probable that the
belief in these sea-fences is derived from something that really
took place, perhaps most likely earthquake-waves, or submarine
earthquakes, which may sometimes have occurred near volcanic
Iceland. But it is curious that in the "King's Mirror " these
waves are connected with Greenland. They might also be
supposed to be connected with the waves that are formed
when icebergs capsize.

The principal countries described are Ireland, Iceland and
Greenland ; but it is characteristic of the author that the
farther north he goes, away from regions commonly known,
the freer his account becomes from all kinds of fabulous
244

NORTHERN AUTHORITIES

additions. In Ireland he is still held fast by the superstition CHAPTER
of the period, and especially by the priests' fables about them- ^"^
selves and their holy men, and by the English author Giraldus
Cambrensis.^ In Iceland, as a rule, he is free of this troublesome
ballast, and gives valuable information about the glaciers of
Iceland, glacier-falls, boiling springs, etc. In his opinion the
cold climate of Iceland is due to the vicinity of Greenland,
which sends out great cold owing to its being above all other
lands covered with ice ; for this reason Iceland has so much
ice on its mountains. Although he thinks it possible that
its volcanoes are due to the fires of Hell, and that it is thus
the actual place of torment, and that Hell is therefore not
in Sicily, as his holiness Pope Gregory had supposed, he never-
theless has another and more reasonable explanation of the
origin of earthquakes and volcanoes. They may be due to
hollow passages and cavities in the foundations of the land,
which by the force either of the wind or of the roaring sea may
become so full of wind that they cannot stand the pressure,
and thus violent earthquakes may arise. From the violent
conflict which the air produces underground, the great fire
may be kindled which breaks out in different parts of the
country. It must not be thought certain that this is exactly
how it takes place, but one ought rather to lay such things
together to form the explanation that seems more conceivable,
for

" we see that from force [' afli ' ] all fire comes. When hard stone and hard

iron are brought together with a blow, fire comes from the iron and from the

force with which they are struck together. You may also rub pieces of wood Fire derived

together until fire comes from the labour that they have. It is also constantly from force

happening that two winds arise from different quarters, one against the other, (labour)

and if they meet in the air there is a hard shock, and this shock gives off a great

fire, which spreads far in the air," etc.

^ If Professor Moltke Moe's view is correct, that the ** King's Mirror," in the
form which we know, is a later adaptation (cf. p. 242, note 2), it may be sup-
posed that the section on Ireland was inserted by the adapter. Presumably a
thorough examination of the linguistic forms would determine whether this is
probable.

245

CHAPTER
XIII

The inland
ice of
Greenland

IN NORTHERN MISTS

This idea of a connection between labour (friction) and
force (motion), and this explanation of the possible origin
of volcanoes are surprising in the thirteenth century, and seem
to bring the author centuries in advance of his time ; we here
have germs of the theory of the conservation of energy.

His statements about Greenland are remarkable for their
sober trustworthiness. He gives the first description of its
inland ice :

" But since you asked whether the land is thawed or not, or whether it is covered

with ice like the sea, you must know that
there are small portions of the land which
are thawed, but all the rest is covered with
ice, and the people do not know whether the
country is large or small, since all the
mountains and valleys are covered with ice,
so that no one can find his way in. But in
reality it must be that there is a way, either
in those valleys that lie between the moun-
tains, or along the shores, so that animals
can find a way, for otherwise animals cannot
come there from other countries, unless they
find a way through the ice and find the land
thawed. But men have often tried to go up
the country, upon the highest mountains in
various places, to look around them, to see
whether they could find any part that was
thawed and habitable, but they have not
found any such, except where people are
now living, and that is but little along the shore itself."

This, as we see, is an extremely happy description of the
mighty ice-sheet. He also describes the climate of the country,
both the fine weather that often occurs in summer, and its
usually inclement character, which causes so small a proportion
of the country to be habitable.

The glaciers "The land is cold, and the glacier [i.e., the great ice or inland ice] has this

of Green- nature, that he sends out cold gusts which drive away the showers from his face,

land a pole and he usually keeps his head bare. But often his near neighbours have to suffer

of maxi- f^j jt^ j^ that all other lands which lie in his neighbourhood get much bad weather

mum cold j^^^^ j^j^^^ ^^^^ ^U ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^^ j^^ throws off fall upon them.'*

246

Norwegian MS. of the Gula-

things law. Fourteenth

century

NORTHERN AUTHORITIES

Though in simple and everyday words, this really expresses CHAPTER
the idea that Greenland and the neighbouring regions are ^"^
disproportionately cold, and that, in part at any rate, this is
due to the glaciers of Greenland, which have a refrigerating
effect (as an anticyclonic pole of maximum cold). This is
to a certain degree correct. In crossing Greenland in 1888
we found that a pole of cold [anticyclone] lies over the inland
ice, which gives off cold air. Scientific greatness does not
always depend on erudition or acute learned combinations ;
it is just as often the result of a sound common- sense.

The allusion in the ** King's Mirror' * to the Norse inhabitants
of Greenland and their life has already been quoted in part
(vol. i. p. 277) ; curiously enough the Skraelings are not men-
tioned. The author gives a graphic description of the aurora
borealis, and attempts to explain its cause. As already noted
(p* iS5)» it is curious that he should speak of it as something
peculiar to Greenland, when he must of course have known
it well enough in Norway.

The cosmography of the " King's Mirror " is based on older
mediaeval writers, especially Isidore. The spherical form of
the earth and the course of the sun are mentioned, as is
Macrobius's doctrine of zones. In the frigid zones the cold
has attracted to itself such power that the waters throw off
their nature and are changed to ice, and all the land and sea
is covered with ice. They are usually uninhabitable, but
nevertheless the author considers that Greenland lies in the
north frigid zone. He thinks that "it is mainland, and con-
nected with other mainland," as already mentioned, because
it has a number of terrestrial animals that are not often
found on islands. It

" lies on the extreme side of the world on the north, and he does not think
there is land outside ' Heimskringla ' [the circle of the world, * orbis terrarum ']
beyond Greenland, only the great ocean which runs round the world ; and it is
said by men who are wise that the strait through which the empty ocean flows
comes in by Greenland, and into the gap between the lands (' landa-klofi '),
and thereafter with fjords and gulfs it divides all countries, where it runs into
Heimskringla."

247

CHAPTER
XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

This is, as we see, the same idea as already (p. 240) referred
to, that the Outer Ocean runs in through a sound between
Greenland and another continent to the south, evidently
Wineland, which is thus here again regarded as part of Africa
(cf. p. I).

It is moreover striking that neither Wineland, Markland,
nor Helluland is mentioned in the ** King's Mirror, ' ' and Bjarme-
land, Svalbard, etc., are also omitted. Thus it does not give
any complete description of the northern lands, but it must
be remembered that what we know of the work is only a frag-
ment, and perhaps it was never completed.

The Nancy map. A copy, of 1427, of Claudius Clavus's first

map of the North. The lines of latitude and longitude are

omitted for the sake of clearness

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS
The credit of having introduced the name of Greenland,
with the ancient Norsemen's geographical ideas about the
extreme North, into cartography belongs, so far as is known,
248

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

to the Dane Claudius Clausson Swarc, usually called in Latin CHAPTER;
Claudius Clavus (sometimes also Nicolaus Niger). He was ^^^^ .
born in Funen, travelled about Europe, and, as shown by ciausson
Storm [i89i,pp. 17, f.], was probably the ** Nicolaus Gothus '* Swart, bom
who is mentioned at Rome in January 1424, and who is ^^
reported to have there given out that he had seen a copy of
Livy in the monastery of Soro, near Roskilde (which was
probably a romance on his part). We are told that he was
a man of acute intelligence, but a rover and unsteady. His
subsequent history is unknown. As a supplement to Ptolemy's
Geography, which just at that time (1409) was becoming known
in Western Europe in a Latin translation, he made, probably
in Italy, two maps of the North, with accompanying descrip-
tions. The maps must have been drawn either by himself ciavus's
or with his help. They are the first maps known in Western "^^P^
Europe which are furnished, after the model of Ptolemy
(or Marinus), with lines of latitude and longitude,^ and they
thus mark the beginning of a more scientific cartography and
geography in Western Europe.^

His first map (the Nancy map) must have been drawn
between the years 141 3 and 1427, probably between 1424
and 1427 ; but it can never have been widely known, as it
has exercised no noticeable influence on the cartography of
the succeeding period. The French cardinal Filastre
(ob. 1428), who was staying in Rome in 1427, became

^ The famous Roger Bacon is said to have already made an attempt, before
Ptolemy's Geography was known, to draw a map according to mathematical
determinations of locality ; but the map is lost [Roger Bacon, Opus majus, fol.
186-189]. The title of Nicholas of Lynn's book is said to have been : ** Inventio
fortunata qui liber incipet a gradu 54, usque ad polum " (i.e., which book begins
[in its description] at 54° [and goes] as far as the pole) [cf. Hakluyt, Princ. Nav.,
19031 P« 303]* This may show that degrees were already in use at that time (1360)
for geographical description.

2 On Claudius Clavus see in particular Storm's work of fundamental import-
ance [i88o-i89i],and the valuable monograph by Bjombo and Petersen [1904,
1909], also A. A. Bjombo [1910]. Cf. further Nordenskiold [1897, pp.86, ff.],
V. Wieser [Peterm. Mitteilungen, xlv. 1899, pp. 119, ff.], Jos. Fischer [1902,
c^P< 5]> ^^^ others.

249

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER acquainted with it there, and made a reduced copy of it, which,
xin together with a copy of the accompanying text, he had bound

up with his copy of the Latin translation of Ptolemy's
Geography with maps. This work was not rediscovered at
Nancy until 1835, when it was published ; the map is therefore
usually called the Nancy map. Clavus*s second map, which
seems to have been drawn later than that just mentioned, has
on the other hand had considerable infiuence on the carto-
graphical representation of the northern regions through a
period of two centuries.

A copy of the later map was first brought to light by
Nordenskiold at Warsaw in 1889 [1889, p. xxx.] ; since then
several copies have been rescued from oblivion, while the text
accompanying the map was accidentally discovered in 1900
by Dr. A. A. Bjornbo in a mediaeval MS. at Vienna [Bjornbo
and Petersen, 1904]. The original map is lost ; but except
as regards details of no great consequence there can now be
no doubt as to what it was like.

The reproductions (pp. 248 and 251) will give an idea of the
representation of the North on the two maps. As far as
Ptolemy's map extended (cf. vol. i. pp. 118, f.), it will be seen that
its coast-lines and islands are almost slavishly adhered to on
both maps. To this the Nancy map adds a Scandinavia, with
Iceland, the east coast of Greenland, and a northern land
connection between the latter and Russia. On the later map
Scandinavia has been given a somewhat altered form, and
Greenland has a west coast. The Nancy map has few names,
many more being mentioned in the text, especially in Denmark.
Even as regards Denmark they are evidently to a great extent
taken from an older itinerary like that of Bruges [** Itin6-
raire Brugeois," cf. Storm, 1891, p. 19]. Some of the names
on the map, like " bergis," *' nidrosia," etc., may be taken
from older compass-charts ; both texts have the northern
form " Bergen." Headlands, bays and islands (on the coasts
of Norway, Iceland and Greenland), for which he had no
names (and which moreover are due to the free imagination
250

CHAPTER
XIII

Mystifica-
tion in
Clavus's
geographi-
cal names

IN NORTHERN MISTS

of the draughtsman), have been designated in the Nancy text
by Latin numerals (** Primum," ** Secundum," etc.), or are
simply named after each other (in Iceland), a sure sign that
Clavus neither knew nor had heard anything about these
coasts.

On his later map Clavus has made up for the want of names
in an astonishing way. On some of the coasts he has continued
to use Latin numerals for bays, etc., but side by side with this
on the shores of the Baltic and in Sweden he has used Danish
numerals, such as, ** Forste aa fiuuii ostia " (First river,
river-mouth), " Anden aa " (Second river) . . . , etc. The
southerners, who did not understand Danish, of course regarded
these as names, and subjected them to all sorts of corruptions.
Matters became worse when in Gotland and Norway he used
as the names of headlands and rivers the words of a meaning-
less rigmarole : '* Enarene," ** apocane," ** uithu," " wultu,"
"segh," ** sarlecrogh,** etc. (evidently corresponding to
children's rigmaroles like " Anniken, fanniken, fiken, foken,"
etc.).^ In Iceland he used the names of the runic characters for
headlands and rivers ; but most remarkable of all are his
names in Greenland, alternately for headlands and the mouths
of rivers (I). If, as shown by Bjornbo and Petersen, these
are read continuously from the most northern headland on
the east coast round the south of the country, the following
verse in the dialect of Funen is the result :

*' Thaer beer eeynh manh secundum [= ij ?] ^ eyn Gronelandsz aa,
ooc Spieldebedh mundhe hanyd heyde ;
meer hawer han a.fi nidefildh,
een hanh hawer flesk hinth feyde.
Nordh um driuer sandhin naa new new."

^ Cf. Axel Olrik, " Danske Studier," 1904, p. 215.

^ This ** secundum " in the MS. must doubtless have been inserted by a
copyist. Bjornbo and Petersen think the original had " ij," which the copyist
took for a Roman numeral and replaced by "secundiun." As it might seem
strange that the man lived *' • in ' a river of Greenland," Axel Olrik thought
that the word might have been " wit " (by, or near} ; but then it becomes more
difficult to understand how and why the word should have been replaced by
** secundum," unless the copyist had some knowledge of Danish.

252

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

(There lives a man (in ?] a Greenland river, CHAPTER

and Spieldebedh is his name ; XIII

he has more vermin (?)
than he has fat bacon, etc.l

The verse, as pointed out by Axel Olrik, is evidently an
imitation or travesty of the folk-songs, and, as Karl Aubert
has shown,* its prototype must certainly have been the first
verse of the same folk-song that is now known in Sweden by
the name of " Kung Speleman *' :

*\Dher bodde een kjempe vid Helsingborg,
Kung Speleman mande han heta,
Visst hade han mera boda solf,
An andra flesket dhet feta.
Uren drifver noran, och hafvet sunnan for noran.'*
(There lived a giant by Helsingborg,
King Fiddler was his nemie.
Sure he had greater store of silver
Than others of fat bacon, etc.j

This method of fabricating geographical names adopted
by Clavus recalls the designation of the notes in the mediaeval
scale, for which the words of a Latin hymn were used, and
it seems likely that this is what he has imitated. But his
mystification, with all these strange names which no one in
Southern Europe understood, and which in course of time
underwent many corruptions, has caused a good deal of
trouble ; many intelligent men have racked their brains to dis-
cover learned etymological interpretations of their origin, until
Bjornbo's lucky find of the later text of Clavus solved the riddle.

Bjornbo and Petersen, who by their valuable work on Different
Claudius Clavus with a reproduction of this text have the Vf^^ ?^

*^ Clavus s

credit of throwmg light on the relation between his first and maps and
second maps, have put forward the view that Clavus must their origin
have made his first map (the Nancy map) with its Latin
text in Italy ; but curiously enough they think he entirely
rejected the Italian compass-charts as unsuitable for the
representation of the North, and constructed his delineation
of the northern regions independently of them, as an addition

* " Danske Studier," 1907, p. 228.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER to Ptolemy's coast-lines, simply from information he had
^"^ derived from northern sources. After this we are to suppose

that, in order to extend his geographical knowledge, he went
back to Denmark ; and since the authors place reliance
on Clavus*s assertion (in his later text) that he had seen the
places himself, they even credit him with having made a voyage
of geographical exploration, first to Norway (Trondhjem) and
then to Greenland. And then he is supposed to have drawn his
later map, and written the text for it (in Latin), in the North.
I have come to an entirely different conclusion. His
older map must be based, in my opinion, not only on Ptolemy,
but to a great extent on Italian maps. His later map and text,
I consider, show beyond doubt that he cannot have been either
in Norway or Greenland, and I cannot find a single statement
in the Vienna text, or any coast-line in his later map, which
shows that he was outside Italy in the period between the two
works. Doubtless the delineation of Denmark, especially
Sealand, is more detailed in the second map ; but the additions
do not disclose any more local knowledge than might be attri-
buted to Clavus as a native of Funen before his first map
was drawn, even though he had not then ventured to change
the form of Ptolemy's Scandia, which to him, of course,
became Sealand. After this first attempt, however, he may
have gained courage to launch out further with his knowledge.
He may also have discovered a few fresh pieces of information,
in the papal archives, for instance. Besides this, he may,
of course, have received oral communications from people
from the northern countries ; but even of this I am unable
to find sure signs. In consideration of the imaginative ten-
dencies shown by Clavus in his distribution of names, and to
some extent in the coast-lines on his map, which perhaps
may also have asserted themselves in his statement that he
had seen a complete MS. of Livy in Soro monastery,^ we shall

* Many vain searches were afterwards made (in 1451 and 1461) in the monas-
tery of Soro for this MS. of Livy, and there may therefore be grounds for doubting
the statement to be true [cf. Bjombo and Petersen, 1909, pp. 197, f.],

254

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

scarcely be insulting him if we believe his statements (in two chapter
passages of the Vienna text) that he himself had seen Pygmies ^"^
from a land in the North , and Karelians in Greenland, to be
rhetorical phrases, calculated to strengthen the reader's con-
fidence, and to mean at the outside that he had seen something
about these people in older authorities.

After having heard my reasons, Bjornbo and Petersen
have in all essentials come round to my views. In particular
they agree with me that Clavus cannot have been in Greenland,
but that the delineation of that country on his later map is based
on the Medicean map of the world, which will be mentioned later
I therefore consider it superfluous to combat any further here
the reasons given in their work for their former view.

Claudius Clavus 's task must have been to supplement the
newly discovered atlas of Ptolemy by what he knew of the
North ; and to this end his maps were drawn, either by himself
or by a professional draughtsman in Italy from his instructions.
The text was prepared after each of the maps, as a description
of it ; and the latitudes and longitudes are taken from the
map [cf. Bjornbo and Petersen, 1904, p. 130]. With the
superstitious respect of the period for older learned authorities
in general, and for Ptolemy in particular, he did not venture
to alter the latter 's coast-lines or latitudes as far as they
extended ; even in the Danish islands he has done so with
hesitation, thus Sealand in his first sketch [the Nancy map]
has still the same form as Scandia in Ptolemy, etc. He
then added to the latter *s coast-lines what he knew or could
get together from other quarters.

His first map [the Nancy map] may presuppose the fol- Sources and
lowing sources, besides Ptolemy's various maps of Northern f^"«^^ °^
Europe ; Pietro Vesconte's mappamundi (circa 1320) in map
Marino Sanudo's work,^ and the anonymous mappamundi,

1 Cf. the maps on pp. 223, 224. As we certainly do not know nearly all
the maps that were in use at that time, I regard it as probable that Claudius or
his draughtsman had older maps, now lost, of this or a similar type, which resemble
the Nancy map even more closely than these two known maps. But of course
it is wiser to confine ourselves as far as possible to those we know.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER now preserved in the so-called Medicean Marine Atlas, of
^"^ 1351* at Florence.^ In addition to these, either the Bruges

itinerary itself [Itineraire Brugeois, cf. Storm, 1891, p. 19],
or one of its earlier sources. Possibly he also had, in part
at all events, a tract [in Icelandic ?] that is included in the
fourth part of the ** Rymbegla " [1780] ; that he also knew
of the Icelandic sailing directions, as assumed by Bjornbo
and Petersen, I regard as less certain, although not impossible ;
perhaps it would be safer to suppose that he may have seen
some statements from Ivar Bardsson's description of Green-
land, in an itinerary, for instance. I have not been able to
find any certain indication of his having been acquainted
with the Icelandic geography mentioned on p. 237 ; perhaps
he may rather have known of the land connection between
Greenland and Russia from some tale or other, or from a
legendary saga ;^ from the same source (or from Ivar Bardsson's
description ?) may also be derived the name Nordbotn (cf. p. 171,
note i), which is not known in the Icelandic geography, but
which seems most probably to be a legendary form. Certain
names, such as those of the bishops' sees in Norway and
Iceland, Clavus may easily have found in the papal archives
in Rome.

In the first place, exactly following Ptolemy, the draughts-
man has marked Ireland with the islands around it and six

1 storm [1891, p. 16] was the first to hold that Clavus made use of Italian
compass-charts as his model for the delineation of the south coast of Scandinavia,
and that he also took names from them. Bjornbo and Petersen have rejected
this view, as the names in Clavus 's text are principally taken from other sources,
and the Baltic has been given quite a different shape. But the necessity of this
change seems to have escaped them, as it was caused by Clavus retaining Ptolemy's
outline for the south coast of the Baltic.

2 If we assume that the names «* Wildhlappelandi," ** Pigmei," etc., on the
Nancy map are due to Clavus himself, he may have had some authority like that
of the anonymous letter to Pope Nicholas V. (of about 1450), which Michel Beheim
may also have used (see laterj. From this source he may have obtained the infor-
mation about the land connection between the land to the north-east of Norway
and Greenland. As will be mentioned later (p. 270J, it is possible that this source
was Nicholas of Lynn.

256

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

Hebrides to the north-east, Scotland with the island of Dumna chapter
and the archipelago '' Orcadia " to the north (the island of xiii
Ocitis a little farther east), and the south coast of Thule farther
north ; next Jutland with its small islands round about,
and with the large island of Scandia, which, of course, became
Sealand (he has added Funen and a number of other islands) ;
finally the coast of Germany and Sarmatia eastwards to
63° N. lat., and with the same number of river-mouths as in
Ptolemy. As this coast does not extend nearly so far to the
east as does the Baltic on the compass-charts, it resulted
that Clavus's Baltic became much shorter than that of the
charts, and its shape had to be altered to suit Ptolemy's
coast-line. Then, at its northern end, the draughtsman
has placed possibly Pietro Vesconte's Scandinavian peninsula,
going out towards the west (see the two maps, pp. 223, 224) ;
but as he saw Norway on the compass-charts extending west
as far as to the north of Scotland, where on Ptolemy's map
he found Thule, it was natural that he should take the latter
to be the southern point of Norway, and he was obliged to
move Vesconte's peninsula farther to the west. Its south
coast may have been drawn with the Medici map, or a similar
one, as model. As the southern coast of the Baltic was moved
far to the south, after Ptolemy, and Jutland was given a
different and smaller form than on the Medici map, besides
a marked inclination to the east, and as Skane had to be near
Sealand (Scandia), the draughtsman was obliged to move the
peninsula corresponding to Skane about five degrees to the
south. The south coast of the peninsula on the north of
Scotland on the Medici map (see pp. 236, 260) corresponded very
nearly to the south coast of Thule (with an east-south-easterly
direction) on Ptolemy's map ; it lay in an almost corresponding
latitude, but on account of the puzzling prolongation of Scotland
to the east on Ptolemy's map, it had to be moved a good
fifteen degrees of longitude to the east. Thule was thus
united to Norway ^ and its south coast was given exactly the

^ storm [189 1, p. 15] also maintains that on the Nancy map Thule has been
XI R 257

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER same shape as the south coast of the peninsula in question,
^^^' with three arched bays (the broadest on the east) and a pro-

jecting point towards the south-east. The coast between
this promontory and Skane may then have been drawn with
the same number of four large bays as on the Medici map :
a deeper one farthest west, then a broad peninsula, next
two wide, open bays, with a narrow peninsula between them,
and finally a smaller bay opposite Sealand. The ** Halandi "
of the Nancy map is thus brought to the corresponding place
with the " Alolanda " of the Medici map (p. 236).^

Thus far it may be fairly easy to compare the maps ; but
then Norway according to most of the compass-charts ought
not to have any considerable farther extension to the west,
while on the other hand Northern ideas demanded a Greenland
in the far west, as well as a land in the north between that
and Russia. With the latter the westernmost tongue of
land in Norway on the Medicean mappamundi ^ agrees
remarkably well. The southern point of Clavus's Greenland
has also the same length in proportion to the west coast of
Ireland, and about the same breadth, as on this map. There
was also an extensive mass of land in the north. According
to various representations, such as those of Vesconte's map-
pamundi, Saxo's description (cf. p. 223), and others, there

incorporated with Norway, but Bjornbo and Petersen [1904, p. 194 ; 1909, p. 158]
think that this must be regarded as " one of the unfortunate results of his desire
to reduce all Clavus's contributions to a single one " ; why, we are not told.
According to my view there can be no doubt that Storm is right. Clavus has
made the south coast of Thule into the southernmost coast of Norway, with its
south-eastern point due north of the island of Ocitis, and its south-western point
north of the west side of Orcadia, exactly as on Ptolemy's map. In addition,
this coast has the same latitude and longitude as the south coast of Ptolemy's
Thule.

^ Of course there is always the possibility that Clavus may have had maps
of the Medici type which resembled the Nancy map even more closely than that
with which we are acquainted.

' On this map the tongue of land in question is nameless, while on the map
of Europe in the Medicean Atlas it is given the name of " alogia," which shows
it to have t^een regarded as a part of Norway (see the reproduction, p. 260).
258

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

should be a gulf on the north side of the Scandinavian Peninsula. CHAPTER
According to representations like that of the Lambert map at ^^^^
Ghent (cf. p. i88), this arm of the sea had the same form as
that on the south side of Scandinavia, and there should only
be a narrow isthmus between these two arms of the sea,
connecting the peninsula with the mainland (cf. Saxo). On
the Nancy map, too, the north coast of Scandinavia is drawn
almost exactly like the south coast, with the same number of
promontories and bays, which correspond very nearly even
in their shape. [In this way Clavus's ** Nordhindh Bondh "
[Nort5rbotn], also called " Tenebrosum mare " [i.e., the dark
sea] or '* Quietum mare " [the motionless sea], may have
originated. This remarkable bay is connected on his map
with the Baltic by a canal (which is also mentioned in the
Vienna text). By this means Scandinavia really becomes
an island. Clavus cannot have acquired such an idea from
any known source, although, as already mentioned, Saxo
says that it is nearly an island (p. 223) ; but similar con-
ceptions seem to have arisen in Italy (cf. above on Pietro
Vesconte's mappamundi, p. 223).

The south coast of Norway [with ** Stauanger "] and the
southern point of Greenland retained on Clavus's map the
same relation of latitude, a difference of ii°, as the corre-
sponding localities on the Medici map, with very nearly the
same degrees of latitude as on the latter, if we there employ
a scale of latitude calculated upon this map's representation
of Spain (the Straits of Gibraltar) and France (Brittany), and
use Ptolemy's latitudes for these countries. This has been
done in the reproduction of the Medicean mappamundi on
p. 236.^ The scale of longitude is calculated in the same

1 As there is considerable difference between the coast-lines of Europe on
Ptolemy's maps and those on the Medici maps, one's scale of latitude will vary
according to the points one may choose for determining it. The points here given
were the first I tried, and as the resulting scale seems to agree remarkably well
with Clavus's later map I have kept to it, although of course Clavus may have
proceeded in a somewhat di^erent way in determining the scale on his map ;
in particular he seems on the older map to have arranged it so that the parallel

259

CHAPTER
XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

proportion to the latitude as in Ptolemy. In some tract
like that included in the fourth part of the ** Rymbegla "
[1780, p. 466] Clavus may have found that Bergen lay in
latitude 60° and so placed the town on the west coast of Norway
in this latitude according to his own scale (on the right-hand
side of the Nancy map, see p. 474). In relation to the south
coast of Norway Bergen was thus brought |° farther south

•(ki*»*t

Scandinavia on the map of Europe in the Medici Atlas (of 1351).

The scales of latitude and longitude are here added from

Ptolemy's maps. The network of compass-lines is omitted

than ** c. bergis '* on the Medici map (above). Calculated
according to Ptolemy's scale of latitude (on the left-hand side
of the Nancy map), Bergen was consequently placed in Clavus's
text in 64°, while the southern point of Greenland is placed
in 63° 15 V a difference in latitude of 45' (in the Vienna text
the difference is 35'), while in reality it is 38' ; a remarkable

for 63° passed through the southernmost part of Norway, corresponding to
Ptolemy's Thule. In order better to agree with this (cf. the left-hand scale of
latitude of the Nancy map) the degrees of latitude on the map above ought
therefore to be increased half a degree, and on the map, p. 236, nearly a degree.

^ On the Nancy map the southern point of Greenland lies in 63° 30' ; but as
we do not know how accurately this copy reproduces Clavus's original map, it
is safer to confine ourselves to Clavus's text.
260

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

accidental agreement. According to Clavus's own scale of CHAPTER
latitude on the right-hand side of the Nancy map, we get ^"^
the following latitudes : Bergen 60°, the southern point of
Greenland 59° 15', Stavanger 58° 30'. In reality the latitudes
of these places are : 60° 24', 59° 46', and 58° 58'. This
agreement is remarkable, as a displacement of the scale of
latitude half a degree to the north on the Nancy map would
give very nearly correct latitudes.^ The mutual relation
between the latitudes of the three places may, as we have
seen, be explained from the Medici map, but hardly from a
possible acquaintance with the Icelandic sailing directions ;
for according to these Bergen and the southern point of Green-
land would be placed in the same latitude, since we are told
that from Bergen the course was " due west to Hvarf in
Greenland." ^ The Medici map may also give a natural
explanation of places like Bergen and the southern point
of Greenland having been given by Clavus a latitude so much
too northerly (even in the Nancy map), and of the southern
point of Greenland having only half a degree more westerly
longitude than the west coast of Ireland.^

1 Gerard Mercator writes that according to a tradition an English monk
and mathematician from Oxford [i.e., Nicholas of Lynn] had been in Norway
and in the islands of the north, and had described all these places and determined
their latitude by the astrolabe [cf. Hakluyt, Principal Navigations, 1903, p. 301].
It is therefore possible that Clavus may have obtained the latitudes of some places,
such as Stavanger and Bergen, from his work ; but in any case he cannot have
got the latitude of the southern point of Greenland from it. Moreover, if he had
had such accurate information to depend on, it would be difficult to understand
why he retained the incorrect latitudes which he obtained by introducing those
of Ptolemy on the Medici map ; in his later map, indeed, he has used nothmg
else.

2 Cf. Sturlubok and Ivar Bardsson's description of Greenland. In Hauk's
Landnama we read that it was from Hernum (that is, north of Bergen) that they
sailed west to Hvarf. According to this, then, the southern point of Greenland
would be brought even farther north than Bergen.

3 Although Dr. Bjornbo now admits that the Medici map must have been
used for Clavus's later map, he is still in doubt as to this being the case with the
older one (the original of the Nancy map) ; he is inclined to think that this map
may have been constructed from Northern sources, sailing directions, etc. But

261

XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS
CHAPTER Iceland lay, according to the Bruges itinerary, midway

between Norway and Greenland, precisely as on the Nancy
map. Between Norway and Iceland, according to the same
itinerary, lay '' Fared " [Faero], and the fabulous island
" Femoe," " where only women are born and never men."

After speaking of the " third headland " in 71° on the east
coast of Greenland, the Nancy text goes on :

" But from this headland an immense country extends eastward as far as Russia.
And in its [i.e., the country's] northern parts dwell the infidel Karelians ('Careli
infideles '), whose territory (* regio '1 extends to the north pole (' sub polo
septentrionalis ') towards the Seres ^ of the east, wherefore the pole [' polus ' = the
arctic circle ?], which to us is in the north, is to them in the south in 66°."

It is probable, as suggested by Bjornbo and Petersen, that
these *' Careli infideles" are identical with those who are
found almost in the same place, in the ocean to the north of
Norway, on one of the maps in Marino Sanudo's work (in the
Paris MS., see above, p. 225), and who on other maps belonging
to that work are placed on the mainland to the north-east of
Scandinavia. As pointed out by Storm, " Kareli " are also

there appear to me to be too many striking agreements between the Medici map
and the Nancy map for such an assumption to be probable ; and the following
may be given as instances : the number of bays between Skane and the south
coast of Norway, with the deepest bay on the west ; the resemblance between the
south coast of Norway with its three bays on the Nancy map and the south coast
of the corresponding peninsula to the north of Scotland on the Medici map ;
the high latitude of this south coast on both maps ; the agreement in latitude
between the southern point of Greenland and that of ** alogia " in the Medici
map ; the remarkable similarity in the relation between the longitudes of these
two southern points and the west coast of Ireland on both maps ; the mutual
relation in latitude between the southern point of Greenland and the south coast
of Norway (with Stavanger) ; the far too northerly latitude of all these places ;
the east coast of Greenland having the same main direction as the east coast of the
corresponding peninsula on the Medici map, etc. To these may be added the
similarity in the way the coast-lines are drawn, with round bays. Each of these
points of agreement may no doubt be explained, as Bjornbo suggests, as a coin-
cidence and as having arisen in another way ; but when there are so many of
them it must be admitted that a connection is more natural.

^ * Serica " on Ptolemy's map of the world lies in the extreme north-east
of Asia, and is most likely China.
262

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

mentioned together with Greenland and " Mare Gronlandicum ** CHAPTER

• • XIII

in the Bruges itinerary.

Bjornbo and Petersen maintain that Claudius Clavus has
here consciously put forward a new and revolutionary view
which was a complete break with the cosmogony of the whole
of the Middle Ages, since according to the latter the disc of
the earth was entirely surrounded by sea to the south of the
North Pole, as represented on the wheel-maps. I think this
is attributing to Clavus rather too much original thought,
of which his maps and text do not otherwise give evidence.
It is, of course, correct that the idea of land, and inhabited
land, too, at the North Pole, or to the north of the Arctic
Circle, did not agree with the general learned conception of
the Middle Ages ; but the same idea had already been clearly
enough expressed in Norwegian-Icelandic literature. Even
the Historia Norwegiae has inhabited land beyond the sea in
the north, and the Icelandic legendary sagas and Saxo have
it too. In addition to these, the tract included in the
" Rymbegla '* says distinctly (see above, p. 239) that this
land in the opinion of some lies under the pole-star (cf. Clavus 's
expression : ** sub polo septentrionalis "). The fact that the
continent on the Medicean map of the world extended bound-
lessly on the north into the unknown (whereas Africa ended
in a peninsula on the south) must have confirmed Clavus in
the view that the land reached to the pole. To this was added,
what perhaps weighed most with him, the fact that such a
view did not conflict with Ptolemy, whose continent also had
no limit on the north.

On the connecting land in the north is written, on the
Nancy map: "Unipedes maritimi," "Pigmei maritimi,"
" Griff onii regio vastissima, * * and " Wildhlappelandi." As
these names are not mentioned in Clavus 's text, it is uncertain
whether the fabulous creatures may not be to some extent
additions for which he is not responsible.

After the map was drawn, with its bays and headlands,
and the coast of Scandinavia provided with a suitable number

263

XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHA TER of islands, Claudius Clavus set himself to describe it ; where he
had no names from earlier sources, he numbered the headlands,
bays and islands, ** Primum," " Secundum," etc.

A remarkable thing about the Nancy map is that it has two
divisions of latitude : one according to Ptolemy on the left-
hand side of the map, and another according to Clavus himself,
on a scale four degrees lower, on the right-hand side. Accord-
ing to the latter, Roskilde would have a longest day of seventeen
hours (through a transposition the Nancy map gives seventeen
hours thirty minutes), which, as pointed out by Bjornbo [1910,
p. 96], exactly agrees with what Clavus may have learnt from
a Roskilde calendar (" Liber daticus Roskildensis ") of 1274.
Bjornbo has also remarked that Bergen is given a remarkably
correct latitude, 60° (the correct one is 60° 24'), and thinks
it possible that there may have been a Bergen calendar which
Clavus has used. But a more likely source, unnoticed by
Bjornbo, is to be found, as mentioned on p. 260, in the
** Rymbegla " tract, where the latitude of Bergen is given
as 60°. It is true that the same tract gives the latitude of
Trondhjem (Nidaros) as 64°, which does not agree with the
Nancy map, where there is a difference of only 2° between
Bergis and Nidrosia. Even though it is probable that Clavus
was acquainted with some such tract, with which his statement
as to land at the North Pole also agrees, it may have been
a somewhat different version from that which found its way
into the " Rymbegla," and perhaps the latitude of Trondhjem
was not mentioned there. On the other hand, he may have
found, there or elsewhere, the latitude of Stavanger given,
I J° farther south than Bergen (?).

If we assume that Clavus, even in the construction of his
first map, made use of the Medicean map of the world, and
that his Greenland is the most westerly peninsula of the latter's
Norway, it will seem strange that he did not also draw the west
coast of that peninsula, which would naturally become the
west coast of Greenland. It is true that the Nancy map is
only a copy, but as the west coast of Greenland is not mentioned
264

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

in the copy of Clavus'stext either, we are bound to believe that CHAPTER

XTTI

he did not include it. The margin on the western side of Clavus's
first map was evidently determined by that of Ptolemy's map
of the British Isles, and follows precisely the same meridian.
Thus there was no room for the Medici map's peninsula corre-
sponding to Clavus's Greenland. As already stated, it is difficult
to get away from the belief that the Medici map was used for
the east coast of Greenland, the south coast of Norway, etc. ;
the resemblances are too great, and otherwise inexplicable
(cf. p. 261, note 3).

After the first map was drawn, Clavus may have made Clavus's
further cartographical studies in Italy, and may thus have and text,
become acquainted with other compass-charts, especially and their
those of the Dalorto type. At the same time he may have genesis
obtained a new and more accurate determination of the
latitude of Trondhjem, probably by the length of its longest
day. As Trondhjem was an archbishopric, it is not unlikely
that he found such a piece of information in the papal archives
at Rome. He may then naturally have wished to bring his
map more into agreement with his new knowledge, and this
may have led to his later map, which is now known to us
through several somewhat varying copies. To this he then
wrote a new text (the Vienna text), which in all important
points resembles the former, but has various additions and
alterations. The later map has not the double scale of lati-
tude on any of the copies known, but curiously enough only
Ptolemy's degrees. Besides a more accurate delineation of
Jutland and the Danish islands, especially Sealand, Bornholm
and Gotland are drawn in closer resemblance to the Medici
map ; the south coast of Scandinavia has been altered to
agree more with compass-charts of the Catalan type. In
particular the south coast of Norway has been given the four
characteristic promontories (as on the Dalorto map of 1339,
and on the Modena map, etc. ; cf. the reproductions, pp. 226,
231), and Bergen (" Bergis ") has been placed at the head
of the westernmost of the three bays thus formed, which is

265

XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER also a peculiarity of the maps of this type (the Catalan chart of
1375 has five promontories with four bays, cf. Nordenskiold,
1896, PI. XI.). The other two diocesan towns, Stavanger
and Hamar, are placed at the heads of the other two bays
to the east, and Stavanger has thus lost the remarkably correct
position in relation to Bergen and the south point of Green-
land which it had on the older map. Trondhjem has been
placed at the extremity of the westernmost promontory,
possibly because there had been found a more correct deter-
mination of the latitude of the town, which was to be fitted
into Ptolemy's graduation ; thereby the shape of Norway
has become still narrower and farther removed from reality.

From the " lac scarsa " (Lake Skara, i.e., Vener) with
its river is derived the great lake " Vona " (Vener) in the
centre of Scandinavia on all the copies of Clavus's later map,
from which the river ** Vona " (also mentioned in the Vienna
text) runs into the deep bay by " Aslo " (Oslo) and the island
of ** Tunsberg." A connection, especially with Dalorto's map
of I339> seems again to be implied by Clavus's statement in
the Vienna text that on Lister Ness "white falcons are caught '*
(** Liste promontorium, ubi capiuntur falcones albi "). On
Dalorto's map there is a picture of a white falcon on the head-
land to the west of that which Clavus has made into Lister,
and the words " hie sunt girfalcos " (here are hunting
falcons). That Clavus has moved the hawks to a headland
farther east is of small importance. Either he may have taken
his hawks from Dalorto's or a similar map, or else they are
derived from an older common source.

Through the alteration of the south coast of Norway, it
became necessary to separate it from Thule, which again
became an island as originally in Ptolemy ; but on the copies
of the map it has in addition the name " Bellandiar," which
may be a corruption of Hetlandia (Shetland). The north-west
coast of Norway has also been given a form which agrees
better with the compass-charts, although it has a much more
east-north-easterly direction than even on the Modena map ;
266

1 s&itnuou •*

°1

> |,^L.j»«»^ ;

r/'

^--kr "O^

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

but this was, of course, necessary to make room for the sea chapter
" Nordhenbodnen " (Nordbotn). That the compass- charts ^"^
might lead to something resembling Clavus's last form of
Scandinavia, and especially of the south coast of Norway,
is shown by the map of Europe in Andrea Bianco 's atlas of
1436, which must have been drawn without knowledge of
Clavus's work. If on this map we move the coast of the
Baltic farther south, and Skane also, which would be necessi-
tated by a better knowledge of Denmark (and by the alteration
of the map follow-
ing Ptolemy), and
draw the coast-
line of Norway
towards the east-
north-east from
the south-western
promontory (in-
stead of making
it go in a northerly
direction) , we shall
get a Scandinavia
later map.

Bjornbo and Petersen have maintained in their mono-
graph that Clavus must have been in Norway before he drew
this map, and that amongst other things his remarkably
correct latitude for Trondhjem must be due to his own
observation of the length of the day at the summer solstice.
Storm [1889, p. 140] seems also to have supposed that Clavus
may really have been in Norway. To me it appears that
his map and text are conclusive evidence against his ever
having been there ; for a man who had sailed to Trondhjem
along the coast of Norway could not possibly have produced
a cartographical representation of the country so entirely
at variance with reality as Clavus has done, however ignorant
we may suppose him. The fact in itself that " Trunthheim "
(Trondhjem) or ** Nedrosia " is placed at the extremity of

267

The north-western portion of the map of Europe

[in Andrea Bianco 's atlas of 1436. TheJ^

[compass-lines are omitted ,

of very similar type to that in Clavus's

XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS
CHAPTER the south side of the south-western promontory of the country
is extraordinary. If he had come there asleep he could not
have got any such idea ; and for a man who had sailed in
through the long channel of the Trondhjem fjord up to the
town it is incredible. It is equally incredible that a man
who had sailed along the coast from Stavanger and Bergen
to Trondhjem could place the latter town in a latitude lo'
to the south of Bergen, and only lo' to the north of Stavanger.
We are not justified in attributing to Clavus such an entire
lack of power of observation, especially if we are to suppose
him capable of determining with remarkable accuracy the
length of the longest day at Trondhjem. That Trondhjem is
placed to the west of Bergen and Stavanger, that the Dovre-
fjeld is called a high promontory, while on the Nancy map it
was inland, that Hamar ('* Amerensis ") is put on the sea-
coast, etc., all shows the same want of knowledge of the country
and its configuration. The names he may have taken from an
itinerary or other sources, and, as already suggested, it is not
unlikely that he may have found in the papal archives a fairly
correct statement of the latitude (or length of the longest
day) of Trondhjem, which was an archbishop's see. That
the towns he gives are just those that are the heads of dioceses
is perhaps an indication of a connection with the Vatican.
Clavus tells us further that

** Norway has eighteen islands, which in winter are always connected with
the mainland, and are seldom separated from it, unless the summer is very warm,"
and that " * Tyle ' [Thule] is a part of Norway and is not reckoned as an island,
although it is separated from the land by a channel or strait, for the ice connects
it with the land for eight or nine months, and therefore it is reckoned as main-
land. The same applies to the sea * Nordhinbodnen * [Nordbotn], which
separates * Wildlappenland * from * Vermenlandh * ^ and ' Findland ' by a long
strait, since the countries are united by almost eternal ice."

This discloses an extraordinary lack of knowledge of
Northern conditions. Such a connection of the islands

^ It seems possible, as Mr. O. Vangensten has suggested to me, that this name
may here be due to a confusion of Vermeland with Bjarmeland. Peder Clausson
Friis [Storm, 1881, p, 219] says that Greenland extends round the north of the
" Norwegian Sea " " eastward to Biarmeland or Bermeland."
268

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

with the mainland by ice occurs, of course, nowhere on the CHAPTER
whole outer coast of Norway from Faerder to the Murman ^"^
Coast. On the other hand, the Gulf of Bothnia and the
Aland archipelago are frozen over for a long time in winter,
and it might be supposed that Clavus had heard reports of
this. But I have not been able to discover any source from
which he may have derived these fables. Most probably
they are embellishments of the same kind as the eighteen
islands of Norway, that form an arbitrary decoration of the
coast-line of his map, a circumstance which does not hinder
him from describing them as real. Clavus has used the ice
as a transition between the representation of his older map,
where Thule was part of the mainland, and that of the later
one, where it was made into an island.

At the northernmost limit of Norway, between two places
called ** Ynesegh " and ** Mestebrodh," Clavus connected
the Polar Sea (" Nordhinbodhn ") by a narrow channel with
the Gotland Sea [the Baltic], and a little farther north, in 67°,
he says that

"the uttermost limit is marked with a crucifix, so that Christians shall not
venture without the king's permission to penetrate farther, even with a great
company." " And from this place westwards over a very great extent of land
dwell first Wildlappmanni [Wild Lapps, i.e., Mountain Lapps, Reindeer Lapps ?
cf . vol. i. p. 227], people leading a perfectly savage life and covered with hair, as they
are depicted ; and they pay yearly tribute to the king. And after them, farther to
the west, are the little Pygmies, a cubit high, whom I have seen after they were
taken at sea in a little hide-boat, which is now hanging in the cathedral at Nidaros ;
there is likewise a long vessel of hides, which was also once taken with such
Pygmies in it."

Two things are to be remarked about this assertion that
he himself had seen these Pygmies (one might suppose in
Norway) : (i) if he had really seen a captive Eskimo brought
to Norway (by whom ?), he could hardly have been ignorant
that this remarkable native was from Greenland, and not
from a fabulous northern land. And (2), how could he then
give their height as no more than a cubit, like the Pygmies of
myth ? It appears to me that in one's zeal to defend Clavus,

269

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER one would thus have to attribute to him two serious falsehoods,
^"^ instead of a more innocent rhetorical phrase about having

seen this, that, and the other.

Clavus's statement about the Pygmies* small hide-boats,
and the long hide-boat, that hung in Trondhjem cathedral,
is, however, of great interest from the fact that this is the
first mention in literature of the two forms of Eskimo boat :
the kayak and the women's boat (** umiak "). Perhaps he
got this from the same unknown source (in the Vatican ?) in
which he found the statement of the latitude of Trondhjem (?).
In the fact that the Wild Lapps are mentioned first, and after
them the Pygmies, Clavus's text again bears a great resemblance
to the anonymous letter to Pope Nicholas V. (of about 1450).
In the northernmost regions (to the north-west of Norway)
this letter mentions [cf. Storm, 1899, p. 9]

" the forests of Gronolonde, where there are monsters of human aspect
who have hairy limbs, and who are called wild men." ..." And as one goes
west towards the mountains of these countries, there dwell Pygmies," etc. (cf
above, p. 86).

Michael Beheim also mentions ** Wild lapen," who live
in the forests to the north of Norway, and who carry on a dumb
barter of furs with the merchants, like that described by the
Arab authors as taking place in the country north of Wisu
(cf. p. 144), and he goes on to speak of the Skraelings, three
spans high, etc. (cf. above, p. 85). Beheim's statement
differs from Clavus's text, and this again from the letter to
Nicholas V., so that one cannot be derived from the other.
It is therefore most probable, as suggested already (p. 86),
that they have all drawn from some older source, and it may
be supposed that this was Nicholas of Lynn. We have seen
that there are other points in Clavus that lead one's thoughts
in the same direction.
Clavus proceeds :

'* The peninsula of the island of Greenland stretches down from land on the
north which is inaccessible or unknown on account of ice. Nevertheless, as I
have seen, the inllderKarelians daily come to Greenland in great armies (bands of
warriors, * cum copioso exercitu 'i, and that without doubt from the otker side
270

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

of the North Pole. Therefore the ocean does not wash the limit of the continent CHAPTER
under the Pole [Arctic Circle ?] itself, as all ancient authors have asserted ; and XIII
therefore the noble English knight, John Mandevil, did not lie when he said that
he had sailed from the Indian Seres [i.e., China ?] to an island in Norway."

If we compare this with the "Rymbegla" tract already
mentioned [1780, p. 466], we see that these are much the same
ideas as there expressed. We read there

'* that it is the report of the same men that the sea is full of eternal ice to the
north of us and under the pole star, where the arms of the Outer Ocean meet ..."

When it is there stated that

" those shores [under the pole star] hinder the ring of the ocean from coming
together [i.e., round the earth] "... and " that one can go on foot . . . from
Greenland to Norway " [cf. above, p. 239],

this is evidently something similar to what Clavus says ; but
the latter's words as to the voyage which he attributes to
Mandeville from the Indian Seres to Norway being more
probable because there is land at the North Pole are somewhat
incomprehensible.

John Mandeville's book about a voyage through many lands to the far east
and China dates from between 1357 and 1371, and is put together from various
accounts of voyages, with the addition of all kinds of fables. Mandeville does
not himself claim to have made any such voyage from China to Norway ; on
the other hand, he has much to say, in chapter xvii., about the possibility of
sailing round the world, which he declares to be practicable, and if ships were
sent out to explore the world, one could sail round the world, both above and
below. He says that when he was young he heard of a man who set out from
England to explore the world, and who went past India and the islands beyond it
where there are more than five thousand islands, and so far did he travel over
sea and land that he finally came to an island where he heard them calling to the
ox at the plough in his own language, as they did in his own country. This island
afterwards proved to be in Norway.^

Clavus's assertion that he himself saw (" ut uidi ") Kare-
Hans in Greenland is impossible. As it is expressly stated that
there was land at the North Pole, and as it is not mentioned that
these Karelians had hide-boats like the Pygmies, the meaning

^ Cf. Mandeville, 1883, pp. 180, 182, 183, f. Mandeville also says that in the
opinion of the old wise astronomers the circumference of the world was
20,425 English miles ; but he himself maintains that it is 31,500 miles.

271

CHAPTER
XIII

Clavus's
west coast
of Green-
land taken
directly
from the
Medici map

IN NORTHERN MISTS

must be that their armies came marching by the land route,
which, of course, is an impossibility, which, if he had been in
Greenland, would make him a worse romancer than if we
suppose his * * ut uidi ' ' to mean that he had seen something
of the sort stated in a narrative ; but even this may be doubtful.
In the Bruges itinerary [cf. Storm, 1891, p. 20] or some similar
older authority, which we know he may have used, he may
have seen " Kareli '* beyond Greenland spoken of as ** in
truth a populus monstrosus. ' ' We have already said that on
the maps accompanying Marino Sanudo's work he may have
seen '* Kareli infideles ** marked on the mainland to the north-
east of Norway, or even on an island out in the northern sea,
and he would then naturally have connected the Karelians of
the itinerary with these Karelians north of Norway. If we add
to this that on the Medicean map of the world he saw the mass
of the continent extending from Scandinavia and the peninsula
corresponding to Greenland, northwards into the unknown,
and that in the "Rymbegla '^ tract he saw mention of land at
the North Pole — then, indeed, his whole statement seems to
admit of a perfectly natural explanation.

His lack of knowledge of the conditions in Greenland
appears again in his speaking of Pygmies and Karelians as two
different peoples, one apparently on the sea, and the other
marching in armies on land ; and in his mentioning hide-boats
as something peculiar to the former in the fabulous northern
country, while he does not say that the Karelians in Greenland
had boats or went to sea. If he had only spoken to people
who had been in Greenland, he could hardly have avoided
hearing of the Skraelings who come to meet every traveller
in their hide-boats.

It is an important difference between Clavus's first and
second maps (and also between his first and second texts) that
on the latter Greenland is given a west coast. Its form bears
an altogether striking resemblance to the west coast of the
corresponding peninsula on the Medicean mappamundi, so
that there can be no doubt that this coast is copied from
272

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

it.^ This is notably the case if we confine ourselves to Bjornbo chapter
and Petersen's reconstruction of the coast after the text of ^"^
Clavus, from which it appears plainly enough that there are the
same number of bays as on the Medici map ; they are closest
together near the southern point of the country ; then come
two larger bays to the north, then a very broad bay, longer
than the two others together, and then a straighter coast-line

Map constructed by Dr. Bjornbo after Clavus's later descrip-
tion (the Vienna text). (Bjornbo and Petersen, 1904, PI. II.)

to the north of that (cf. p. 236). The east coast of Greenland
has in part been provided with corresponding bays, although
this coast is almost straight on the Medici map ; but this
answers to the north coast of Scandinavia on the Nancy map
having very nearly the same indentations as the south coast.
In taking the Medici map as the foundation of Clavus's Green-
land coast we also have a natural explanation of the relation
between his distribution of names on the east coast and the

^ That the delineation of this coast is not based upon personal examination,
either by Clavus himself or by any possible informant, is also shown by the fact
that the coast has not a single real name. Even if we suppose that Clavus, or his
possible informant, during the voyage along this coast, had been so unfortunate
as not to meet with a single one of the Norse inhabitants who might have com-
municated names, we cannot very well assume that the crew of the ship on
which the voyage was made were totally unacquainted with Greenland ; they
must certainly have had plenty of names and sea-marks.

II 5 273

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER west. In his later text it is striking that his description
^^^^ of the east coast of Greenland does not reach farther than

to his " Thaer promontorium " in 65° 35', while the description
of the west coast goes as far north as 72°. This might seem
to be connected with real local knowledge, since the latitude
65° 35' on the east coast agrees in a remarkable way with the
latitude of Cape Dan, 65° 32', where the coast turns in a more
northerly direction. To the north of this the coast is usually
blocked with ice, and this place has therefore frequently been
given as the northern limit of the known east coast, and probably
it was there that the Icelanders first arrived off the land on
their voyage westward to the Greenland settlements. But
this is one of those accidental coincidences that sometimes
occur, and that warn us to be careful not to draw too many
conclusions from evidence of this nature.^ We find the
explanation in the Medici map (p. 236), where the east coast of
the peninsula corresponding to Greenland does not go farther
north than to about the same latitude as the promontory
on the south side of the broad bay already referred to on
the west coast, which promontory Clavus calls " Hynth "
[" Hyrch "] ; it lies in 65° 40'. As Clavus's coast from this
point of the east coast northward had no map to depend on,
he did not venture to go farther in his description this time,
though in the Nancy text he goes to 71° with his northernmost
cape.

The Medicean map of the world gives us at the same time
a simple explanation of Clavus's designations for the two
most northerly points on the west coast of Greenland. If
we confine ourselves to the scale of latitude for the Medici
map, which, as stated above (p. 259), we have found by using
Ptolemy's latitudes for more southern places on the map

^ It must be remembered that Clavus's latitudes are throughout too high ;
his south point of Greenland lies about three degrees too far north, in 62° 40'
instead of 59° 46/ If we carry this reduction to the most northerly point he
describes on the east coast, this will lie in about 62° 30' instead of 65° 35', and
thus the coincidence with Cape Dan disappears. His description of the east coast
of Greenland in the Nancy map is quite different.
274

CLAUDIUS CLAVUS

(Gibraltar and Brittany), and which is inserted in the left- chapter

hand margin of the reproduction, p. 236, we shall find the "«"

following : just at the spot of which Clavus declares: **New,

the uttermost limit of the land which we know on this side,

lies in 70° 10'," ^ the heavy colouring of the land on the Medici

map comes to an end (judging from the photograph in Ongania,

PI. v.). Farther to the north extends the coast of the lightly

coloured mass of land ; but just at this point, in 72°, where

Clavus has his " ultimus locus uisibilis " [last point visible] ^

this coast-line disappears into the oblique frame which cuts

off the upper left-hand corner of the map. The agreement

is here so exact and so complete that it would be difficult to

find any way out of it.

Bjornbo and Petersen have asserted that Iceland, on the The position
later map and in the Vienna text, has been given a position °^ Iceland
more in agreement with the sailing directions than on the
Nancy map. I cannot see the necessity for this supposition,
as it has almost exactly the same position in relation to the
southern point of Greenland and to Norway in both works ;
the chief difference is merely that the longitude of all three
countries is made 3° farther east in the later work (and the
latitude of the southern points of Iceland and Greenland is put
somewhat farther south), and that the east coast of Greenland
has a more oblique north-eastward direction than the corre-
sponding north-east coast on the Medici map, with the direction
of which the Nancy map agrees fairly well. In this way it
is brought nearer to Iceland ; but that this should be due to
a knowledge of the sailing directions seems very uncertain,
and is not disclosed, so far as I can see, elsewhere in the later
work. The only things I have found which might possibly

1 Such an inscription as this is quite in the style of Clavtxs's great prototype,
Ptolemy, in whom we often find : " this is the end of the coast of the known
land."

^ It is worth remarking that Clavus puts his last point visible no less than
1° 50' (that is, no nautical miles) to the north of the limit of the known land.
If a statement like this was calculated to be taken as derived from local knowledge,
it would not in any case disclose much nautical experience.

27s

CHAPTER
XIII

Clavus's
merits

Clavus's
influence
on later
cartography

Nicolaus
Germanus,
circa 1460-
1470

IN NORTHERN MISTS

point to northern authorities having been consulted since the
production of the Nancy work, are the accurate latitude of
Trondhjem, already referred to, and the island of ** Byorno '*
between Iceland and Greenland. The latter might be the
Gunnbjornskerries (or Gunnbjarnar-eyar) mentioned, amongst
other places, in Ivar Bardsson's description of Greenland ;
but the abbreviation of the name is curious. Perhaps the
island may be due to some oral communication, or an erroneous
recollection of something the author may have heard of in
Denmark in his youth.

On the whole we shall be compelled after all to detract
considerably from Claudius Clavus's reputation as a Northern
traveller and cartographer. His journey did not extend
farther north than the Danish islands, and perhaps Skane.
On the other hand, he was in Italy, where he drew his maps
or had them drawn, and where he also found his most important
authorities. His chief merit as a cartographer is that he is
the first we know of to have adopted Ptolemy's methods,
and that he gave the name of Greenland to the westernmost
tongue of land in Norway on the Medicean mappamundi,
and altered this a good deal with the help of other compass-
charts and Vesconte's mappamundi, to make it agree better
with the ideas of the North which he may have acquired to
some extent in his youth through legendary tales, and later
through Saxo and other writers.

Claudius Clavus's later map of the North exercised for a
long period a decisive influence on the representation of
Scandinavia and to some extent of Greenland. This was
chiefly due to the two well-known cartographers, Nicolaus
Germanus and Henricus Martellus.^ The former must have
become acquainted with Clavus's map soon after 1460, and
included copies of it in the splendid MSS. of Ptolemy's Geo-
graphy which proceeded from his workshop at Florence. In
these copies, of which several are known (cf. p. 251), he

1 On the influence of these men on the cartographical representation of the
North, see in particular J. Fischer, 1902.
276

FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MAPS

has"redrawn]^Clavus's map in the trapezoidal projection invented CHAPTER
by himself, whereby his Greenland has been given a more oblique ^"^
position than the Greenland of the original map and the corre-
sponding peninsula on the Medici map. He also introduced
this Greenland into his map of the world [cf. J. Fischer, 1902,
PI. I., III. ; Bjornbo, 1910, p. 136] ; but, in order to make
it agree better with the learned mediaeval view of the earth's
disc surrounded by ocean, he surrounded it by sea on the
north, so that it
came to form a
long and narrow
tongue of landpro-
jecting from nor-
thern Russia, in-
stead of the nor-
thern mass of land
extending to the
North Pole ac-
cording to Clavus.

But this long peninsula does not seem to have entirely satisfied
this priest's erudite ideas of the continent, and on later maps
(which were printed after his death in the Ulm editions of
Ptolemy of 1482 and i486) he shortened it so much that it
became a rounded peninsula to the north of Norway, with
the name " Engronelant, " ^ and at the same time he moved
Iceland out into the ocean to the north-west. This apparently
quite arbitrary alteration may perhaps be due to a desire to
bring the map as far as possible into agreement with the
learned dogma of the continent [cf. Bjornbo, 1910, pp. 141, ff.] ;
but older conceptions of Greenland may also have contributed

1 As shown by Bjornbo and Petersen, this is evidently Clavus 's name '* Eyn
Gronelandz aa " for a river on the east coast of Greenland, which was misun-
derstood on Clavus *s map and made the name of the country, assisted perhaps
by the resemblance in sound with the name Engromelandi (for Angermanland),
which Clavus has on the north side of Scandinavia (p. 248]. This resemblance of
sound may also have had something to do with the removal of Greenland to the
north of Norway.

277

North-western portion of Nicolaus Germanus's first

revision of Ptolemy's map of the world (after

1466). (J. Fischer, 1902, PI. I.)

CHAPTER
XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

towards it [cf. J. Fischer, 1902, pp. 87, ff.]. We have already
seen that Adam of Bremen regarded Greenland as an island
" farther out in the ocean opposite the mountains of Suedia '*
(see vol. i. p. 194), and in his additions to the copy of Ptolemy,
Cardinal Filastre (before 1427) states that Greenland lay to
the north of Norway ; we find the same view in the letter of

Map of the North by Nicolaus Germanus (before 1482), after
Claudius Clavus, but with Greenland transferred to the north of

Norway

1448 from Pope Nicholas V. (see above, p. 113).^ It^isTalso
somewhat remarkable that on the Genoese mappamundi of
1447 (or 1457) there occurs a peninsula north of Scandinavia
just at the place where Clavus's Greenland should begin
(see p. 287).^ On Fra Mauro's mappamundi (1457-59) there

1 Cf. Gronl. hist. Mind., iii. p. 168. Bjornbo [1910, p. 79] by a slip quotes the
letter to Pope Nicholas V. of about the same date, instead of that given above.

2 According to Lelewel [Epilogue, PI. 6] this peninsula bears the name of
" Grinland," but this cannot be seen on the somewhat indistinct original [cf.
Bjornbo, 1910, p. 80 ; Ongania, PI. X.].

278

FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MAPS

are several peninsulas to the north of Scandinavia, some of CHAPTER
which proceed from Russia (see p. 285). ^"'

The cartographer Henricus Martellus, who succeeded Henricus
Nicolaus Germanus, again adopted Clavus's form of Green- ^.-j.^^ '
land, wholly or in part, on his maps dating from about 1490.

In this way there arose on the maps of the close of the
Middle Ages two types of the North : one with Greenland in
a comparatively correct position to the west of Iceland, though
far too near Europe and connected therewith, and another
type with ** Engronelant " as a peninsula to the north of
Norway. The latter remained for a long time the usual one
in all editions of Ptolemy, in other cartographical works and
on many globes. After the rediscovery of Greenland we even get
sometimes two delineations of this country on the same map, one
to th a north of Norway and the other in its right place in the west.

Greenland seems to have been given a wholly different
form on a Catalan compass-chart from Majorca, of the close
of the fifteenth century, where in the Atlantic to the west
of Ireland and south-west of Iceland [ * * Fixlanda ' '] there is
an island called ** Ilia verde " [the green isle]. It seems, as Ilia verde
assumed by Storm [1893, P* S^]» ^^^^ ^^^ name must be a
translation of Greenland, which is called in the Historia
Norwegiae ** Viridis terra." The representation of Iceland
[" Fixlanda "] on this map is incomparably better than on
all earlier maps, and gives proof of new information having
come from thence. As the place-names point to an English
source, it is possible that the cartographer may have received
information from Bristol, which city was engaged in the Iceland
trade and fisheries, and his island, '' Ilia verde," may be due
to an echo of reports about the forgotten Greenland in the west.
It is worth remarking that the island is connected with the
Irish mythical * * Ilia de brazil, ' ' which lay to the west of Ireland
and which appears in this map twice over in its typical
round form (cf. above, p. 228).^ If we remember that this

1 Storm [1893], and following him J. Fischer [1902, pp. 99, fi.], erroneously
regard this island of Brazil as Markland (see above, p. 229}.

279

CHAPTER
XIII

IN NORTHERN MISTS

happy isle is in reality the Insulae Fortunatae, and that in the
Historia Norwegiae (see above, p. i) it is said that Greenland
["Viridis terra"] nearly touches the African Islands (i.e.,
Insulae Fortunatae), then we possibly have an explanation of
this juxtaposition. But as it is said in the same passage that
Greenland forms the western end of Europe, we cannot suppose

Part of a Catalan compass-chart of the fifteenth century,
preserved at Milan. (Nordenskiold, 1892, PI. 5)

that the cartographer was acquainted with this work. The
probability is, no doubt, that Greenland [Ilia verde] together
with Brazil or the Insulae Fortunatae had become transformed
into mythical islands out in the ocean.

On another compass-chart, bound up in a Paris MS. of
Ptolemy of the latter part of the fifteenth century, a similar
island (or peninsula ?), with the same round island to the south
of it, is seen to project southwards from the northern border
of the chart out into the Atlantic, and a little farther east
than the Insulae Fortunatae. On the island is written :
*' Insula uiridis, de qua fit mentio in geographia " [the
280

FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MAPS

green island, of which mention is made in the geography].^ CHAPTER
We do not know what geographical work may here be meant ; ^^^^
Bjornbo suggests that it might be the lost work of Nicholas
of Lynn, who again may have used the Historia Norwegiae.
It is striking that the island, besides being connected with a
round island like Brazil, but without a name, is placed on this
map near the Insulae Fortunatae.

This " green island," which thus is probably a remnant of
old Greenland, occurs again in various forms and in various
places on many sixteenth- century maps.

It is not surprising that information about the northern

lands made its appearance also on the maps of this time, as

we know that the North was visited more frequently, and

sometimes by eminent southerners, from the year 1248, when

the well-known Matthew Paris, who, amongst other things,

drew a map of England remarkable for his time, visited Norway.

Rather is it strange that the direct knowledge thus obtained

did not leave more definite traces. Early in the fifteenth century

(some year between 1397 and 1448) a Byzantine, Cananos Lascaris's

Lascaris, travelled in the North and wrote about it (in Greek). iou"iey *<>

Norway and
He mentions amongst other things that in Bergen, the capital Iceland,

of Norway (** Bergen Vagen "), money was not used in trading fifteenth

[this must have been due to scarcity of coin] ; but in Stock- ^^"*"^

olmo, the capital of Sweden, they had money of alloyed silver.

Bergen had a month of daylight from June 24 to July 25. He

also says that he himself went to the land of the Ichthyophagi

(fish-eaters), " Islanta," from ** Inglenia," and stayed there

for twenty-four days. The people were strong and powerfully

built, they lived only on fish, and they had a summer day of

six months [cf. Lampros, 1881].

It would take us too far here to attempt a mention of all Fifteenth-

the fifteenth-century maps which have a different repre- ^^^^^^^^.^

'^ *^ maps of the

sentation of the North ; but perhaps some of the mappemundi world
in wheel-form, which were still current at this time, ought

* See J. Fischer, 1902, p. 99, Cf. also Bjornbo, 1910, pp. 125, ff., who gives
a drawing of the map.

281

CHAPTER
XIII

^ep tenting

IN NORTHERN MISTS

to be referred to. We saw that on Vesconte's map of the
world accompanying Marino Sanudo's work the coast-lines
of the compass-charts in the Mediterranean, etc., had already-
been introduced. On the Modena map (p. 231) this has also

been carried out as
i^or regards the North.
In the fifteenth cen-
tury we have various
wheel - maps, of
which some seem to
be more antiquated.
Lo Bianco 's round
mappamundi, in his
atlas of 1436, is con-
nected with the
compass - charts of
that time. Johannes
Leardus's round
mappamundi, in
many editions of
1448 and earlier,^
likewise shows a
strong affinity to the
c o m p a s s-c h a rts,
although there is little detail in the delineation of the North.
The same is the case with the anonymous round map-
pamundi in a codex in the Library of St. Mark at Venice
[cf. Kretschmer, 1892, atlas, PI. III., No. 13], but this map
has also points of similarity to Vesconte's mappamundi
in Sanudo's work, and, amongst other things, it has the
same mountain-chain along the north coast of the continent,
and the same form of the Baltic.

The round mappamundi in a MS. of Mela of 141 7 at Rheims ^

^ Two editions are reproduced in Nordenskiold [1897, P> ^'1 ^"^ Ongania
[PI. XIV.].

« Reproduced by Nordenskiold [1897, p. 5] and Lelewel [1851, PI. XXXIII.] ;
Miller, 1895, iii. p. 138.
282

Europe on the mappamundi in the Geneva MS. of

Sallust of about 1450. (The south should

be at the top)

FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MAPS

is, on the whole, of a very antiquated type, but its image CHAPTER

XTTT

of the North seems more modern, and it has the same moun-
tain-chain along the north coast of the continent as Vesconte's
map. The ** Sallust " map at Geneva, of about 1450, is also

North-western portion of Andreas Walsperger's mappamundi

(of 1448). Most of the names are omitted. (The south should

be at the top)

antiquated, but its Baltic resembles the compass-charts, and
the two mountain ridges, one along the north coast of the
continent, the other parallel with it in the interior, strongly
recall Vesconte's map of the world. On the other hand, the
connection by water between the Baltic and Maeotis (the Sea
of Azov) is evidently derived from an earlier age (cf. p. 199).
Out in the ocean to the north-west and west of Norway lie
four islands. Bjornbo supposes [1910, p. 75] that the two

283

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER more northerly of these may correspond to Adam of Bremen's

^"^ Greenland and Wineland, but this must be very uncertain.^
Wals- A curious delineation of the North is found on the round

perger's mappamundi which was drawn at Constance in 1448 by

map of 1448 ^^ ^

the Benedictine monk Andreas Walsperger of Salzburg [cf.

Kretschmer, 1891a]. The map is in most respects imperfect

and antiquated, but shows also more recent, particularly

German, influence.

The Mediterranean and the Baltic are disproportionately large, and the mass
of land between them has been contracted. There are many mediaeval mythical
conceptions, and items showing possible influence by Adam of Bremen [cf . Miller,
iii. 1895, p. 147]. Thus in northern Asia we have " Cenocephali " and Cannibals
[** Andropophagi "], bearded women, Gog, Magog, etc. In Norway we read :
" Here demons often show themselves in human shape and render service to men,
and they are called trolls." Claudius Clavus also speaks of trolls in Norway. In
the northern ocean to the north-west of Norway is written : "In this great sea
there is no sailing on account of magnets." This is evidently the widely distributed
mediaeval myth of the magnet-rock, which attracted all ships with iron in them ;
in Germany it occurs in the legend of Duke Ernst's wanderings in the Liver Sea,
and it is doubtless derived from the Arabian Nights. On the mainland to the north-
east of Norway we read that * ' here under the North Pole the land is uninhabitable
on account of the excessive cold which produces a condition of continual frost. ..."
In the extreme north of the ocean, near the Pole, is written : ** Hell is in the
heart or belly of the earth according to the opinion of the learned."

" Palus meotidis " [the Sea of Azov] is marked as a lake due east of the Baltic.
Along the north coast of Europe (and Norway) is indicated a ridge of mountains,
somewhat similar to that in the Sanudo-Vesconte maps of the world. The delinea-
tion of Denmark ("dacia," with "koppenhan" and " londoma," i.e., Lund),
the straight south coast of the Baltic, and a long-shaped island called " Suecia "
(with " Stocholm " and " ipsala ") on the north, remind us a good deal of Edrisi's
map (p. 203), and also somewhat of the Cottoniana (vol. i. p. 183). To the north
of the island of Suecia ' ' the very great kingdom of Norway [' Norwegie '] ' ' projects
to the west as a long peninsula bounding the Baltic, with " brondolch " [Born-
holm ?] and " nydrosia metropolis " [the capital Nidaros] as towns on its south
coast, and with the land of '* Yslandia " [Iceland] and the town of "Pergen "
[Bergen] on its extreme promontory.

The Borgia Another peculiar type of the round mappamundi is the

map, a er go-called Borgia map of the fifteenth century (after 1410).
Its representation of Europe, with the Mediterranean on the

1 Bjombo, by the way, only speaks of two islands, whereas in Lelewel's
reproduction there are four islands, which is no doubt correct. It seems, too, as
though all four could be faintly distinguished in Bjombo's photographic repro-
duction [1910, p. 74].
284

1410

FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MAPS
southern side of the earth's disc, is very imperfect and far CHAPTER

VTTT

removed from reality. The same is the case with its delinea- "*
tion of the North, but curiously enough its Scandinavia, which

North-western portion of Fra Mauro's mappamundi (of 1457-

59), preserved at Venice. The legends and most of the names

are omitted. (The south should be at the top)

is different from that of the compass-charts, and in which
Skane forms a peninsula on the south, to the east of Denmark,
has a greater resemblance to reality than that of other maps
of this time. This map, too, has a chain of mountains along
the north coast of the continent, as in the Vesconte maps [see
Nordenskiold, 1897, PI. XXXIX.].

285

CHAPTER
XIII

map, 1458

IN NORTHERN MISTS
The best known fifteenth- century map of the world is
that of Fra Mauro (i4S7-59)» which is also drawn in wheel-
form and is preserved at Venice. The coast-lines are taken
FraMauro's to a great extent from the compass- charts, but a great deal
of new matter has been added. As regards Norway, this
consists of information from Querini's voyage in 1432, as well
as from other sources which are unknown to us ; this is indi-
cated by, amongst other things, an inscription on the sea
to the north of Russia [*' Permia "], which relates that a
short time before two Catalan ships had sailed thither [cf. Van-
gensten, 1910]. On this map the Scandinavian Peninsula has
been given a more reasonable extension to the north ; but
the west coast is very imaginatively supplied with peninsulas
and islands, while the ocean outside is full of fabulous islands
and contains many legends.

Denmark [" Datia "] has been made into an island (which is also called
** Isola islandia "), and the Baltic [" Sinus germanicus "] has been widened into
an inland sea with islands. In its northern part is a note that on this sea the use
of the compass is unknown [cf. Vangensten, 1910]. Could this inscription be
due to a misunderstanding like that on the Walsperger map in the ocean to the
north-west of Norway, that it could not be navigated on account of magnets
(cf. p. 283) ? There is no hint of the name of Greenland on this map ; on the
other hand, Iceland appears in three or four different places : besides Denmark,
as mentioned above, there is in northern Norway or Finland a peninsula named
" Islant," " where wicked people dwell, who are not Christians " ; also a large
island, " Ixilandia," north-west of Ireland, and finally an intricate peninsula
in the middle of Norway called '* Isola di giaza " [i.e., the island of ice]. On
the north of Norway or Finland a peninsula projects into the Polar Sea with the
name of " Scandinabia." The map does not contribute anything new of importance
about the North, but points to a few fresh pieces of information about Norway,
which are not to be traced in the older compass-charts ; thus Bergen comes
nearly in its right place on the west coast, and Marstrand appears to the east of
Christiania fjord.

A picture of the North of a wholly different type is given
on the elliptical Genoese mappamundi [of 1447 or 1457],
which is still more fantastic than any of those hitherto men-
tioned. The Scandinavian Peninsula has a very long extension
to the west, and ends in a promontory projecting northwards.
To the north of this Scandinavia there is another fantastic
peninsula where Lelewel thinks he can read the name
ZS6

Genoese
mappa-
mundi,

M47

FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MAPS
*' Grinland," which is probably due to a misunderstanding, CHAPTER

XIII

since, as pointed out by Bjornbo [1910, p. 80], the name
cannot be seen on the much-damaged original, or on
Ongania's photographic reproduction [Fischer-Ongania, PI. X.].
Many imaginary islands are scattered about in the sea round
these peninsulas.

Towards the close of the fifteenth century the discovery Globes of
was made of representing the surface of the earth, with land ^^^^^^^^^

Northern Europe on'the Genoese mappamundi of 1447 or 1457

and sea, on globes. It was evidently the efforts of Toscanelli
that led to the general adoption of this mode of representation,
which had been used by the Greeks at an early time (cf. vol. i.
p. 78) ; in 1474 he announced that his idea of the western route
to India could best be shown on a sphere. Columbus seems to
have taken a globe with him on his voyage of 1492, according
to his own words in the ship's log. The oldest known terres- Behaim's
trial globe that is preserved was made in 1492 by the German 210^6,1492
Martin Behaim (born at Nuremberg in 1459).^ He spent much
time in Portugal, and also in the Azores, after making a
distinguished marriage with a native of those islands, a sister-
in-law of Gaspar Corte-Real's sister. But it was during a
visit to his native town (1490-93) that he constructed his
globe. The sources of Behaim's representation of the North

As to Behaim, see in particular Ravenstein, 1908.

287

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER were principally Nicolaus Germanus's mappamundi in the
Ulm editions of Ptolemy, of 1482 and i486, where Greenland
is placed to the north of Norway, and Marco Polo's travels,

XIII

Northernmost Europe eind the north polar regions on Behaim's globe, 1492

which speak of the northern regions of Asia. Besides these
a name like ** tlant Venmarck " (the land of Finmark), for
instance, points to a use of the same older authority as in
the anonymous letter to Pope Nicholas V., of about 1450,
288

FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MAPS

where in the existing French translation there is mention CHAPTER
of ** lieux champestres de Venmarche " [the plains of Fin- ^^^^
mark].^ Thus we are here again led to the lost work of Nicholas
of Lynn, "Inventio fortunata" (1360), as the possible source.
That it really was this work that was used seems also to result
from the fact that the countries about the North Pole on
Behaim's globe bear a remarkable resemblance to Ruysch's
map of 1508, where this note is given at the North Pole :

" In the book * De Inventione f ortunata * it may be read that there is a
high mountain of magnetic stone, 33 German miles in circumference. This is
surrounded by the flowing ' mare sugenum,* which pours out water hke a vessel
through openings below. Around it are four islands, of which two are
inhabited. Extensive desolate mountains surround these islands for 24 days'
journey, where there is no human habitation."

What is new in Behaim's picture of the North is chiefly
this circle of land and islands around the North Pole, which
he evidently took from Nicholas of Lynn, and which is not
represented on any older map known to us. It consists of
a continuous mass of land proceeding from his Greenland-
Lapland to the north of Scandinavia, and extending east-
ward nearly to the opposite side of the Pole, where the Arctic
Ocean (" das gefroren mer septentrional ") to the north of
the continent becomes an enclosed sea. On the other side
of the Pole are two large islands and a number of smaller
ones. On one of the large islands is a picture of an archer
in a long dress attacking a polar bear (which may be connected
with myths about Amazons ?), and on the other side is
written : " Hie fecht man weisen valken " [here they catch
white falcons]. It might be supposed that this was derived
from statements about Scandinavia or Iceland (cf. e.g., the
legends of the compass-charts) ; but, as assumed by Raven-
stein [1908, p. 92] and Bjornbo [1910, p. 156], it is more
likely to come from Marco Polo's travels, where the Arctic
coast of Siberia is spoken of. The many correct names, in
a German form, in Martin Behaim's Scandinavian North
point to the possibility of his also having received oral

1 Cf. storm, 1899, p. S.
II T 289

CHAPTER
XIII

Laon globe,
M93

IN NORTHERN MISTS

information, though they may equally well be derived from
older German maps.

Almost contemporary with Behaim's globe is the so-called
Laon globe of 1493, which was accidentally discovered in a
curiosity shop at Laon some years ago. It gives a wholly
different representation of the North, more in agreement
with the usual maps of the world of the Nicolaus Germanus
type, with sea at the pole round the north of the continent,

A portion of the Laon globe of 1493. (After d'Avezac.J

which terminates approximately at the Arctic Circle. The
Scandinavian Peninsula (called " Norvegia ") has a form
somewhat resembling this type ; but to the north of it " Gron-
landia " appears as an island, with a land called Livonia project-
ing northward on the east, and two islands, Yslandia and Tile,
on the west. Nothing is known of the origin of the Laon
globe, or of the sources of its representation of the North.

Such were the geographical ideas of the North at the close
of the Middle Ages, when the period of the great discoveries
was at hand ; they were vague and obscure, and the mists
had settled once more over large regions which had been
formerly known ; but out in the mists lay mythical islands
and countries in the north and west.
290

CHAPTER XIV

JOHN CABOT AND THE ENGLISH DISCOVERY OF
NORTH AMERICA

VER the cloud-bridge of illusion lies the path of human CHAPTER
progress. The greatest achievements in history have ^^^
been brought about more by the aid of ideas than of truth, o/geo-^^"^
Religious illusions have ennobled the rude masses and raised graphical
them to higher forms of society ; in the domain of science '^'^^''^
intuition and hypothesis have led to fresh victories, as also in
geographical exploration ; there too illusions, like a fata
Morgana, have impelled men forward to great discoveries.

It is true that Columbus's plan was based on the correct
idea that the world was round ; but if he had known the real
distance of India — if he had not been fettered by the ancient
dogmas of the Greeks about the great extension of the continent
to the east, and their low estimate of the earth's circumference,
which made India appear so enticingly near — if he had not
believed in myths of lands in the west — he certainly would
never have been the discoverer of a new world.

The people of the Middle Ages lived, as we have seen, to

291

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER a great extent on remnants of the geographical knowledge
^^^ and conceptions of the Greeks. It was the age of super-

stition and speculation ; with the exception of the Norsemen
and the Arabs, and in some degree also the Irish monks,
there was during the earlier part of this period no enterprise
that broke through the bounds of the known, except in the
mythical world of fancy. It was not until the Crusades that
the horizon began to be widened. The eastern trade of the
Italian republics and the development of capable Italian
seamen were of great significance. At an early date they
made discoveries along the west coast of Africa. Of even
greater importance was it that the Portuguese learned sea-
manship from them, and no doubt from the Arabs as well,
and displayed great enterprise on the ocean along the shores
of Africa, finding groups of islands in the west, and finally
the Azores in 1427 ; but these must have been discovered
earlier, since similar islands occur on Italian maps of the
fourteenth century (cf. the Catalan Atlas of 1375).

When Ptolemy's work, and through it the geography
of the Greeks, became known in Western Europe at the
beginning of the fifteenth century, it created a greater stir
in the learned world than even the discovery of America
did later ; the circle of geographical ideas was greatly changed,
and the world was regarded with new eyes as a sphere. The
doctrine of the possibility of circumnavigating the earth was
especially framed and scientifically established by the cele-
brated astronomer Toscanelli of Florence. But this was not
a new doctrine ; for the Greeks, Eratosthenes and Posidonius,
for example (cf. vol. i. pp. 77, 79), had already announced it
clearly enough, and even in the Middle Ages it was not forgotten.
We saw that Mandeville, the writer of fabulous narratives, fully
understood the possibility of sailing round the globe, and related
ancient tales about such a voyage (cf. p. 271). But at the close
of the fifteenth century the idea was seriously taken up by two
men of action, both Genoese. One of them was Columbus,
the other Cabot. Whether the latter had already conceived
292

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

the idea before the first voyage of Columbus we do not know chapter:
for certain, but it is not improbable ; the thought was latent ^^^
in the age, and many must have come near it. Another
force impelling men to the western voyage, and perhaps
as powerful a one as these scientific speculations, was the
belief in the mythical world of enticing islands that lay out
in the ocean to the west of Europe and Africa ; the Isles of
the Blest of the Greeks and the Atlantis of Plato, conceptions,
originally derived from the East, which were still alive, though
in other forms. There lay Antillia, the Isle of the Seven
Cities, mythical islands of the Arabs, and the Irish legendary
world, Brandan's isles and many others ; some of them had
had a part in creating the Norse idea of Wineland and the
White Men's Land ; now they were given a fresh lease of
life, and power over the imagination of Western Europe.
Possibly in connection with echoes of tales of the Norsemen's
discoveries — coming from Iceland to Bristol, and thence to
the continent — these mythical islands helped to form a wide-
spread belief in countries in the far west across the ocean.
The fact that the Portuguese, as has been said, really found
islands, the Azores, out in the Atlantic in 1427, also con-
tributed to establish this belief. From these islands many
expeditions set out in the course of the fifteenth century
to search for new lands farther west.^

From the beginning of the fifteenth century Bristol was in Connection
frequent communication with Iceland, both for the fishery o* Bristol
and for trade. As already pointed out, this was certainly Iceland
due in no small degree to the number of Norwegians who had
settled in the town. Sailors and merchants returning from
voyages to Iceland doubtless brought thence many tales of
marvels and of unknown islands and countries out in the ocean ;
legends of the Icelanders' voyages to Greenland and Wine-
land may have served to entertain the winter evenings in
Bristol.'^ It was therefore surely not an accident that attempts

1 Cf. Harrisse, 1892, pp. 655, ff.

^ As is well known, the possibility has been suggested that during his visit

CHAPTER
XIV

The Isle
of Brazil

Expedition
to find
Brazil, 1480

IN NORTHERN MISTS

to find land in the west should originate precisely in this
enterprising sea-port.

On the maps of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
there lay out in the ocean to the west of Ireland the Isle of
Brazil (cf. p. 228). It was the Irish fortunate isle Hy Breasail,
of which it is sung :

" On the ocean that hollows the rocks where ye dwell,
A shadowy land has appeared, as they tell ;
Men thought it a region of sunshine and rest.
And they called it O'Breizil— the isle of the blest.

From year unto year, on the ocean's blue rim.
The beautiful spectre showed lovely and dim ;
The golden clouds curtained the deep where it lay,
And it looked like an Eden, away, far away."

[Gerald Griffin.]

We have seen that on certain maps this round fabled
isle was brought into connection with an " Insula verde,"
probably Greenland, and this conception of the latter pro-
bably came from Iceland by way of England. We do not
know what myths were associated with Brazil at that time ;
but the belief in it was so much alive that ships were sent
out from Bristol to search for the island. A contemporary
account of such an attempt made in 1480 has come down to
us : ^

"On the 15th of July [25th of July N.S.] ships . . . [belonging to ?] . . . and
John Jay junior, of 80 tons burthen, sailed out of the port of Bristol [to navigate]

to Iceland in 1477 Columbus may have heard of the Norsemen's voyages to
Greenland, Markland and Wineland, and that this may have given him the idea
of his plan. Storm has pointed out, convincingly it seems to me, the untenability
of the latter supposition. But it appears to me that he has overlooked the possi-
bility of Columbus having heard tales of these voyages in Bristol, or, still more
probably, on a Bristol vessel. As, of course, he must have been able to make
himself understood among the other sailors on board, it would be unlikely that
he should not have heard such tales, if they were known to his ship-mates.

1 Willelmus Botoner, alias de Worcester (1415-1484). MS. in Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, No. 210 ; printed in " Itineraria Symonis Simeonis et Wil-
lelmi de Worcestre," ed. J. Nasmyth, Cambridge, 1778, pp. 223, 267. Cf. H.
Harrisse, 1892, p. 659 ; Kretschmer, 1892, p. 219.
294

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

as far as the island of Brazil [" insulam de Brasylle "] on the west side of Ireland, CHAPTER

ploughing the seas by . . . and . . . Thlyde [Thomas' Lyde or Lloyd ?] is the XIV

most expert seaman in the whole of England, and on the i8th of September

[27th of September N.S.] the news reached Bristol that after having sailed the

seas for about 9 months they had not discovered the island, but on account

of storms had returned to the port ... in Ireland to allow the ships and men

to rest."

Parts of the MS. being illegible, it does not appear whether
John Jay, junior, was one of the leaders of the expedition
or (as Harrisse thinks) one of the owners of the ships, but in
any case we must suppose that the Thomas Lyde mentioned
above was the actual leader or navigator. The * * nine months * *
(** 9 menses ") must either be a clerical error for two months
or for nine weeks, either of which would fit the dates given,
while nine months is meaningless. This must at any rate
have been a serious attempt to find lands in the west, twelve
years before Columbus's discovery of the West Indies ; and
this was not the last attempt made from Bristol to find this
happy land, for in 1497 Ayala, the Spanish Minister in London,
writes :

" For the last seven years the Bristol people have equipped every year two,
three, or four caravels to go in search of the islands of Brazil and of the Seven
Cities,^ following the imagination of this Genoese."

** This Genoese" is Giovanni Caboto, or John Cabot, as Giovanni
he was called in England. We find only a few casual state- ^^°°^^
ments about this man, who was to give England the right of
discovery to a new continent, and who, together with his
fellow townsman, Columbus, forms the great turning-point
in the history of discovery ; for the most part an impene-
trable obscurity rests upon his life and activity.^ As he is

1 The Island of the Seven Cities was a fabulous island out in the Atlantic
which is frequently alluded to in the latter part of the Middle Ages.

2 As to John Cabot and his voyages, see in particular Henry Harrisse [1882,
1892, 1896, 1900], F. Tarducci [1892, 1894], Sir Clements R. Markheim [1893,
1897], Samuel Edward Dawson [1894, 1896, 1897], C. R. Beazley [1898], G.
Parker Winship [1899, 1900]. Harrisse amongst recent authors has the special
merit of having collected and arranged all the authorities on John and Sebastian
Cabot. Unfortunately I am unable to follow him in his conclusions from these
authorities as to the voyages of John and Sebastian. It seems to me that, like

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER often called, e.g., in letters from the contemporary Spanish
^^ Ambassadors in London, ** this Genoese," or "a Genoese like

Columbus," we must suppose that he was born in Genoa ;
but from existing State documents of the republic of Venice
it appears that Joanni Caboto obtained his freedom in Venice
on March 28, 1476, after having lived there fifteen years,
which was the legal period necessary to enable a foreigner
to become a citizen of the republic.^ From the statements
of contemporaries we must conclude that John Cabot was
a capable seaman and navigator, with a good knowledge
of charts and cartography ; he also constructed a globe to
illustrate his voyages. This is no more than was to be expected
of a Genoese, trained in the Venetian school, which at that
time was the foremost in seamanship. It may, therefore,
be regarded as probable that John Cabot was familiar with
the leading ideas of the geographical world of his time. Thus,
while still living at Venice, he may have heard of the idea of
reaching Eastern Asia by sailing to the west, which was
put forward, notably by Toscanelli, as early as 1474, and in
this way it is possible that, independently of Columbus, he
may have thought of accomplishing this voyage to the fabulous
riches of the East by a shorter route than that which the
Portuguese sought to the south of Africa. In support of this
it may be mentioned that in 1497 he himself told the Minister
of Milan in London, Raimondo di Soncino, that

** he had once been at Mecca, whither spices were brought by caravans from
distant lands, and that those who brought them, when asked where the said

most other writers, he pays too much attention to later statements, derived
directly or indirectly from Sebastian Cabot, while he places too little reliance on
what, in my opinion, may be concluded with tolerable certainty from contemporary
sources. Sebastian Cabot's statements on various occasions, so far as we know
them, prove to be mutually conflicting, and it looks as if this wily man seldom
expressed himself without some arriere-pensee or other, which was more
to his own advantage than to that of the truth. My views of John Cabot's voyage
of 1497 on several points agree more nearly with those of S. E. Dawson, and
for later voyages with those of G. Parker Winship.
^ Cf. Harrisse, 1896, pp. i, ff.

296

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

spices grew, answered that they did not know, but that other caravans Ccime CHAPTER
to their home with this merchandise from more distant lands, and these [other XIV '**
caravans] again say that it is brought to them from other regions situated far
away." Soncino adds that " Cabot reasons thus — that if the eastern people tell
those in the south that these things come from places far distant from them,
and so on from hand to hand, then, granting the earth to be round, the last people
must obtain them in the north-west ; and he says it in such a way that, as it does
not cost me more than it costs, I too believe it. . . ." ^

It is not improbable that Cabot may have thought that as,
on account of the spherical form of the earth, the circum-
ference of the lines of latitude decreases towards the north,
the shortest way over the western ocean to the east coast of
Asia must lie along the northern latitudes (cf. Posidonius,
vol. i. p. 79). But we cannot lose sight of the fact that Cabot
did not advance this until long after the first voyage of Columbus,
and it is, therefore, uncertain whether the idea occurred to
him before or after that time. When this journey to Mecca
took place we do not know.

Pedro de Ayala, the Spanish Minister in London, says in a
letter to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, in 1498, that Cabot
is ** another Genoese like Columbus, who has been in Seville
and Lisbon, endeavouring to obtain help for this discovery "
[i.e., of land in the west]. The question is whether this ' * who ' *
refers to Columbus or Cabot. The latter appears more likely,
as it seems superfluous for the Minister to inform Ferdinand
and Isabella that Columbus had been in Seville. But here
again we do not learn when Cabot may have made this journey
to Spain and Portugal, whether before or after Columbus's
voyage in 1492. In any case it may point to his having
been occupied for a long time with plans of this sort.

Nor do we know when John Cabot came to England ; but John Cabot
perhaps it was about 1490 that he settled in Bristol. If he England"
really came there with ideas of making for Asia across the circa 1490 ?
western ocean, he certainly found a favourable soil for such
plans in the port which had already sent out ships in 1480 to
look for the island of Brazil. But it is also very possible that

^ Cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 325.

297

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER these plans occurred to him after he had heard of this expe-
^^^ dition, and had become familiar at first hand with the ideas

of western lands which dominated the minds of the sailors
of Western Europe (Englishmen and Portuguese) of that
time. With the many fresh arguments he brought with him
from Italy and the Mediterranean countries, it cannot have
been difficult for him to induce the merchants of Bristol to
make fresh attempts to find these countries in the west or
north-west ; and, to judge from Ayala's letter of 1497 about
the expeditions sent out annually for the previous seven
years, he seems to have been persistent.

We do not know whether Cabot himself took part in the
attempts made after 1490. None of them seems to have met
with any success before 1497, for otherwise it would have been
mentioned. But it was while the people of Bristol were
occupied with such enterprises that Cabot's great fellow-
countryman, Columbus, made his remarkable voyage across
the ocean farther to the south, in 1492, and found a new world,
which he took to be India. With that came the awakening with
which the time was pregnant. The news of the achievement,
which fired all the adventurers of Europe, must soon have
reached Bristol, and put new life and a wider purpose into
the old plans.^ That Cabot now became the soul of these

* The Minister Raimondo di Soncino says in his letter of December 18, 1497,
to the Duke of Milan, that Cabot, " after having seen that the Kings of Spain
and Portugal had acquired unknown islands, had proposed to obtain a similar
acquisition for the King of England." It cannot be concluded from this that it
was not till then that Cabot formed his plans, though probably it was at that
time that he first entered into negotiations with the King of England. It is in
the same letter that Soncino tells of Cabot's speculations on seeing caravans
arriving at Mecca from the far east with spices, etc. His son, Sebastian Cabot,
who evidently on several occasions made it appear as though he himself and
not his father had discovered the American continent, is reported (according
to the statement of the anonymous guest in Ramusio, see below) to have said
that he [i.e., Sebastian] got the idea of his expedition after having heard of the
discovery of Columbus, which was a common subject of conversation at the
court of Henry VII. But even if Sebastian's words are correctly reported, which
is doubtful, he must demonstrably have been lying, and therefore no weight
can be attached to his statement ; if he could sacrifice his father to his personal
298

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

plans is clear enough from all the facts, and we see from CHAPTER
existing public documents that at the beginning of 1496 '■^
he was making special efforts to get an important expedition
sent out, and was applying to the King of England for pro-
tection and letters patent to assure to himself and his three
sons, Lewis, Sebastian and Sancto, the profit of the discoveries
he expected to make on this expedition, which was to consist
of five ships.

The letters patent were accorded on March 5 (14th N.S.), Cabot's

1496,^ and give Cabot and his sons the right under the English ^^^^^l

^ ' ^ 6 & patent, 1496

flag

" to sail in all parts, regions and bays of the sea, in the east, west and north,
with five ships or vessels of whatever burthen or kind, and with as many men
as they wished to take with them, at their own expense, and to find, discover and
investigate whatever islands, countries, regions or provinces belonging to heathens
or infidels, in whatsoever part of the world they might be, which before that
time were unknown to all Christians.'^ They also had the right as vassals or
governors of the King of England, to take possession of whatsoever towns, camps
or islands they might discover and be in a position to capture and occupy. They
were to give the king a fifth part of all merchandise, profits, etc., of this voyage
or of each voyage, as often as they came to Bristol, to which port alone they
were bound to return. They were exempted from all duty on goods they might
bring from newly discovered lands, and were given a monopoly of all trade and
traffic with them. Furthermore, all English subjects, both by land and sea, were
ordered to afford the said John, his sons, heirs and assigns, good assistance,
** both in fitting-out their ships or vessels, and in supplying them with provisions
which were paid for with their own money."

As the south is not mentioned among the regions which
might be explored, and as the new countries might not be
known to Christians, it is clear that Cabot is here enjoined
not to frequent those waters where the Spaniards and Portu-
guese had just made their most important discoveries, and

advantage, then no doubt, if he profited by it, he could also sacrifice his birthright
in the plan to the advantage of Spain, in the service of which country he then
was. Furthermore, Ayala's letter, quoted above, points to John Cabot having
got expeditions sent out from Bristol as early as 1491 to look for land in the
west, and besides this we know of such an expedition in 1480.

1 They are dated March 5, in the eleventh year of the reign of Henry VH.
The eleventh year of Henry VH. was from August 22, 1495, to August 21, 1496.

299

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XIV

Cabot's pre-
parations
and plans

thus run the risk of bringing England into conflict with the
Spanish or Portuguese Crown.

As the letters patent bear the same date (March 5) and
are to some extent couched in the same terms as Cabot's
petition, they must have been granted as the result of previous
negotiation and agreement between Cabot and the King, and
must therefore contain Cabot's plans for the new voyage,
which were thus already formed in March 1496, when he
had doubtless made at all events some preparations for the
expedition.

That Cabot's plans had been spoken of at the English Court
as early as January of that year appears from an existing
letter from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to the Spanish
Ambassador in England, Dr. Ruy Gonzales de Puebla. The
letter is dated March 28 (April 6, N.S.), 1496, and is an
answer to a letter, now lost, of January 21 (30, N.S.) from the
Ambassador. The answer is as follows :

" You write that one like Columbus has come to propose to the King of England
another enterprise like that of the Indies, without prejudice to Spain or Portugal.
He has full liberty. But we believe that this enterprise was put in the way of the
King of England by the King of France in order to divert him from other business.
Take care that the King of England be not deceived in this or any other matter.
The French will try as much as they can to lead him into such enterprises ; but
they are very uncertain undertakings, and are not to be commenced for the
moment. Moreover they cannot be put into execution without prejudice to us
and to the King of Portugal." 1

It will be understood from this that Cabot's plans had
attracted attention in London, and that great importance
was attached to them ; consequently they must have been
discussed for some time before the granting of letters patent.
For this reason also, we must suppose that Cabot was prepared
for his expedition in March 1496. It seems therefore unlikely
that this was the expedition which did not leave until the
year following that in which he applied for the letters patent,
all the more so as the expedition of 1497 consisted of only

1 Cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 315.
300

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

one ship.^ If we may interpret Ayala's words of 1498 literally, CHAPTER

that Bristol had sent out ships yearly for the seven previous ^^^

years to search for the island of Brazil, etc., then we must

suppose that Cabot actually set out in 1496 with the projected

expedition of five ships, but for some reason or other turned

back without having accomplished his object. After having

been unfortunate in so large an undertaking, Cabot may have

found it less easy to enlist support for a fresh attempt in

1497, and was thus obliged to content himself with one small

ship and a scanty crew (eighteen men).^ It may also be

supposed that as the earlier expeditions consisting of several

ships had failed to find the land they were looking for, Cabot

as a practical seaman wished to make a pioneer expedition

with a small swift-sailing craft and a picked crew, before

again embarking on a large and costly undertaking. He

was more independent, and could sail farther and more rapidly

to the west, than when he was tied by having to keep a fleet

of several ships together.

Cabot's sons, who are mentioned in the letters patent, Sebastian

Cabot's

may have taken part in the voyage of 1496 ; on the other partidpa-
hand, it is less probable that they were among the eighteen tionini497
men in 1497.' It is true that his son Sebastian claimed ^°^^*^"^
to have been present as one of the leaders of the expedition,
but he also claimed to have made the voyage alone, so that no
weight can be attached to his words. In any case, he must have
been very young at that time, and he cannot have played any

1 It has been suggested that Cabot set out in 1496 and did not return till August
1497 [cf. Church, 1897], but this cannot be reconciled with the statements in
the letters of Soncino and Pasqualigo that the expedition had only lasted a few
months.

2 According to Soncino *s letter of December 18, 1497, Cabot was a poor man.
In addition to this he was a foreigner, and as such was scarcely looked upon with
favour ; but on the other hand, the reputation of Italian sailors was great at
that time, and he may therefore have been respected for his knowledge of seaman-
ship and cartography, which was not possessed by the sailors of Bristol.

3 The only ones of these named in the authorities (Soncino 's letter, December
18, 1497) are Cabot's Italian barber (surgeon ?J from Castione, and a man from
Burgundy.

301

CHAPTER
XIV

Most

important
authorities
for the
voyage of
1497

IN NORTHERN MISTS

important part. Nor is a word said about him in a single one
of the letters from contemporary foreign ambassadors in
London, and in Pasqualigo's letter of Augustj23, i497» we
are told of John Cabot after his return that " in the meantime
[i.e., until his next voyage] he is staying with his Venetian
wife and his sons in Bristol." This does not seem to show
that any of the sons had been with him ; and the protest
of the Wardens of the Drapers' Company of London (see later)
against Sebastian as a navigator points in the same direction.

Not a line have we from Cabot's own hand either about
this important voyage of 1497 or any other. We hear that
he made maps of his discoveries ; but these too have been
lost, like so many other maps that must have been drawn
during this period before 1500.^ We can, therefore, only draw
our conclusions from the statements of others, some contem-
porary and some later.

The most important documents giving trustworthy infor-
mation about John Cabot's voyage in 1497 are the
following :

(i) The three letters from his two compatriots in London :
one from the Venetian, Lorenzo Pasqualigo, to his two brothers
in Venice, dated August 23 (September i, N.S.), 1497 ; and
two letters from the Milanese Minister, Raimondo di Soncino,
to the Duke of Milan, dated August 24 (September 2, N.S.)
and December 18 (27), 1497.

(2) An entry in the accounts of the King of England's
privy purse, from which we see that Cabot was back in
London by August 10 (19, N.S.), 1497.

(3) The map of the world, drawn in 1500, by the well-known
Spanish pilot, Juan de la Cosa.

(4) A Bristol chronicle by Maurice Toby, written in 1565,
but from older sources.

^ Between 1493 and 1500 at least thirty expeditions went in search of the
coast of America. These were all certainly provided with charts, and some of
them also produced maps of their discoveries, but not one of these has been
preserved. [Cf. Harrisse, 1900, p. 14.]
302

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

Besides these may be mentioned a legend on the map of CHAPTER
the world of 1544 which, according to what is written on it, ^^^
was the work of Sebastian Cabot. But even if this be correct,
the legend is of no great value, as he cannot be regarded as
a trustworthy authority.^

Lorenzo Pasqualigo writes on August 23 (September i, Pasquaii-
N.S.), 1497, to his two brothers in Venice, amongst other go's letter

^wJL. of Aug. 23,

thmgs : 1^97

" Our Venetian, who set out with a little ship from Bristol to find new islands,
has returned, and says that he has discovered 700 leagues [Italian nautical leagues]
away the mainland of the kingdom of the Great Khan (* Gran Cam '] [China],
and that he sailed 300 leagues along its coast and landed, but saw no people ;
but he brought here to the King some snares that were set up to catch game,
and a needle for making nets, and he found some trees with cuts in them, from
which he concluded that there were inhabitants. Being in doubt he returned to
the ship, 2 and was three months on the voyage, and this is certain ; and on the
way back he saw two islands on the right hand, but would not land so as not to
lose time, as he was short of provisions. He says that the tides are sluggish and
do not run as here [i.e., in England]. The King has promised him next time ten
ships fitted out according to his desires, and has given him as many prisoners
to take with him as he has asked, except those who are in prison for high treason ;
and he has given him money to enjoy himself with in the meantime, and now he
is with his Venetian wife and his sons at Bristol. His name is Zuam Talbot [sic,
for Cabot], and he is called the Grand Admiral and great honour is shown him,
and he goes dressed in silk and the Englishmen run after him like madmen,
but he will have nothing to do with any of them, and so [do] many of our vaga-
bonds. The discoverer of these things has planted on the soil he has found the
banner of England and that of St. Mark, as he is a Venetian ; so that our flag
has been hoisted far away " [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 322].

The Minister, Raimondo di Soncino, writes on August 24 Soncino's
(September 2, N.S.), 1497, to the Duke of Milan, amongst other ^l^^^^^

. Aug. 24,

tnmgs : 1497

" Some months ago (* sono mesi passate 'J his majesty the King [of England]
sent out a Venetian who is a good sailor, and has much ability in finding islands,

1 No importance can be attached in this connection to any of the statements
derived at second or third hand from Sebastian Cabot and communicated by
Contarini, Peter Martyr, Ramusio, and others. So far as they are worthy of
credence, they must refer to one or more later voyages. The statement in the
Cottonian Chronicle and in the Fabyan Chronicle refers to the voyage of 1498.

2 Harrisse 's reproduction of the letter [1882, p. 322] reads : " Vene in nave

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XIV

Soncino's
letter of
Dec. 1 8,
1497

and he has returned safely and has discovered two very large and fertile islands,
and found as it seems the seven cities ^ 400 leagues to the west of the island of
England. His majesty the King here will on the first opportunity send him with
fifteen or twenty ships ..." [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 323].

On December 18 (27), 1497, Soncino again writes to the
Duke more fully about Cabot's voyage :

" Perhaps amongst Your Excellency's many occupations it may not be unwel-
come to hear how this Majesty has acquired a part of Asia without drawing his
sword. In this kingdom is a Venetian called Messer Zoanne Caboto, of gentle
bearing, very skilful in navigation, who, seeing that the most serene Kings, first
of Portugal and then of Spain, had taken possession of unknown islands, proposed
to himself to make a similar acquisition for the said Majesty. After having obtained
the royal privilege, which assured to him the use of the dominions he might dis-
cover, while the Crown retained the sovereignty over them, he gave himself into
the hands of fortune with a small ship and eighteen men, and sailed from Bristol,
a port on the west of this kingdom ; and after passing Ireland farther west, and
then steering to the north, he began to sail towards the eastern regions [i.e.,
westwards to the lands of the Orient, thus making for the east coast of Asia], leaving
(after some days) the pole-star on his right hand ; and after a good deal of wan-
dering (' havendo assai errato 'J he finally came to land (' terra ferma *),
where he raised the royal banner and took possession of the country for this
Highness, and after having taken some tokens [of his discovery] he returned.
As the said Messer Zoanne [John] is a foreigner and poor, he would not be believed,
if his crew, who are nearly all English and belong to Bristol, had not confirmed
the truth of what he said. This Messer Zoanne has the description of the world
on a chart, and also on a solid sphere which he has made, showing on it where
he has been ; and in travelling towards the East he went as far as to the land of
the Tanais [i.e., Asia], and they say that the country there is excellent and tem-
perate, and expect that brazil-wood (il brasilioj and silk ^ grow there, and they
declare that this sea is full of fish which can be caught not only with the seine, but

per dubito . . ." ; while Tarducci [1892, p. 350] gives : " Vene in mare per
dubito . . .", where "mare " is perhaps a misprint for "nave '* (?I In any
case the meaning must be that Cabot turned back and would not go farther into
the country for fear of being attacked by the inhabitants, which might easily have
been dangerous for him with his small crew.

^ That is, the mythical " Island of the Seven Cities " out in the Atlantic.

2 It is interesting that here we find attributed to the newly discovered country
the two features, dye-wood and silk, which were the most costly treasures charac-
teristic of the land that was sought, exactly in the same way as the Norsemen
attributed to their Wineland the Good the two features, wine and cornfields
(wheat), which were characteristic of the Fortunate Isles. Thus history repeats
itself.

304

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

also with a dip-net [or bow-net ?], to which is fastened a stone to sink it in the CHAPTEft
water, and this I have heard related by the said Messer Zoanne. And the said XIV
Englishmen, his companions, say that they took so many fish that this kingdom
will no longer have any need of Iceland, from which country there is a very great
trade in the fish they call stockfish. But Messer Zoanne has set his mind on higher
things, and thinks of sailing from the place he has occupied, keeping along the
coast farther to the east, until he arrives opposite to an island called Cipango
[i.e., Japan], lying in the equinoctial region, where he thinks that all the spices
of the world, as well as jewels, are to be found." Then follows the reference to
his visit to Mecca, already cited (p. 296}. The letter continues : " And what is
more, this Majesty, who is prudent and not prodigal, has such confidence in
him on account of what he has accomplished, that he gives him a very good
subsidy, as Messer Zoanne himself tells me. And it is said that his Majesty will
shortly fit out some ships for him, and will give him all the criminals to go out
to this land and form a colony, so that they hope to establish in London an even
greater emporium of spices than that at Alexandria. The principals in this enter-
prise belong to Bristol ; they are great sailors, and now that they know where
to go, they say that the voyage thither will not take more than fifteen days, if
they have a favourable wind on leaving Ireland. I have also spoken with a Bur-
gundian of Messer Zoanne's company, who confirms all this, and who wishes
to return thither, because the Admiral (for this is the title they give Messer Zoanne)
has given him an island ; and he has given another to his barber [surgeon ?J
from Castione,^ a Genoese, and both consider themselves counts, nor do they
reckon Monsignor the Admiral for less than a prince. I believe some poor Italian
monks who have been promised bishoprics will also go on this voyage. And if
I had made friends with the Admiral when he was about to sail, I should at least
have got an archbishopric ; but I thought the benefits that Your Excellency has
reserved for me were more certain ..." [cf. Harrisse, 1882, pp. 324, ff.].

As confirming and to some extent supplementing what is
said in these letters, we have various statements in the letters
of the two Spanish Ambassadors about the voyage in the follow-
ing year (see later) ; they both say that the newly discovered
country lay not more than four hundred Spanish leagues distant.

In Maurice Toby's Bristol chronicle of 1565, we read of Toby's
the year 1497 : chronicle

'* This year, on St. John the Baptist's day, the land of America was found by
the merchants of Bristowe in a shippe of Bristowe called the ' Mathew,' the which
said shippe departed from the port of Bristowe the second day of May, and came
home again the 6th of August next following." ^

^ Probably Castiglione, near Chivari, by Genoa.

2 Cf. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Edinburgh, 1875, iv. p. 350 ; and
G. P. Winsbip, 1900, p. 99.

u w 305

CHAPTER
XIV

Cabot's
western
course in
1497

IN NORTHERN MISTS

Of course this chronicle was written long after the voyage
took place ; but it is extremely probable that it was taken
from older sources ; for it agrees in every way (both as to the
length of the voyage and the time of the return) with the
contemporary statements of the Italian Ministers, with whose
letters the author of the chronicle cannot possibly have been
acquainted. I can, therefore, see no reason why this state-
ment should not be correct. But the most important autho-
rities are the letters referred to.

If we compare all this we shall get a fairly complete idea
of the voyage of 1497. After sailing round the south of
Ireland, probably in the middle of May according to our
calendar, Cabot would at first have held a somewhat northerly
course. If this is correct, he may have done so for several
reasons : unfavourable winds, which in May are prevalent
from the south-west ; the idea that great-circle sailing would
prove the shortest way ; ^ fear of encroaching on the waters
of the Spaniards and Portuguese to the south ; finally, perhaps,
an idea that the course to Asia was shorter in northern lati-
tudes (?). But we cannot tell what reasons decided him, nor
whether he steered very far to the north at all ; for it must
be remembered that in speaking to a foreign Minister he may
have had good reason for making his course appear somewhat
northerly, lest it might be said that the lands he had arrived
at were those discovered by the Spaniards. In any case, it
was not long before he made for the west as rapidly as possible
towards his goal, and we cannot, therefore, suppose that he
went very far north. And it is expressly stated in Soncino's
first letter that the lands lay to the west of England, and in
the letters of the Spanish Ambassadors in the following year
we read that, after having seen the direction taken by Cabot,
they thought that the land he had found was that belonging

^ It is by no means improbable that Cabot, who was an expert navigator, knew
that great-circle sailing gave the shorter course. For instance, he might easily
have seen this from a globe, and we are told that he himself made a globe to
illustrate his voyage (cf. p. 304}.
306

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

to Spain, or was '^ at the end of that land.'' This again does CHAPTER
not point to any northerly course. -^^V

Many writers have thought that from Soncino's statements
about the courses a conclusion might be drawn as to where
on the American coast Cabot made the land ; but this is
impossible. In the first place Soncino's words are anything
but definite ; besides which, of course, Cabot could not steer
in a straight line across the Atlantic, but with the frequent
contrary winds of May and June was obliged to shape many
courses, and often had to beat ; in fact, we are told as much
in Soncino's words, ** havendo assai errato." Every one who
has had experience of the navigation of sailing ships knows
how difficult it is under such conditions to make way in the
precise direction one wishes, however good one's reckoning
may be ; currents and lee-way set one far out of the reckoned
course, and on a voyage so long as across the Atlantic the lee-
way may be considerable. Whether Cabot was able to correct
his reckoning by the aid of astronomical observations (with
a Jacob's staff or an astrolabe) we do not know, but we hear
nothing of latitudes, so that it is not very probable (cf. also
Columbus's gross error in latitude). Especially during the
first part of the voyage currents and prevailing winds may have
set Cabot to the north-east ; but he may also have encountered,
particularly during the latter part of the voyage in June,
heavy north-westerly gales which set him still farther to
the south, and he may thus have had a southerly lee-way.
In addition, as Dawson has so strongly insisted, the error
of the compass must have set him to the south. Whether
Cabot was aware of the error, and remarked its variation
during the westward voyage, we do not know ; it is possible,
since we know that Columbus remarked this variation during
his first voyage ; but in any case, Cabot doubtless paid as
little attention to it as Columbus in his navigation. Unfortu-
nately we do not know the amount of the error at that time,
but by examining the relation between the true direction of
the coast-lines and those we find on the most trustworthy

307

CHAPTER
XIV

IN NORTHERN MISTS

compass- charts (especially the Cantino chart) of a little later
than 1500 (which are drawn in ignorance of the error), I have
attempted to reconstruct the distribution of the error in the
Atlantic Ocean at that time (cf. chart below) ; of course,
this is purely hypothetical. According to this, during Cabot's
voyage westwards the error would have varied from about
6° east at Bristol to about 30° west off the coast of America.
If we suppose that he was able to follow a magnetic western
course the whole way from the south coast of Ireland, then he

must have passed quite to the
south of Cape Race in New-
foundland. But we are told
that he first held somewhat to
the north, though we do not
know how much, and, on the
other hand, his lee-way may
have set him at least as far to
the south. The assertion that
the course mentioned by Soncino
must have brought Cabot to
land in Labrador or Newfound-
land is thus untenable. Nor does
it agree with Soncino 's allusion to the country as excellent and
temperate, and one where dye-wood and silk might be expected
to grow. If this be explained away as due to the usual pro-
pensity of discoverers at that time to exhibit the newly found
countries in the most favourable light, which is very possible, it
is not so easy to explain why we do not hear a word about their
having encountered ice on the voyage. If on his western voyage
Cabot came to Labrador or the north-east coast of Newfoundland
some time in June, it is improbable that he should not have
seen icebergs, and it is equally unlikely that the Italian Ministers
should not have mentioned this, which to them would be a
great curiosity, if they had heard of it ; we see, too, that later,
in descriptions of Sebastian Cabot's alleged voyage, the ice is
mentioned above all else. Even if John Cabot might have
308

Hypothetical chart of the variation

of the compass in the Atlantic,

circa 1500

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

kept quiet about the ice, lest it should cool the hopes raised CHAPTER
by his narrative, it is not likely that his crew would have ^^^
done so, if they had met with it. But although other state-
ments of the crew are reported, we do not hear a single word
about ice, nor even of icebergs, which are common enough
on the Newfoundland Banks at that time of the year, and would
be an entirely new experience even to Bristol sailors who were
accustomed to the voyage to Iceland. From this we must
suppose that in the course of his beating to the west Cabot
was set so far to the south of the Newfoundland Banks that
he did not encounter icebergs, and that he first made land
somewhere farther west.^

According to the Bristol chronicle already quoted (Toby, Cabot
1565), and according to a legend on the map of 1544, which is ^^ •
ascribed to the collaboration of Sebastian Cabot, it was on June 24,
St. John's Day (July 3, N.S.) that the first land was discovered. ^497
In spite of Harrisse's objections^ it does not appear to me
unlikely that this may be correct. If he sailed on May 2 (ii)»
he was fifty-three days at sea. Supposing that he landed at
Cape Breton, the distance in a straight line on the course
indicated is about 2200 nautical miles. Consequently he
would have made an average of forty-two miles a day in
the desired direction. This is doubtless not very fast sailing,
but agrees with just what we should expect, since he
often had to beat, and " wandered a good deal," in the
words of Soncino.

For determining the question, what part of North America LaCosa's

it was that Cabot discovered, it appears to me there is no "**P ^,

trustworthy document but La Cosa's map of the world Cabot's dis-
coveries in
^ It must also be remembered that on the Newfoundland Banks and off the 1497

coast of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia fogs are extremely prevalent (in places
over 50 per cent, of the days] at the time of year here in question, so that their
first sight of land might be accidental.

^ Harrisse [1896, pp. 63, ff.] does not seem to have remarked that Cabot
must necessarily have been longer on the westward voyage, when he had the
prevailing winds against him, than on the homeward voyage, when the wind
conditions were favourable.

309

CHAPTER
XIV

IN NORTHERN MISTS

of 1500.* The Basque cartographer, Juan de la Cosa, who
owned and navigated Columbus's ship in 1492, and who was
afterwards entrusted with many public undertakings, enjoyed
a reputation in Spain as a map-maker and sailor. He was
commissioned by the Spanish Crown to produce a map of
the world, and we must suppose that for this work he was

North-western portion of Juan de la Cosa's map of 1500. Only a few

provided with all the maps and geographical information that
were available in Spain. From a letter of July 25, 1498, to
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, from Ayala, the Spanish

1 No particular weight, it is true, can be attached to the map of 1544 which
is attributed to Sebastian Cabot, or which was at any rate influenced by him,
as the statements of this man can never be depended upon. At the same time,
the information given on this map to the effect that Cabot first reached land at
Cape Breton agrees in a remarkable way with La Cosa's map, as we shall see
directly.

310

XIV

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

Minister in London, we know that the latter had obtained a CHAPTER

copy of "the chart or mapa mundi '* that John Cabot had

made in order to set forth his discoveries of 1497 ; and there

can be no doubt that a copy of this was also sent to Spain,

as Ayala says he believes their Majesties already had the map.

It may, therefore, be regarded as a matter of course that La

of the names are given ; the network of compass-lines is^jomitted

Cosa was in possession of this map when, less than two years
later, he was about to make his own, and that it is from this
source and no other that he derived his information about
the English discoveries. We do not know of any other map
being sent from England to Spain during these two years,
and there is no ground whatever for assuming that La Cosa's
information may be derived from Cabot's voyage of 1498,
which in any case must have been a failure.

For the understanding of La Cosa's map it must be remarked

311

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER first of all that it is a compass- chart, and that it takes no
^^^ notice of the magnetic variation on the American coast. This

explains the fact that, for instance, lines of coast which in
reality run from west to south-west, are made to appear on
the chart as running from west to east. Furthermore, the
latitude of the coast of North America is made too northerly,
through coasts which, for instance, lie magnetic west of Ireland,
being placed on the chart true west of it. In this way Cape
Breton (or Cape Race in Newfoundland ?) can be brought to
about the same latitude as the south of Ireland, whereas in
reality it lies nearly 5° farther south.

The coast marked with five English fiags is, of course,
the land discovered by Cabot. That La Cosa had a map of
this district is further shown by the details, which distinguish
it from his delineation of the remainder of the North American
coast, but which give it a resemblance to that part of South
America which is marked with Spanish flags and of which
he had a map. Curiously enough only part of the English district
has names ; we must suppose that this is the coast that Cabot
is said to have sailed along. La Cosa's representation of the
rest of the North American coast is doubtless guesswork,
although it has features which bear a remarkable resemblance
to reality ; but it is not altogether impossible that he may
have had oral or written reports of later voyages (?), which
are unknown to us.

La Cosa's map is in complete agreement with the state-
ments in the letters of Pasqualigo, Soncino, and the two
Spanish Ambassadors. Soncino says that the country lies four
hundred Italian leagues to the west of England, while both
Puebla and Ayala say that they believe the distance to be
no more than four hundred Spanish leagues. On the other
hand, according to Pasqualigo, Cabot said that at a distance
of seven hundred Italian leagues he had discovered the main-
land of the kingdom of the Great Khan, and that he had
sailed [i.e., after having sailed ?] three hundred leagues along
the coast. It has been thought that there is here a disagree-
312

JOHN CABOTS VOYAGES

ment between the four hundred leagues of the three first- chapter
named and the seven hundred of Pasqualigo, but if we ^^^
interpret it, in what must be the most reasonable way, as
meaning that the distance of seven hundred leagues does not
refer to the nearest land, but to the most distant, where Cabot
thought that he had at last come within the boundaries of
the kingdom of the Great Khan (China) and did not venture
to go farther, then we have complete agreement, since the
three hundred leagues he must first have sailed along the coast
must be deducted in order to get the distance from England
to the nearest land. The length of a Venetian *' lega," or
a Spanish " legua," cannot be precisely determined. If we
assume [cf. Kretschmer, 1909, pp. 63, ff.] that between 20
and 17 J went to a degree of latitude, each league would corre-
spond to between 3 and 3.43 geographical miles (minutes),
or between 5.6 and 6.3 kilometres. According to the former
estimate (three miles), four hundred leagues will be about
equal to 1200 miles, and seven hundred leagues to about
2100 miles.^ The first distance is, at any rate, a good deal
too small, while the second is too great. This may easily
be explained by Cabot, or his crew, having naturally wished
to make the voyage to the newly discovered country appear as
little deterrent as possible, and, therefore, having under-
estimated the distance, while, desiring to make the country
itself as large as possible, they greatly over-estimated the length
of their sail along the coast. That the voyagers really supposed
the distance to the newly discovered land to be four hundred
leagues from Ireland agrees also with Soncino's statement
that the Bristol sailors thought the voyage would not occupy
more than fifteen days from Ireland.

La Cosa's map is drawn as an equidistant compass-chart,
and we can therefore make ourselves a scale of miles by using
the distance between the Equator and the Tropic. In this way

^ The distance from Ireland to Newfoundland is fully 1600 geographical
miles, and to Cape Breton about 1900 ; but reckoned from Bristol it will be about
280 miles more.

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER we find that the easternmost headland, ' ' Cauo de Yngla-

^^^ terra *' (Cape England), on the coast discovered by Cabot

lies four hundred leagues from Ireland, while the distance

from it to the most western headland with a name, ** Cauo

descubierto" (the discovered cape), is about three hundred

leagues.^ Furthermore this coast lies on the map due west

of Bristol and southern England, as it should according to

Soncino's first letter.

There is thus full agreement between this map and all the

contemporary information we have of the voyage, and there

Cabot's is no room for doubt that its names represent John Cabot's

discovery, discoveries of 1497, which thus extended from Cauo de Yngla-
accordmg -f^/j o

toLaCosa's terra on the east (with two islands, Y. verde and S. Grigor,

"^^£'ifi *® *^® ^^^* °^ ^*) *° Cauo descubierto on the west. But it

Nova Scotia seems to me that this tract must be either the south coast of

Newfoundland or the south-east coast of Nova Scotia, and

Cauo de Ynglaterra must be either Cape Race or Cape Breton ;

the latter is more probable ; ^ this also agrees best with all

1 To be perfectly accurate, the distance on La Cosa's map between Ireland
and Cauo de Ynglaterra is 1290 geographical miles ; between Bristol and the
same cape 1620 miles ; while the distance between Cauo de Ynglaterra and the
name of Cauo descubierto is 1080 miles. If we reckon 17^ leagues to a degree,
these distances correspond respectively to 376, 472 and 315 leagues ; while
20 leagues to a degree give 430, 540 and 360 leagues. As the name of Cauo
descubierto stands out in the sea to the west of the cape it belongs to, the distance
will be less, very nearly 300 leagues. Along the upper margin of the map a scale
is provided, each division of which, according to the usual practice, corresponds
to 50 miglia. This gives us the distance from Ireland to Cauo de Ynglaterra as
1425 miglia, and from the latter to the name of Cauo descubierto 1200. Reckoning
4 miglia to a legua, these distances will be 356 and 300 leagues.

2 I here disregard altogether the common assertions that Cabot arrived on
the east coast of Newfoundland (at Cape Bonavista, or to the north of it), or even
on the coast of Labrador. This cannot possibly be reconciled with La Cosa's map,
nor does it agree with the accounts of Pasqualigo and Soncino, nor, again, with
the information on the map of 1544 (by Sebastian Cabot ?), if we are to attach
any weight to this. Other trustworthy documents are unknown. No importance
can be attributed to the evidence of Cabot's having arrived in Labrador in 1497
which Harrisse [1896, pp. 78, ff.] thinks may be seen in the circumstance that
the English discoveries are placed in the northernmost part of the east coast of
North America (between 56° and 60°) on the official Spanish maps of the first

XIV

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

the documents we possess and involves fewest difficulties, chapter
It might then seem probable that Cabot first arrived off the
land at Cauo de Ynglaterra or Cape Breton/ and that he
sailed westward (magnetic) from there to explore the newly-
discovered country. The main direction of the coast of
Nova Scotia is about W.S.W., and if we suppose that the
compass error at Cape Breton was then about 28° W., which
I have found in another way ^ (cf. above, p. 308 ; it is now

half of the sixteenth century ; this does not by any means counterbalance La
Cosa's map, which speaks plainly enough. Even if Sebastian Cabot had the
superintendence of these later maps, this proves little or nothing. If it was to his
interest not to offend the Spaniards by emphasising his father's discoveries, he
would scarcely have hesitated to omit them, or allow them to be moved to the
north. For on these very maps (e.g., Ribero's of 1529) it is claimed that the whole
coast to the south-west of Newfoundland {*' Tiera nova de Cortereal ") was dis-
covered by Spaniards (Gomez and Ayllon). But in addition to this, in so far as
any importance can be attributed to the inscriptions attached to "Labrador "
on the Spanish maps, they evidently, like others of the statements attributed to
Sebastian Cabot, do not refer to Cabot's discoveries of 1497, which are found on
La Cosa's map, but to discoveries made on later English voyages from Bristol,
on which ice was met with. If the map of 1544 can be attributed to the collabo-
ration of Sebastian Cabot, it further shows clearly enough that he had no knowledge
of the northern part of the east coast of America, since he makes it extend to the
east and north-east, which is due to Greenland (Labrador) being included in it.
The map is a plagiarism of an earlier French one. Harrisse's view results in
complete embarrassment in the interpretation of La Cosa's map [cf. 1900, p. 21],
and he is obliged to abandon the attempt to make anything of it, since, of course,
it contradicts all he thinks may be concluded from the much later Spanish maps.
Moreover, since Harrisse insists so strongly on the importance of the northerly
latitudes of the English discoveries on these maps (and on La Cosa's) as a proof
of their being on the coast of Labrador, it should be pointed out that the latitudes
of Newfoundland, for instance, and Greenland, to say nothing of the West Indian
islands, vary on the maps ; this shows that no weight can be attached to evidence
of this kind.

1 It has been maintained that ' ' Cauo descubierto ' ' must denote the land
he first sighted ; but the name only means " discovered cape," and says nothing
as to its being discovered first or last. There may indeed have been more about
it on Cabot's original map, and it happens that on La Cosa's map there is a hole
in the parchment just after this name. That it should be the same cape that
on "Sebastian Cabot's" map of 1544 is called "Prima tierra vista" is not
likely, as this lies at the extreme east of the promontory of Cape Breton.

2 For determining this I have to some extent relied on later maps, chiefly the

XIV

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER 25° W.), this will mean that the coast extended a little to
the north of west by compass, which exactly agrees with
La Cosa's map. On account of contrary winds, and of the care
necessary in sailing along an unknown coast, the voyage
may have proceeded slowly, and Cabot greatly over-estimated
his distances, which is not an uncommon thing with explorers
in unknown waters, ever since the days of Pytheas. Finally,
about three hundred miles on, Cabot came to the south-
western point of Nova Scotia, which at first he must have taken
for the end of the land. But as he certainly would be bent
upon deciding this, he may have continued to sail across the
mouth of the Bay of Fundy until he again sighted land, the
fertile coast of smiling Maine, stretching westward as far
as the eye could reach, and he would then have thought that
he had surely arrived at the coast of the mainland of the
vast kingdom of the Great Khan. Here it must have been that
he landed, as related by Pasqualigo and Soncino,^ and saw
signs of inhabitants, but met with none. He may, of course*
have landed earlier at Cape Breton or in Nova Scotia without
finding trace of inhabitants, and said nothing about it ; for
he was not looking for an uninhabited country, but the wealthy
Eastern Asia. It may also very well be the spot where he
first found signs of men that is called Cauo descubierto ; for
it is striking that on La Cosa's map this name is not placed on
any projecting headland of the coast, but in front of a com-
paratively deep gulf, which in that case might be the mouth
of the Bay of Fundy. And it is in the sea to the west of this
bay, across which Cabot sailed, that La Cosa has placed his

Cantino map, where the direction of the north-eastern coast of Newfoundland
gives a magnetic error of between 31° and 38°, and the direction between Cape
Farewell and Cape Race gives an error of 28°, which is certainly somewhat too
high.

^ To this it might be objected that he says " the tides are sluggish, and do not
run " as in England ('* le aque e stanche e non han corso come qui "J. The
tide is considerable inside the Bay of Fundy, but on the coast of Maine and in the
outer waters of Nova Scotia it is slight in comparison with the tide Cabot was
acquainted with in the Bristol Channel.

316

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

" mar descubierta por jnglese " (sea discovered by the English). CHAPTER
La Cosa's " mar " will then be probably the whole gulf between ^^^
Cape Sable and Cape Cod.^

Cabot now thought he had found what he so eagerly sought. Cabot's
He was not provisioned for any long stay, and with his small homeward
crew he could not expose himself to possible attacks of the i^gy
inhabitants of the country. Consequently he had good reason
for turning back. To provide himself with the necessary
water, and perhaps wood, for the homeward voyage would
not take long. Food was a greater difficulty, and we are told
that he was so short of it that on the way back he would not
stop at new islands ; it is true that we hear of abundance of
fish, but this cannot have been sufficient. He then returned
to Cauo de Ynglaterra, and thence homewards as quickly as
possible.^ The distance from Cape Breton past the southern
point of Nova Scotia to the coast of Maine is 420 geographical
miles. There and back, with a cruise in the open sea towards
Cape Cod, it might be 1200 miles. If we suppose Cabot to have
taken twenty days to do it, including the time occupied in
going ashore, this will be sixty miles a day, which may seem
a good deal ; but if on the way back he had a favourable
wind and was able to sail a somewhat straight course, it is
possible ; and, in that case, he may have been back at Cape
Breton or Cauo de Ynglaterra about July 14 (23), and then
have laid his course for home east by compass out to sea.
This course took him off Newfoundland, and he had the
island of Grand Miquelon, with Burin Peninsula to the east
of it [**S. Grigor " on La Cosa's map?], in sight on his star-
board bow, or on his right hand, as Pasqualigo says. As

^ It must always be remembered that La Cosa did not have Cabot's original
chart, on which the coast and the Bay of Fundy may have been represented more
in accordance with reality.

2 La Cosa's map may point to his having made a cruise in the open sea
westward from Cauo descubierto before turning, and having seen the coast
extending on, until in the far west it turned southward towards a headland,
perhaps Cape Cod, where La Cosa put his westernmost flag. But this seems doubt-
ful, and is only guessing.

317

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER he was afraid of more land in that direction, which would be
XIV awkward to come near, especially when sailing at night,

he bore off to the south-east, where he knew from the outward
voyage that there was open water. After a time, thinking
himself safe, he again set his course east by compass, but then
had fresh land, Avalon Peninsula, ahead or on his starboard
bow, and again had to bear off. He took this for another
large island [** Y. verde "], but would not land, both on
account of shortness of provisions, and because he wanted
to be home as soon as possible with the news of his discovery,
and to prepare a larger expedition to take possession of the
new country.^ To be quite sure of encountering no more
land, Cabot may then have borne off well to the south-east,
thus reaching the Newfoundland Banks on the south, and
keeping quite clear of the icebergs which are found farther
north. For his eastern voyage he was well served by the
wind, since nearly all the winds in this part of the Atlantic
are between south and west or north-west in July and the
beginning of August. He was further helped by the current
to some extent, and may, therefore, very easily have made
the homeward voyage in twenty-three days, and sailed back
into the port of Bristol about the 6th (15th) of August, 1497.
That Cabot cannot have taken much more than twenty days
on the return voyage also appears from the statement already

1 That the distance between these islands and Cauo de Ynglaterra is less than
half what it ought to be on La Cosa's map cannot be considered of decisive import-
ance, since, as we have seen, the distances on this map are in general not to be
relied on. The name ** S. Grigor " must certainly be due to the Englishmen,
while " Y. verde " may be due to Cabot or to La Cosa, and may be the same
name as is found on compass-charts of the fifteenth century (cf. above, p. 279).
La Cosa or Cabot may have taken these two islands to be the same as
♦' Ilia verde " and " Ilia brazil " on these older charts, and while one of the
islands has been given a new name (perhaps because there were other islands
with the name of Brazil (?), or because this island was nameless on some of the
compass-charts ; see above, p. 281, the other has been allowed to retain the
old name, which was originally a translation of Greenland. This old land of the
Norsemen is here brought far to the south, and reduced to a very modest size,
being confused with peninsulas of Newfoundland.
318

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

quoted of the Bristol sailors, that they could make the voyage chapter
in fifteen days.^ ^^^

The view of John Cabot's voyage of 1497 set forth above Legend on
agrees also with the map of the world of 1544, which is attri- *^® ^^^ °^
buted to the collaboration of Sebastian Cabot, but which the
latter in any case cannot have seen or corrected after it was
engraved, probably in the Netherlands, and by an engraver
who did not understand Spanish, the language of the map
[cf. Harrisse, 1892, 1896 ; Dawson, 1894]. Its delineation
of the northern east coast of North America is for the most
part borrowed from the representation on French maps of
Cartier's discoveries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (cf. Deslien's
map of 1541). Cape Breton is called "Prima tierra vista,"
and in the inscription referring to the northern part of the
American coast,^ the import of which must apparently be
derived from Sebastian Cabot, we read :

" This land was discovered by Joan Caboto Veneciano and Sebastian Caboto
his son in the year 1494 [sic] after the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ, the 24th
of June in the morning ; to which they gave the name ' Prima Tierra Vista,'
and to a large island which is near the said land they gave the name of St. John,
because it was discovered the same day " [i.e., St. John's Day].^

1 As evidence that a homeward voyage of twenty-three days would not be
unusually fast sailing for that time, it may be mentioned for comparison that
Cartier, in June and July 1536, took nineteen days from Cape Race to St. Malo.
Champlain made the same voyage in 1603 in eighteen days, and in 1607 he took
twenty-seven days from Canso, near Cape Breton, to St. Malo.

' Cf. Dawson, 1897, PP* 209, ff.

3 Haklujrt [Principal Navigations, London, 1589] gives a corresponding
inscription from the copy of this map which at that time was in the queen's
private gallery at Westminster ; it was engraved in London in 1549 by the well-
known Clement Adams. As in 1549 Sebastian Cabot held a high position with the
King of England as adviser on all maritime matters, and especially as cartographer,
we must suppose that he was consulted in the publication of so important a map,
especially as it was attributed to himself. We may therefore assume that the
inscription was revised by Sebastian Cabot. Hakluyt mentions this legend on
Clement Adams's map for the first time in 1584 [cf. Winship, 1900, p. 56] and
then says, as in the first edition of Principal Navigations, that the date of the
discovery was 1494 ; but in the 1600 edition of Principal Navigations he corrected
it to 1497, for what reason is uncertain [cf. Taducci, 1892, p. 47 ; Harrisse, 1892,

319

CHAPTER
XIV

The island
of St. John

IN NORTHERN MISTS

The remainder of this legend — that the natives wear the
skins of animals, that the country is unfertile, that there are
many white bears, vast quantities of fish, mostly called
bacallaos, etc. etc. — cannot refer, as Harrisse appears to
think, to this land (Cape Breton) which was first discovered,
but to the northern regions of the new continent as a whole.
It is characteristic of this map, as of the earlier French ones.

Northern portion ot the map of the world of 1544, attributed to
Sebastian Cabot

that Newfoundland is cut up into a number of small islands.
If the view is correct that Y. Verde and S. Grigor on La Cosa's
map are also parts of Newfoundland, it may explain the fact
of Sebastian Cabot having no difficulty in bringing this map,
or his father's, into agreement with the French ones, since
he must have thought that a number of *' islands," discovered
later, had been added.

No island of St. John is to be found on La Cosa's map,
but there is a Cauo S. Johan not far from Cauo de Ynglaterra
and close to the island that is called Ilia de la trinidat. That
the name is attached to a cape instead of to an island may be
due to a transposition in the course of repeated copyings.

1896 ; Winship, 1900, pp. 20, f.]. How the certainly erroneous date 1494 got on
to the map of 1544 is unknown ; it may be supposed that MCCCCXCHH is an
error of reading or writing for MCCCCXCVH, the two strokes of V being taken to
be divided : II [cf. Harrisse, 1896, p. 61].

320

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

On the Portuguese map of Pedro Reinel, of the beginning of CHAPTER
the sixteenth century (that is, only a few years after 1497), ^^^
Cape Breton is marked without a name, but an island lies off
it, called " Sam Joha " [St. John] ; on Maggiolo's map of
1527 there is " C. de bertonz," with an island, " Ja de S. loan,"
in the same place ; and on Michael Lok's map, in Hakluyt's
"Divers Voyages," 1582, we have " C. Breton" with the
island of "S.
Johan," lying off
it, and on Cape
Breton Island (or
Nova Scotia),
called Norom-
bega, is written
"J.Cabot, 1497"
(see p. 323)-
There seems
thus to have been
a definite tradi-
tion that it was
here that John
Cabot made the
land, and St.

John may then be the little Scatari Island which lies on the
outside of Cape Breton Island [cf. Dawson, 1897, PP* 210, ff.].
That the " I. de S. Juan " on the map of 1544 lies on the inside
of ' * Prima tierra vista ' ' and answers to the Magdalen Islands
is of minor importance ; we do not even know whether Sebas-
tian Cabot can be made responsible for it, as it may be due to
a confusion on the part of the draughtsman. More importance
must be attached on this point to the agreement between the
earlier maps of 1500, 1527, and that of Reinel (compared with
Lok's map in Hakluyt), than to the map of 1544.^

1 Another possible explanation is that Cauo de Ynglaterra, Cabot's most
eastern point of the country, was Cape Race in Newfoundland, in spite of Sebastian
Cabot's having placed it at Cape Breton. As has been said, it is very doubtful

II X 321

Portion of Pedro Reinel's map, beginning of the
sixteenth century

CHAPTER
XIV

Cabot's
return

IN NORTHERN MISTS

John Cabot returned to Bristol at the beginning of August,
probably about the 6th (15th, N.S.). He naturally hastened to
London to tell the King of his discovery, and we know that he
must have been there on the loth (20th) August, for there is
an entry in the accounts of the King's privy purse :

" 10 August, 1497. To hym that found the new isle, £io.'*

This cannot be called an exaggerated regal payment for
discovering a new continent, even though £10 in the money
of that time corresponds to about £120 now. Later in the
same autumn Cabot was granted a pension from the King of
£20 a year.

Meanwhile, as the letters already quoted show, his dis-

whether Sebastian Cabot was with his father in 1497, though on the other hand
he probably knew his father's map, and in 1544 had a copy of it, or at any rate
of La Cosa's. Then he saw the French maps representing Cartier's discoveries,
e.g., Deslien's map of 1541 ; and it was a question of identifying his father's
discoveries with this map. It would then be perfectly natural to assume that
C. de Ynglaterra answered to Cape Breton, which looked like the easternmost
point of the mainland in that region, while farther east there was a group of
islands which might well answer to S. Grigor and Y. Yerde on La Cosa's map.
Perhaps he also had a note to the effect that it was on St. John's day that the
first land was sighted. On his father's map he found an island of St. John off
this promontory, or he knew it from the tradition of Reinel's and later maps,
and so placed his " Prima tierra vista " at Cape Breton. If the view that C. de
Ynglaterra is Cape Race be regarded as correct, it might be assumed that Cauo
descubierto was really the place where Cabot first made the land, perhaps in
the neighbourhood of Cape Breton, and that from thence he sailed eastward,
the supposed 300 leagues, along the south coast of Newfoundland. The two
islands he discovered to starboard might then be Grand Miquelon and St. Pierre,
though this is not very probable, and he would then have sailed between them
and the land. But in that case we have a difficulty with the two islands, S. Grigor
and Y. Verde, which must then lie east of Cape Race, where no islands exist. That
they were icebergs taken for islands is not very likely. It is more probable that,
as already suggested, they are the ghosts of the * * Ilia Verde * ' and * * Ilia de Brazil ' '
of earlier compass-charts (of the fifteenth century ; see above, pp. 279, 318).
But the whole of this explanation seems rather artificial, and the even coast of
La Cosa's map is difficult to reconcile with the extremely uneven coast-line we
should get between Cape Breton Island and Cape Race. There is the further diffi-
culty, if La Cosa's coast was the south coast of Newfoundland, that we should
have to assume that John Cabot was aware of the variation of the compass, and
allowed for it on his chart.

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

covery attracted much attention in England, and gave rise CHAPTER
to great expectations.

What Cabot accomplished by his voyage of 1497 was in

the first place to prove the existence of a great country beyond

the ocean to the west of Ireland, which country he himself

assumed to belong to Asia and to be part of China. Besides

Portion of Michael Lok's map, London, 1582

this he discovered great quantities of fish off the newly dis-
covered coast ; a discovery which was soon to create a great
fishery, carried on by several nations, off Newfoundland,
and one which surpassed the Iceland fishery, hitherto the
most important. But John Cabot evidently had little idea of the
importance of this last discovery. He had, as Soncino says,
" set his mind on higher things," for he thought that by
following the coast of the mainland farther to the west he would
be able to reach the wealthy Cipango (Japan) and the Spice
Islands in the equatorial regions.

Here we have in brief the plan of his next voyage. Cabot

323

CHAPTER
XIV

Cabot's
voyage of
1498

Authorities
for the
voyage of
1498

IN NORTHERN MISTS

himself had great expectations and saw a brilliant future
before him, when he would rule as a prince over newly
conquered kingdoms which he would make subject to the
English Crown. And, as we have seen, he was liberal in
distributing islands to his barber, to a Burgundian, etc.

At the beginning of 1498 Cabot obtained new letters patent,,
dated February 3, in the thirteenth year of Henry VII. 's reign.^
These letters are in John Cabot's name alone (his sons are not
mentioned this time).

They give him the right of taking at his pleasure six English ships in any
English port, of 200 tons or under, with their necessary equipment, " and theym
convey and lede to the Londe and lies of late founde by the seid John in oure
name and by oure commaundemente, pa3mg for the3rm and every of theym as
and if we should in or for our owen cause paye and noon otherwise." And the
said John might further *' take and recejrve into the seid shippes and every of
theym all suche maisters maryners pages and our subjects, as of theyr owen free
wille woU goo and passe with hym in the same shippes to the seid Londe or lies,"
etc. etc.

It thus seems as if this not very prodigal king had on
second thoughts considerably reduced his first plan of sending
a fleet of ten, fifteen or twenty ships with all the prisoners o£
the realm.

The most important documents on this voyage are :

(i) Two contemporary letters, written before the return
of the expedition, by the older Spanish Ambassador in London,
Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, and the younger contemporary
Spanish Minister in London, Pedro de Ayala, to Ferdinand
and Isabella of Spain. The latter 's is dated July 23 (August 3,
N.S.), 1498 ; the former's is undated, but of about the same
time.

(2) A narrative in the so-called * * Cottonian Chronicle ' ' -
(the contents of which are the same as in Robert Fabyan's
Chronicle) undoubtedly refers to this voyage of 1498

^ This would be, according to the reckoning of that time, February 3, 1497,.
since the civil year began on March 25 ; in New Style it will therefore be Feb-
ruary 12, 1498.

2 The MS. is preserved in the British Museum. Cf. G. P. Winship, 1900,.
p. 47.

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

and not, as many have assumed, to the voyage of i497« It chapter
appears to be a contemporary notice of 1498, written before "^^^
"the return of the expedition.

These documents contain all that we know with certainty
about John Cabot's voyage of 1498.

The Spanish Ambassador, Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, writes Puebla's
in 1498 to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain (probably in ^^^^^ ®^
July): -^"^'^^

' ' The King of England sent five armed ships with another Genoese like Columbus
to search for the island of Brasil and others near it,^ and they were provisioned
ior a year. It is said that they will return in September. Seeing the route they
take to reach it, it is what Your Highnesses possess. The King has spoken to me
at various times about it, he hopes to derive great advantage from it. I believe
that it is not more than 400 leagues distant from here " [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 328].

Pedro de Ayala writes, July 25, 1498 : Ayala's

" I believe Your Highnesses have heard how the King of England has fitted out j ,
a fleet to discover certain islands and mainland that certain persons, who sailed ^ .^g
out of Bristol last year, have assured him they have found. I have seen the chart
that the discoverer has drawn, who is another Genoese like Columbus, who has
been in Seville and Lisbon to try to find some one to help him in this enterprise.
The people of Bristol have sent out yearly for the last seven years a fleet of two,
three or four caravels to search for the island of Brasil and the Seven Cities, follow-
ing the fancy of this Genoese. The King has determined to send out an expe-
dition because he is certain that they found land last year. One of the ships, on
which a certain Fray Buil sailed, recently came into port in Ireland with great
difficulty, the ship being wrecked.

' * The Genoese continued his voyage. After having seen the course he has taken
and the length of the route, I find that the land they have found or are looking
for is that which Your Highnesses possess, because it is at the end of that which
belongs to Your Highnesses according to the convention with Portugal. It is
hoped that they will return in September. I will let Your Highnesses know of it.
The King of England has spoken to me at various times about it ; he hopes ^ to
derive great advantage from it. I believe the distance is not more than 400 leagues.
I told him I believed the lands that had been found belonged to Your Highnesses,
and I have given him a reason for it, but he would not hear of it. As I believe
Your Highnesses are now acquainted with everything, as well as with the chart
or mapa mundi that he [i.e., this Genoese] has drawn, I do not send it yet, though

1 The text hjis " vicinidades," but Desimoni [1881, Pref. p. 15] supposes it
to be a misreading for " septe citades," i.e., " the Seven Cities."

2 ' Spero " is obviously a slip of the pen for " spera."

CHAPTER
XIV

Cottonian
Chronicle

Fabyan's
account

John Cabot

probably

never

returned

from the

voyage of

1498

IN NORTHERN MISTS

I have it here, and it seems to me very false to give out that it is not the islands
in question."

According to the Cottonian Chronicle, the King

"at the besy request and supplicacion of a Straunger venisian [i.e., John
Cabot], . . . caused to manne a ship ... for to seche an Hand wheryn the
said Straunger surmysed to be grete commodities," ^ and it was accompanied by
three or four other ships of Bristol, "the said Straunger " [i.e., Cabot] being
leader of this " Flete, wheryn dyuers merchauntes as well of London as Bristowe
aventured goodes and sleight merchaundises, which departed from the West
Cuntrey in the begynnyng of Somer, but to this present moneth came nevir Know-
lege of their exployt." ^

Hakluyt, in ** Divers Voyages " (1582) [cf. Hakluyt,

1850, p. 23], has a rather fuller version of this account, quoted

from Robert Fabyan, where we read that the ships from

Bristol were

"fraught with sleight and grosse merchandizes as course cloth, Caps, laces,
points, and other trifles, and so departed from Bristowe in the beginning of May :
of whom in this Maior's time returned no tidings." ^

' * This Mayor ' * would be William Purchas, who was
Lord Mayor of London until October 28 (November 6, N.S.),
1498. Thus, if this is correct, the expedition had not yet
returned in the late autumn.

The information contained in Ayala's letter, that one of
Cabot's ships had put in to Ireland, is the last certain intelli-
gence we have of this expedition, which was looked forward

1 Harrisse's contention [1896, pp. 129, ff.], that this expression, "surmysed
to be grete commodities," points to the chronicler here having introduced state-
ments about the first voyage, in 1497, is hardly well founded. For Cabot discovered,
according to the statements, no commodities (except fish) in 1497 ; on the other
hand, he supposed that by penetrating farther to the west along the coast he
would reach these treasures.

2 Cf. G. P. Winship, 1900, p. 47. In the Cottonian Chronicle this account is
given under the thirteenth year of Henry VII. 's reign, which lasted from August
22, 1497, to August 21, Z498. This has led some to think it referred to the voyage
of 1497, but that is impossible, as, of course, Cabot had returned before the thir>
teenth year of Henry's reign began.

^ In the note preceding this statement taken from Fabyan, Hakluyt has
made Sebastian Cabot leader of the expedition ; but there is nothing to this effect
in the text.

326

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

to with such great hopes. John Cabot now disappears com- CHAPTER
pletely and unaccountably from history, and his discovery, ^^^
which the year before had attracted so much attention, seems
to have been more or less forgotten in the succeeding years,
and is never referred to in the later letters of the Spanish
Ambassadors in London. It may, therefore, seem reasonable
to suppose that the expedition disappeared without leaving a
trace. The probability of this is confirmed by the fact that
two years and a half later, in March 1501, Henry VII. again
granted letters patent, for the discovery of lands, to three
merchants of Bristol and three Portuguese, without mentioning
Cabot ; it is merely stated that all former privileges of a
similar kind were cancelled. But according to some old account
books from Bristol, found at Westminster Abbey, John Cabot's
royal pension of ^^20 a year was paid as late as the adminis-
trative year beginning September 29, 1498. This, as Harrisse
and others think, shows that Cabot returned from the voyage
and was still alive in that year. But this seems to be uncertain
evidence. The money need not have been paid to him per-
sonally ; it may have been paid to his wife os his sons or other
representatives during his absence on the voyage, and we
cannot conclude anything certain from it. As the pension
is not entered in the following years, it seems rather to show
that Cabot was really lost, and the money was only paid
during the first year of his absence.

It has been supposed that the following is another proof
of the participators in the voyage of 1498 having returned :
the accounts of Henry VII. *s privy purse for 1498 show that
on March 22 and April i the King advanced money (sums
of £20, 3^3, and 40s. 5d., in all about ;£65o in the money of
the present day) to Launcelot Thirkill (who seems to have had
a ship of his own), Thomas Bradley and John Carter, who
were all going to ** the new Isle." Probably these men may
have fitted out their own ships to accompany Cabot's expe-
dition ; but we do not know whether they sailed. This is
probably the same Launcelot Thirkill who, according to an

327

XIV

IN NORTHERN MISTS
CHAPTER old document, was in London on June 6, 1501, when he and
three others whose names are given (perhaps his sureties)
were " bounden in ij obligations to pay " £20 to the King
before next Whitsuntide. Possibly it was this loan received
from the King for the voyage, which he then had to repay. If
he really started, it may be supposed that his ship was the one
that put back to Ireland ; and this document is therefore no
certain proof of any of the other four ships having ever returned.
For that matter they may all have been lost in the same gale.
But in the year 1501 the ship that returned from Caspar Corte-
Real's expedition is reported to have brought back to Lisbon a
broken gilt sword of Italian workmanship from the east coast
of North America ; and it is also stated that two Venetian
silver rings had been seen on a native boy from that country.
It has been assumed that these objects may have belonged to
some of the participators in John Cabot's expedition of 1498,
which in that case must have reached America, and there
met with some disaster.

It is difficult to say more of this voyage. That John
Cabot should have returned after having reached America,
and after having sailed a greater or less distance along the
coast without finding the riches he was in search of, appears
to me unlikely. Such an assumption would provide no
explanation of the complete silence about him. As the
foreign Ministers had followed this expedition with so much
attention, we might surely expect them to say something
about its having disappointed the great expectations that
were formed of it ; and in any case it was unlikely that the
whole should be buried in complete silence, which, on the
other hand, is easily comprehensible if nothing more was heard
of the expedition, since it may all have been forgotten for
other things which claimed attention. Thus the story of
Giovanni Caboto, the discoverer of the North American conti-
nent, ends, as it began, in obscurity. He was too early with
his discovery. England had not yet developed her trade and
navigation sufficiently to be able to follow it up and avail

328

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

herself of it ; this was not to come until about eighty years chapter
later. , xiv

But John Cabot's discovery was not altogether unheeded Sebastian

in the years that followed ; it was considered of sufficient Cabot's

voyages
importance for his son, Sebastian Cabot, by appropriating doubtful

the honour of it, to acquire much fame and reputation in his
day as a great discoverer and geographer. But whether he
ever made discoveries on the east coast of North America is
very doubtful ; indeed, it is not even certain that he ever under-
took a voyage to these regions. There can be no doubt that
he himself asserted he had done so repeatedly and to different
men, though his various utterances, so far as we know them,
agree imperfectly. We see, too, that as early as 15 12 he had
the reputation of being acquainted with north-western waters,
since he obtained an appointment in the service of King
Ferdinand of Aragon on account of the remarkable knowledge
he claimed to possess of 'Ma navigacion a los Bacallaos "
(the voyage to Newfoundland) [cf. Harrisse, 1892, p. 20].
But Sebastian Cabot seems, on the whole, to have been one
of those men who are more efficient in words than deeds.
It was the habit of the time to be not too scrupulous about
the truth, if one had any advantage to gain from the contrary,
and Sebastian was evidently no better than his age. If his
utterances are correctly reported, he endeavoured, when his
father had long been dead and forgotten, to claim for himself
the honour of his voyages, in which he succeeded so well that
for many centuries he, and not his father, was regarded as the
discoverer of the continent of America. In the legend on the
map of the world of 1544, it is true, he was modest enough to
share the honour with his father, and this legend is at the
same time the only evidence which might point to Sebastian
as having been present on that occasion ; but, as we have
already seen, no great importance can be attached to it, and it
is not confirmed by contemporary statements about the voyage.
His assertion that he had been in north-western waters is in
direct conflict with statements in the protest made on March

329

CHAPTER
XIV

Beginning
of the New-
foundland
fishery

IN NORTHERN MISTS

II, 1521, by the Wardens of the Drapers' Company of London
against King Henry VIII. 's attempt to obtain contributions
towards an expedition to * ' the newe found Hand ' ' (the coast
of North America) in 1521 under the command of Sebastian
Cabot. The protest says :

"... And we thynk it were to sore avenf to joperd V shipps w* men and
goods vnto the said Hand vppon the singuler trust of one man callyd as we vnder-
stond Sebastyan, whiche Sebastyan as we here say was Aeu' in that land hym
self, all if he maks reports of many things as he hath hard his Father and other
men speke in tymes past," etc.

This statement is clear enough, and, coming as it does
from men who were acquainted with his father's services,
it cannot be disregarded. It is also confirmed by a remark-
able statement in Peter Martyr's narrative (in 1515) of an
alleged voyage of Sebastian Cabot (see later), which con-
cludes :

" Some of the Spaniards deny thatCabot [i.e., Sebastian] was the first discoverer
of the land of Bacallaos, and assert that he had not sailed so far to the west."

This might point to his really having made a voyage, but,
in the opinion of the Spaniards, never having reached the coast
of North America.

The immediate consequence of John Cabot's discovery of
the continent of North America was probably that the practical
merchants of Bristol, who were accustomed to fishing ventures
in Iceland, at once sent out vessels to take advantage of the
great abundance of fish that John Cabot had found in 1497
and that had evidently made so deep an impression on his
crew that they told every one about it. But the English fisher-
men were soon followed, and, indeed, outstripped, by Portu-
guese, Basque and French (chiefly Breton) fishermen, and thus
arose the famous Newfoundland fisheries. The cause of the
fishermen of Portugal and other countries having followed
so soon was doubtless the discovery of Newfoundland by the
Portuguese Corte-Real on his voyages of 1500 and 1501 (see
next chapter).

But of the development of this fishery we hear little or

330

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

nothing in literature; just as in the Icelandic literature of chapter
earlier times these fishing expeditions of ordinary seamen ^^^
are passed over ; in the first place, they were not "notable "
travellers, and in the second, men of that class in all ages
have preferred to avoid advertising their discoveries for fear
of competition.

From various documents and statements we may conclude Expeditions
that fresh expedftions were sent out from Bristol in 1501 g^^gj j^
and the following years ; but these were Anglo-Portuguese 1501 and
undertakings and may have been occasioned, at any rate in fo^^o^ng
part, by the discoveries of the Portuguese, although, of course,
the knowledge of Cabot's voyage may have had some signi-
ficance.^

On March 19 (28), 1501, Henry VII. issued letters patent
to Richard Warde, Thomas Ashehurst and John Thomas,
merchants of Bristol, who were in partnership in the enter-
prise with three Portuguese from the Azores, John and Francis
Fernandus [i.e., Joao and Francisco Fernandez] and John
Gunsolus [Joao Gonzales ?].2 They were given the right for

^ It was suggested above that the Burgundian who took part in Cabot's voyage
in 1497 may have been from the Azores. It might be supposed that he also accom-
panied Joao Fernandez or Corte-Real in 1500, and now took part with Fernandez
in the English undertaking, and in this way we should get a connection ; but all
this is mere guessing.

2 Possibly the first-named Portuguese was the origin of the n^me of * ' Lab-
rador." On a Portuguese map of the sixteenth century, preserved at Wolfenbiittel,
it is stated that the country of Labrador was ' ' discovered by Englishmen from
the town of Bristol, and as he who first gave the information was a ' labrador '
[i.e., labourer] from the Azores, they gave it that name " [cf. Harrisse, 1892,
p. 580 ; 1900, p. 40]. Ernesto do Canto [Archivo dos Acores, xii. 1894] points \
out that in documents of as early as 1492 there is mention of a Joao Fernandez \
who is described as " Uavorador," and who was engaged with another (Pero J
de Barcellos) in making discoveries at sea. " Llavorador " did not mean merely
a common labourer, but one who tilled the ground, an agriculturist, landowner.
We are then tempted to suppose that, as Do Canto assumes, this Joao Fernandez
llavorador is John Fernandus, who is mentioned in the letters patent of 1501.
The name of Labrador first appears on Portuguese maps (cf. the King map of
about 1502), and is there used of Greenland. It may there be due to this Joao
Fernandez (llavorador], who, perhaps, returned to Portugal in 1502, as he is
no longer mentioned in the letters patent of December 1502 [cf. Harrisse, 1900,

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER ten years ' ' to explore all Islands, Countries, Regions, and
^^^ Provinces whatever, in the Eastern, Western, Southern, and

Northern Seas, heretofore unknown to Christians," and all
former privileges of this kind, granted to ** any foreigner or
foreigners, ' ' were expressly cancelled. This last provision must
refer to the letters patent granted to Cabot in 1496 and 1498.

That this new expedition from Bristol really took place
and returned before January 1502, seems to result from the
accounts of Henry VII. 's privy purse, where on January 7,
1502, there is an entry: "To men of Bristoll that found
Expedition Thisle £5." ^ In 1502 there was possibly a new expedition,
in 1502 ^5 jjj tj^g same accounts there is an entry of September [24],
1502 : "To the merchants of Bristoll that have bene in the
Newfounde Lande, 3^20." ^ According to a document of
December 6, 1503, Henry VII. further granted on September
26, 1502, to the two Portuguese, ffranceys ffernandus [Fran-
cisco Fernandez] and John Guidisalvus [Gonzales ?] a yearly
pension of ten pounds each, for the service they had done to
the King's " singler pleasur as capitaignes unto the new
founde lande."

p. 40, ff. ; Bjornbo, 1910, p. 174]. Possibly he may have accompanied Corte-Real
in 1500, or himself made a voyage in that year (see next chapter), before he came
to Bristol ; of that we know nothing, but in that case the name refers to some
such Portuguese voyage, on which we know that Greenland was sighted in 1500,
though the voyagers were unable to reach the coast (see next chapter). It may
then be supposed that the English expedition from Bristol in 1501, in which Joao
Fernandez took part, did reach the coast of Greenland, and therefore on later maps
the discovery was attributed to the English, who not only saw the coast, but also
landed on it. The Spanish cosmographer Alonso de Santa Cruz (born 1506) says :
" It was called the land of Labrador because it was mentioned and indicated by
a ' labrador ' from the Azores to the King of England, when he sent on a voyage of
discovery Antonio [sic] Gabot, the English pilot and father of Sebastian Gabot,
who is now Pilot Major (piloto mayor) to Your Majesty " [cf. Harrisse, 1896,
p. 80]. As this was written so long after, and in Spain, it is not surprising that
Cabot's voyage of 1497 has been confused with the voyage of 1501, especially as
it was not to the interest of Sebastian, who was still in Spain at that time, to
correct this. The statement agrees, moreover, with the legend on the Portuguese
map at Wolfenbiittel.

^ Cf. Harrisse, 1896, p. 147.

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

Hakluyt states (1582) in " Divers Voyages " [1850, p. 23], CHAPTER
after Robert Fabyan's Chronicle, that in the seventeenth ^^^
year of the reign of Henry VII. [i.e., August 22, 1501, to
August 21, 1502] ^

"were brought unto the king three men, taken in the new founde Hand, that before
I [i.e., Fabyan ?] spake of in William Purchas time, being Maior.^ These were
clothed in beastes skinnes, and ate rawe fleshe, and spake such speech that no
man coulde understand them, and in their demeanour like to bruite beastes,
whom the king kept a time after. Of the which vpon two yeeres past after I
[i.e., Fabyan] saw two apparelled after the maner of Englishmen, in Westminster
pallace, which at that time I coulde not discerne from Englishemen, till I was
learned what they were. But as for speech, I heard none of them vtter one
worde." ^

These natives must have been brought back from the
expedition of 1501 or from that of 1502 (if the latter returned

^ In the repetition of the same statement (from Fabyan) in Stow's Chronicle
the eighteenth year is given as the date, i.e., August 22, 1502, to August 21, 1503 ;
but it is doubtful which is correct ; it appears to me that the text itself must be
more original in Hakluyt ; but the date occurs in the heading added by himself*

^ The most natural explanation of this seems to me to be that Fabyan, whom
Hakluyt quotes, thought that these savages were taken on the same island [i.e.,
North America] that John Cabot had discovered [in 1497] ; of whose expedition
in 1498 he had said that it had not returned during the mayoralty of William
Purchas, see above, p. 326. That Hakluyt also interpreted Fabyan's words
thus seems to result from the fact that in his later repetition of this, in ** Prin-
cipal Navigations," in 1589 and 1599- 1600, he has altered the heading, making
it the fourteenth (instead of the seventeenth) year of Henry VH. [i.e., August 22,
1498- August 21, 1499] when the three savages were brought to him. Hakluyt
must then have misunderstood it to mean that they were taken on the voyage
of 1498. •

3 In Hakluyt 's heading to this statement we are told that it was Sebastian
Cabot who brought these savages ; but his name is not mentioned in the text
itself, which appears to be more genuine than the heading, and there is no ground
for supposing that Sebastian took part in either of these expeditions of 1501 or
1502 ; in any case he was not the leader. In Stow's version [Winship, 1900,
p. 95] Sebastian Gabato is introduced into the text as he who had taken the three
men ; but, as suggested above, Stow's text seems less original than Hakluyt's.
It is probable that both Stow and Hakluyt may have started from the assumption
that it was Sebastian Cabot who made the voyage, and, therefore, that they
thoughtlessly introduced his name [cf. Harrisse, 1896, pp. 142, ff.] ; on the other
hand it appears to me doubtful that his name should already have occurred in
Fabyan in this connection.

333

CHAPTER
XIV

English
royage in
1503

IN NORTHERN MISTS

before August 21 ?). They were most likely Eskimo,
since Indians with their darker skin could scarcely have looked
like Englishmen. It might even be supposed that they came
from Greenland, and were descendants of the Norsemen
there, in which case their resemblance to Englishmen is
most naturally explained.

On December 9 (18), 1502, Henry VII. again granted
letters patent to Thomas Ashehurst, Joam Gonzales, Francisco

North-western portion of Robert Thome's map, of 1527 (copy
of a Spanish map of the world)

Fernandes and Hugh Elliott for a voyage of discovery to
parts not hitherto found by English subjects. That this
projected expedition took place in 1503 is possibly shown by
an entry in the accounts of the King's privy purse : " 1503,
Nov. 17. To one that brought hawkes from the Newfounded
Island. i.L." [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 270].

It seems that it must be the same voyage to the north-
west that is mentioned by Robert Thorne of Bristol in his
letter of 1527 to Henry VIII. 's Ambassador in Spain. Thome
was then living in Seville, and was interested in Indian enter-
prises. He tries to induce Henry VIII. to send an expedition
to the Indies by way of the Polar Sea, and sends with his project
a rough copy he has had made of a Spanish mappamundi.
He says that he has inherited the " inclination or desire of
this discoverie " from his

" father, which with another marchant of Bristow named Hugh Eliot, were the
discoverers of the New found lands, of the which there is no doubt, (as nowe

334

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

plainely appearethl if the mariners would then have bene ruled, and followed CHAPTER
their Pilots minde, the lands of the West Indies (from whence all the gold XIV
commeth} had bene ours. For all is one coast, as by the Carde appeareth, and is
aforesayd."

On the map the northern east coast of America extends
uninterruptedly to the north (see the reproduction), and upon
it is written : * ' the new land called laboratorum, ' ' and along
the coast there is : * * the land that was first discovered by
the English." It might appear as though it was really the
present Labrador that was then discovered ; but this is hardly
the case ; what we see on the map is probably Greenland/
which is here moved over to America as on other Spanish
maps, and the east coast of which is given a northerly direction
as on Ruysch's map of 1508.

It is possible that another expedition set out in 1504 ;
for in the accounts of the King's privy purse we find an entry
on April 8, 1504, of 3^2 ** to a preste that goeth to the new
Islande." We see thus that there is a probability of many
expeditions having left England for the west and north-west
at this time, and that thus Greenland, Newfoundland, and
doubtless also Labrador had been reached by the English ;
and this would explain their being recorded on Spanish maps
as discoverers of the northern part of the east coast of America.
But we have no further information about these voyages.

Just as we have seen that the note on Robert Thome's
map of 1527 (that the English had discovered the northern
part of the east coast of America) must probably refer to
the expedition of 1501 or to one in the following year, so it
is doubtless discoveries of the same voyages that are alluded
to on Maggiolo's compass-chart of 151 1 (see reproduction,
P* 359)» where a peninsula to the north of Labrador is marked
as '* Terra de los Ingres " [the land of the English]. On later
maps, such as Verrazano's of 1529, Ribero's of 1529 (see
reproduction, p. 357), the Wolfenbiittel map of 1530, and

1 Greenland is represented on the map conformably to the type that was
introduced on some mappemundi after Clavus's map (cf. p. 278J.

335

CHAPTER
XIV

Accounts of
a voyage of
Sebastian
Cabot in
1508-1509

IN NORTHERN MISTS

others, Labrador is marked as having been discovered by the
English, sometimes, indeed, with the addition that they came
from Bristol. As already mentioned, no hint is to be found in
trustworthy documents of Sebastian Cabot's having taken
part in these expeditions or having been in any way connected
with them, and there is therefore no ground for assuming this.
And the remarkable thing is that even his father's name is
not mentioned in connection with them, though it was so few
years since he had sailed from the same port.

We find, however, in various works of the sixteenth century
records of voyages to northern or north-western waters,
supposed to have been made by Sebastian Cabot ; which may
be due, directly or indirectly, to himself. Formerly there was
a tendency to connect these statements with John Cabot's
voyages of 1497 and 1498 [cf. Harrisse], but this assumption
seems to have little probability. G. P. Winship [1899,
pp. 204, ff.], on the other hand, has pointed out with good
reason that according to Sebastian Cabot's own words the
voyage was undertaken by himself in the years 1508-9 ; but
even this appears to me uncertain ; in any case I doubt that
he reached America.

We hear of a voyage to the north-west said to have been
undertaken by Sebastian Cabot from Peter Martyr (in his
Decades, 15 16), from the Venetian Minister to Spain, Con-
tarini, especially in a report to the Venetian Senate in 1536, from
Ramusio (1550-1554 and 1556), from Gomara (1553), and
from Antonio Galvano (1563).^

We may expect the most trustworthy of these authorities
to be Peter Martyr, who was the oldest, and who knew
Sebastian Cabot personally ; but certain main features of
the voyage are to some extent common to all the accounts.
If we compare these, the voyage is said to have taken place
somewhat in the following manner : the expedition, consisting

^ As to the works of these authors, see Winship [1900]. Markham [1893]
reproduces them (except Contarini's report of X536)in translations, which, however^
must be used with some caution.

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

of two ships with three hundred men,^ was according to Peter CHAPTER
Martyr fitted out at Sebastian's own cost, but according to ^^^
Ramusio it was sent out by the King. They sailed so far to the
north (according to Gomara, even in the direction of Iceland)
that in the month of July they found enormous masses of ice
floating on the sea ; daylight was almost continuous, and
the land was in places free of ice which had melted away.
According to the various accounts Cabot is said to have reached
55°, 56°, 58°, or 60°.^

According to Galvano they first " sighted land in 45° N. lat. and then sailed
straight to the north until they came to 60° N. lat., where the day is eighteen
hours long [sic], and the night is very clear and light. There they found the
air cold and great islands of ice [icebergs ?] but no bottom with soundings of
seventy, eighty, or one hundred fathoms,^ but they found much ice which terrified
them."

When, according to Peter Martyr, their hopes of making
their way to the west in these northern latitudes were thus
annihilated by the ice, they sailed back to the south and
south-west along the North American coast, as far as the
latitude of Gibraltar, 36° (according to Peter Martyr), or to
38° (according to Gomara and Galvano), while according to
Ramusio 's anonymous informant they sailed as far as Florida.^
From thence the expedition returned to England.

With regard to the date of this voyage, we are told in
the continuation of Peter Martyr's Decades [Dec. vii], written
in 1524 (published 1530), that " Bacchalaos [i.e., Newfound-
land, or the northern east coast of America] was discovered
from England by Cabot sixteen years ago." According to

^ These two ships and the three hundred men occur in Peter Martyr and
Contarini, as well as in Gomara and Galvano ; while Ramusio only has two ships
and says nothing about the crews.

2 In Peter Martyr's original account no latitude is given.

3 The meaning must be that these islands of ice were aground, but that never-
theless a line of one hundred fathoms did not reach the bottom. The ice must
consequently have been over one hundred fathoms thick, which, of course, was
a remarkable discovery at that time.

*This was the name at that time (1550! for the whole south-eastern part
of the present United States.

II Y 337

' IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER this the voyage took place in 1508. In Contarini's report
^^^ of 1536 [cf. Winship, 1900, p. 36] it is said of Sebastian Cabot's

voyage that on his return he " found the King dead, and his
son cared little for such an enterprise." As Henry VII. died
on April 21, 1509, it would be during the autumn of that
year that Cabot returned ; but then he must have sailed
before April, which is unlikely, at any rate if it is a question
of a voyage up into the ice to the north or north-west, such
as is described. That he should have sailed in the previous
year and not returned until after the King's death is still more
improbable.

These accounts contain so many improbabilities, and to
some extent impossibilities, that it is on the whole extremely
doubtful whether Sebastian Cabot ever made such a voyage
to the north-west. That he did so is contradicted in the
first place by the already quoted protest against Sebastian of
the Wardens of the Drapers* Company, which was issued in
the name of the various Livery Companies of London, and
which is of great significance, as it was written so soon after
the events are supposed to have taken place that they must
have been in the memory of most people ; and it must have
been easy for the King to inquire into the justification of the
protest (cf. above, p. 330).

The map of 1544, which is attributed to the collaboration
of Sebastian Cabot, may also point to his having never sailed
along the northern part of the coast of America, since, according
to the custom of that time, the coast of Labrador is made
to run to the east and north-east. This agrees with the state-
ment of Ramusio's anonymous informant, that Sebastian had.
to turn back because in 56° N. lat. he found the land turning
eastward (Galvano says the same). This is evidently derived
from the study of maps. As such a delineation of the coast
had not yet occurred on maps of Peter Martyr's time, it is natural
that this reason for turning back is also absent from his
account.

In addition to all this, there are in the various accounts

338

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

several statements which we must suppose to be really derived CHAPTER
from Sebastian Cabot, but which are evidently untruthful. ^^^
Thus Ramusio's anonymous guest attributes to Sebastian the
words that his father was dead when the news of the discovery
of Columbus reached England, and that it was then Sebastian
conceived the plan of his voyage which he submitted to the
King. That, as stated by Peter Martyr, he should have fitted
out two ships with crews of three hundred men at his own
expense, is extremely improbable. He is also reported to
have told Peter Martyr that he

' ' called these countries Baccallaos, because in the seas about there he found such
great quantities of certain large fish — ^which might be compared to tunny [in
size], and were thus called by the inhabitants — that sometimes they stopped his
ships."

These are nothing but impossibilities. In the first place,
he never gave the name of Bacallaos ; in the second, the
inhabitants cannot have called the fish so, if by inhabitants
is meant the native savages. These statements are, therefore^
of the same kind as that of the masses of fish stopping the ships.
Peter Martyr further relates that he said of these regions
that

' ' he also found people in these parts, clad in skins of animals, yet not without
the use of reason." He says also that "there are a great number of bears in
these parts, which are in the habit of eating fish ; for, plunging into the water
where they see quantities of these fish, they fasten their claws into their scales,
and thus draw them to land and eat them, so that (as he says] the bears are not
troublesome to men, when they have eaten their fill of fish. He declares also
that in many places of these regions he saw great quantities of copper among the
inhabitants."

The statement about the bears may come from older
literary sources, and resembles a similar statement in the
Geographia Universalis (see above, p. 191). That the inhabi-
tants have copper and are clad in skins may be derived from
reports of the various voyages.

From what we have been able to conclude as to Sebastian
Cabot's character, it seems reasonable to suppose that, in
consequence of his position as Pilot Major in Spain, he was

339

CHAPTER
XIV

Another
doubtful
voyage of
Sebastian
Cabot in
1516 or
1517?

IN NORTHERN MISTS

acquainted with the various maps and accounts of voyages in
western and north-western waters, and that from this knowledge
he constructed the whole story of his alleged voyage ; he was
then incautious enough to magnify his exploits to such an
extent that he made the whole story improbable ; for his
claim was nothing less than that he had first discovered land
as far north as between 55° and 60°, that is to say, to about
Hudson Strait, and then sailed along and discovered the whole
coast of North America to about 36° N. lat., that is, to Cape
Hatteras or Florida ; in other words, a voyage of discovery
to which we have no parallel in history, and it is truly remark-
able that we should have had no certain information about it,
while we have so much about other expeditions which step
by step discovered the various parts of this same extent of
coast.

Sebastian Cabot seems to have laid claim to having
made yet another voyage in north-western waters, unless,
indeed, it is the same one again with variations. In the third
volume of his ** Navigationi et Viaggi," etc., published
at Venice 1556, Ramusio says (writing in Venice, June 1553)
that

"Sebastian Gabotto, our Venetian, a man of great experience, etc., wrote
to me many years ago." Sebastian is said to have sailed "along and beyond
the land of New France, at the charges of Henry VH., King of England. He
told me that after having sailed a long time west by north [ponente e quarta di
Maestro] beyond these islands, lying along the said land, as far as to sixty-seven
and a half degrees under our pole [i.e., the North Pole], and on June nth [20th]
finding the sea still open and without any kind of impediment, he thought surely
by that way to be able to sail at once to Cataio Orientale [China], if the mutiny
[malignita] of the master and mariners had not compelled him to return."^

As will be seen, this statement is altogether different from
those previously mentioned ; but such assertions as that Cabot
had got so far to the north-west by June 11, and found the sea

1 Cf. Winship, 1900, p. 89. Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1576 repeats the same
statement almost word for word, saying that he has taken it from maps, on which
Sebastian Cabot had described *' from personal experience " the north-west
passage to China [cf. Winship, 1900, pp. 17, 52 ; Kohl, 1869, p. 217].

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

free of ice in 67^° N. lat., are not of a kind to strengthen our chapter
confidence. It might seem to be the same voyage that is
referred to in a statement of Richard Eden, which he may have
had from Sebastian Cabot himself. In the dedication (written
in June 1553) of Eden's translation of the fifth part of Sebastian
Munster's " Cosmographia " we read that

" Kinge Henry the viij. about the same yere [i.e., the eighth year] of hisraygne,
furnished and sent forth certen shippes vnder the gouemaunce of Sebastian
Cabot yet liuing, and one Syr Thomas Perte, whose faynt heart was the cause
that that viage toke none e^ect ; yf (I say] such manly courage whereof we haue
spoken, had not at that tyme bene wanting, it myghte happelye haue comen to
passe, that that riche treasurye called Perularia, (which is now in Spayne in the
citie of Ciuile, and so named, for that in it is kepte the infinite ryches brought
thither from the newe foimd land of Peru) myght longe since haue bene in the
towne of London." ^

As Peru is mentioned, it might doubtless appear as though
a voyage to South America were in question ; but we often
see that the western countries beyond the sea were spoken of
as a continuous possession (cf. Robert Thome's letter, above,
p. 334), and it may therefore refer to the same alleged expe-
dition as is spoken of by Ramusio ; for both Ramusio and
Eden have evidently the same statements from Sebastian
Cabot, and the latter can hardly have spoken of two expeditions
which were both unsuccessful merely because his companions
failed him.

If this is correct, the voyage took place in the eighth year
of Henry VIII.'s reign, i.e., April 16, 1516, to April 15, 1517 ^ ;
but, as Harrisse contends, it is very doubtful whether the
voyage was made at all. It is true that a poem of Henry VIII. 's
time also speaks of an English expedition which may have
taken place at this time, and which failed on account of the
cowardice of the crew. Robert Thorne, too, as we have seen
(p. 335), tells of a voyage made by his father and Hugh Eliot,
on which the sailors would not ** follow their pilot's mind."

1 Cf. Harrisse, 1896, pp. 159, ff. ; Winship, 1900, p. 44.

2 We must then suppose that "Henry VH." in Ramusio is an error for
" Henry VHI."

341

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XIV

Henry
Vin.'s
attempted
expedition
in 1521

It may, Indeed, have occurred on several voyages that the
crews refused to proceed farther, and for that matter these
statements need not refer to the same voyage ; but at the same
time it is by no means incredible that Sebastian Cabot may
have heard of such an expedition, and, when it was more
appropriate than the ice, used it as an explanation of his not
having discovered the north-west passage to China. We
know that Sebastian Cabot was in the service of Spain
(and appointed *' Pilot Major ") in 1515, and that he was
occupied with plans of a voyage to the north-west for the King
of Spain ; for Peter Martyr writes of him in that year that he
was impatiently looking forward to March 151 6, when he had
been promised a fleet with which to complete his discoveries
[cf. Winship, 1900, p. 71]. As Ferdinand of Aragon died on
January 23, 1516, nothing came of this voyage, and as we
hear nothing of Sebastian Cabot before February 5, 151 8,
when he was appointed Pilot Major by Charles V., it is not
impossible that in the meantime he may have been in England,
and have taken part in an English expedition ; but no record
of his having come to England is extant, and it would hardly
agree with the protest against him of the Drapers* Company
a few years later.

There may yet be mentioned the attempts made by
Henry VIII. in 1521 to prepare an expedition to north-western
waters under the command of Sebastian Cabot, chiefly at
the expense of the merchants of London, which, however,
evoked a powerful protest against Sebastian on the part
of these merchants (see above, p. 330). It is true that, upon
pressure irom the King, they afterwards declared themselves
willing to give a smaller sum, but the expedition never came
to anything. Sebastian Cabot was at that time, as he had
been since 1512, in the service of Spain, and he remained
so until in 1547 he again took up his abode in England and
entered the service of the English King. In December 1522
Sebastian Cabot informed the Venetian Minister in Spain,
Contarini, that he had been in England three years before

342

JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES

[i.e.) in I5i9]» and that the Cardinal there [i.e., Wolsey, who chapter

was trying on behalf of Henry VIII. to get together the expe- ^^^

dition of 1521] had endeavoured to persuade him to undertake

the command of a fleet which was almost ready [sic !], for the

discovery of new lands ; but he had replied that, as he was

in the service of Spain, he must first obtain the permission of

the Emperor ; and that he had then written to the Emperor,

requesting him not to grant such permission, but to recall

him. This Sebastian asserted that he had done on account of

his desire of serving his own city of Venice ; for in 1522

and later he was carrying on treacherous intrigues with

Contarini to enter the Venetian service, presumably with

the hope of a high salary. Thus, wherever we are able to

check Sebastian Cabot's utterances, they prove to be extremely

untrustworthy.

Even, if, therefore, there was no lack of attempts after Cabot's
1500 to follow up John Cabot's great and important discoveries ?5^**^^
in the west, it is nevertheless surprising how little persistence time
seems to have been shown. The love of discovery and adventure
which had been so prominent a feature of the Northern Viking
nature had not yet awakened in earnest among the English
people. England's mercantile marine was at that time still
comparatively unimportant, it had not the strength for such
great enterprises or for colonisation. The earliest voyages
were mainly the work of a foreigner, an Italian, and the
later ones were in part undertaken by Portuguese ; they did
not grow naturally from the English people themselves.
Cabot's plan was like an exotic flower springing up in
immature soil, and more than half a century before its time.
Another factor was doubtless the disappointment of the
King and of the merchants ; they had ventured their money
in fitting out ships in the hope of immediate profit. What
they were looking for was the way to the rich East of Asia,
where mountains of spices lay ready to hand, and gold
and precious stones in heaps, only waiting to be picked up.
What they found was nothing but new, unknown

343

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER countries on the ocean, inhabited by wandering tribes of

^^ hunters, countries the opening up of which demanded

much time and labour. All this had scarcely more than

a geographical interest for the time being, and for that they

cared little.

344

CHAPTER XV

THE PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES IN THE
NORTH-WEST

VOYAGES OF THE BROTHERS CORTE-REAL

THE Portuguese, who in the fifteenth century were the
most enterprismg of seafaring peoples as regards
discoveries, had, as already stated, made various attempts to
find new countries out in the ocean to the west of the Azores,
from which islands the majority of the expeditions proceeded.
It was therefore to be expected that the important discoveries
of Columbus should encourage them to fresh attempts of this
kind ; it was also natural that such enterprises should originate
especially in the Azores. From what has been stated above
(p. 128), it appears that the King of Portugal (Alfonso V.)
induced Christiern I. to send out expeditions (Pining and
Pothorst) to search for new islands and lands in the North.
It seems probable that the King of Portugal was informed
of the results of these expeditions, and that in this way the
Portuguese may have known of the existence of Greenland
or of countries in the north-west. In the same way, as we
have seen (p. 132, note 2), the fact that the earliest literary

345

CHAPTER
XV

Early
attempts
of the
Portuguese
to find new
lands

CHAPTER
XV

Boundary
between the
Portuguese
and Spemish
spheres

Letters
patent to
Joao

Fernandez,
X499

IN NORTHERN MISTS

allusions to Scolvus seem to be derived from Portugal may
be explained.

Possible Portuguese enterprises in the western regions were
barred by the claim of the Spanish Crown to the dominion over
all lands to the west of a certain boundary, and in the final
treaty of Tordecillas, June 7, 1404, between Portugal and
Spain, this boundary was fixed by the Pope at 370 leagues (about
1200 geographical miles) to the west of the Cape Verde Islands,
and it was to follow the meridian from pole to pole. All that
lay to the west of this meridian was to belong to Spain, while
Portugal had the right to take advantage of all lands to the
east. Thereby the Portuguese were debarred from the search
for India and China to the west. These enterprising sea-
farers must therefore have had every reason to find out whether
there were any countries on their side of the boundary-line,
and it may be supposed that their attention would naturally
be drawn in the direction of the north-western lands (Greenland)
of which they had already heard.

And, in fact, such voyages were undertaken from Portugal
(and the Azores ?) about 1500 ; but the accounts of them
are meagre and casual, and have been interpreted in very
different ways.

In order to enable one to form as unbiased a view as
possible of these voyages, it will be necessary to begin by
reviewing the most important contemporary documents which
may contain statements of value ; and afterwards to summarise
what may be concluded from these documents.

On October 28, 1499, King Manuel of Portugal issued at
Lisbon to Joao Fernandez letters patent (preserved in the
Portuguese State archives, Torre do Tombo) for discoveries,
evidently in the north-west, in which it is said :

"We [the King] make known to all who may see this our letter, that J oham
Femamdez [now written Joao Fernandez] domiciled in our island of Terceira
[Azores] has told us that he, in God's and our service, will work and travel and
try to discover certain islands of [for ?] our conquest at his own cost, and we,
seeing his good will and purpose, promise him and hereby give him de facto —
in addition to taking him into our service — the mark of our favour and the privilege

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

of Governor over every island or islands, both inhabited and uninhabited, that CHAPTER
he may discover and find for the first time, and this with such revenues [taxes], XV
dignities, profits and interests as we have given to the Governors of the islands
of Madeira and others, and for this observance and our remembrance we command
that this letter be given him, signed by us and sealed with our attached seal." ^

On May 12, 1500, King Manuel granted to Caspar Corte- Letters
Real letters patent, as follows : clsp'i***

*' We [i.e., the King] make known to all who may see this deed of gift, that Corte-Real,
forasmuch as Caspar Cortereall, a nobleman of our household, has in times past ^50o
made great endeavours at his own charges for ships and men, employing his
own fortune and at his personal danger, to search for and discover and find
certain islands and mainland, and in future will still continue to carry this into
effect, and in this way will do all that he can to find the said islands and lands,
and bearing in mind how much he deserves honour and favour and promotion
in our service, to our honour, and to the extension of our realms and dominions
through such islands and lands being discovered and found by our natives [i.e.,
Portuguese], and through the said Gaspar Corte-Reall thus performing so much
labour, and exposing himself to so great danger ; we are therefore pleased to
decree that, if he discovers and finds any island, or islands, or mainland, he be
granted by our own consent and royal and absolute power, the concession and
gift, with the privilege of Governor and its attendant rights, etc. . . . over
whatsoever islands or mainland he may thus find and discover, etc. . . . and
we decree that he and his heirs in our name and in the name of our successors
shall hold and govern those lands or islands, which are thus found, freely and
without any restriction, as has been said. . . . The said Caspar Cortereall and
his heirs shall have one quarter free of all that they can thus obtain [i.e., realise]
in the said islands and lands at what time soever. ..." [Cf. Harrisse, 1883,
pp. 196, f.].

An order is preserved dated April 15, 1501, from King
Manuel to the master of the bake-house at the city gate of
La Cruz to deliver biscuits to Gaspar Corte-Real, and further,
a receipt of April 21, 1501, for the biscuits, signed by Gaspar
Corte-Real himself, proving that the latter was in Portugal on
that date.^

Pietro Pasqualigo, the Venetian Minister at Lisbon, wrote Pasqua-
as follows to the Council at Venice on October 18, 1501 : "s°'s letter

to the
" On the 9th of this month there arrived here one of the two caravels which Council at
the said King's majesty sent last year to discover lands in the direction of the Venice,
northern regions (verso le parte de tramontana), and they have brought seven ^^*' '50i

^ Cf. Harrisse, 1883, p. 44.

-Cf. Harrisse, 1883, Supplement post scriptum, pp. 6, ff.

347

CHAPTER
XV

Pasqua-
ligo's letter
to his
brothers,
Oct. 1501

IN NORTHERN MISTS

men, women, and children from the country discovered, which is in the north-
west and west, 1800 miglia distant from here. These men resemble gypsies in
appearance, build, and stature. They have their faces marked in difierent
places, some with more, others with fewer figures. They are clad in the skins
of various animals, but chiefly of otter ; their speech is entirely different from
any other that has ever been heard in this kingdom, and no one understands it.
Their limbs are very shapely, and they have very gentle faces, but their manners
and gestures are bestial, and like those of savage men. The crew of the caravel
believe that the land alluded to is mainland, and that it is joined to the other
land which was discovered last year in the north by the other caravels belonging
to this majesty, but they were unable to reach it, for the sea was frozen over
with the great masses of snow, so that it rose up like land. They also thought
that it was connected with the Andilii [Antilles], which were discovered by the
sovereign of Spain, and with the land of Papaga [Brazil], newly found by a ship
belonging to this king, on her way to Calcutta. The grounds for this belief are^
in the first place, that after having sailed along the coast of the said land for a
distance of six hundred miglia and more, they found no end to it ; and further
because they say they found many very great rivers which there fell into the
sea. The second caravel, that of the commander (caravella capitania), is expected
from day to day, and from it the nature and condition of the aforesaid land will
be clearly understood, since it went farther along the coast in order to discover
as much of it as possible. This royal majesty has been much rejoiced by this news,
for he thinks that this land will be very profitable for his affairs in many respects^
but especially because it is so near to this kingdom that it will be easy to obtain
in a short time a very great quantity of timber for making ships' masts and
yards of, and to get a sufficient supply of male slaves for all kinds of labour, for
they say that that coimtry has many inhabitants, and is full of pine-trees and other
excellent wood. The news in question has rejoiced his majesty so much that
he has given orders that the ships are to sail to the said place, and for the increase
of his Indian fleet, in order to conquer it more quickly, as soon as it is discovered ;
for it seems that God is with his majesty in his undertakings, and brings all his
plans to accomplishment." [Cf. Harrisse, 1883, pp. 209, ff.].

On October 19, 1501, Pietro Pasqualigo writes to his
brothers at Venice :

" On the 8th of this month there arrived here one of the two caravels which
this most serene majesty sent last year to discover lands in the north under Captain
Caspar Corterat [sic] ; and they state that they found land two thousand miglia
from here between north-west and west, which before was not known to any one ;
along the coast of this land they sailed perhaps six hundred or seven hundred
miglia without flnding an end to it ; therefore they believe that it is a continent
which is continuous with another land that was discovered last year in the north
[by some other caravels], which caravels could not reach the end of it, because
the sea was frozen and there was an infinite quantity of snow. They believed
it also on account of the great number of rivers that they found there, and that

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

certainly would not be so numerous or so large on an island. They say that CHAPTER
this land has many inhabitants, and that their houses are made of great wooden XV
poles, which are covered on the outside with skins of fish [i.e., seals ?]. They
have brought seven men, women, and children from thence and fifty more are
coming in another caravel, which is hourly expected. These are of similar colour,
build, stature, and appearance to gypsies, clad in skins of various animals, but
mostly otter ; in the summer they turn the skin in, in winter the reverse. And these
skins are not sewed together in any way, and not prepared, but they are thrown
over the shoulders and arms just as they are taken off the animals. The loins
are fastened together with strings made of very strong fish sinews. Although
they seem to be savages, they are modest and gentle, but their arms, legs, and
shoulders are indescribably well shaped ; they have the face marked [tattooed]
in the Indian fashion, some with six, some with eight, and some with no figures
[lines?]. They speak, but are understood by no one ; I believe they have been
addressed in every possible language. In their coimtry they have no iron, but
make knives of certain stones, and spearheads in the same way. They have
brought from thence a fragment of a broken gilt sword, which was certainly
made in Italy. A boy among them wore in his ears two silver rings, which seem
without doubt to have been made in Venice. This induced me to believe that
it is a continent, for it is not a place to which ships can ever have gone without
anything having been heard of them.^ They have a very great quantity of salmon,
herring, cod, and similar fish. They have also great abundance of trees, and above
all of pine-trees for making ships' masts and yards of. For this reason it is
that this most serene King thinks he will derive the greatest profit from the
said land, not only on account of the trees for shipbuilding, of which there is
much need, but also on account of the men, who are excellent labourers, and
the best slaves that have hitherto been obtained ; this seems to me to be a thing
worth giving information about, and if I hear anything more when the com-
mander's caravel (caravella capitania) arrives, I will also communicate it."
[Cf. Harrisse, 1883, pp. 211, f.].

Alberto Cantino, Minister at Lisbon of Duke Ercule d'Este Cantino's
of Ferrara, wrote to the Duke as follows, on October 17, ^^^^^*^^^'
1501 :

" It is already nine months since this most serene King sent two well-equipped
ships to the northern regions (alle parte de tramontana) with the object of finding
out whether it was possible to discover lands and islands in those parts ; and now
on the nth of this month one of these ships has safely returned with a cargo,
and brought people and news, which I have thought it my duty to communicate
to Your Excellency, and thus I write here below accurately and clearly all that
the captain [of the ship] reported to the King in my presence. First he stated
that after leaving the port of Lisbon they sailed for four months at a stretch

1 As remarked above (p. 328), it is possible that these objects belonged to
John Cabot's unfortunate expedition of 1498.

349

1501

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER always with the same wind, and towards the same pole, and in all that time they-
XV never saw anything. When they had entered the fifth month and still wished

to proceed, they say that they encountered immense masses of snow frozen
together, floating on the sea and moving under the influence of the waves. On
the top of these [ice-masses] clear fresh water was formed by the power of the
sun, and ran down through little channels hollowed out by itself, wearing away
the foot [of the ice] where it fell. As the ships were already in want of water
they approached in boats, and took as much as they required ; and for fear

•^Wusaititus:

lUUU14UU|^mu4H^

Portion of the " Cantino " map of 1502, preserved at

of staying in that place on account of the danger, they were about to turn back,
but impelled by hope they consulted as to what they could best do, and deter-
mined to proceed for a few days yet, and they resumed their voyage. On the
second day they found the sea frozen, and being obliged to abandon their purpose,
they began to steer to the north-west and west, and they continued on this course
for three months, always with fair weather. And on the first day of the fourth
month they sighted between these two points of the compass a very great land,
which they approached with the greatest joy ; and many great rivers of fresh
water ran through this region into the sea, and on one of them they travelled
for a legha [ = about three geographical miles] inland ; and when they went
ashore they found a quantity of beautiful and varied fruits, and trees, and pines

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

of remarkable height and size, that would be too large for the masts of the largest CHAPTER
ship that sails the sea. Here is no corn of any kind, but the people of the country XV
live, they say, on nothing but fishing and hunting animals, of which the country
has abundance. There are very large stags [i.e., caribou, Canadian reindeer]
with long hair, whose skin they use for clothes and for making houses and boats ;
there are also wolves, foxes, tigers [lynxes ?], and sables. They declare, what
seems strange to me, that there are as many pelerine falcons as there are sparrows
in our country ; and I have seen them, and they are very handsome. Of the

Modena. The network of compass-lines omitted

men and women of that place they took about fifty by force, and have brought
them to the King ; I have seen, touched, and examined them. To begin with
their size, I may say that they are a little bigger than our countrymen, with
well-proportioned and shapely limbs, while their hair is long according to our
custom, and hangs in curly ringlets, and they have their faces marked with large
figures like those of the Indians. Their eyes have a shade of green, and, when
they look at you, give the whole face a very wild aspect. Their speech is not
to be understood, but it is without harshness, rather is it human. Their conduct
and manners are very gentle, they laugh a good deal, and show much cheerful-
ness ; and this is enough about the men. The women have small breasts and
a very beautiful figure, and have a very attractive face ; their colour may

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER more nearly be described as white than anything else, but that of the
XV males is a good deal darker. Altogether, if it were not for the wild look

of the men, it seems to me that they are quite like us in everything else.
All parts of the body are naked, with the exception of the loins, which
are kept covered with the skin of the aforesaid stag. They have no weapons,
nor iron, but all the work they produce is done with a very hard and sharp stone,
and there is nothing so hard that they cannot cut it with this. This ship came
thence in one month, and they say that it is 2800 miglia [miles] distant ; the
other consort has decided to sail along this coast far enough to determine whether
it is an island or mainland, and thus the King is awaiting the arrival of this [the
consort] and the others [i.e., his companions] with much impatience, and when
they have come, if they communicate anything worthy of Your Excellency's
attention, I shall immediately inform you of it . . . " [cf. Harrisse, 1883,
pp. 204, ff.].

The Cantino At the request of the Duke of Ferrara Cantino had a map
«^P' '502 ^^^^ ^^ Lisbon, chiefly for the purpose of representing the
Portuguese discoveries, and sent it to the Duke in 1502. In
a letter to the Duke, dated November 19, 1502, he mentions
having already sent it. This map, commonly called the Cantino
map, and now preserved at Modena, gives a remarkably good
representation of southern Greenland, which is called ** A
ponta de [asia] " [i.e., a point of Asia]. On its east coast are
two Portuguese flags to show that it is a Portuguese discovery,
one flag somewhat to the north of the Arctic Circle, the other
a little to the west of the southern point, and this coast bears the
following legend :

" This country, which was discovered by the command of the most highly
renowned prince Dom Manuel, King of Portugal, is a point of Asia [esta a ponta
d'asia). Those who made the discovery did not land but saw the land, and could
see nothing but precipitous mountains. Therefore it is assumed, according
to the opinion of the cosmographers, to be a point of Asia."

To the west of Greenland on the same map a country is
marked, called " Terra del Rey de portuguall " (the Land of
the King of Portugal) ; it answers approximately to New-
foundland, possibly with the southern part of Labrador (?).
The north and south ends are marked with two Portuguese
flags, and the country bears the following legend :

" This land was discovered by command of the most exalted and most renowned
xoyal prince Dom Manuel, King of Portugal ; Gaspar de Corte-Real, a nobleman

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

of the said King's household, discovered it, and when he had discovered it, he CHAPTER
sent [to Portugal] a ship with men and women taken in the said land, and he XV
stayed behind with the other ship, and never returned, and it is believed that
he perished, and there are many masts [i.e., trees for masts]."

On January 15, 1502,^ King Manuel gave Caspar's Letters
brother, Miguel Corte-Real, fresh letters patent as follows : ^i^^i*^

"We make known to all who may see this letter that Miguell Cortereall, Corte-Real,
a nobleman of our household and our head doorkeeper [chamberlain ?], now 1502 or
tells us that, seeing how Caspar Cortereall, his brother, long ago sailed from this ^503 l»I
city with three ships to discover new land, of which he had already found a part,
and seeing that after a lapse of time two of the said ships returned to the said
city [Lisbon], and five months have elapsed without his coming,^ he wishes to go
in search of him, and that he, the said miguell corte-reall, had many outlays
and expenses of his own in the said voyage of discovery, as well as in the said
ships, which his said brother fitted out the first time for that purpose [i.e., for
the first voyage], when he found the said land, and likewise for the second [i.e.,
the second voyage], wherefore the said gaspar cortereall in consideration of
this promised to share with him the said land which he thus discovered and
. . . which we had granted and given to him by our deed of gift, for which the
said gaspar cortereall asked us before his departure, etc." Therefore Miguel
claimed his share of the lands discovered by his brother, which he obtained from
the King by these letters patent, as well as the right to all new islands and lands
he might discover that year (1502), besides that which his brother had found.^

Two legends on the anonymous Portuguese chart of about Portuguese
1520 are also of interest.* On the land " Do Lavrador " about ^1520
[i.e., Greenland] is written :

"This land the Portuguese saw, but did not enter."

^ The document, as reproduced, has 1502. As the civil year at that time began
on March 25, the date given would correspond to January 24, 1503, according to
our calendar. But, according to the tradition given in later accounts, Miguel
Corte-Real sailed in 1502, the year after his brother (cf. the legend on the Portu-
guese chart of about 1520, p. 354). Either we must suppose that the year or
month in the document is an error, or the tradition is incorrect.

2 These five months are a little difficult to understand. Either they must be
reckoned from his departure— if we put that in May 1501, five months will take
us to October i5oi,but then the other ship had returned (see pp. 347, ff.} — or they
must be reckoned from the return of the " two ships "• (in October], but that
takes us to March 1502. Thus neither gives good sense. Most likely, £is in the
case of the three ships instead of two, it is an error in the document.

3 Cf. Harrisse, 1883, p. 214.

*Cf. Kohl, 1869, p. 179, PI. X.; Kretschmer, 1892, PL XIL ; Bjornbo,
1910, p. 212.

" 2 353

CHAPTER
XV

IN NORTHERN MISTS
On Newfoundland, called * * Bacalnaos, ' ' is written :

" To this land came first Caspar Corte Regalis, a Portuguese, and he carried
away from thence wild men and white bears. There is great abundance of animals,,
birds, and fish. In the following year he suffered shipwreck there, and did
not return, and his brother, Micaele, met with the same fate in the next year."'

In addition to this may also be mentioned the various maps
of Portuguese origin of 1502 or soon after, especially the
Italian mappamundi, the so-called King map of about 1502

Later
notices

^ejS.

2 E'-^iJ

ISI,ANDA/

AOCCEA:MOA''

Portion of an anonymous Portuguese chart of about 1520,
♦ preserved at Munich. The network of compass-lines omitted

(p. 373), which must be a copy of a Portuguese map, where
Newfoundland is called Terra Corte Real.

Besides these documents contemporary with the voyages,
or of the years immediately succeeding, there are also several
much later notices of them in Gomara (1552), Ramusio (1556),
Antonio Galvano (1563) and Damiam de Goes (1566), but
as these were written so long after, we will leave them on
one side for the present.

When we endeavour to form an opinion as to the

354

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

Portuguese voyages of these years on the basis of the oldest CHAPTER
documents, the first thing that must strike us is that there are ^^
indications of several voyages, and of the discovery of two
wholly different countries, which must undoubtedly be Green-
land and Newfoundland. As it is expressly stated on the Caspar
Cantino map, on the Portuguese chart of about 1520, and in nofth^T/
many other places, that Newfoundland was discovered by covererof
Caspar Corte-Real, while his name is not mentioned in a Greenland
single place in these documents in connection with Greenland
(or Labrador), and as Pasqualigo's letter to the Council of
Venice expressly says that that land was seen the previous year
(1500) by "the other caravels [I'altre caravelle] belonging to
this majesty," ^ the logical conclusion must be that it was not
Caspar Corte-Real who saw Greenland in the year 1500, but
some other Portuguese. It may be in agreement with this
that on the King map (of about 1502) Newfoundland is called
Terra Cortereal (see p. 373), while the island which clearly
answers to Greenland is called Terra Laboratoris. One might
be tempted to suppose that both lands were named after their
discoverers, one, that is, after Corte-Real, the other after a
man who is described as ' * laborator. ' ' The generally accepted
view that it was Caspar Corte-Real who saw Greenland on his
voyage of 1500 is thus unsupported by the above-mentioned
documents.

On the other hand, we seem to be able to conclude from the
royal letters patent to Miguel Corte-Real that Caspar made
two voyages, one in 1500, and another in 1501, and that it
was the same country (i.e., Newfoundland) that he visited
on both occasions. This is also confirmed by the legend on
the Portuguese chart of about 1520. If it was not he who on

1 It might be objected thatGaspar Corte-Real's name is not mentioned in
the whole letter, and that he might thus have also been in command of these
"other caravels " ; but in Pasqualigo's letter to his brothers Gaspar's name
is mentioned, and there too the meaning does not seem to be that he was con-
nected with the discovery in the previous year of the country which could not
be approached because of ice ; but nothing definite can be concluded on this
point from the two letters.

355

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XV

Joao Fer-
nandez
sighted
Greenland,
1500?

the first voyage, in 1500, saw Greenland without being able
to approach it, we must conclude that yet another expedition,
on which Greenland was sighted, left Portugal in the year
1500. One is then inclined to suppose that this was commanded
by the same Joao Fernandez, to whom the King gave letters
patent as early as October 1499. This supposition becomes
still more probable when we take it in conjunction with
what has already been said as to the possible origin of the
name of Labrador (see p. 331). We must suppose that this
is the same man from the Azores who, under the name of
John Fernandus, took part in the Bristol enterprise of 1501,
and who is further mentioned in documents of as early as 1492,
together with another man from the Azores, Pero de Barcellos,
and is described as a ** llavorador." These men would
already at that time have been engaged in making discoveries
at sea.

If we compare the legend attached to Labrador (Greenland)
on Diego Ribero's Spanish map of 1529 with the corresponding
legend on the anonymous Portuguese chart of about 1520
this will also confirm our supposition. While on the latter
we read that " the Portuguese saw the land, but did not
enter it," Ribero's map has : " this land was discovered by
the English, but there is nothing in it that is worth having.'*
As this part of Ribero's map is evidently a copy of the
Portuguese maps, we may conclude Ribero's alteration
of the legend to mean that doubtless the land was first
sighted by the Portuguese, but that it was the English who
first succeeded in landing there, and in this way were its
real discoverers. If we add to this the statement on the
sixteenth- century Portuguese chart preserved at Wolfen-
biittel, that the land was discovered by Englishmen from
Bristol, and that the man who first gave news of it was
a ** labrador *' from the Azores, then everything seems to be
in agreement.

We may hence suppose the connection to be somewhat
as follows : having obtained his letters patent in October
356

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

1499, Joao Fernandez fitted out his expedition, and sailed CHAPTER
in the spring of 1500 ; he arrived off the east coast of Green- ^^
land and sailed along it, but the ice prevented him from
landing. We have no information at all as to where else he
may have been on this voyage. But having returned to Portugal,
perhaps after a comparatively unsuccessful expedition, and
finding furthermore that the King had issued letters patent
to Gaspar Corte-Real, whose voyage had been more successful,
Fernandez may have despaired of finding support for fresh

Portion of Diego Ribero's map of 1529. (Nordenskiold, 1897)

enterprises in Portugal, and have turned at once to Bristol,
where he took part in getting together an Anglo-Portuguese
undertaking, and was thus the ** llavorador " who first
brought news of Greenland.

It must, of course, be admitted that the hypothesis here
put forward of the voyage and discovery of Joao Fernandez
is no more than a guess ; but it seems more consistent than
any of the explanations hitherto offered, and, as far as I can
see, it does not conflict on any point with what contemporary
documents have to tell us. It may be supposed that here,
as so frequently has happened, the name of the discoverer,

357

IN NORTHERN MISTS
CHAPTER Joao Fernandez, has been more or less forgotten. His memory

has perhaps only been preserved in the name Labrador itself —
originally applied to Greenland, but afterwards transferred to
the American continent ^ — whilst all the Portuguese discoveries
in the north have been associated in later history with the other
seafarer, Caspar Corte-Real, who was of noble family and

Portion of Maggiolo's map of 1527 (Harrisse, 1892J. Compass-
lines omitted

belonged to the King's household, and who came from the
same island of the Azores, Terceira.

^ The connection with the latter is evidently brought about by the south coast
of the insular Greenland (Terra Laboratoris) — which we meet with first on the
King map [p. 373}, and which was given a broad form like that of the Greenland
coast on the Oliveriana map Jp. 375), but even broader — being transferred west-
ward towards America, to the north of the coast of Corte-Real or Newfoundland,
as we find it on the anonymous Portuguese chart of about 1520 (p. 354J and on
Reinel's map |p. 321J. Maggiolo's map (see above) forms a transitional type
between these maps and the Oliveriana. Greenland (Labrador) was later made

358

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

Caspar Corte-Real belonged to a noble Portuguese family CHAPTER
from Algarve and was born about 1450. He was the third ^^
and youngest son of Joao Yaz Corte-Real, who for twenty- ^.^^^^^^^^^j
two years, since 1474, had had a ** capitanerie " as Governor
of the Azores — first at Angra in the island of Terceira, later
in Si,o Jorge — and died in 1496.^ Caspar probably spent
a part of his youth in f-™
the Azores, which were
altogether * * a hot-house
of all kinds of ideas of
maritime discovery "; he
certainly became familiar
at an early age with
narratives of the nume-
rous earlier attempts, and
with the many plans of
new ocean voyages which
were discussed by the
adventurous sailors of
those islands. As already
mentioned, the Cerman,
Martin Behaim, was also
living in the Azores (cf.
p. 287).

The newly discovered north-western lands

made continuous with Asia, on Maggiolo's

map of 151 1. (Harrisse, 1900)

From the letters patent of May 1500, we see that Caspar
Corte-Real had at his own expense been trying even before
that time to discover countries in the ocean, but as no more
is said about it, the attempt was doubtless unsuccessful. It
was pointed out above that from the King's letters patent

continuous with Newfoundland (cf. Ribero's map of 1529, p. 357), and remained
so on maps for a long time (see the map of 1544, p. 320).

1 The expedition attributed to Joao Vaz Corte-Real, on which he is said to
have discovered Newfoundland as early as 1464 or 1474, is unhistorical, and is a
comparatively late invention which is first found in the Portuguese author, Dr.
Caspar Fructuoso, in his " Saudades da Terra " [vi. c. 9], written about 1590
[cf. Harrisse, 1883, pp. 26, ff.]. Father Antonio Cordeyro (Historia Insulana, Lisbon,
1717) says that the discovery was made in company with Alvaro Martins Homen.

359

CHAPTER
XV

Corte-
Real's
voyage of
1500

Corte-
Real's
voyage of
X501

IN NORTHERN MISTS
to his brother Miguel it looks as though Caspar had made
two voyages to the land he had discovered, which is also
confirmed by the legend referred to on the anonymous Portu-
guese chart of about 1520. On the other hand, nothing is
said about this voyage in the letters of the two Italian Ministers,
nor on the Cantino map. It may seem natural to conclude
that Caspar, after having obtained his letters patent in May
1500, set out on an expedition, the expenses of which were
defrayed by himself and his brother Miguel in partnership
(cf. the letters patent to the latter).

On his first voyage of 1500 Caspar had already discovered
a part of Newfoundland ; but we know nothing of what
else he may have accomplished on this expedition. He must
have returned to Lisbon by the same autumn.

Encouraged by his success he then set out again with a
larger expedition in 1501, after April 21, at which date he
was still in Lisbon. This time the expenses were again borne
by himself and his brother Miguel in partnership. According
to the King's letters patent of January 1502, he had three
ships on this voyage, of which two returned. This does not
agree with the letters of the two Italian Ministers, which
distinctly say that he left with two ships. But these letters,
it is true, do not mutually agree in their statements as to the
ship that had returned : Pasqualigo says that the ship arrived
at Lisbon on October 9 in one of his letters, on the 8th in the
other, and that it brought seven natives ; while Cantino
says that the ship arrived on October 11 and brought fifty
natives to the King. As Pasqualigo says that the other ship
was expected daily with fifty natives, it has been thought
(cf. Harrisse) that this was the ship referred to by Cantino ;
but in that case it is puzzling that two Ministers in the same
city should have heard of two different ships, and that they
should both be ignorant of more than one ship having arrived,
although there was an interval of no more than two or three
days between each ship's arrival, and they are both writing
a week after that time. Besides, both mention that the
360

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

second ship, and only one, is expected, and Pasqualigo calls CHAPTER

it the commander's caravel (caravella capitania). We may ^^

readily suppose that it is the arrival of the same ship that

is alluded to by the two Ministers (no importance need be

attached to the discrepancy of dates, since we see that

Pasqualigo alters the date of his ship's arrival from one letter

to the other). They may both have heard of fifty natives

having been captured, of which they had seen some (seven,

for instance) ; but while Cantino understood that the whole

fifty had arrived, Pasqualigo thought that only the seven

he had seen had come, while the other fifty were expected

on the next ship. Considerable weight must be attached

to the fact that in the legend on the Cantino map, which must

evidently have been drawn from Portuguese documents, only

one ship is mentioned as having returned. The chief difficulty

is that this is in direct conflict with the King's later letters

patent to Miguel. We should then have to suppose that

the statement in this document as to three ships having sailed

and two returned is due to a clerical error or a lapse of memory,

which may seem surprising. But the question is, after all,

of minor importance. The main point is that Caspar Corte-

Real's ship never returned.

In estimating the degree of trustworthiness or accuracy to
be attributed to Pasqualigo 's and Cantino 's statements about
the voyage, it must be remembered that they are both only
repeating what they have heard said on the subject in a lan-
guage not their own, and that when the letters were written
they had probably seen no chart of the voyage or of the new
discoveries. Cantino says that he was present when the
captain of the ship gave his account to the King, and that
he is writing down everything that was then said ; so that
perhaps he had only heard the narrative once, and without
a chart, which easily explains his obvious errors ; it is no
difficult 'matter to fall into gross errors and misunderstandings
in reproducing the account of a voyage which one hears in
this way told even in one's own language. Pasqualigo does

361

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER not tell us how he had heard about the voyage, but it may
■^ have been on the same occasion. The letters of the two

Italians reproducing the Portuguese narrative cannot there-
fore be treated as exact historical documents, every detail
of which is correct.

Cantino says in his letter (of October 1501) that Caspar
Corte-Real had sailed nine months before, that is, in January
1 50 1. Pasqualigo says that he left in the previous year,
which agrees with Cantino, since the civil year at that time
began on March 25. But the existing receipt of April 21,
1 50 1, from Caspar Corte-Real proves with certainty that
the two Italians were mistaken on this point. It may be
supposed that they regarded the expeditions of the two con-
secutive years as a connected voyage (?), but even this will
not agree with Cantino's nine months. According to Cantino's
letter, Corte-Real on leaving Portugal held a northerly course
(** towards the pole " are the words), and Pasqualigo says
something of the same kind ; but this is scarcely to be taken
literally, for otherwise we should have to suppose that from
Portugal he sailed northward tov/ards Iceland ; besides
which, Pasqualigo says in both his letters that the land dis-
covered was between north-west and west. Cantino's state-
ment about the ice might give us firm ground for determining
Corte-Real's route ; if it were not unfortunately the case
that there are here two possibilities, and that Cantino's words
do not agree well with either of them. The description of
the ice points most probably to Corte-Real's having first met
with icebergs ; he may have come upon these in the sea off
the southern end of Creenland, and as in continuing his course
he found the " sea frozen," he may have reached the edge
of the ice-floes. As nothing is said about land, we must
suppose that he did not sight Creenland. It is a more difficult
matter when, by changing his course to the north-west and
west, he finally in this direction sighted land, which according
to the description, and the Cantino map, must have been
Newfoundland. To arrive there from the Greenland ice he
362

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

would have had to steer about west-south-west by compass, and CHAPTER
in fact Newfoundland (Terra del Rey deportuguall) lies approxi- ^^
mately in this direction in relation to the southern point of
Greenland on the Cantino map. But it may be, of course,
that Cantino 's statement of the direction is due to a misunder-
standing ; ^ he may have heard that the newly found land
lay to the north-west and west from Lisbon, as Pasqualigo
says.

Another possibility is that it was on the Newfoundland
Banks that Corte-Real met with icebergs ; but in that case
he must have held a very westerly course, almost west-north-
v/est, all the way from Lisbon, and there would then be little
meaning in the statement that he altered his course to north-
west and west to avoid the ice, even if we take into account
the possibility of the variation of the compass having been
20° greater on the Newfoundland Banks than at Lisbon.
Another difficulty is that on the Newfoundland Banks he
would hardly have found "the sea frozen," if by this ice-
floes are meant ; for that he would have had to be (in June ?)
farther to the north-west in the Labrador Current. In neither
case would he have been very far from land, so that the times
mentioned, three months with a favourable wind from the ice
to land, and four months from Lisbon, are out of proportion.^

Thus Cantino 's words cannot be brought into agreement
with facts ; but at the same time many things point to its
having been the Greenland ice that Corte-Real first met with
in 1 50 1. Doubtless it might be objected that he is said in the
previous year to have already found part of Newfoundland,

1 It may also be supposed that from the ice off the south-west of Greenland
Corte-Real steered north-west and west, and met with the ice in the Labrador
Current, and was then obliged to turn southwards along the edge of the ice until
lie sighted land.

2 These times given by Cantino for the voyage are, of course, improbable ;
if we might suppose that he meant weeks instead of months, it would agree with
the time naturally occupied on such a voyage. If we add his one month for the
homeward voyage to the seven months given above, and if another month be
reckoned for the stay in the country, we shall have his nine months for the whole
"Voyage.

CHAPTER
XV

IN NORTHERN MISTS
and in that case he would be likely to make straight for it
again ; but Pasqualigo's letter gives one the impression that
Caspar Corte-Real may have been interested in finding out
whether the land he had found was mainland and continuous
with the country (Greenland) which in the previous year (1500)
had been seen by the other caravels (Joao Fernandez?), and
thus it may have been natural that he should first steer in
that direction, but he was then forced by the ice westward
towards the land he himself had discovered.

That it was really Newfoundland, and not the coast of
Labrador farther north, that Corte-Real arrived at, appears

Grani

CLpe
'St Fran CIS

ylr-^ g.&eboavgntuga . _
\/l J R.'hz ramfianciT,

kOp^terD

Modern Cantino Reinel's King

map map map map

The eastern coast-line of Newfoundland, with possibly the
southern part of Labrador

plainly enough from the maps (the Cantino map, the King
map, etc.), and may also be concluded from the descriptions
in the letters of Pasqualigo and Cantino. We read, amongst
other things, that many great rivers ran through that country
into the sea. The east coast of Labrador has no rivers of
importance, with the exception of Hamilton River ; but
the entrance to this is by a long estuary, Hamilton Inlet and
Lake Melville, up which they would hardly have sailed. On
the other hand, there are in Newfoundland several considerable
rivers falling into the sea on the east coast, up the mouths
of which Gaspar Corte-Real might have sailed. The allusion
364

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

to the country as fertile, with trees and forests of pines of CHAPTER

remarkable height and size, and to there being abundance ^^

of timber for masts, etc., also agrees best with Newfoundland.

In addition, the coast-line of the country, both on the Cantino

map and on later Portuguese maps, agrees remarkably well

with the coast-line along the east and north-east sides of

Newfoundland.

The statement in Pasqualigo's letter of October i8, that
they sailed " along the coast of the said land for a distance
of six hundred miglia and more," which agrees with the
extent of the coast on the Cantino map, must be an exaggeration.
It is a common error to exaggerate the distance during a voyage
along a coast so indented as that of Newfoundland, where
Corte-Real may perhaps have sailed in and out of bays and
inlets.

As already stated, Caspar Corte-Real's voyages are men- Late autho-

tioned in several works of the sixteenth century, but as these "*!f^ ^IJ^^

'' ' sixteenth

were written so long after the events took place, no particular century
importance can be attached to them in cases where they
conflict with the earlier documents. The allusions to Caspar
Corte-Real in the Spanish author Comara and the Italian
Ramusio seem for the most part to be derived from Pietro
Pasqualigo's letter of October 19, 1501, to his brothers at
Venice, which was published for the first time as early as
1 507. The Portuguese Antonio Calvano says in his * * Tratado ' ' Galvano on
(1563) that Caspar Corte-Real sailed in 1500 ^- ^^"^^

^'frorn the island of Terceirawith two ships, fitted out at his own expense, and
travelled to the region that is in the fiftieth degree of latitude, a land which is
now called by his name. He returned safely to Lisbon ; but when he again set
out, his ship was lost, and the other ship returned to Portugal."-

This, it will be seen, agrees remarkably well with the
conclusions we arrived at above ; but as Calvano spent the
greater part of his life in the East Indies, and only came
home to end his days in a hospital at Lisbon, no great import-
ance can be attached to his statements [cf. Harrisse, 1900,
p. 35], except in so far as they reproduce a Portuguese tradition.

365

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER Damiam de Goes, in his * ' Chronica do Felicissimo Rei

^^ dom Emanuel " (Lisbon, 1566), has a more detailed account

G.Corte- ^^ Caspar Corte-Real's voyage of 1500, and of the land he

Real visited. He says :

" He sailed from the port of Lisbon at the beginning of summer, 1500. On
this voyage he discovered in a northerly direction a land which was very cold,
and with great forests, as all those [countries] are that lie in that quarter. He
gave it the name of Terra verde [i.e., green land]. The people are very barbaric
and wild, almost like those of Sancta Cruz [i.e., Brazil], except that they are
at first white, but become so weather-beaten from the cold that they lose their
whiteness with age and become almost dark brown. They are of middle height,
very active, and great archers, using sticks hardened in the fire for throwing-
spears, with which they make as good casts as though they had points of good
steel. They clothe themselves in the skins of beasts, of which there is abundance
in that country. They live in caves, and in huts, and they have no laws. They
have great belief in omens ; they have marriage, and are very jealous of their
wives, in which they resemble the Lapps, who also live in the north from 70°
to 85°. . . . After he [Caspar Corte-Real] had discovered this land, and sailed
along a great part of its coast, he returned to this kingdom. As he greatly desired
to discover more of this province, and to become better acquainted with its advan-
tages, he set out again immediately in the year 1501 on May 15 from Lisbon ;
but it is not known what happened to him on this voyage, for he was never seen
again, nor did there come any news of him" [Cf. Harrisse, 1883, p. 233].

The last statement, that Corte-Real disappeared without
any more being heard of him, shows that De Goes was not
well informed, in spite of his being chief custodian (Guarda
m'or) of the Torre do Tombo, where the State archives were
kept at Lisbon. His whole account may therefore be of
doubtful value as a historical document. His description of
the newly discovered land and of the inhabitants may be
derived from other statements, or from literary sources, and
is of the same kind as we often meet with in accounts of
natives in the authorities of that time. It appears that the
cold country, Terra verde, with great forests and wild, barbaric
people, must be the Greenland (Gronolondes) that is referred
to in the anonymous letter of about 1450 to Pope Nicholas V.*

1 That the Eskimo lived in caves in the mountains or underground was a not
uncommon idea even in later times ; see, for instance, Wilhelmi : Island, Hvitra-
mannaland, Gronland und Finland, 1842, p. 172.
366

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

Most of what is said about these natives would apparently chapter
suit the Eskimo quite as well as the Indians, but as we do not ^^
know from whence the whole is derived, it is not easy to form
an opinion as to which people is really referred to in the descrip-
tion. The remarkable statement that the natives are at first
white, but turn brown through the cold, will hardly suit the
Indians, but might apply to the Eskimo, who at an early age
have a very fair skin, perhaps quite as light as the Portuguese.

What is said of the natives in the letters of Pasqualigo Mention of

and Cantino seems on the whole to suit the Eskimo better f^e natives

m Pcisqua*
than the Indians ; typical Eskimo features are : that they had ugo and

boats covered with hides (it is true that Cantino says stags' Cantino
hides, i.e., reindeer hides, but this must be a misunderstanding) ;^
also houses (i.e., tents) of long poles covered with fish skin
(i.e., sealskin) ; that the colour of their skin was rather white
than anything else, that they laughed a good deal and showed
much cheerfulness. It may seem somewhat surprising that the
Eskimo should be *' a little bigger than our countrymen " (i.e.,
the Italians), but, in the first place, it may have been particu-
larly good specimens of the race that were exhibited, and in
the next place the Eskimo are a race of medium stature, and,
perhaps, on an average, quite as tall as Italians and Portuguese.
That they were naked with the exception of a piece of skin
round the loins answers to the indoor custom of the Eskimo.
Pasqualigo 's description : that they were clothed in the
skins of various animals, mostly otter, and that the skins were
unprepared and not sewed together, but thrown over the
shoulders and arms as they were taken from the animals,
conflicts with the words of Cantino, and is, no doubt, due to a
misunderstanding ; it does not sound probable. If it is correct,
Pasqualigo and Cantino must have seen different natives.

It is probable that there were Eskimo in the north-east of
Newfoundland at that time, and that the natives may have
been brought from thence or from southern Labrador.

1 We do not know that the Indians of Newfoundland had hide-boats ; but
it is not impossible.

CHAPTER
XV

Evidence of
the Cantino
map as to
the Portu-
guese
discoveries

IN NORTHERN MISTS

Of all known maps the Cantino map undoubtedly gives
the most complete and trustworthy representation of the
Portuguese discoveries of 1500 and 1501 in the north-west ;
we know, too, that it was executed with an eye to these, at
Lisbon, and immediately after the return thither of those
who had taken part in the later voyage. We may con-
sequently suppose that the cartographer availed himself of
the sources then at his disposal. He may either himself
have had access to log-books, with courses and distances,
and to the original sketch-charts of the voyages, or he may
have used charts that were drawn from these sources. But
he used in addition maps and authorities of a more learned
kind, as appears, for instance, in the legend attached to Green-
land, where he speaks of the opinion of cosmographers, and
says that this country is a point of Asia. It is clear, as pointed
out by Bjornbo [1910, p. 167], that Greenland was connected
on the map with Scandinavia, which is called '* Parte de
assia, ' ' but the upper edge of the map has been cut off, so that
this land connection is lost,^ as is the last part (asia) of the
inscription on Greenland. The basis of this idea of a land con-
nection must have been a map of Clavus's later type ; while
the delineation of Greenland itself is evidently new. In fact,
it is here placed for the first time very nearly at a correct
distance from Europe, and with Iceland in a relatively correct
position ; and in addition to this it has been given a remarkably
good form. If we assume that the variation of the compass
was unknown, and that the coasts were laid down according
to the courses sailed by compass as though they were true,
then the southern point of Greenland comes just where it
should, if the variation during the voyage from Lisbon averaged
11° west. The Portuguese flags on the coast indicate that the
Portuguese sailed along the east coast of Greenland from

^ This land connection is found on the Canerio map of 1502-1507, which is
of the same type as the Cantino map and is an Italian copy, either of the Cantino
map itself or of a similar Portuguese map of 1501 or 1502 [cf. Bjornbo, ipio*
p. 167].
368

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

north of the Arctic Circle of the map to past Cape Farewell CHAPTER
(without landing, according to what the legend says), and its^^
direction on the map is explained by a variation of about 14°
west. The remarkably good representation of Greenland with
the characteristic form of the west coast cannot possibly be
derived from the Clavus maps, where Greenland is a narrow
tongue of land with its east and west coasts running very
nearly parallel. The west coast has been given a form approxi-
mately as though it were laid down from courses sailed with a
variation increasing towards the north-west from 20° to nearly
30° (cf. p. 371). It is also characteristic that while the east
coast is without islands, a belt of skerries is shown on the north
along the west coast. It may seem a bold assumption to
attribute this to pure chance and the caprice of the draughts-
man, even though it may be pointed out that he has given the
west coast of Norway a similar curved form with a belt of
skerries outside (as on the Oliveriana map, p. 375) • I^ the
cartographer was acquainted with the representation of Green-
land on the Clavus maps, the probability becomes still greater
that he had definite authority for his west coast, since it differs
from that of the Clavus maps. It is true that the Portuguese
flags on the map and the statement in the legend that the
Portuguese did not land on the coast do not seem to point
to their having sailed any considerable distance to the north
along the west coast, for otherwise there would doubtless be
mention of this ; but there may have been lost authorities
for the Cantino map, which were based upon voyages unknown
to us, as well as to the cartographer.^

I Since I contended, in a preliminary sketch of this chapter, which Dr. A. A.
Bjornbo read, that the representation of Greenland on the Cantino map was most
probably based on a voyage along the west coast as well as the east, Dr. Bjornbo
[1910a, pp. 313, ff. ; 1910, pp. 176, ff.] has examined the delineation of Greenland
on the Oliveriana map, and found that it represents discoveries made during
a cruise, not only along the east coast, but also along a part of the south-west
coast, and he sees in this a partial confirmation of my contention. He thinks
it was during Corte-Real's voyage of 1500 that this cruise was made, and even
supposes that the prototype of the Oliveriana map was Corte-Real's admiral's

II 2 A 369

IN NORTHERN MISTS

'CHAPTER If we may suppose that the lighter tone of the sea off the

-^^ east coast of Greenland and over to Norway (on the original map)

represents ice-floes, then this again gives evidence of a know-
ledge of these northern waters which we cannot assume to
have been derived merely from Portuguese voyages on which
the east coast of Greenland was sighted ; it must have had
other sources, unknown to us.
Construe- There can be no doubt that the " Terra del Rey de portu-

Cantino g^all " of the Cantino map is the east coast of Newfoundland,
map. which, through the variation of the compass being disregarded,

is given a northerly direction. If we draw the east coast of
Newfoundland from Cape Race to Cape Bauld on approximately
the same scale as that of the Cantino map, and turn the
meridian to the west as far as the variation may have been
at that time (about 20° at Cape Race, and 4° or 5° more at
Belle Isle Strait), we shall have a map (see p. 364) the coast-
line of which bears so great a resemblance to that of the Cantino
map that it is almost too good to believe it not to be in part
accidental (the Newfoundland coast on Reinel's map is also
very nearly the same as that of the Cantino map). The resem-
blance is so thorough that we might even think it possible to
recognise the various bays and headlands ; but perhaps a
part of the southern coast of Labrador has been included in
the Cantino map. According to the scale attached to the
map, in which each division represents fifty miglia, the distance
between the south-eastern point of the country and the northern

chart itself ; but this I regard as very doubtful, as will appear from what I have
said above regarding the discoveries of 1500. Bjornbo thinks that an original
map like the Oliveriana map is sufficient to explain the form of the west coast
of Greenland on the Cantino map, while the more northern portion has been
given a direction in accordance with the Clavus maps. I have admitted to
Bjornbo the possibility of such an explanation. But the more I look at it, the more
doubtful it seems ; for the form of the west coast on the Cantino map has, in
fact, not the least resemblance to that of the Clavus maps ; indeed, the very
direction is different, more northerly and more like the real direction, when
allowance is made for the probable variation. It appears to me, therefore, that
we cannot assume offhand that the Clavus maps could lead to a representation
like that of the Cantino map.

ial.

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

Portuguese flag is seven hundred miglia, which thus corre- CHAPTER

spends to the six hundred or seven hundred miglia that^^

Pasqualigo says the Portuguese sailed along the coast. If

we divide the map into degrees according to the distance

between the tropic and the Arctic Circle, the extent of the

country will be about eleven degrees of latitude. On Reinel's

map the length of Newfoundland from north to south is between

ten and eleven degrees of

latitude. The distance from

Cape Race to Belle Isle Strait

corresponds in reality to

about s¥f that is, fairly

near the half.

Both Greenland and New-
foundland lie too far north
on the Cantino map. The
southern point of Greenland
lies in about 62° 20' N. lat.,
instead of 59° 46', while
Cape Race, the south-eastern
point of Newfoundland, lies
in about 50° N. lat., in-
stead of 46° 40'. It is un-
necessary to assume that the too northerly latitude of
Greenland is derived from the Clavus map, where its
southern point lies in 62° 40' N. lat., since a natural
explanation of the position both of this point and of Cape
Race is provided by the way in which the Cantino map
is drawn. It is, in fact, an equidistant compass-chart,
which takes no account of the surface of the earth being
spherical and not a plane, and on which the courses sailed
have been laid down according to the points of the compass,
presumably in ignorance of the variation of the needle. If
we try to draw a map of the same coasts in the same fashion,
using the correct distances, and taking the courses as starting
from Lisbon, and the variation to be distributed approxi-

37^

Reconstruction of an equidistant chart

on which the coasts are laid down from

magnetic courses without regard to the

variation

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER mately as given on p. 308,^ we shall then get a map in its
^^ main outlines as here represented. The southern point of

Greenland comes in about 62° 20', or the same as on the
Cantino map, and Cape Race comes still farther to the north
than on it. The distance from Lisbon to Greenland is almost
exactly the same on both maps, and this seems to point to
remarkable capabilities of sailing by log and compass, while,
on the other hand, astronomical observations were probably
not used. The distance between Lisbon and Newfoundland
(Terra del Rey de portuguall) is on the Cantino map a little
longer than reality,^ and the southern end of the latter is
brought so far to the south that it would correspond to an
average variation of about 4° west, instead of 10°, during the
voyage from Lisbon. Newfoundland accordingly comes farther
west in relation to Greenland, and its southern end farther
south than it should do on a map constructed like this one.
But we do not know whether the course from which the position
of Newfoundland is laid down was taken as going directly to
that country from Lisbon ; perhaps, for instance, it went first
up into the ice off Greenland, and in that case a greater error
is natural. If we lay down the West Indian islands (and Florida)
on our sketch-map according to the same method, we shall get
them in a similar position to that of the Cantino map, except
that there they have a far too northerly latitude, and the dis-
tance from Lisbon is much too great ; but this is due to the
Spanish maps which served as authorities ; for we know that
even Columbus was guilty of gross errors in his determination
of latitude,^ and on La Cosa's map they lie for the most part to
the north of the tropic.

^ Owing to the compass error varying in the course of the voyage, the courses
sailed will be more nearly parts of a great circle.

2 According to the scale of the Cantino map this distance is about 225omiglia,
but according to Pasqualigo's letters it should be 1800 or 2000, and according to
Cantino's letter 2800 miglia.

' This is not the place to discuss what is represented by the coast of the main-
land to the west of Cuba on the Cantino map, whether the east coast of Asia,
taken from Toscanelli's mappamundi (or a source like Behaim's globe], or real

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

The representation of the Portuguese discoveries in the
north-west evidently varied a good deal even on early maps,
and sometimes diverged considerably from the Cantino map ;
Greenland especially was given various forms, while New-
foundland was more uniform in the different types of map.
This, again, strengthens the supposition that these countries
were discovered on various voyages, and not by the same man.

CHAPTER
XV

Variation
in the
Portuguese
representa-
tion of
Greenland

mQWQWOWWWQWWWWSSBi

T ER.RA-IABORATORIS

.,*•% ti'm

TERRA- CORTEREAL
capo safe

North-western portion of the ** King " map, an anonymous Italian
mappamundi of about 1502. Scandinavia, with Greenland (*' Evglove-
lant ") to the north of it, is of the type of Nicolaus Germanus's
maps ; Newfoundland and the Greenland ("Terra Laboratoris ") dis-
covered by the Portuguese and shown as an island, are taken from a
Portuguese source. Compass-lines omitted

Thus, on the so-called King map — an Italian mappamundi The King
of about 1502, which was probably taken from Portuguese "^^P' ^"^
sources — Newfoundland, called Terra Cortereal, lies in about
the same place and has the same form as on the Cantino map
(its southern point is called capo raso), while Greenland,
called Terra Laboratoris, lies farther south than on the Cantino

discoveries on the coast of North America made by unknown expeditions {?).
In any case this coast has nothing to do with Caspar Corte-Real, and Sir Clements
Markham [i893,pp.xlix, ff.] is evidently wrong in thinking that this discoverer
on his last voyage (in 1501) may have sailed along this coast.

373

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER
XV

The Oliver-
iana map,
after 1503

map and has become a long island, the south-east coast of
which should doubtless correspond to the east coast of Green-
land on the Cantino map, but has a very different direction
and form, and has in addition many islands to the south of it.
A similar, but still more varied, representation is found on
another Italian mappamundi, the so-called " Kunstmann,
No. 2." If Greenland and Newfoundland were both dis-
covered by Gaspar Corte-Real and on the same voyage, and
if these discoveries formed the basis both of the Cantino
map and of the prototype of the King map, then it would be
incomprehensible how the representation of one of these
countries should vary so much, and not that of the other. ^

The so-called Oliveriana map, an anonymous Italian
compass-chart of a little later than 1503, shows more resem-
blance to the representation of Greenland on the Cantino
map ; but here that of Newfoundland is very different from
what we find on the other maps, as its east coast is remarkably
short and the south coast extends a long way to the west, in
the same direction as the coast discovered by the English
on La Cosa's map of 1500 ; ^ but the names have no resem-
blance to those of that map, unless the island ' ' Groga Y * '
should be La Cosa's ** S. Grigor " (?), which however lies
farther east, while the island corresponding to *' Groga "
is called by La Cosa "I. de la trinidat." " Cauo del marco "
might also remind us of the Venetian Cabot. Dr. Bjornbo
thinks, as mentioned above (p. 369), that the prototype of

^ Yet a third type of representation of Greenland may be said to be found
on the so-called Pilestrina map (p. 377), perhaps of 1511 [cf. Bjornbo, 1910,
p. 210], where Greenland forms a peninsula (from a mass of land on the north)
as on the Cantino map, but much broader still. On the south-eastern promontory
of Greenland is here written : " C[auo] de mirame et lexame " (i.e.. Cape " look
at me but don't touch me "), which may be connected with the Portuguese voyage
of 1500, when the explorers saw the coast but could not approach it on account
of ice. Finally, I may mention the type of the Reinel map (see p. 321), where
Greenland in the form of a broad land has been transferred to the coast of America,
On all these maps with their changing representation of Greenland, Newfoundland
has approximately the same form and position.

2 Cf. Harrisse, 1900, pp. 54, f.

374

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

the Greenland on the Oliveriana map was Caspar Corte-Real's CHAPTER
own admiral's chart of his voyage of 1500. It seems to me ^^
possible that Bjornbo may be right, in so far as the represen-
tation may be derived from the Portuguese expedition which
sighted Greenland in 1500 ; but, from what has been advanced
above, this was not commanded by Corte-Real, but more
probably by Joao Fernandez. As the Newfoundland of the
map has so little resemblance to reality and to the usual
Portuguese representations [cf. also Bjornbo, 1910, p. 315],

Northern portion of an anonymous Italian chart, a little later than 1503.
In the Oliveriana Library at Pesaro. Compass -lines omitted

it is improbable that the prototype of the map was due to
Gaspar Corte-Real. Moreover one cannot imagine that mythical
islands such as ** Insula de labrador," " Insula stille," etc.,
were drawn by him ; in such a case they would have to be
explained as later additions from another source.

We saw from the letters of the two Italian Ministers that
King Manuel was very well satisfied with the discoveries of
Gaspar Corte-Real, and expected great advantages therefrom,
both on account of the trees for masts and of the slaves, etc. ;
he therefore awaited his return with impatience. But he waited
in vain. Gaspar Corte-Real never returned. Whether he fell
fighting with the natives on an unknown coast, or whether
he plunged into the mists and ice of the unknown north, there

375

CHAPTER

Corte-Real's

voyage,

1503

The King

despatches

ships

IN NORTHERN MISTS

to find a cold grave, or was lost in a storm on the homeward
voyage across the Atlantic, will never be revealed.

As he did not return, his brother, Miguel Corte-Real,
fitted out a new expedition in the hope, on the one hand of
going to help his brother, and on the other of making fresh
discoveries. On January (?) 15, 1502 (or 1503 ?), he obtained
letters patent from King Manuel (see p. 353). On May 10,
according to Damiam de Goes, he sailed from Lisbon with
two ships, and nothing more was heard of him. Antonio
Galvano, on the other hand, says that he had three ships,
and that these arrived in Newfoundland (Terra de Corte-
Real), but there separated and went into different inlets

"with the arrangement that they should all meet again on August 20th. The
two other ships did so, and when they saw that Miguel Corte-Real's ship did not
come at the appointed time, nor for some time after that, they returned to Portugal,
and never since was any more news heard of him, nor did any other memory of
him remain ; but the country is called to this day the Land of theCorte-Reals."^
* ' The King felt deeply the loss of the two brothers, and, moved by his royal
and compassionate feeling, he caused in the year 15032 two ships to be fitted
out to go and search for them. But it could never be discovered how either the
one or the other (of the brothers) was lost."

If this account of Galvano 's is correct, then the last relief
expedition returned without having accomplished its purpose.
As to what discoveries it may have made, we hear nothing, nor
do we see any trace of them on the maps, unless, indeed, the
hint of an extension of Newfoundland to the north on the so-
called Pilestrina map of about 151 1 (see p. 377) may be due
to this expedition or to the ship that returned from Miguel
Corte-Real's voyage of 1502. On Pedro Reinel's map (p. 321)
there is marked a land answering to Cape Breton, with a coast
extending westward from it. It is possible that this may be

1 That Miguel Corte-Real really reached Newfoundland seems also to result
from the legend quoted above from the chart of about 1520, since he would
hardly be named on this coast unless there were grounds for supposing that he
arrived there ; but this again must point to some of the expedition having
returned.

2 If Miguel Corte-Real set out in 1503, and not in 1502 (cf. p. 353, note i), it
must have been in 1504 that the King despatched these fresh ships.

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES

derived from these expeditions, and in the same way all the chapter
Portuguese names along Newfoundland, the coast-line of which
must be taken from the same source as the Cantino map.
It is, however, more probable that the names are due to
Portuguese fishermen ; though there is also a possibility
that Reinel's additions may be referred to the Anglo-Portuguese
expeditions from Bristol in 1501 and the following years. His
island, Sam Joha [St. John], points, as has been said (p. 321),
to a possible connection with John Cabot's discoveries.

Northern portion of an Italian map, possibly drawn by Pilestrina, 151 1.
Only a few of the names are given. (Bjornbo and Petersen, 1908)

When neither of the brothers returned, the eldest brother, Vasqueanes
Vasqueanes Corte-Real — who held very high positions both j-gfyg^
at the King's Court and as Governor of the islands of Sao leave to
Jorge and Terceira in the Azores — wished "to fit out ships ^^^^
at his own expense in order to go out and search for them.
But when he asked the King to excuse his absence, his Majesty
could not consent to his going further in the matter, and insisted
that it was useless, and that all had been done that could be
done" (De Goes). Thus the spirit of the capable and enter-
prising Portuguese for further exploration in these difficult
northern waters seems to have become cooled, and we do
not hear much more of official expeditions despatched from
Portugal to find other new countries in that quarter. Mean-

377

IN NORTHERN MISTS

CHAPTER while Newfoundland (Terra de Corte-Real) continued through
^^Jii the whole of the sixteenth century to be regarded as a province

under the Portuguese Crown, and the post of its Governor,
with special privileges, was hereditary in the family of Corte-
Real, until Manuel Corte-Real II., the last of the male line,
fell fighting by the side of King Sebastian, in the fatal battle
of Kas-rel-Kebir in 1578.^

The Portuguese seem for a long time to have kept up
the connection with Newfoundland, more especially in order to
avail themselves of the rich fisheries that had been discovered
there. But of this it is only by the merest accident that history
has anything to relate. It appears as though this fishery became
active immediately after Corte-Real's discovery ; for we see
that as early as 1506 King Manuel gave orders that the fisher-
men on their return from Newfoundland to Portugal were to
pay one- tenth of the proceeds in duties [cf. Kunstmann, 1859,
p. 69].

^ It is reported that in 1574 Vasqueanes Corte-Real IV., father of this Manuel,
luidertook an expedition to Labrador to find the North-West Passage.

378

CONCLUSION

IF we would discover how a watercourse is formed, from the
very first bog-streams up in the mountain, we must follow
a multitude of tiny rills, receiving one fresh stream after another
from every side, running together into burns, which grow and
grow and form little rivers, till we come to the end of the
wooded hillside and are suddenly face to face with the great
river in the valley below.

A similar task confronts him who endeavours to explore
the first trickling rivulets of human knowledge ; he must
trace all the minute, uncertain, often elusive beginnings,
follow the diversity of tributaries from all parts of the earth,
and show how the mass of knowledge increases constantly
from age to age, sometimes reposing in long stretches of dead
water, half choked with peat and rushes, at other times plunging
onward in foaming rapids. And then he too is rewarded ;
the stream grows broader and broader, until he stands beside
the navigable river.

But a simile never covers the whole case. The latter task
is rendered not only wider, but incomparably more difficult,
by the fact that the brooks and rivers whose course is to be
followed are even more intricate and scarcely ever flow in an
open stream. True knowledge is so seldom undiluted ; as a
rule it is suffused with myths and dogmatic conceptions, often
to such a degree that it becomes entirely lost, and something
new seems to have arisen in its place.

379

IN NORTHERN MISTS

For one thing, man's power of grasping reality varies
greatly ; in primitive man it is clouded to a degree which we
modern human beings can hardly understand. He is as yet
incapable of distinguishing between idea and reality, between
belief and knowledge, between what he has seen and expe-
rienced and the explanation he has provided for his experience.

But even with those who have long outgrown the primitive
point of view imagination steps in, supplying detail and
explanation wherever our information fails us and our know-
ledge falls short ; it spreads its haze over the first uncertain
outlines of perception, and the distant contours are sometimes
wholly lost in the mists of legend.

This is a universal experience in the history of intellectual
life. In the domain to which this work is devoted, it makes
itself felt with perhaps more than its usual force.

The inquiry embraces long periods. In all times and
countries we have seen the known world lose itself in the
fogs of cloudland — never uniformly, it is true, but in constantly
changing proportions. Here and there we have a glimpse,
now and again a vision over wider regions ; and then the
driving mists once more shut out our view. Therefore all
that human courage and desire of knowledge have wrested
in the course of long ages from this cloudland remains vague,
uncertain, full of riddles. But for this very reason it is all
the more alluring.

We saw that to the eyes of the oldest civilisation in history
and down through the whole of antiquity, the North lay for the
most part concealed in the twilight of legend and myth ; here
and there genuine information finds its way into literature,
but is again effaced. At the beginning of the Middle Ages
the dark curtain thickens.

Again there is a glimmer of light, first from the inter-
mingling of nations at the time of the migrations, then from
new trading voyages and intercourse, until the great change
is brought about by the Norsemen, who with their remarkable
power of expansion overran western and southern Europe
380

CONCLUSION

and penetrated the vast unknown solitudes in the North,
found their way to the White Sea, discovered the wide Polar
Sea and its shores, colonised the Faroes, Iceland and Green-
land, and were the first discoverers of the Atlantic Ocean
and of North America.

As early as in the writings of King Alfred and Adam of
Bremen the Norsemen's initiatory knowledge of this new
northern world made its way into European literature.

No doubt the mists closed again, much of the knowledge
gained was forgotten even by the Norsemen themselves, and
in the latter part of the Middle Ages it is mostly mythical
echoes of this knowledge that are to be traced in the literature
of Europe and that have left their mark on its maps. None
the less were the discoveries of the Norsemen the great dividing
line. For the first time explorers had set out with conscious
purpose from the known world, over the surrounding seas,
and had found lands on the other side. By their voyages they
taught the sailors of Europe the possibility of traversing the
ocean. When this first step had been taken the further
development came about of itself.

It was in the Norsemen's school that the sailors of England
had their earliest training, especially through the traffic with
Iceland ; and even the distant Portuguese, the great dis-
coverers of the age of transition, received impulses from them.

Through all that is uncertain, and often apparently fortuitous
and chequered, we can discern a line, leading towards the
new age, that of the great discoveries, when we emerge from
the dusk of the Middle Ages into fuller daylight. Of the new
voyages we have, as a rule, accounts at first hand, less and less
shrouded in mediaevalism and mist. From this time the real
history of polar exploration begins.

Cabot had then rediscovered the mainland of North America,
Corte-Real had reached Newfoundland, the Portuguese and the
English were pushing northward to Greenland and the ice.
And this brings in the great transformation of ideas about the
Northern World.

381

IN NORTHERN MISTS

It is true that as yet we have not passed the northern limits
of our forefathers' voyages ; and that views of the arctic
regions are still obscure and vague. While some imagine a
continent at the pole, others are for a wreath of islands around
it with dangerous currents between them, and others again
reckon upon an open polar sea. There is obscurity enough.
But new problems are beginning to shape themselves.

When it became apparent to the seamen of Europe that
the new countries of the West were not Asia, but part of a
new continent, the idea suggested itself of seeking a way
round the north — as also round the south — of this continent,
in order to reach the coveted sources of wealth, India and
China : the problem of the North- West Passage was pre-
sented— a continuation on a grand scale of the routes opened
up by the Norsemen towards the north-west.

But equally present was the thought that perhaps there
was another and shorter way round the north of the old
world ; and the problem of the North-East Passage arose.
The working out of this problem was simply a continuation
of the north-eastern voyages of the Norwegians to the White Sea.

In this way were born the two great illusions, which for
centuries held the minds of explorers spellbound. They could
never be of value as trade-routes, these difficult passages
through the ice. They were to be no more than visions,
but visions of greater worth than real knowledge ; they
lured discoverers farther and farther into the unknown world
of ice ; foot by foot, step by step, it was explored ; man's
comprehension of the earth became extended and corrected ;
and the sea-power and imperial dominion of England drew
its vigour from these dreams.

What a vast amount of labour lies sunk in man's know-
ledge of the earth, especially in those remote ages when
development proceeded at such an immeasurably slower
pace, and when man's resources were so infinitely poorer.
By the most manifold and various ways the will and intelli-
gence of man achieve their object. The attraction of long
382

CONCLUSION

voyages must often enough have been the hope of finding
riches and favoured lands, but deeper still lay the imperious
desire of getting to know our own earth. To riches men have
seldom attained, to the Fortunate Isles never ; but through
all we have won knowledge.

The great Alexander, the conquering king, held sway over
the greater part of the world of his day ; the bright young
lord of the world remained the ideal for a thousand years,
the hero above all others. But human thought, restless and
knowing no bounds, found even his limits too narrow. He
grew and grew to superhuman dimensions, became the son of
a god, the child of fortune, who in popular belief held sway
from the Pillars of Hercules, the earth's western boundary,
to the trees of the sun and moon at the world's end in the east ;
to whom nothing seemed impossible ; who descended to the
bottom of the sea in a glass bell to explore the secrets of the
ocean ; who, borne by tamed eagles, tried to reach heaven,
and who was fabled by Mohammedans and Christians to have
even attempted to scale the walls of Paradise itself — there to
be checked for the first time : *' Thus far and no farther."
No man that is born of woman may attain to the land of heart's
desire.

The myth of Alexander is an image of the human spirit
itself, seeking without intermission, never confined by any
bounds, eternally striving towards height after height, deep
after deep, ever onward, onward, onward . . .

The world of the spirit knows neither space nor time.

FINIS

383

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT WORKS
REFERRED TO

1876 ADAM of Bremen ; Adami Gesta Hamburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum ex
recensione Lappenbergii. Editio altera. * ' Scriptores Rerum Germani-
carum." Hannoverae, 1876.

1862 ADAM of Bremen : Om Menigheden i Norden o. s. v. Overs, af P. W.
Christensen. Copenhagen, 1862.

1893 ADAMS von Bremen Hamburgische Kirchengeschichte. tJbers. von J. C. W.

Laurent. 2. Aufl. Leipzig, 1893.
1839 AELIANUS (Claudius): Varia. "Vermischte Nachrichten," Werke, Bd. I,
ijbers. von Ephorus Dr. Wunderlich. " Griech. Prosaiker in neuen
Uebers.," hgb. v. Tafel, Osiander, und Schwab, Bd. 182. Stuttgart, 1839.

1894 AHLENIUS (Karl) : Pytheas' Thuleresa, " Sprakvetenskapliga Sallsk.i Upsala

Forhandl.," I, 1882 — 94, pp. loi — 124, in "Upsala Universitets Arsskrift,"
1894.

1900 AHLENIUS (K.) : Die alteste geographische Kenntnis von Skandinavien.
" Eranos," III, 1898—1899. Upsala, 1900.

1859 ALFRED, King : Anglo-Saxon Version of Orosius. Ed. by JOSEPH BOS-
WORTH, London, 1859. As to Ottar, see also HENRY SWEET : An
Anglo-Saxon Reader, Oxford, 1884 ; R. RASK in " Skandinaviske Littera-
turselskabs Skrifter," XI, Copenhagen, 1815, with Danish transl. and
notes ; G. PORTHAN : " Kgl. Vitterh. Hist. o. Antique Acad. Handl."
VI, Stockholm, 1800, with Swedish transl, and notes.

1845 d'AVEZAC (M. P.) : Les lies fantastiques de I'ocean occidental au moyen-age.
Paris, 1845.

1887 AVIENUS (Rufus Festus) : Rufi Festi Avieni Carmina. Ed. Alfred Holder,
Innsbruck, 1887.
BATUTA (Ibn) : Voyages d'Ibn Batoutah, Texte arabe et traduction par
DEFRfiMERY et SANGUINETTI.

1902 BAUMGARTNER (A.J : Island und die Faroer. 3 Aufl. Freiburg, 1902.

1876 BAUMSTARK (Anton), see TACITUS.

1880 BAUMSTARK (A.) : Ausfiihrliche Erlauterung des besondern volkerschaftlichen
Theiles der Germania des Tacitus. Leipzig, 1880.

1904 BEAUVOIS (Eug.) : " Journal de la Society des Am6ricanistes de Paris," 1904,

1905 No. 2 ; 1905, No. 2.

1897 BEAZLEY(C. Raymond): The Dawn of Modern Geography, 1, 1897 ; 11,1901;

1906 III, 1906, London.

1898 BEAZLEY (C. R.) : John and Sebastian Cabot. London, 1898.

1902 BfiRARD (Victor) : Les Pheniciens et I'Odyss^e. I, 1902 ; II, 1903. Paris.
1880 BERGER (Hugo) : Die geographischen Fragmente des Eratosthenes. Leipzig,

1880.
1887 BERGER (H.) : Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen Erdkunde der Griechen.
—93 I, 1887 ; II, 1889 ; III, 1 891 ; IV, 1893. Leipzig.

MORE IMPORTANT WORKS REFERRED TO

BERGER (H.) : Mythische Kosmographie der Griechen. Appendix to Roscher's 1904

" Mythol. Lexikon." Leipzig, 1904.
BETHMANN (L.) and WAITZ (G.), see PAULUS WARNEFRIDI. 1878

BJORNBO (Axel Anthon) : Adam af Bremens Nordensopfattelse. " Aarb. f. 1909

nord. Oldk o. Hist." Copenhagen, 1909.
BJORNBO (A. A.) Cartographia Groenlandica. Indledning og Perioden til 19 10

Aar 1576. Medd. om Gronland, XLVIII, i. Copenhagen, 1911.
BJORNBO (A. A.) : Die echte Corte-Real-Karte. " Peterm. Geogr. Mitt." 1910a

1910, II.
BJORNBO {A. A.) and PETERSEN (Carl S.) : Fyenboen Claudius Clausson Swart 1904

O.S.V. " Kgl. Danske. Vid. Selsk. Skr." 6. R., hist, fllos. Afd. VI. 2.

Copenhagen, 1904.
BJORNBO (A. A.) and PETERSEN {C. S.J : Anecdota Cartographica Septentrion- 1908

alia. Havnia, 1908.
BJORNBO (A. A.) and PETERSEN (C. S.) : Der DSne Claudius Clausson Swart. 1909

Innsbruck, 1909.
BLOM (O.J : Om Kongespeilets Affattelsestid. " Aarb. f, nord. Oldk. o. Hist." 1867

Copenhagen, 1867.
BOAS (Franzj : Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay. " Bull. Amer. Mus. 1901

Nat. Hist." XV, 1901.
B0B£ (Louis) : Aktstykker til Oplysning om Gronlands Besejling. " Danske 1909

Magazin," 5. R., VI. Copenhagen, 1909.
BOSWORTH (J.), see King ALFRED. 1859

BREDA (O. J.): Rundt Kensington-stenen. " Symra," VI. Decorah, 1910. 1910
BRENNER (Oskar) : Nord- und Mitteleuropa in den Schriften der Alten. 1877

Zuang. Diss. Miinchen, 1877.
BROGGER (A. W.) : Den Arktiske Stenalder i Norge. "Vid. Selsk. Skr." II Hist. 1909

filos. Kl., 1909. No. I. Christiania.
BRUUN (Daniel) : Arkaeologiske Undersogelser i Julianehaabs Distrikt, 1895. 1896

"Medd. om Gronland," XVI. Copenhagen, 1896.
BRUUN (D.) : Det hole Nord. Copenhagen, 1902. 1902

BUGGE (Alexander) : Vore forfaedres opdagelsesreiser i Polaregnene. " Kringsja," 1899

XI. Christiania, 1899.
BUGGE (A.) : Contributions to the History of the Norsemen in Ireland, III. 1900

"Vid.-Selsk. Skr.," II Hist, filos. Kl. 1900. Christiania, 1901.
BUGGE (A.) : Vikingerne. Billeder fra vore forfaedres liv. I, 1904 ; II, 1906. 1904

Christiania. — 06

BUGGE (A.) : Vesterlandenes Indfiydelse pa Nordboernes og saerlig Nord- 1905

maendenes ydre Kultur o. s. v. iVikingetiden. "Vid.-Selsk. Skr." II Hist.

filos. Kl. 1904, No. I. Christiania, 1905.
BUGGE (A.): Nordlands skiftende Skjaebne. "Hist. Tidsskrift." 4. R., V. 1908

Christiania, 1908.
BUGGE (Sophus) : Bidrag til Nordiske Navnes Historic. " Arkiv for Nordisk 1890

Filologi," VI. Lund, 1890.
BUGGE (S.) : Germanische Etymologien, Beitrage 3. " Gesch. d. Deutschen 1896

Sprache in Literatur," XXI. Halle, 1896.
BUGGE (S.) : Norges Indskrifter med de yngre Runer. Hbnen-Runerne fra 1902

Ringerike. Christiania, 1902.
BUGGE (S.J : Foranskudts, isaer i Navne. " Arkiv. for Nordisk Filologi," XXI. 1904

Lund, X904.
BUGGE (S.| : Om nordiske folkenavne hos Jordanes. " Fornv&nnen." 1907

Stockholm, 1907.
II 2 B 385

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT

X910 BUGGE (S.) : Der Runenstein von Rok in Ostergotland, Schweden. Hgb.

durch Magnus Olsen. Stockholm, 19x0.
1883 BUNBURY (E. H.i : A History of Ancient Geography. London, 1883.
1904 CALLEGARI (G. V.) : Pitea di Massilia. " Rivista di Storia Antica," VII, 4;

VIII, 2 ; IX, 2. Padova, 1904.

1866 CHRIST (Wilhelmi : Avien und die altesten Nachrichten iiber Iberien und die

Westkiiste Europa's. " Abhcindl. d. Philos.-Philol. Classe d. K. Bayerischen
Akad. d. Wiss.," XI. Munchen, 1866.

1867 COLLINSON { Richard i : The three Voyages of Martin Frobisher, 1576—8.

London, 1867.

1880 COSTA (B. F. dei : Arctic Exploration. " Journ. of the American Geogr.

Soc. of New York," XII. 1880.
1828 CROKER (T. CroftonJ : Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland.

London, 1828.
1890 CRUSIUS (O.): Hyperboreer in "Roscher's Mythol. Lexikon," 1,2. Leipzig, 1890.
1 87 1 CUNO (J. G.) : Forschungen im Gebiete der Alten Volkerkunde. Berlin, 1871.
1882 DAAE (Ludvig): Didrik Pining. " Hist. Tidsskrift " 2. R. III. Christiania,

1882.
1888 DAAE (L.) : Italieneren Francesco Negris Reise i Norge 1664 — 1665. "Hist.

Tidsskrift " 2. R. VI. Christiania, 1888.
1894 DAWSON (Samuel EdwardJ : The Voyages of the Cabots in 1497 and 1498 ;

with an attempt to determine their landfall and to identify their island of

St. John. "Proc. and Trans, of the R. Soc. of Canada 1894," XII. Ottawa,

1895.

1896 DAWSON, (S. E.l : The Voyages of the Cabots in 1497 and 1498. A sequel

etc. " Proc. and Trans, of the R. Soc. of Canada." 2 Ser. II, 1896.

1897 DAWSON (S. E.l : The Voyages of the Cabots. Latest Phases of the Contro-

versy. "Proc. and Trans, of the R. Soc. of Canada." 2 Ser. Ill, 1897.
1673 DEBES (Lucas Jacobson) : Faeroe et Faeroa Reserata. Det er : Faeroernis oc

Fseroeske Indbyggeris Beskrivelse o. s. v. Copenhagen, 1673.
1849 DELISLE (L.^ : Des Revenus Publics en Normandie au Douzieme Silcle.

" Bibliotheque de I'ficole des Chartes." Hie Serie, I. Paris, 1849.

1881 DESIMONI (Cornelio^ : Intorno a Giovanni Caboto Genovese etc. " Atti

della Societa Ligure di Storia Patria." Genova, 1881.
1897 DETLEFSEN (D.J : Zur Kenntniss der Alten von der Nordsee. "Hermes,"

XXXII. Berlin, 1897.
1904 DETLEFSEN (D.) : Die Entdeckung des germanischen Nordens im Altertum.

" Quellen u. Forsch. z. alten Gesch. u. Geographie." Hgb. v. W. Sieglin.

H. 8. Berlin, 1904.
DICUIL, see LETRONNE.
1870 DICUIL : De mensura orbis terras, ed. Parthey. Berlin, 1870.
1890 DIODORUS SICULUS : Bibliotheca Historica. Ed. F. VOGEL. Leipzig, 1890.
1881 DOZY (R.i : Recherches sur I'Histoire et Litt6rature de I'Espagne. 3. 6d.

Paris, Leyde, 1881.
1836 EDRISI : Geographie d'Edrisi. Trad, par P. A. JAUBERT. " Recueil de

Voyages et de M6moires publ. p. 1. Soc. de Geographie." V. Paris, 1836.
1866 EDRISI : Description de I'Afrique et de I'Espagne par Edrisi. Publ. avec

trad, par R. Dozy et M. J. de Goeje. Leyden, 1866.
1741 EGEDE (Hans) : De gamle Gronlands nye Perlustration eller Naturel-Historie.

Kiobenhafn, 1741.
1794 EGGERS (H. P.i : Om Gronlands Osterbygds sande Beliggenhed. "Det kgl.

danske Landhusholdnings Selskabs Skritter." IV. Copenhagen, 1794.
386

WORKS REFERRED TO

EINHARDI : Vita Caroli magni, ed. B. H. PERTZ. Hannover, 1845. 1845

EIRIKS Saga Rauda, og Flatobogens Groenlendinga)>attr o. s. v. ved Gustav 1891

Storm. " Samfund^til Utg. af gammel nordisk Literatur," XXI. Copen-
hagen, 1 89 1.
ERATOSTHENES, see BERGER.
FABRICIUS [A.l : Nordmannertogene til den Spanske Halvo. " Aarb. f. 1897

Nord. Oldk. og Hist." 2. R. XH. Copenhagen, 1897.
FAQtH (Ibn al-J : Kitab al-buldan. Ed. M. J. de Goeje. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1865

1865.
FERNALD (M.L.J : Notes on the Plants of Wineland the Good. •' Rhodora," 1910

Journal of the New England Botanical Club. XH. Boston, 1910.
FISCHER (M. P.) : Documents pour servir a I'Histoire de la Baleine des Basques. 1872

" Ann. d. Sciences Nat. Zoologie." XV. Paris, 1872.
FISCHER (Theobald) : Beitrage zur Geschichte der Erdkunde und der Karto- 1886

graphic in Italien im Mittelalter. Samml. Mittelalterl. Welt- und Seekarten

italienischen Ursprungs. F. Ongania. Venice, 1886.
FORBIGER (Alb.J : Handbuch der alten Geographic. I, 1842 ; II, 1844 ; 1842

III, 1848. Leipzig. —48

FRAHN (C. M.} : Ibn-Foszlan's und anderer Araber Berichte iiber die Russen 1823

alterer Zeit. St. Petersburg, 1823.
FRIIS (Peder Clausson] : Samlede Skrifter, utg. av Gustav Storm. Christiania, 1881

i88z.
GEELMUYDEN (H.) : De gamle Kalendere, saerlig Islaendernes. " Naturen," 1883

VII. Christiania, 1883.
GEELMUYDEN {H.J : Den forste Polar expedition. " Naturen," VII. Chris- 1883a

tiania, 1883.
GEIJER (E. G.) : Svea Rikes Hafder. I. Upsala, 1825. 1825

GEMINI Elementa Astronomiae. Ed. C. Manitius. Leipzig, 1898. (Greek, 1898

with German transl.]
GERLAND (G.J : Zu Pytheas Nordlandsfahrt. " Beitrage zur Geophysik," II. 1895

Stuttgart, 1895.
GJESSING (Helge] : Runestenen fra Kensington. " Symra," V. Decorah, 1909

1909.
GOEJE (M. J. de) : La 16gende de Saint Brandan. " Actes du Huitidme Congrds 1891

internat. des Orientalistes, 1889." Leiden, 1891.
V. GRIENBERGER: Die nordischen Volker bei Jordanes. " Zeitschrift fttr 1901

Deutschen Altertum." XLV, 1901 ; XLVII, 1904. Berlin. — 04

GRIMM (Jacob] : Deutsche Rechtsalterthumer. 2. Ausg. Gottingen, 1854. 1854
GRIMM (J.J : Deutsche Mythologie. 4. Ausg. i, 1875 ; II, 1876 ; III, 1878. 1875

Berlin. —78

GRIMM (J.) : Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache. I. 4. Ausg. Leipzig, 1880. 1880
GRONDAL (B.) : Folketro i Norden, ' ' Ann. f . Nord. Oldk. o. Hist." Copenhagen, 1863

1863.
"Gronlands Historiske Mindesmaerker." Utg. af d. Kgl. Nordiske Oldskrift- 1838

Selskab. Copenhagen, 1838 — 1845. — 45

GUDMUNDSSON (Valtyr) : Privatboligen paa Island i Sagatiden ; samt delvis 1889

det ovrige Norden. Copenhagen, 1889.
GUICHOT Y SIERRA (Alejandro) : Supersticiones populares, recojidas en 1884

Andalucia y comparados con las Portuguesas. ' ' Biblioteca de las tra-

diciones populares Espanolas." Madrid, 1884.
GULDBERG (Gustav A.) : En kort historisk Udsigt over Hvalfangsten i sldre 1889

Tider. " Folkevennen." N. R. XIII. Christiania, 1889.

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT

1890 GULDBERG (G. A.| : Om Skandinavemes hvalfangst. " Nord. Tidsskrift."

Stockholm, 1890.
1894 Gt)NTH£R (S.) : Adam von Bremen, der erste deutsche Geograph. " Sitzungs-

berichte der Koniglich bohmischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften Phil.

histor. Kl." 1894.
1850 HAKLUYT (Richard) : Divers Voyages touching the Discovery of America

and its Islands Adjacent. Hakluyt Society. London, 1850.

1903 HAKLUYT (R.J : The Principal Navigations, etc. Hakluyt Society. Glasgow,

1903.
1907 HAMBERG (Axel} : Om eskimaernes harkomst och Amerikas befolkande.

"Ymer," XXVIL Stockholm, 1907.
1855 HAMMERSHAIMB (V. U.) : Faeroiske Kvaeder. 2. hefte. Copenhagen, 1855.

1891 HAMMERSHAIMB (V. U.) : Faeroisk Anthologi, I. Copenhagen, 1891.

1907 HANSEN (Andr. M.) : Oldtidens Nordmsend Ophav og Bessetning. " Gammel

Norsk Kultur i Tekst og Billeder," Norsk Folkemuseum. Christiania, 1901.

1908 HANSEN (A. M.) : Om Helleristningerne. Foren. t. norske Fortidsmindes-

mserkers Bevaring, Aarsbog. 1908.

1909 HANSEN (A. M.) : Peder Clausson om Sjofinnernes Sprog. " Maal og Minne."

Christiania, 1909.

1882 HARRISSE (Henry) : Jean et Sebastian Cabot, leur origine et leurs voyages, etc.

" Recueil de voyages et de documents," etc. I. Paris, 1882.

1883 HARRISSE (H.) : Les Corte-Real et leurs voyages au Nouveau-Monde. " Rec.

de voy. et de doc," etc. III. Paris, 1883.

1892 HARRISSE (H.) : The Discovery of North America. London, 1892.

1896 HARRISSE (H.) : John Cabot the Discoverer of North America and Sebastian
his Son. London, 1896.

1900 HARRISSE (H.) : D6couverte et Evolution cartographique de Terre-Neuve et

des Pays Circonvoisins, 1497 — 1501 — 1769. London, Paris, 1900.

1892 " Hauks b6k," utg. af det kgl. Nordiske Oldskrift-Selskab (ved Finnur J6nsson).
— 96 Copenhagen, 1892 — 96.

1904 HEFFERMEHL (A. V.J : Presten Ivar Bodde o. s. v. Hist. Skrifter tilegn.

Prof. Ludvig Daae o. s. v. af Venner og Diciple. Christiania, 1904.
1878 HEIBERG (Jacob) : Lappische Graber-schfidel. " Archiv for Math, og Natur-
vid.," III. Christiania, 1878.

1905 HELLAND (Amund) : Finmarkens Amt. "Norges Land og Folk," XX.

Christiania, 1905.

1908 HELLAND (A.) : Nordlands Amt. "Norges Land og Folk," XVIII. Christiania,

1908.

1893 HERGT (Gustav) : Die Nordlandfahrt des Pytheas. Inaug.-Diss. Halle, 1893.

1 90 1 HERRMANN (Paul) : ErlSuterungen zu den ersten neun Biichern der DSnischen

Geschichte des " Saxo Grammaticus," I. Leipzig, 1901.
1904 HERTZBERG (Ebbe) : Nordboemes gamle Boldspil. Hist. Skrifter tilegn.

Prof. Ludwig Daae o. s. v. af Venner og Diciple. Christiania, 1904.
1880 " Historia Norwegiae," see STORM, 1880.

1909 HOEGH (Knut): Om Kensington og Elbow Lake-stenene. "Symra," V.

Decorah, 1909.
1865 HOFMANN (Conrad) : Ueber das Lebermeer. " Sitzungsber. d. konigl. bayer.

Akad. d. Wissenschaften," II, x. Miinchen, 1865.
1909 HOLAND (R. Hjalmar) : Kensington-stenens sprog og runer. "Symra," V.

Decorah, 1909.
1883 HOLM (G. F.) : Beskrivelse af Ruiner i Julianehaabs Distrikt, der er undersOgte

i Aaret z88o. " Medd. om Gronland," VI. Copenhagen, 1883.
388

WORKS REFERRED TO

HOLZ (Georg] : Beitrclge zur deutschen Altertumskunde. H. i. Uber die 1894

Germanische Volkertafel des Ptolemaeus. Halle, 1894.
HOMEYER (C. G.J : Die Haus- und Hofmarken. Berlin, 1870. 1870

IRGENS (O.) : Et Sporsmaal, vedkommende de gamle Nordmsends oversoiske 1904

fart. "Skrifter utg. av Bergens hist. Forening," Nr. 10. Bergen, 1904.
'* Islandske Annaler " indtil 1578. Udg. f. d. " Norske hist. Kildeskriftfond " 1888

ved Gustav Storm. Christiania, 1888.
JACOB (Georg) : Welche Handelsartikel bezogen die Araber des Mittelalters 1891

aus den nordisch-baltischen Landem ? 2. Ausg. Berlin, 1891.
JACOB (G.3 : Die Waaren beim arabisch-nordischen Verkehr im Mittelalter. 1891a

Berlin, 1891.
JACOB (G.) : Studien in arabischen Geographen. IV. Berlin, 1892. 1892

JACOB (G.) : Ein arabischer Berichterstatter aus dem lo. Jahrhundert etc. 1896

Artikel aus Qazwinis Athar al-bilad. 3. verm. u. verb. Aufl. Berlin, 1896.
JACUT'S Geographisches Worterbuch. Hgb. v. F. Wiistenfeld. Leipzig, 1866. 1866
JAKOBSEN (Jakob) : Faeroiske Folkesagn og iEventyr. Copenhagen, 1898— 1898

1902. 1902

JAKOBSEN (J.) : Shetlandsoernes stednavne. «* Aarb. f. nord. Oldk. o. s. v." 1901

1901.
J ANT ZEN (Hermann) : Saxo Grammaticus. Die ersten neun Biicher der 1900

dcinischen Geschichte, uebersetzt und erlautert. Berlin, 1900.

J6NSS0N (Finnur), see " Hauks b6k." ^^^

J6NSS0N (F.) : En kort Udsigt over den Islandsk-Gronlandske Kolonis Historie. 1893

•' Nord. Tidsskrift." Stockholm, 1893.
j6NSS0N (F.) : Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs Historie. I, 1894 ; 1894

n I, 1898 ; n 2, 1901. Copenhagen. 1901

j6nSS0N (F.) : Sigurdarkvida en Skamma. " Aarb. f. Nord. Oldk." o. s. v. 1897

2 R., Xn. Copenhagen, 1897.
j6NSS0N (F.) : Gronlands gamle Topografi efter Kildeme. " Medd. om Gron- 1899

land," XX. Copenhagen, 1899.
J6NSS0N (F.) : Landndmab6k. Copenhagen, 1900. 1900

JORDANIS Romana et Getica, rec. Xh. Mommsen. " Monumenta Germaniae 1882

Historica." Berolini, 1882.
JORDANES Gothengeschichte. Obers. v. Wilhelm Martens. I. W. Wattenbach : 1884

* * Die Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit. 6. Jahr. " I. Leipzig, 1 884.
JOYCE (P. W.) : Old Celtic Romances. London, 1879. 1879

KAHLER (Friedrich) : Forschungen zu Pytheas' Nordlandsreisen. Stadt- 1903

gjrmnasium zu Halle a. S. Festschrift z. Begriiss. d. 47 Vers. Deutscher

Philologen u. Schulmanner im Halle. 1903.
KEYSER (R.) : Om Nordmsendenes Herkomst og Folkeslaegtskab, " Samlinger 1839

til det norske Folks Sprog og Historie," VI, 1839. Reprinted in " Samlede 1868

Afhandlinger." Christiania, 1868.
KHORDADHBEH (Ibn) : Le Livre des Routes et des Provinces. Trad, par 1865

C. BARBIER DE MEYNARD. Paris, 1865.
KHORDADHBEH (Ibn) : Kitab al-Masalik wa'1-mamalik, auctore Abn'l- 1889

KHsim .... Ibn KhordSdhbeh, etc. " Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabi-

corum," ed. M. J. de Goeje, VI. Lugduni-Batavorum, 1889.
KOCH (John) : Die Siebenschl&ferlegende, ihr Ursprimg und ihre Verbreitung. 1883

Leipzig, 1883.
KOHL (J. G.) : Die erste Deutsche Entdeckungsfahrt zum Nordpol. ** Peterm. 1869

geogr. Mitt.," 1869.

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT

1880 KOHL (J. G.f : Documentary History of the Discovery of the State of Maine.

"Maine Historical Soc. Collections." Portland, 1880.
1908 KOHLMANN (Phipp Wilhelm) : Adam von Bremen. " Leipzigs Historische
Abhandlungen." X. Leipzig, 1908.

1908 KOHT (Halvdan) : Om Haalogaland og Haaloyg-iEtten. ♦' Hist. Tidsskrift,"

4. R. VL Christiania, 1908.

1909 KOHT (H.3 : Sagnet om Hvitramannaland. ** Hist. Tidsskrift," 4. R. VL

Christiania, 1909.
1909 KRABBO (Hermann) : Nordeuropa in der Vorstellung Adams von Bremen.
" Hansische Geschichtsbiatter." Heft. i. Leipzig, 1909.

1891 KRETSCHMER (Konrad) : Marino Sanudo der Altere und die Karten des Petrus

Vesconte. " Zeitschr. d. Gesellsch. f. Erdkunde z. Berlin." XXVL 1891.

1891a KRETSCHMER (K.) : Eine neue mittelalterliche Weltkarte der vatikanischen

Bibliothek. " Zeitschr. d. Gesellsc. f. Erdkunde z. Berlin," XXVL 1891.

1892 KRETSCHMER (K.) : Die Entdeckung Amerika's in ihre Bedeutung fur die

Geschichte des Weltbildes. " Festschr. d. Gesellsch. f. Erdkunde z. Berlin."

1892.
1897 KRETSCHMER (K.J : Die Katalanische Weltkarte der Biblioteca Estense zu

Modena. " Zeitschr. d. Gesellsch. f. Erdkunde z. Berlin," XXXH. 1897.
1909 KRETSCHMER (K.) : Die italienischen Portolane des Mittelalters. Veroff.

d. Instituts f. Meereskunde u. d. geogr. Instituts a. d. Universitat Berlin,

XHL 1909.
1859 KUNSTMANN (Fr.J : Die Entdeckung Amerikas nach den altesten Quellen

geschichtlich dargestellt. " Monum. saec. Kgl. Bayerischen Akad. d.

Wissensch." Miinchen, 1859.
1894 LAFFLER (L. Fr.) : Om de Ostskandinaviska Folknamnen hos Jordanes.

" Bidrag till Kannedom om de Svenska Landsmalen ock Svensk Folklif,"

Xni, No. 9. Stockholm, 1894.
1907 LAFFLER (L. Fr.J : Anmarkningar till professor Sophus Bugges uppsats " Om

nordiske Folkenavne hos Jordanes." "Fomvannen," 1907. Stockholm.
1870 " LAGENIENSIS " : Irish Folk Lore. Glasgow, 1870.

1 88 1 LAMPROS (S. P.) : Cananos Lascaris and Basileios Batatzes, two Greek travellers

of the 14th and 15th centuries. " Pamassos," V. Athens, 1881. (In Greek.)
1888 LANCARBANENSI (Caradoco) : Vita Gildae, in " Monumenta Germaniae His-

torica," 4to. " Auctores antiguissimi," XIII, III : Chronica Minora,

Saec. IV, V, VI, VII, ed. Th. Mommsen. Berolini, 1888.
1900 ** Landnamaijdk " utg. av det kgl. nordiske Oldskrift-Selskab, ved Finnur

J6nsson. Copenhagen, 1900.
1838 LAPPENBERG (I. M.) : Von den Quellen, Handschriften und Bearbeitungen

des Adam von Bremen. " Archiv. der Gesellsch. f. altere deutsche

Geschichtskunde." VI. Hannover, 1838.
1876 LAPPENBERG, see Adam of Bremen.

1767 LEEM (Knud) : Beskrivelse over Finmarkens Lapper. Copenhagen, 1767.
1852 LELEWEL (Joachim) : G^ographie du Moyen Age. Breslau, 1852. Atlas,

1851.
1814 LETRONNE (A.) : Recherches Geographiques et Critiques sur le livre de Mensura

Orbis Terrae, etc. par Dicuil. Paris, 1814.
1872 LIEBRECHT (Felix) : Sanct Brandan. Ein lateinischer und drei deutsche

Texte. Herausg. von Schroder. "The Academy," III, 1872.
1689 LILLIENSKIOLD (Hans Hansen) : Speculum boreale, 1689. MS. (No. 948—949)

in the Thott Collection in the Royal Library at Copenhagen. Copy in the

collections of the Norwegian Historical MSS. Commission.

WORKS REFERRED TO

LONBORG (Sven Erik): Adam af Bremen och hans skildring af Nordeuropas 1897

LSnder och Folk. Akad. Afh. Upsala, 1897.
MACOUDI : Les Prairies d 'or. Par C. Barbier de Meynard et Pavet de Courteille. 1861

"Coll. d'ouvr. orient. Soc. Asiatique." Paris, 1861.
MACOUDI : Le livre de I'avertissement et de la revision. Par Carra de Vaux. 1896

** Coll. d'ouvr. orient. Soc. Asiatique." Paris, 1896.
MANDEVILLE (John) : The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundevile. Ed. 1883

by J. O. Halliwell. London, 1883.
MARKHAM (Clements R.) : Pytheas, the Discoverer of Britain. " Geogr. 1893

Journal," I. London, 1893.
MARKHAM (C. R.) : The Journal of Christopher Columbus and Documents 1893

relating to the Voyages of John Cabot and Caspar Corte Real. The

Hakluyt Society, LXXXVL London, 1893.
MARKHAM (C. R.) : Fourth Centenary of the Voyage of John Cabot 1497. 1897

** Geogr. Journal," IX. London, 1897.
MARX (Friedrich) : Aviens ora Maritima. ** Rheinisches Museum fiir Philo- 1895

logie," N. F. L. Frankfurt, 1895.
MATTHIAS (Franz) : t)ber Pytheas von Massilia und die altesten Nachrichten 1901

von den Germanen. Wissensch. Beilage z. *' Jahresbericht des Konigl. 1902

Luisengymnasiums zu Berlin." Programm No. 62, 1901 : Programm

No. 64, 1902. Berlin.
MAURER (Konrad) : Die Bekehrung des Norwegischen Stammes zum Christen- 1855

thume. Miinchen, 1855.
MAURER (K.) : I. Gronland im Mittelalter. II. Gronlands Wiederentdeckung. 1874

" Die zweite Deutsche Nordpolarfahrt," 1869 — 1870. I. Leipzig, 1874.
MAURER (K.) : Island von seiner ersten Entdeckung etc. Miinchen, ^8743

1874.
MEHREN (A. F.) : Fremstilling af de Islamitiske Folks almindelige geographiske 1857

Kundskaber, o. s. v. ** Ann. f. nord. Oldk. o. Hist." Copenhagen, 1857.
MEHREN (A. F.) : Manuel de la Cosmographie du Moyen Age. Copenhague, 1874

1874.
MEISSNER (R.) : Die Strengleikar. Halle a. S., 1902. 1902

MELA (Pomponius) : Jordbeskrivelse. Ovs. a. J. H. Bredsdorff. Copenhagen, 1822

1822.
METELKA (J.) : O neznamem dosud vydani mapy Islandu Olaa Magna zr. 1895

1548. " Sitzungsber. d. kgl. bohmischen Gesellsch. d. Wissensch., CI. f.

Philos., Gesch. u. Philol." Jahrg. 1895. Prag, 1896.
MEYER (Kuno) and NUTT (Alfred) : The Voyage of Bran son of Febal to the 1895

Land of the Living. I, 1895 ; II, 1897. London. — 97

MICHELSEN (A. L. J.) : Die Hausmarke. Jena, 1853. 1853

MILLER (Konrad) : Mappemundi. DiealtestenWeltkarten,I— III, 1895 ; IV— V, 1895

1896 ; VI, 1898. Stuttgart. —98

MOGK (E.) : Die Entdeckung Amerikas durch die Nordgermanen. " Mitt. d. 1892

Vereins f. Erdkunde z. Leipzig." 1892.
MOMMSEN (Th.), see JORDANES 1882

MOMMSEN (Th.), see SOLINUS. 1895

MUCH (Rudolf) : Goten und Ingvaeonen. " Beitr. z. Gesch. d. Deutschen 1893

Spr. u Lit." XVII. Halle, 1893.
MUCH (R.) : Germanische Volkemamen. " Zeitsch. f. Deutsches Altertum," 1895

XXXIX. Berlin, 1895.
MUCH (R.) : ♦* Alokiai Beitr. z. Gesch. d. Deutschen Spr. u. Lit.," XX. Halle, i 89Sa

1895.

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT

1905 MUCH (R.] : Deutsche Stammeskunde. "Sammlung Goschen." Leipzig,

1905.
1870-MULLENHOFF (Karl): Deutsche Altertumskunde. I, 1870; II, 1887; III,
1900 1892 ; IV, 1900. Berlin.

1889 MOLLENHOFF (K.) : Beovulf. Berlin, 1889.

1892 MCLLENHOFF (K.) and SCHERER (W.) : Denkmaler Deutscher Poesie und

Prosa. 3. Ausg. Berlin, 1892.
1909 MOLLER (SophusJ : De forhistoriske Tider i Europa. "Verdens Kulturen "

ved Aage Friis, II. Copenhagen, 1909.

1851 MUNCH (P. A.) : Det norske Folks Historie. Christiania, 1851.

1852 MUNCH (P. A.) : Geographiske Oplysninger om de i Sagaerne forekommende

skotske og irske Stedsnavne. "Ann. f. Nord. Oldk. o. Hist." Copenhagen,
1852.

i860 MUNCH (P. A.J : Chronica Regum Manniae, ed. Christiania, i860.

1895 MURRAY (John) : A Summary of the Scientific Results, etc. Historical Intro-
duction. "Challenger's Report," Summary, I. London, 1895.

1890 NANSEN (Fridtjof) : Pa ski over Gronland. Christiania, 1890. (Engl, transl.

"The First Crossing of Greenland," London, 1890.)

1891 NANSEN (F.) : Eskimoliv. Christiania, 189 1. (Engl, transl., " Eskimo Life,"

London, 1 893.)
1905 NIELSEN (Yngvar) : Nordmsend og Skraelinger i Vinland. " Hist. Tids-

skrift," 4. R. Ill : and in " Norsk geogr. Selsk. Arbog." 1905.
1882 NIESE (B.) : Entwickelung der Homerischen Poesie. Berlin, 1882.

1837 NILSSON (Sven) : Nagra Commentarier till Pytheas' fragmenter om Thule.

" Physiographiska Sallskapets Tidsskrift," I, 1837. Lund, 1837— 1838.

1838 NILSSON (S.) : Einige Bemerkungen zu Pytheas Nachrichten iiber Thule (from

Swedish). " Zeitschr. Alter thumwiss." 1838.
1862 NILSSON (S.) : Skandinaviske Nordens Ur-Invanare. Bronsalderen. 2. utg.

1865 Stockholm, 1862. Tillagg, 1865. In German translation : " Die Urein-
wohner des scandinavischen Nordens." Das Bronzealter. 2. Ausg. Ham-
burg, 1866.

1815 NOEL (S. B. J.) : Histoire Generale des Peches Anciennes et Modernes. Paris,

1815.
1889 NORDENSKIOLD (A. E.) : Facsimile Atlas. Stockholm, 1889.

1892 NORDENSKIOLD (A. E.) : Bidrag til Nordens aldsta Kartografi. Utg. af

" Svenska Sallsk. f. Antr. o. Geogr." Stockholm, 1892.
1897 NORDENSKIOLD (A. E.) : Periplus. Stockholm, 1897.
1899 NYSTROM (J. F.) : Geografiens och de Geografiska Upptackternas Historia,

till Borjan af 1800-Talet. Stockholm, 1899.
1905 OLSEN (Magnus) : Det gamle norske onavn NjarSarlog. " Forh. i Vid. Selsk."

Christiania, 1905.
1909 OLSEN (M.) : Peder Clausson om Sjofinnernes Sprog. " Maal og Minne."

Christiania, 1909.
ONGANIA, see TH. FISCHER.
1878 PAULUS WARNEFRIDI : Historia Langobardorum. Ed. L. Bethmann et

G. Waitz. Script. Rer. Langob. et Italic. Saec. VI — IX. " Monumenta

Germaniae Historica." Hannover, 1878.
1878 PESCHEL (Johannes) : Das Marchen vom Schlara^enlande. " Beitr. z. Gesch.

d. Deutschen Spr. u. Lit.," V. Halle, 1878.

1866 PLINII (C.) Secundi : Naturalis Historia. Rec. D. Detlefsen. Berolini, 1866.
188 1 PLINIUS : Die Naturgeschichte des Cajus Plinius Secundus. Obs. v. G. C.

Wittstein. Leipzig, i88z.

WORKS REFERRED TO

PLUTARCH : Moralia, ed. BERNARDABIS. V. Leipzig, 1893. 1893

PONTOPPIDAN (Erich] : Det forste Forsog paa Norges Naturlige Historic. 1753

Copenhagen, 1753.
PORTHAN (H. G.J, see King ALFRED. 1800

PROCOPIUS : Des Prokopius von CSsarea Geschichte seiner Zeit ; HI og IV, 1829

Gothische Denkwiirdigkeiten. Ubers. von P. F. Kanngiesser. Greifswald,

1829 og 1831.
PROCOPIUS : Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia. Recognovit Jacobus Haury. 190S

Leipzig, 1905.
PTOLEMAEUS (Claudius) : Claudii Ptolemaei Geographiae libri octo. Ed. 1838

F.^ G. Wilberg. Essendiae, 1838.
PULLE (F. L.) and LONGHENA (M.) : lUustrazione del Mappamondo Catalano 1907

della Biblioteca Estense di Modena. "VI Congresso Geografico Itaniano,

Venezia, 1907." Venezia, 1908.
QAZWfNI : Zakarija b. Muhammed b. Mahmud el-Caswini's Kosmographie. 1848

Hgb. von F. Wiistenfeld. Gottingen, 1848.
QVIGSTAD (J. K.) : Nordische Lehnworter in Lappischen. " Forhandl. i 1893

Vid. Selsk." Christiania, 1893.
QVIGSTAD (J. K.) : Peder Clausson om Sjofinnernes Sprog. " Maal og 1909

Minne." Christiania, 1909.
RAFN (C. Chr.) : Antiquitates Americanae. Copenhagen, 1837. 1837

RANISCH (Wilhehn} : Die Gautreksaga. "Palaestra," XI. Berlin, 1900. 1900
RASK (R.), see King ALFRED. 1815

RAVENNA GEOGRAPHER : Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia et Guidonis i860

Geographican. Ed. M. Pinder et G. Parthey. Berolini, i860.
RAVENSTEIN (E. G.) : Martin Behaim, his Life and his Globe. London, 1908. 1908
REEVES (Arthur Middleton) : The Finding of Wineland the Good. London, 1895

1895.
REINACH (Salomon) : L'6tain celtique. *' L'Anthropologie," III. Paris, 1892. 1892
RINK (H.J : Gronland, geografisk og statistisk beskrevet. Copenhagen, 1852

1852—57. —57

RINK (H.) : Eskimoiske Eventyr og Sagn. Copenhagen, 1866. 1866

RINK (H.) : Om Eskimoernes Herkomst. *' Aarb. f. nord. Oldk. o. Hist." 1871

Copenhagen, 1871.
RINK (H.) : Om de eskimoiske Dialekter som Bidrag til Bedommelsen af 1885

Sporgsmaalet om Eskimoernes Herkomst og Vandringer. " Aarb. f. nord.

Oldk. o. Hist." Copenhagen, 1885.
RINK (H.) : The Eskimo Dialects as serving to determine the Relationship

between the Eskimo Tribes. Anthrop. Inst, of Great Britain and Ireland,

XV.
RINK (H.J : The Eskimo Tribes. " Medd. om Gronland," XI. Copenhagen, 1887

1887 ; and " Supplement " to XI. 1891. 1891

ROHDE (Erwin) : Der Griechische Roman und seine Vorlaufer. 2. Aufl. 1900

Leipzig, 1900.
RUGE (Sophus) : Die Entdeckungs-Geschichte der Neuen Welt. " Festschrift 1892

der Hamburgischen Amerika-Feier," I. Hamburg, 1892.
RUGE (S.J : Die Entwickelung der Kartographie von Amerika bis 1570. 1892

'* Peterm. geogr. Mitt." Erg. heft No. 106. Gotha, 1892.
RYDBERG (Viktor) : Undersokningar i Germanisk Mythologi. Stockholm, 1886. 1886
" Rymbegla " sivelrudimentum compasti ecclesiatici veterum islandorum. Ed. 1790

Stephanus Biornonis. Havniae, 1780.
SAN-MARTHE : Die Sagen von Merlin. Halle, 1853. 1853

393

LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT

1877 SARS (J. Ernst J : Udsigt over den norske Historic. Christiania, I — IV, 1877

(2. utg.J— 1891.
SAXO GRAMMATICUS, see HERRMANN and J ANTZEN.
1873 SCHIERN (FrederikJ : Om Oprindelsen til Sagnet om de guldgravende Myrer.

Ovs. over det Kgl. Danske Vid.-Selsk. Forh. Copenhagen, 1873.
1888 SCHIRMER (Gustav] : Zur Brendanus-Legende. Habilitationsschrift. Leipzig,

1888.
1881 SCHLIEMANN (H.) : Ilion. Leipzig, 1881.
1 85 1 SCHOOLCRAFT (Henry R.J : Historical and Statistical Information respecting

the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United

States. Philadelphia, 1851.
1901 SCHRADER (O.) : Reallexikon der Indogermanischen Altertumskunde. Strass-

burg, 1 90 1.
1 87 1 SCHRODER (Carl) : Sanct Brandan. Erlangen, 1871.
1 890 SCHUCHH ARDT : Schliemanns Ausgrabungen im Lichte der heutigen Wissen-

schaft. Leipzig, 1890.

1904 SCHULTZ-LORENTZEN : Eskimoernes Indvandring i Gronland. " Medd. om

Gronland," XXVI. Copenhagen, 1904.

1898 SCHWEIGER-LERCHENFELD (A. v.) : Der Bernstein als Handelsartikel bei

den Alien. " Oesterr. Monatschrift fiir den Orient." Wien, 1898, No. 12,
Anhang.
1884 SCHWERIN (H. H. von) : Herodots framstallning af Europas Geografi. Lund,
1884.

1905 SCHWERIN (H. H. von) : De Geografiska Upptackternas Historia. Forntiden

och Medeltiden. Stockholm, 1905.
1908 SCISCO (L. D.) : The Tradition of Hvittramanna-land. "American Historical

Magazine," III. 1908.
1896 SEIPPEL (Alexander) : Rerum Normannicarum fontes Arabici. Fasc. I.

Christiania, 1896. (In Arabic.)
1886 SERBILLOT (Paul) : L6gendes, croyances et superstitions de la Mer. Paris, 1886.

1908 SIRET (Louis) : LesCassiteridesetl'empire Colonial desPheniciens. "L'Anthro-
—09 pologie," XIX, 1908 ; XX, no. 2—4. Paris, 1909.

1899 SNORRE STURLASON : Kongesagaer oversat av G. Storm. Christiania, 1899.

1909 SOLBERG (O.) : Die Wohnplatze auf der Kjelminsel in Siid-Waranger. " Vid.

1910 Selsk. Skr.," II, 1909, No. 7. Christiania, 1910.

1907 SOLBERG (O.) : Beitrage zur Vorgeschichte der Ost-Eskimo. " Vid. Selsk.

Skr.," II, No. 2. Christiania, 1907.
1895 SOLINI (C. Julii) : Collectanea rerum memorabilium, ed. Th. Mommsen. Bero-

lini, 1895.
1905 STEENSBY (H. P.) : Om Eskimokulturens Oprindelse. Copenhagen, 1905.
1889 STEENSTRUP (Japetus) : Nogle Bemerkninger om Ottar's Beretning til Kong

Alfred om Hvalros- og Hvalfangst i Nordhavet p^ hans Tid. "Hist.

Tidsskr.," 6. R. II. Copenhagen, 1889.
1876 STEENSTRUP (Johannes C. H. R.) : Normannerne, I. Copenhagen, 1876.
1899 STEENSTRUP (K. I. V.}: Om Osterbygden. " Medd. om Gronland," IX.

Copenhagen, 1899.

1880 STORM (Gustav) : " Monumenta Historica Norvegiae." Latinske Kildeskrifter

til Norges Historie i Middelalderen, udgivne ved G. Storm. Christiania,
1880.

1 881 STORM (G.) : see Peder Clausson FRIIS.

1886 STORM (G.i : Om Betydningen av " Eyktarstadr " i Flatobogens Beretning
om Vinlandsreiserne. " Arkiv. f. Nord. Filologi," III. Christiania, 1886.

394

WORKS REFERRED TO

STORM (G.I : Studier over Vinlandsreiserne, Vinlands Geografi og Ethnografi. 1887
Reprinted from " Aarb. for Nord. Oldk. o. Hist." 1887. Copenhagen, 1888.

STORM (G.J : Studies on the Vineland Voyages. Extracts from " M6m. d. 1. 1888

Soc. Royale d. Antiquaires du Nord," 1888. Copenhagen, 1889. 1889

STORM (G.) : see "Islandske Annaler." 1888

STORM (G.) : Om Kilderne til Lyschanders " Grondlandske Cronica." " Aarb. 1888
for Nord. Oldk. o. Hist." Copenhagen, 1888.

STORM (G.) : Om det i 1285 fra Island fundne " Nye Land." «* Hist. Tidsskr." 1888a

2. R. VI. Christiania, 1888.

STORM (G.) : Den danske Geograf Claudius Clavus eller Nicolaus Niger. 1889

"Ymer." Stockholm, 1889, 1891. 1891

STORM (G.) : Ginnungagap. " Arkiv f. Nord. Filologi," VI. (N. F. II). 1890
Lund, 1890.

STORM (G.) : Om Biskop Gisle Oddsons Annaler. " Arkiv f. Nord. Filologi," 1890a
VI. (N. F. II). Lund, 1890.

STORM (G.) : see Eirfks Saga Raut5a. 1891

STORM (G.) : Nye Efterretninger om det gamle Groland. " Hist. Tidsskr.," 1892

3. R. II. Christiania, 1892.

STORM (G.) : Columbus pa Island og vore Forfsedres Opdagelser i det nord- 1893

vestlige Atlanterhav. * ' Norske geogr. Selsk. Aarbog, ' ' IV. Christiania, 1 893.
STORM (G.) : Om opdagelsen av " Nordkap " og veien til " det Hvite Hav." 1894

"Norske geogr. Selsk. Aarbog." V. Christiania, 1893 — 94.
STORM (G.J : Utg. av Historisk-topografiske Skrifter om Norges og norske 1895

Landsdele forfattede i Norge i det i6de Aarhundrede. Christiania, 1895.
STORM (G.J : Et brev til pave Nicolaus den 5te om Norges beliggenhet og undre. 1899

"Norske geogr. Selsk. Aarbog," X. Christiania, 1899.
STORM (G.J : Erik den Rodes Saga eller Sagaen om Vinland, oversat. 1899a

Christiania, 1899.
STORM (G.) : see SNORRE STURLASON. 1899

STRABO'S Erdbeschreibung, iibs. v. A. Forbiger. Stuttgart, 1856—58. 1856

STRABONIS Geographica. Recogn. Aug. Meineke. Leipzig, 1877. 1877

STROM (G.) : Beskrivelse over Sondmor. Soroe, 1766. 1766

SYDOW (C. W. von) : Tors Fard till Utgird. "Danske Studier," 1910. 1910

TACITI (C. CorneUi] : Agricola. Ovs. a. H. W. Ottesen. Christiania, 1870. 1870
TACITI (Cornelii) : Germania. Erb. v. A. Baumstark. Leipzig, 1881. 1881

TACITUS (Cornelius] : Germania Antiqva, etc. Ed. Karolus Muellenhoffivs. 1873

Berolini, 1873.
TACITUS (C.J : Die Germania des Tacitus. Obs. v. Anton Baumstark. Freiburg 1876

in Br., X876.
TARDUCCI (Francesco) : Di Giovanni e Sebastiano Caboto. " R. Deputazione 1892

Veneta di Storia Patria." Venezia, 1892.
TARDUCCI (F.J: H. Harrisse e la Fama di Sebastiano Caboto. " Revista 1894

Storica Italiana," XI, fasc. IV. Torino, 1894.
THALBITZER (William) : A phonetical study of the Eskimo Language. " Medd. 1904

om Gronland," XXXI. Copenhagen, 1904.
THALBITZER (W.J : Skraelingerne i Markland og Gronland, deres Sprog og 1905

Nationalitet. " Overs, over Kgl. Danske Vid. Selsk. Forh.," No. 2. Copen-
hagen, 1905.
THALBITZER (W.| : Bidrag til Eskimoernes Fortidshistorie. "Geogr. Tids- 1908

skrift," XIX, 1908 ; XX, 1909 — 1910. Copenhagen. — lo

THEOPHRASTUS : Historia Plantarum. German transl. Naturgeschichte der 1822

Gew'achse, ed. R. Sprengel. Altona, 1822.

395

MORE IMPORTANT WORKS REFERRED TO

1882 THOMSEN (Vilhelm) : Ryska Rikets Gnindl4ggning genom Skandinaverna.
Ofvers. ved Sven SSderberg. * * Ur Var Tids Forskning, ' ' XXX. Stockholm,
1882.

1897 THORODDSEN (Th.) : Geschichte der Islfindischen Geographic, I, 1897 ; II|

1898. Leipzig.
1889 TOMASCHEK (Wilhelm) : Kritik der aitesten Nachrichten iiber den skythischen
Norden. " Sitzungsber. d. Philos.-Hist. CI. d. R. Akad. d. Wiss." Wien,
CLXX, 1889.

1843 THUE (H. J.) : Om Pytheas fra Marseille og hans Reiser til det nordlige Europa.

"Nor," II. Christiania, 1843.

1908 VANGENSTEN (Ove C. L.) : Michel Beheims Reise til Danmark og Norge i 1450.

"Vid.-Selsk. Skr.," 1908, II, No. 3. Christiania.
1910 VANGENSTEN (Ove C. L.) : Middelalderens Norges-Karter. " Norske Geogr
Selsk. Aarb.," 1910. Christiania.

1898 VAUX (Carra de] : L'Abr^g6 des Merveilles, traduit de I'Arabe. Paris, 1898.
1856 VIGFUSSON (Gudbrandl : Safn til sogn Islands og Islenzkra Bokmenta aS

fornu og nyju. Copenhagen, 1856.
1878 VIGFUSSON (G.J : Sturlunga saga. Oxford, 1878.

1 844 WACKERNAGEL (Wilh.) : Geographic des Mittelalters. ' ' Zeitschr. f . Deutsches

Alterthum," IV. Leipzig, 1844.
1902 WALKENDORF (Erik) : Finmarkens Beskrivelse. Utg. av K. H. Karlsson

og Gustav Storm. "Norske Geogr. Selsk. Aarb.," XII, 1900— 1901.

Christiania, 1902.
1833 WELCHER (F. G.J : Die Homerischen Phaaken und die Inseln der Seligen.

"Rhenisches Museum fiir Philologie," I. Bonn, 1833.
1789 WIELAND (C. M.] : Lucians von Samosata Samtliche Werke, IV, Wahre Ge-
schichte. Leipzig, 1789.
189s WIKLUND (K. B.J : Om kvanerna och deras nationalitet. " Arkiv f. nord.

Filologi," XII. Lund, 1895.
1854 WUTTKE (H.) : Cosmographia Aethici Istrici. Leipzig, 1854.
1837 ZEUSS (Kaspar) : Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstfimme. Miinchen, 1837.
1889 ZIMMER (HeinrichJ : Keltische BeitrSge. *' Zeitschr. f. Deutsches Alterthum,"

XXXIII. Berlin, 1889.
1891 ZIMMER (H.J : Uber die friihesten Beriihrung der Iren mit den Nordgermanen.

" Sitziingsber. der Berliner Akademie," 1891.
1893 ZIMMER (H.J : Nennius Vindicatus. Ober Entstehung, Geschichte und Quellen

der Historia Brittonum. Berlin, 1893.

1909 ZIMMER (H.J : Cber direkte Handelsverbindungen Westgalliens mit Irland im

Altertum und frtihen Mittelalter. " Sitztingsber. d. Kgl. Preussischen Akad.
d. Wissenschaften." Berlin, 1909.

396

INDEX

Aasen, I., i. 352 ; ii. 9

Abalus, Island of, i. 70, 71, 72, 73, 118,

365
Ablabius, i. 129, 142, 144, 155
Abfi Hamid, ii. 145, 146
Abyss, at the edge of the world, i. 12,

S4. 157-9. 195. 199; ii. 150. 154.
240

Adam of Bremen, i. 21, 59, 84, 112,
I35> 159. 179. 182, 183, 184-202,
204, 206, 229, 252, 258, 303, 312,
353. 362, 363, 365, 367, 382-4 :
ii. 2, II, 26, 29, 31, 32, 58, 63, 64,
65, loi, 143, 147-54, 165, 168, 177,
192, 214, 224, 237, 238, 240, 243,
278, 284

" Adogit," Northern people, i. 13 1-3,

143. 194
Mcea., Isle of, i. 13
iElian, i. 12, 16, 17
iEningia, i. loi, 104
iEstii (see Esthonians)
iEthicus Istricus, i. 154-5, 187, 188
" iEtternis stapi " (the tribal cliff),

i. 18-9
Africa, Supposed connection with

Wineland, i. 326 ; ii. 1-2, 29, 61,

240, 248, 280
Agathemerus, i. 44
Agricola, i. 107-8, 117
Agrippa, i. 97, 106
Ahlenius, K., i. 43, 93, 104, 112, 131
Aithanarit, i. 144, 153, 154
Alani, i. 188, 383
Albertus Magnus, ii. 158, 163, 178,

234
Albi, mappamundi at, ii. 183
Albion (see Britain), i. 38, 39, 117
Aleutians, ii. 69, 71
Alexander the Great, i. 19, 182, 363 ;

ii. 57, 206, 207, 213
Alexander VI., Pope, Letter from,

on Greenland (1492-3), ii. 106,

121-2
Alexander, Sir William, ii. 3
Alfred, King, i. 104, 160, 169-81, 204,

252 ; ii. 156, 243
Al-GazS.1, voyage to the land of the

Magtls, ii. 200-2

Algonkin tradition, ii. 7-8, 93 ;
lacrosse among, ii. 40

Alociae, i. 118, 119, 132

Amalcium (northern sea), i. 98-9, 105

Amazons, i. 20, 87, 88, 112, 114, 150,
154. 159. 160. 1S6, 187, 189, 198,
356, 383 ; ii. 64, 188, 197, 206, 209,

Amber, 1. 14, 19, 22, 23, 27, 31-4,

70, 71, 72, 96, loi, 106, 109-10 ;

ii. 207
Amdrup, Captain, i. 290
America, discovered by the Norsemen,

i. 234, 248, 312 ; ii. 22, 61, 63
Ammianus Marcellinus, i. 44, 123
Anaxagoras, i. 12
Anaximander of Miletus, i. 11
Anaximenes, i. 11, 128
Angles, i. 180
Anglo-Portuguese expeditions of 1501,

ii. 331-2, 357 ; of 1502, ii. 332-4 ;

of 1503, ii. 334-5 ; of 1504, ii. 335
Angmagsalik, Greenland, i. 261, 263,

282, 290, 291 ; ii. 73
" Anostos," The gulf, i. 17, 158 ; ii.

150, 240
Ants, fabulous, i. 154, 336 ; ii. 197
Apollo, worshipped among the Hyper-
boreans, i. 16, 18, 19
Apollonius of Rhodes, i. 19, 44
Appulus, Guillelmus, ii. 162
Arabs, i. 362, 366 ; ii. 57 ; their trade

with North Russia, ii. 143-7, 194 ;

their culture, ii. 194-5 > possible

exchange of ideas with the Irish, ii.

207 ; Arab geographers, ii. 194-

214
Arab m)d;hs, i. 382 ; ii. 10, 51, 197,

206-8, 213-4 ' affinity to Irish, ii.

207
Arctic, origin of the word, i. 8 ; Arctic

Circle, i. 53, 55-7, 62, 76, 117
Arctic Ocean, Voyages in, i. 287 ; ii,

177 (see also Polar Sea)
Are Frode (Islendingabdk), i. 165-6,

201, 253-4, 257, 258-60, 312, 313,

331. 332, 353, 354. 366, 367,

368 ; ii. II, 16, 26, 58, 60, 77-8, 82,

86, 91

397

INDEX

Are Marsson, voyage to Hvitramanna-

land, i. 331-2, 353-4, 377 ; ii. 42,
I' 43, 46, 50

Argippaeans, i. 23, 88, 114, 155
Arimaspians, i. 16, 19, 98
Arimphaei, i. 88 ; ii. 188
Aristarchus of Samos, i. 47, 77
Aristeas of Proconnesus, i. 19
Aristotle, i. 28, 40, 41, 44, 76, 182 ;

ii. 48, 194
Arnbjorn Austman, lost in Greenland;

i. 283
Arngrim J6nsson, i. 263 ; ii. 79
" Arochi " (or " Arothi " ; see Haru-

des), i. 136, 148
Asbjornsen, i. 381
Askeladden, Tale of, i. 341
Assaf Hebrseus, ii. 200
Assyria, supposed communication with

the North, i. 35, 36
" Astingi," or " Hazdingi " (Hadding-

jar, Hallinger), i. 104
Athenaeus, i. 46, 351
Atlamdl en groenlenzku, i. 273
Atlantic Ocean, i. 10, 39, 40, 77, 78,

252, 315. 3if>, 346 ; ii. 154. 293, 307.
308

Atlantis, i. 376 ; ii. 293

Aubert, Karl, ii. 253

" Augandzi," i. 136

Austlid, Andreas, i. 340

AvaUon, Isle of, i. 72, 365-6, 379 ; ii.
20

d'Avezac, M.',P., i. 362 ; ii. 216, 290

Avienus, Rufus Festus, i. 37-42, 68,
83, 123, 128, 130

Aviones, i. 95, 118

Ayala, Pedro de, adjunct to the
Spanish Ambassador in London,
ii, 295, 297, 298, 299, 301, 310, 311,
324, 325-6

Azores, discovered, ii. 292 ; expedi-
tions from, ii. 293, 345, 346, 347

" Bacallaos," name for Newfound-
land, ii. 329, 337, 339
Bacon, Roger, ii. 215, 249
Baffin Land, i. 322, 323 ; ii. 41
Baf&n's Bay, i. 248, 250, 304, 305,

308, 309 ; ii. 41, 72
Bahlul, Ibn al-, ii. 197
Balcia, Island of, i. 71, 72, 99, 100, loi,

185

Balder, i. 372

Baltic, amber from, i. 14, 22, 32, 34,
35, 96 ; ancient names for, and
ideas of, i. 93, 99, 100, 105, 109, 121,
131, 167, 169, 185 ; ii. 210, 211, 219 ;
representation of, in medixval carto-

398

graphy, ii. 219, 224, 227, 257, 269J

284, 286 ; overland communication

with the Black Sea, i. 244 ; ii. 199
Basilia, island, i. 70, 71, 99
Basques, as whalers, ii. 159-62
Bastarni (Bastarnae), i. iii, 112, 113,

114
Batuta, Ibn, ii. 144, 145
Baumgartner, A., i. 193
Baumstark, A., i. 113
Baunonia, Island of, i. 70, 98J
Bavarian geographer. The, i. 167
Bayeux tapestry, i. 239, 248, 249 ;

ii. 237, 239
Bears, Polar, i. 191, 192, 323 ; ii.

72, 112, 177, 191
Beatus map, i. 198, 199 ; ii. 184,

185-6
Beau vols, E., ii. 40, 90
Beazley, C. R., ii. 215, 295
Bede, i. 151, 184, 193, 194, 199 ; ii,

20, 156
Behaim, Martin, ii. 86, 287-9, 359, 372
Beheim, Michel, i. 226 ; ii. 85, 86,

III, 117, 144, 270
Belcae, or " Belgae," i. 89, 92
Benedikson, E., i. 59
Beormas, i. 171, 173-5, 214, 218, 219,

222 ; ii. 135 {see also Bjarmas)
Beowulf, i. 234, 372
Berard, V., i, 348, 371, 379
Bergen, ii. 80, 120, 122, 125, 157, 169,

178, 2IO, 220, 221, 222, 260, 261,

264, 265, 266, 281, 286
Berger, H., i. 11, 12, 43, 75
" Bergos," island, i. 106, 107
Bering Strait, i. 212, 223 ; ii.68, 69, 84
Berneker, Prof., ii. 175-6
" Berricen " (or " Nerigon "), i. 53,

57-8, 106, 107
Bethmann and Waitz, i. 139
Bexell, ii, 56
Bianco, Andrea, map of Europe (1436),

ii. 267, 282
Bible, The, i. 125, 126, 153, 184, 338,

358, 363 ; ii- 45, 46, 184, 185
Birds, used to find position at sea,

i. 250-1, 257, 318
Biriini, ii. 199, 200
Bishops of Greenland, i, 273, 283 ;

ii. 29, 30-1, 98-9, 106, 108, 1 13-4,

121, 122, 134
Biskupa Sogur, i. 284 ; ii. 8
Bjarmas (see also Beormas), ii. 135-

40, 167
Bjarmeland (Northern Russia), i, 173-

5, 288 ; ii. 135-42, 154, 164, 165,

166, 168, 172, 237, 268; "Farther

Bjarmeland," ii. 165-6

INDEX

Bjarne Grimolfsson, Wineland voyager,
i. 319, 320, 326, 329, 330 ; ii. 20

Bjarne Herjulfsson, traditional dis-
coverer of Wineland, i. 314, 317, 334 ;
ii. 21

Bjarneyjar (Bear-islands), Greenland,
i. 301, 302, 304, 321, 322, 323, 335,

Bjorn Breidvikingekjaempe, i. 360 ;

li. 49-50, 53. 54. 56

Bjorn Einarsson Jorsalafarer, ii. 82,
106, 112, 113

Bjorn J6nsson of Skardsa (Annals
of Greenland), i. 263, 282-3, 288,
292, 295, 299, 301, 308, 309, 321,
377 ; ii- 35. 37, ^2, 83, 239

Bjorn Thorleifsson, shipwrecked in
Greenland, ii. 82

Bjornbo, Dr. A. A., i. 200, 201, 202,
297 ; ii. 2, 31, 32, 116, 123, 127, 132,
147, 154, 193, 220, 221, 223, 224, 225,
226, 233, 234, 240, 249, 250, 253,
261, 262, 264, 273, 277, 278, 281,
283, 284, 287, 289, 332, 353, 368,

369. 370. 374. 375

Bjornbo and Petersen, i. 226 ; ii, 85,
123, 124, 127, 219, 231, 234, 249,
250, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258, 262,
203, 267, 273, 275, 277, 377

Bldserkr (Greenland), i. 267, 291-6

Blom, 0.,ii. 8

Boas, F., ii. 69, 70

Boats of hides (coracles, &c.), in the
CEstrymnides, i, 38, 39 ; Scythians,
Saxons, &c., i. 154, 242 ; Green-
landers', i. 305 ; Irish, ii. 92 ;
Skraelings', in Wineland, i. 327 ;
ii. 10, 19 ; in Trondhjem cathedral,
ii. 85, 89, 117, 269, 270 ; in Irish
tales, i. 336 ; ii. 20 ; in Newfoundland
(?), ii. 367 ; Eskimo, see Kayaks and
Women's Boats

Bobe, Louis, ii. 126

Borderie, A. de la, i. 234

Borgia mappamundi, ii. 284-5

Bornholm, i. 169, 180 ; ii. 204, 265

Bothnia, Gulf of, i. 169, 187 ; ii. 269 ;
in mediaeval cartography, ii. 219

" Boti," i. 87

Bran, Voyage of, i. 198, 354, 356, 365,
370 ; 11. 56

Brandan, Legend of, i. 281-2, 334, 337,
344. 345. 358-364. 366, 376 ; ii.
9, 10, 13, 18, 19, 43-5, 50, 51, 61,
64, 75, 151, 206, 214, 228-9, 234

Brattalid, in Greenland, i. 268, 270,
271, 275, 317, 319, 320, 331

Brauns, D., i. 377 ; ii. 56

" Brazil," Isle of (Hy Breasail,

O'Brazil, &c.), 1. 3. 357. 379; ".
30, 228-30, 279, 294-5, 318 ; expedi-
tions to find, ii. 294-5, 3^1. 325

Breda, O. J., ii. 31

Brenner, O., i. 58

Brinck {Descriptio LoufodicB), i. 378

Bristol, trade with Iceland, ii. 119,
279, 293 ; Norwegians living at, ii.
119, 180 ; expeditions sent out from,
ii. 294-5, 298, 301, 304, 325, 326,

327, 330. 331
Britain, i. 193, 234, 240, 241 ; visited
by Pytheas, i. 49, 50-3 ; Caesar on,

i. 79-80 ; Mela on, i. 97 ; Pliny on,

ii. 106; Ptolemy on, i. 117; in

mediaeval cartography, ii. 220, 227
Brittany, cromlechs in, i. 22 ; tin in,

i. 23, 26, 27, 29-31, 38-42
Broch, Prof. Olaf, ii. 142, 175, 176
Brogger, A. W., i. 14
Bronlund, Jorgen, i. 2-3
Bruun, D., i. 164, 270, 271, 274, 275
Bugge, Prof. A., i. 136, 137, 138, 146,

163, 164, 166, 170, 173, 234, 245,

246, 258, 297, 304; ii. 7, 55, 80,

168, 201
Bugge, Sophus, i. 93, 94, 103, 132, 134,

135, 136, 138, 146, 148, 207, 273 ;

ii. 27, 28, 175
Bulgarians of the Volga, ii. 142-5, 195,

200, 210
Bunbury, E. H., i. 30, 107
" Burgundians " (= Bornholmers ?),

i. 169, 180
Burrough, Stephen, ii. 173

Cabot, John, i. 3, 115, 312 ; ii. 130, 295-
330. 333. 343. 374. 377 : settles
at Bristol, ii. 297 ; voyage of 1496,
ii. 299-301 ; voyage of 1497, ii.
301-23; voyage of 1498, ii. 311,
324-8, 349 ; his discovery prema-
ture, ii. 343

Cabot, Sebastian, ii. 129, 130, 295-6,
299. 301-2, 308, 319, 326, 329, 330,
332, 333, 336-43 : reported voyage
of 1508-9, ii. 336-40 ; doubtful
voyage of 1516 or 1517, ii. 340-2 ;
his credibility, ii. 296, 298, 303,
329, 338-40 ; map of 1544, attri-
buted to, ii. 303, 309, 310, 314-5,
319-20

Caesar, C. Julius, i. 39, 40, 79-80, 92,
242

Callegari, G. V., i. 43, 58, 59

CaUimachus, i. 375

Callisthenes (Pseudo-), ii. 213, 234

Calypso, i. 347, 355, 370 ; ii. 43

" Cananei," i, 154-5

399

INDEX

Canary Isles, i. 117, 348-50, 362, 376 ;
ii. 2

Canerio map (1502-07), ii. 368

Cannibalism, among the Irish, Scy-
thians, Celts, Iberians, i. 81 ; Isse-
donians, i. 81 ; Massagetae, i. 81,
148 ; in Scandinavia, i. 149

Cantino, Alberto, his map of 1502, ii.
316, 350-1, 355, 361, 362, 364, 365,
368-74 ; his letter of Oct. 1501,
ii- 349-52, 360, 361, 362, 363, 367,
372

Canto, Ernesto do, ii. 331

Cape Breton, i. 324, 329, 335 ; ii.
309, 312, 314, 315, 316, 317, 319,
321, 322 ; John Cabot's probable
landfall in 1497, ii. 314-5

Capella, Marcianus, i. 123, 126, 184,
188, 195, 197, 334

Carignano, Giovanni da, compass-
chart by, ii. 220-2, 227, 235

" Carte Pisane," ii. 220

Carthage, Sea-power of, i. 45, 75

Caspian Sea, i. 10, 74, 76, 122 ; ii.
142, 183, 195, 197, 213

Cassiodorus, i. 120, 128-30, 132, 137,
138, 142, 154, 155, 203

Cassiterides, i. 23, 24, 25, 27-9, 89 ;
ii. 47, 48

Catalan Atlas, mappamundi of 1375,
ii. 233, 266, 292

Catalan compass-chart at Florence,
ii. 231, 232-3, 235

Catalan compass-chart (15th century)
at Milan, ii. 279, 280

Catalan sailors and cartographers {see
Compass -charts), ii. 217

Catapult, used by the Skraelings, i.
327 ; ii. 6-8, 92

Cattegat, The, i. 93, 100, loi, 102, 105,
169, 180

" Cauo de Ynglaterra " on La Cosa's
map, ii. 3 1 4-5, 3 1 7, 32 1 -2 ; probably
Cape Breton, ii. 314 ; or Cape
Race (?), ii. 321-2

Celts, i. 19, 41, 42, 68, 81, 208 ; early
Celtic settlement of the Faroes, i,
162-4 ; of Iceland, i. 167, 258 ; possi-
ble Celtic population in Scandinavia,
i. 210 ; mythology of the, i. 379

Chaldeans, i. 8, 47

Chancellor, Richard, ii. 135

Chinese myths of fortunate isles, i.
377 ; ii. 213

Christ, The White, ii. 44, 45, 46

Christ, Wilhelm, i. 14, 37

Christianity introduced in Iceland,
i. a6o, 332 ; introduced in Greenland,
i. 270, 272, 317, 332, 380; decline

400

of, in Greenland, ii. 38, 100-2, 106,
113, 121

Christian IV. of Denmark, ii. 124, 178

Christiern I. of Denmark, ii. 119, 125,
127, 128, 132, 133, 134, 345

Chukches, i. 212

Church, ii. 301

Cimbri, i. 14, 21, 82, 85, 91, 94, 99,
100, loi, 118, 145

Cimmerians, i. 13, 14, 21, 79, 145

Circumnavigation, Idea of, i. 77, 79 ;
ii. 271, 291-3, 296-7

Clavering, ii. 73

Clavus, Claudius, i. 226, 303; ii. 11,
17, 85, 86, 8g, 117, 248-76, 284 ;
his Nancy map and text, ii. 249,
250, 253, 255-65 ; his later map and
Vienna text, ii. 250, 251, 252-3,
254, 265-76 ; his methods, ii. 252-5,
259-61 ; his influence on carto-
graphy, ii. 276-9, 335, 368, 369,

370, 371
Cleomedes, i. 44, 52, 53, 55, 57, 134
Codanovia, island, i. 91, 93-4, 103
Codanus, bay, i. 90-5, loi, 102, 103,

105, 118
CoUett, Prof. R,, i. 345 ; ii. 91
Collinson, R., ii. 129
Columbus, i. 3, 77, 79, 115, 116, 312,

376 ; ii. 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296,

297» 300. 307. 310. 325
Compass, Introduction of, i. 248 ; ii.
169, 214, 215-6 ; variation of, ii.

217. 307-8, 370-1
Compass-charts, ii. 215-36, 265, 2791,

280, 282, 308, 313 ; development of.

ii. 215-8 ; limits of, ii. 218
Congealed or curdled sea, beyond

Thule, i. 65-9, 70, 100, 106, 121, 165,

181, 195, 363, 376; ii. 149, 200,231
Connla the Fair, Tale of, i. 371
Contarini, G., ii. 303, 336, 337, 338,

342, 343

Converse, Harriet Maxwtfll, 1. 377

Cornwall, Tin in, i. 23, 29, 31

Corte-Real, Caspar, ii. 130, 328, 330,
331. 332. 347-53, 354, 357, 358-66,
373 ; letters patent to (1500), iu
347 ; voyage of 1500, ii. 360 ;
voyage of 1501, ii. 347-53, 360-75 ;
his fate, ii. 353, 375 ; his discoveries,

ii. 354-5, 362,^364
Corte-Real, Joao Vaz, unhistoncal

expedition attributed to, ii. 359
Corte-Real, Miguel, ii. 353, 360, 361 ;

letters patent to, ii. 353, 355, 376 ;

voyage of 1502 or 1503, ii. 353, 376 ;

probably reached Newfoundland,

ii. 376 ; his fate, ii. 376

INDEX

Corte-Real, Vasqueanes, refused leave

to search for his brothers, ii. 377
Corte-Real, Vasqueanes IV., reported

expedition of, in 1574, ii. 378
Cosa, Juan de la, map by, ii. 302,

309-18, 321, 374 ; represents Cabot's

discoveries of 1497, ii. 31 1-2
<X)smas Indicopleustes, i. 126, 127,

128 ; ii. 183
Costa, B. T. de, ii. 129, 214
" Cottoniana " mappamundi, i. 180,

182, 183 ; ii. 192-3, 208, 220, 284
Cottonian Chronicle, ii. 303, 324, 326
Crassus, Publius, visits the Cassiterides,

i. 27
Crates of Mallus, i. 44, 78-9
Croker, T. Crofton, i. 379
Cromlechs, Distribution of, i. 22, 239
Cronium, Mare, i. 65, 100, 106, 121,

182, 363, 376
Crops, in Thule, i. 63 ; in Britain,

i. 63 ; in Greenland, i. 277
Cuno, J^. G., i. 59
Cwfin-sse, i. 169
Cyclopes, i. 189, 196 ; ii. 10, 147, 148,

238
Cylipenus, i. loi, 104, 105
Cynocephali, i. 154-5, 159, 187, 189,

198. 383

Cysiophora cristata (bladder-nose seal),
i. 276, 286

Daae, L., i. 226 ; ii. 125, 129

Dalorto (or Dulcert), Angellino, ii.
226-30 ; his map of 1325, ii. 177,
219, 226, 229, 235, 236 ; his map of
1339 (Dulcert), ii. 229, 230, 235, 265,
266

Damastes of Sigeum, i. 16

Danes, i. 94, 121, 136, 139, 142, 143;
145, 146, 153, 167, 169, 180, 188,
245 ; ii. 115, i6i

Darkness, Sea of, i. 40-1, 192, 195,

199. 363, 382 ; ii. 149, 204, 206, 212
Dauciones, i. 120, 121

Davis Strait, i. 269

Dawson, S. E., ii. 295, 307, 319, 321

Debes, Lucas, i. 375

Delisle, L., ii. i6i

Delos, i. 375

Delphi, i. 18, 19

Democritus, i. 127

Denmark, i. 82, 94, 180, 185, 234 ;
ii. 179, 201, 204, 205, 208, 237 ;
called " Dacia " on mediaeval maps,
ii. 188, 190, 222, 225 ; representa-
tion of, in mediaeval cartography,
ii. 219, 225, 235, 250, 286

Denys, Nicolas, ii. 3

Desimoni, C, ii. 325

II 2

Deslien's map of 1541, ii. 322
Detlefsen, D., i. 43, 70, 71, 72, 83,

84. 85, 93. 97. 99, 102, 119
Dicaearchus, i. 44, 73
Dicuil, i. 58, 160, 162-7, 252, 362 ;

ii. 43, 51, 229
Dihya, Ibn, ii. 200-1, 209
Dimashqi, ii. 212-3
Diodorus Siculus, i. 23, 29-30, 44, 50,

51, 52, 58, 63, 71, 80, 87, 90, 346 ;

ii. 48
Dionysius Periegetes, i. H4-5, 123,

356 ; ii. 47, 48, 192
Dipylon vases, i. 236-7
Disappearing (fairy) islands, i. 370,

378-9 ; ii. 213
Disc, Doctrine of the earth as a, i. 8,

12, 126, 127, 153, 198 : ii. 182
Disco Bay, Greenland, i. 298, 300, 301,

302, 306, 307 ; ii. 72
" Doegr " (=half a 24 hours' day),

used as a measure of distance, i. 287,

310, 322, 335 ; ii. 166, 169, 170, 171
Dogs as draught-animals, ii. 69, 72,

145, 146
Down Islands (Duneyiar), i. 285, 286
Dozy, R., ii. 55, 200, 201
Dozy and de Goeje, ii. 51, 204
Drapers' Company, Protest of, against

Sebastian Cabot, ii. 302, 330, 338,

342
DraumkvcBde, i. 367, 381
Driftwood, in Greenland, i. 299, 305,

307, 308 ; ii. 37, 96
Drusus (The elder Germanicus), i. 83
" Dumna," island, i. 106, 117 ; ii. 257
Dumont d'Urville, i. 376
Dvina, river, i. 173, 174, 222 ; ii. 135,

136, 137, 142, 146, 164, 176

Eastern Settlement of Greenland,
i. 263, 265, 267, 271, 272, 274, 275,
276, 296, 301, 302, 307, 310, 311,
321 ; ii. 71, 82, 90, 107, 108, 112,
116 ; decline of, ii. 95-100, 102

Ebstorf map, i. 102, 191 ; ii. 187

Edda, The older (poetic), i. 273

Edda, The younger (Snorra-Edda),
i. 273, 298, 304, 342, 364

Eden, Richard, ii. 341

Edrisi, i. 182, 382; ii. 51-53, 202-8,
209, 210, 216 ; his map, ii. 192,
203, 208, 220, 284

Egede, Hans, ii. 40, 41, 74, loi, 104,
105, 106

Egil Skallagrimsson's Saga, i. 175, 218

Egyptian myths, i. 347

Einar Sokkason, i. 283, 294

Einar Thorgeirsson, lost in Greenland,
i. 284

c 401

INDEX

Einhaxd, i. 167, 179, 180, 185

Elk (achlis), i. 105, 191

Elymus arenarius (lyme-grass), ii. 5

Elysian Fields, i. 347, 349, 351

Etopedocles, i. 12, 127

England (see Britain), Arab geo-
graphers on, ii. 204, 211 ; maritime
enterprise of, ii. 180, 294-5, 343 J
in mediaeval cartography, ii. 218

English State document (1575) on
North-West Passage, ii. 129-30,
132

" Engronelant," ii. 277, 279, 373

d'Enjoy, Paul, i. 377

Eratosthenes of Cjnrene, i. 20, 29, 44;

47. 52. 55. 61, 73, 75-7, 78, 82, 115 ;
ii. 292

Eric Blood- Axe, ii. 136

Eric of Pomerania, ii. 118, 119

Eric the Red, i. 252, 256, 259, 262, 280,
288, 293. 318-21, 324, 330, 337,
344, 368 ; ii. 22, 77, 88 ; discovers
Greenland, i. 260, 263, 266-70

Eric the Red, Saga of, i. 260, 266, 273,
291, 292, 293, 296, 310, 313, 314,
318, 322, 331, 332-5, 337, 338, 342,
343. 367. 382 ; ii. 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14,
15, 22, 23, 24, 42, 43, 50, 59, 61,
89, 91, 206 ; its value as a historical
document, ii. 62

Eric's fjord (Greenland), i. 267, 268,
271. 275, 317, 318, 319, 321 ; ii.
112

Eric Upsi, bishop of Greenland, ii.
29-31

Eridanus, river, i. 31, 32, 34, 42

Eruli, i. 21, 94, 136, 137-8, 139-49,
153. 235, 245

Erythea, i. 9

Erythraean Sea, i. 10

Eskimo, i. 19, 51, 150, 212, 215, 216,
223, 231-2, 260, 298, 306, 307, 308,
309, 310, 368 ; ii. 10, 12, 16, 17,
19 ; 66-94, 102-6, 107, in-2, 1 13-6,
333, 366-7 ; fairy-tales and legends
of, ii. 8, 105, 115 ; ball-game among,
ii. 40-1 ; distribution of, ii. 66-74 ;
racial characteristics of, ii. 67-8 ;
their culture, ii. 68-9, 91-2 ; NorSe
settlers absorbed by, ii. 100, 102-105,
106, 107-11, 117 ; unwarlike nature
of, ii. 114, 1 15-6

Esthonians (jEstii, Osti), Esthonia,
i. 69, 72, 104, 109, 131, 167, 169, 170,
i8i, 186 ; ii. 205

" Estotiland," fictitious northern
country, ii. 131

Eudoxus, i. 46

Eyrbyggja-saga, i. 313, 376 ; ii. 42, 46,

48. 50
402

Fabricius, a., ii. 55

Fabyan, Robert, Chronicle (quoted bjr

Hakluyt), ii. 303, 324, 326, 333
Fadhlan, Ibn, ii. 143
Fairies, Names for, i. 372-3
Fairylands, Irish, i. 357, 370-1, 379 ;

ii. 60 ; Norwegian, i. 369-70, 378 ;

ii. 60, 213 ; laudatory names for,.

i. 374 ; characteristics of, i. 375-9 ;

ii. 213-4
Faqlh, Ibn al-, ii. 197
Farewell, Cape, i. 261, 267, 280, 282,

284, 288, 291, 295, 307, 316 ; ii.

Faroes, The,i. 254, 255, 257, 316, 324,
362 ; ii. 51, 229, 262 ; discovered by
the Irish, i. 162-4, 233 ; Irish monks
expelled from, i. 252, 253 ; early
Celtic population in, i, 164, 253

Felix, The monk, in mediaeval legend,
i. 381

Fenni (Finns), i. 109, 112, 113, 114,
120, 149, 203

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, letter
from, ii. 300

Fernald, M. L., ii. 3, 5-6

Fernandez, Joao (called "Lavora-
dor "), ii. 331-2, 356 ; letters patent
to (1499), ii. 346, 356 ; probably
sighted Greenland (1500), ii. 356,
357. 375 » took part in Bristol
expedition (1501), ii. 331, 356, 357 ;
Greenland (Labrador) named after
him, ii. 358

Filastre, Cardinal, ii. 249-50, 278

Finland (see Kvaenland), i. 206, 209,

210, 214 ; the name confused with
Vinland, i. 198, 382 ; ii. 31, 191 ;
and with Finmark, i. 382 ; ii. 191,
205 ; in mediaeval cartography, ii..
224

Finmark, i. 61, 173, 175, 177, 191, 198,
204, 210, 213, 220, 222, 225 ; ii. 86,
141, 163, 164, 172, 178, 179, 205,

211, 237 ; the name confused with
Finland, i. 382 ; ii. 32, 191, 205 ;
in mediaeval cartography, ii. 221

"Finn," The name, i. 198, 205-7, 21a
" Finnaithae " (Finn6di, Finvedi) (see
Finns), i. 135, 137, 189, 198, 203,
204, 206, 382
Finn mac Cumhaill, i. 363 ; ii. 45
Finns, i. 109, 112, 113, 114, 120, 135,
136, 137, 149, 171. 173-8, 189. 198,
203-32, 382 ; ii. 68, 143 ; Horned
Finns, ii. 167
"Finns," in southern Scandinavia, i.

103, 203, 205, 206-11 ; ii. 159
Finn's booths (FinnsbUiSir), in Green-
land, i. 283, 296, 305

INDEX

"Finnur hinn Frisi," Faroese lay of,

". 33-4
Fischer, J., ii. 33, 121, 229, 249, 276,

277, 278, 279, 281
Fischer, M. P., ii. 161
Fischer, Theobald, ii. 216, 220, 230, 234
Fishing Lapps, i. 204, 205, 207, 218,

221, 223-32
Flateyjarhok, i. 254, 283, 313, 314, 317,

318, 324, 329, 331, 334, 338, 340,

343. 344. 359. 360 ; ii. 4, 14, 15. 18,

21, 22, 23, 25, 59, 61
Fletcher, Giles, i. 226
Floamanna-Saga, i, 280, 281 ; ii. 46, 8x
Floating islands. Legends of, i. 375-7 ;

ii. 213-4
Floki Vilgerdarson, sails to Iceland,

i- 255. 257. 269
Florus, L. Annaeus, i. 350
Forbiger, A., i, 58, 102
Forster, i. 179
Fortunate Isles (Insula Fortunaies),

i. 117, 198, 334, 345-53, 367, 370,

372, 373. 382-4 ; ii. 1-6, 24, 31, 42,

55. 59-61, 64, 191, 228, 280, 304
Fortunate Lake, Irish myth of, ii.

229-30
Foster-Brothers' Saga, i. 276, 320 ; ii.

9, i8
Frahn, C. M., ii. 143, 145
Franks Casket, The, i. 176
Freydis, daughter of Eric the Red,

i. 320, 328, 332, 333 ; ii. II, 51
Friesland, Frisians, i. 95, 153, 205
Friis, J. A., i. 372
Friis, Peder Clausson, i. 224, 227-9,

232, 369 ; ii. 153. 158, 178, 268

Frisian noblemen's polar expedition,

i. 195-6. 200, 383 ; ii. 147-8
Frisius, Gemma, ii. 129, 132
Frisland, fabulous island south of

Iceland, i. 377 ; ii. 131
Fritzner, ii. 9
FurSustrandir, i. 273, 312; 313, 322,

323. 324. 325, 326, 334, 336, 337,

339, 357 ; "• 24. 36
Fyldeholm (island of drinking), i. 352

Gadir (Gadeira, Gades, Cadiz), i. 24,

27, 28, 30, 36, 37, 66, 79
Galvano, Antonio, ii. 336; 337, 338,

354, 364, 376
Gandvik (the White Sea), i. 218-9,

228 ; ii. 136-8, 164, 223, 237, 239
Gardar, discoverer of Iceland, i. 255-7,

263
GarSar, Greenland, i. 272, 273, 275,

311 ; ii. 106, 107, 108, 121, 122
" Gautigoth " (see Goths), i. 135
Gautrek's Saga, i. 18-9

Geelmuyden, Prof. H., i. 52, 54, 311 ;

ii. 23
Geijer, E. G., i. 60, 102, iii, 131, 205,

207
Gellir Thorkelsson, i. 366
Genoese mappamundi (1447 or 1457);

ii. 278, 286, 287
Geminus of Rhodes, i. 43, 44, 53, 54,

57. 63. 64
Geographia Universalis, i. 382 ; ii. 32,

177, 188-91, 220, 227, 339
Gepidae, i. 139, 142, 153
Gerfalcons, Island or land of, ii. 208,

227, 266, 289
Germania, i. 69, 71, 73, 87, 90, 95, loi,

108-14, 154. 169 ; Roman cam-
paigns in, i. 81, 83, 85, 97
Germanicus, The younger, i. 83
Germanus, Nicolaus, ii. 251, 276-9,

288, 290, 373
Germany, coast of, in mediaeval car-
tography, ii. 219, 257
Gesta Francorum, i. 234
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, ii. 340
Gildas, i. 234, 364
Ginnungagap, i. 12, 84, 158 ; ii. 35,

150, 154, 239-41
Giraldus Cambrensis, i. 379 ; ii. 151,

220, 245
Gisle Oddsson's Annals, ii. 82, 100-2,

109
Gissur Einarsson, Bishop, i. 285
Gjessing, H., ii. 31
Glaesaria, island, i. loi, 106
Glastonbury, Legend of sow at, i.

378-9

Gli ," mjrthical island, i. 364
Globes, used by the Greeks, i. 78 ;

introduced by Toscanelli, ii, 287 ;

Behaim's, ii. 287-9 ; Laon globe,

ii. 290 ; used by Columbus, ii. 287 ;

and Cabot, ii. 304, 306
Gnomon, The, i. 11, 45-6
Godthaab, preenland, i. 271; 304, 307,

321 ; ii. 73, 74
Goe, month of, i. 264, 265
Goeje, M. de, i. 344, 362 ; ii. 51, 194,

197, 198
Goes, Damiam de, ii. 354, 366, 376,

377
Gokstad ship, i. 246
Gomara, Francesco Lopez de, ii. 129,

130. 131. 336. 337.. 354, 364
Gongu-Rolv's kvcs^i, i. 356
Gota river, i. 131 ; ii. 190, 205
Goter (Gauter), i. 120, 135, 141, 144,

147 ; ii. 190
Goths (Gytoni, Gythones, Getae), i. 14,

21, 71, 120, 129, 130, 135, 137, 139,

145, 147, 153 ; ii. 143, 190

INDEX

Gotland, i. 121, i8o, 378 ; ii. 125, 237 ;
in mediaeval cartography, ii. 219,
221, 224, 233, 265

Gourmont, Hieronymus, map of Ice-
land, ii. 122-3, 127

Graah, Captain, i. 297 ; ii. 104

Grail, Legends of the, i. 382

Grampus, i. 50-1

Granii, i. 136

Grape Island (Insula U varum), i. 358,
361, 363, 365, 366

Greenland, i. 184, 192, 194, 197, 199,
200, 201, 215, 223, 252, 315-21,
322 ; ii. I, 5, 12, 25, 36, 38, 40-2,
66-94, 95-134. 167, 169, 177, 244,
345, 366 ; Eskimo of, ii. 71-5 ;
discovered and settled by Norwe-
gians, i. 258-78 ; estimated popula-
tion of settlements, i. 272 ; condi-
tions of life in, i. 274-8, 319 ; ii,
96-7 ; voyages along the coasts of,
i. 279-311 ; glaciers (inland ice) of,
i. 288-95, 301, 308 ; ii. 246-7 ;
decline of Norse settlements in, ii.
90, 95-100 ; last voyage to (from
Norway), ii. 117; last ship from,
ii. 118 ;• geographical ideas of,
ii. 237-40, 246-8, 254-5, 259-62,
270-6, 278, 279, 280 ; east coeist of,
i. 271-2, 279-96, 308 ; ii. 168, 170,
171, 238 ; uninhabited parts (ubyg-
der) of, i. 279-311, 320, 321 ; ii.
28, 166, 172 ; sixteenth-century
discovery of, ii. 315, 332, 335, 352,
363, 364, 375 ; called Labrador, ii.
129, 132, 133, 315, 335, 353; in
sixteenth-century maps, ii. 368-75

Gregory of Tours, i. 234

"Greipar," in Greenland, i. 298, 299,
300-1, 304

Grettis-saga, i. 313, 367

Griffins, i. 19, 154 ; ii. 263

Grim Kamban, i. 253

Grimm, J,, i. 18, 94, 95, 355, 372;
ii. 45, 56

Grimm, W., i. 373

Grip, Carsten, letter to Christiemlll.;
ii. 126-8

Gripla, i. 288 ; ii. 35-6, 237, 239, 241

Grondal, B., i. 371, 375

Gronlands historiske Mindesmcerker, i,
262, 263, 271, 281, 282, 283, 284,
285, 288, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297,
298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 304, 305,

311, 333. 359, 377 ; ii- I. 9. 14. 17.
22, 25, 31, 35, 46, 79, 82, 86, 100,
102, 106, 108, 112, 113, 117, 119,
120, 125, 127, 172, 237, 278

Gronlendinga-'pdtir (see Flateyjarb6kj)

Groth, Th., ii. 103

404

Groitasongr, i. 159

Gudleif' Gudlaugsson; story of his

voyage, ii. 49-50, 53-4 ; compared

with Leif Ericson, ii. 50-1
Gudmund Arason's Saga, i. 284
Gudmundsson, J6n, map by, ii. 34, 241
Gu3mundsson, V., ii. 25
Gudrid, wife of Karlsevne, i. 318, 319;

320, 321, 329, 330, 333 ; ii, 14-5. 51
Guichot y Sierra, A., i. 376
Gulathings Law, ii. 140
Gulf Stream, i. 251 ; ii. 54
Gunnbjornskerries, i. 256, 261-4, 267,

280 ; ii. 276
Gunnbjorn Ulfsson, i. 256, 261-4, 267,

280, 296
Gustafson, Prof. G., i. 237, 240
Gutae, i. 120
Guta-saga, i. 378

Gutones (see Goths), i. 70, 71, 72, 93
Gytoni (see Goths), i. 71

H^GSTAD, Prof. M., ii. 242

Haegstad and Torp (Gamal-norsk Ord-

hog). ii. 9
Haemodae (" Acmodae," " Haecmodae ");

i. 90, 106
" Hafsbotn " (the Polar Sea), i. 283,

303 ; ii. 137, 151, 165, 166, 167, 168,

171, 172, 237, 240
Hakluji;, R., i. 226 ; ii. 129, 132, 152,

261, 319, 321, 326, 333
Hakon Hakonsson's Saga, i. 299 ; ii,

139. 141

Halichoerus grypus (grey seal), i. 217 ;
ii. 91, 155

Halli Geit, Tale of, ii. 239

Hallinger, i. 104, 247

Hallstatt, i. 24, 36

Halogaland (Halogaland, Halogi,
Halgoland, Halagland, Halogia,
Helgeland), i. 61, 62, 64, 132, 135,
138, 175, 179, 194, 197, 200, 231,
247, 264, 381, 383 ; ii. 64, 137, 139,

140, 142, 165, 168, 172 ; in mediaeval
cartography, ii. 227, 236

Halsingia, or Alsingia, i. 104
Hamberg, Axel, ii, 69
Hammershaimb, V. U., i. 356, 375 ;

ii-33
Hamy, ii. 220, 223, 229, 230, 234
Hanno, i. 37, 88, 350 ; ii. 45
Hans (John), king of Denmark, ii, 125;

128
Hanseatic League, ii. 99, 119, 125, 179,

218
Hansen, Dr. A. M,, i. 149, 192, 206,

207, 208, 218, 221, 222, 228, 229,

230, 236-7, 239
Harold Fairhair, i, 253-4, 255, 258

INDEX

Harold Grafeld, ii. 136, 153, 154

Harold Hardrade, i. 185, 195, 201,
283, 383 ; ii. 147, 199 ; his voyage
in the Polar Sea, i. 195 ; ii. 148-54

Harpoons, i. 214-7, 277 ; ii. 145-6,
156-63

Harrisse, Henry, ii. 132, 230, 293, 294,
295. 296, 297, 300, 302, 303, 304,
305. 309, 314. 315. 319. 320, 326,
327. 329. 331. 332, 333, 334. 336,
341. 347, 348, 349, 353, 358, 359,
360, 365, 374

Harudes (Chary des, Charudes, Hor-
der), i. 85, 118, 136, 143, 148,246

Hauksbok, i. 188, 251, 256, 257, 261,
262, 264, 268, 286, 291, 293, 308,
309, 322, 327. 331, 333, 353, 367,
369; ii. 10, II, 166, 169, 172, 216,
261

Hebrides (Ebudes, Hebudes), i. 57, 90.
106, 117, 123, 158, 159, 160, 161,
234, 273, 316 ; ii. 151, 200

Hecataeus of Abdera, i. 8, 9, 10, 15, 16,
98

Heffermehl, A. V., ii. 242

Heiberg, Prof. J., i. 219, 220

Heimskringla. i. 270, 313, 331 ; ii. 59,
137, 171, 239

Heiner, i. 138

Heinrich of Mainz, map by, ii. 185, 187

Helge Bograngsson, killed in Bjarme-
land, ii. 139-40

Heligoland, i. 197

Helland, A., i. 226, 231, 369, 372, 373,
378, 381 ; ii. 46, 152. 177, 228

Heliuland, i. 312, 313, 322, 323, 334,
336, 357 ; "• I. 23. 35-6, 61, 237

Helm, O., i. 14

Helsingland, Helsingers, i. 189 ; ii. 237

Henry V. of England, ii. 119

Henry VI. of England, ii. 119

Henry VII. of England, ii. 130, 298,
299, 302, 303, 322, 324, 326, 327,
331, 332, 333. 334. 337. 338, 340

Henry VIII. of England, ii. 319, 330,

334, 338, 341. 342, 343
Heraclitus, i. 12

" Herbrestr " (war-crash), ii. 8-9
Hereford map, i. 91, 92, 102, 154, 157,

190 ; ii. 186, 187
Hergt,G.,i. 43, 51,60, 65,66, 67, 71, 72
Herla, mythical king of Britain, ii. 76
Hermiones, i. 91, 104
Hermits, in Irish legends, ii. 19, 43-6,

50
Herodotus, 1. 9, 12, 20, 23, 24, 27,

31-2, 46, 76, 78, 81, 88, 114, 148,

155, 156, 161, 187

Hertzberg, Ebbe, ii. 38, 39, 40, 61,

Hesiod, i. 9, 11, 18, 42, 84, 348

Hesperides, i. 9, 161, 334, 345, 376;
ii. 2, 61

Heyman, i. 342 ; ii. 8

Hielmqvist, Th., i. 381

Hieronymus, i. 151, 154

Higden, Ranulph (Polychronicon), i.
346, 382 ; ii. 31-2, r88-92, 220 ;
his mappamundi, ii. 188, 189, 192

Hilleviones, i. loi, 104, 121

Himilco's voyage, i. 29, 36-41, 68, 83

HiminraS (Hunenrioth, &c.), moun-
tain in Greenland, i. 302-4 ; ii. 108

Hipparchus, i. 44, 47, 52, 56, 57, 73,
77-8, 87, 1 16 ; ii. 197

Hippocrates, i. 13, 88

Hippopods, i. 91

Hirri, i. loi

Historia Norwegice, i. 204, 229, 252,
255, 256, 257, 298 ; ii. I, 2, 17, 29,
61, 79, 87, 88, 135, 151, 167, 168,
172, 222, 227, 235, 239, 240, 280

Hjorleif, settles in Iceland with Ingolf,
i. 166, 252, 254, 255

Hoegh, K., ii. 31

Hoffmann, W. J., ii. 39, 40

Hofmann, C, i. 59

Holand, H. R., ii. 31

Holberg, Ludvig, ii. 118

Holm, G. F., i. 271, 274

Holz, G., i. 85, 102

Homer, i. 8, lo-ii, 13, 14, 25, 33, 77,
78, 196, 347, 348, 371 ; ii. 53, 54,
160

Homeyer, C. G., i. 214

Honen, Ringerike, Runic stone from,
ii. 27-9, 58

Honorius Augustodunensis, i. 375

Honorius, Julius, i. 123 ; ii. 183

Horace, i. 349, 350-1

Horaisan, Japanese fortunate isle, ii.
56-7, 213

Horder {see Harudes), i. 85, 118, 136,
138, 143, 147, 209, 246

Horn, Georg, (Ulysses peregrinans), ii.
132, 133

Horses, Swedish, i. 135 ; in Green-
land, i. 276

Hrabanus Maurus, i. 159, 167, 184

" Huldrefolk " (Norwegian fairies), i.
355. 356. 370-3, 381 ; ii. 12, 60

" Huldrelands " {see Fairylands)

Humboldt, i. 363

Huns, i. 188

Hvarf point, in Greenland, i. 263, 267,
269, 279, 288, 290, 292, 294, 295,
303. 310. 315 ; "• 169, 171, 261

Hvergelmer, i. 158, 159

Hvitramanna-land (the White Men's
Land), i. 312, 313, 330, 353, 366,

405

INDEX

368, 376 ; ii. 2, 19, 42-56, 60, 61,
92 ; called Great Ireland, i. 330,
353, 366 ; ii. 42, 48 ; Are Marsson's
voyage to, i. 331-2, 353-4 - ii- 42,
46, 50

Hvitserk glacier, in Greenland, i. 283,
286, 288, 291, 292, 294-5, 3°3 ' ii*
122, 123, 124, 127, 128

Hyperboreans, i. 13, 15-21, 79, 81, 88,

89, 98, 128, 187, 188, 348 ; ii. 188

Iberians, in British Isles, i. 26 ; in
Brittany, i. 30 ; cannibalism among,
i. 81

Ibrahim ibn Ja'qub, i. 187

Iceland, i. 181-4, 192, 193-4, i97» 201,
248, 251, 262, 263, 267, 278, 285,
286, 289, 295, 305, 308, 324, 337,
353. 362, 374; ii. 43, 49, 102, 112,
169, 170, 191, 211, 242, 244, 245,
281 ; discovered by Irish monks, i.
59, 164-7, 233, 258 ; identified with
Thule, i. 59-60, 164, 193 ; fables of
ice in, i. 181, 183-4, I93 > "• ^9^ »
Norwegian settlement of, i. 252-8 ;
called " Gardarsholm," i. 255 ; called
"Snowland," i. 255; in mediaeval
cartography, ii. 225, 230, 231, 250,
262, 275, 279, 284, 286

Icelandic Annals (Islandske Annaler),
i. 282, 284, 285, 305 ; ii. 25, 29, 36,
37, 82, 88, 99, HI, 112, 117, 118,
166, 172

Ictis, i. 29

" Ilia verde," on fifteenth and sixteenth
century maps, ii. 279-81, 294, 318

Indian myths, i. 19, 92, 351, 356, 363 ;
ii. 57, 213, 214

Indians, North American, i. 327, 377 ;
ii. 7, 12, 16, 23, 25, 68, 69, 90, 92,
93, 334. 367 ; lacrosse among, ii.

39-41, 93

Ingaevones, i. loi

Ingimund Thorgeirsson, lost in Green-
land, i. 284

Ingolf Arnarson, first Norse settler in
Iceland, i. 252, 253, 254, 255, 257, 267

Ingolf's Fjeld, Greenland, i. 291, 293,
294, 296

Ingram, Dr., i. 179

Ireland (Hierne, Hibernia, Juverna,
Ivernia, Ibernia), i. 38, 57, 80, 81,

90, 117, 179, 192, 234, 253, 326 :
ii. 201, 211, 244, 245 ; connection
with Iceland, i. 167, 258, 353 ;
whaling in, ii. 156

Irgens, O., i. 248, 250

Irish monks, i. 162-7, 362 ; ii. 43 ;

(" Papar ") in Iceland, i. 254, 258 ;

ii. 77, 78

406

Irish myths, 1. 281-2, 334, 336-^, 353-
64, 370, 371 ; ii- 18, 19, 20, 43-5,
50, 53-4, 56, 60-1, 206, 207, 228-9,
234

Iroquois myth of floating island, i. 377

Isachsen, G., i. 300, 304, 306 ; ii. 168,
171

Isidorus Hispalensis, i. 44, 102, 151,
159, 160, 167, 184, 187, 345, 346,
347, 352, 353, 367, 382-4 ; ii. 2,
3-4, 58. 59, 64, 75, 183, 184, 185,
189, 247

Isles of the Blest, The, i. 9, 84, 348,

349, 351, 363, 370 ' ii- 59

Issedonians, i. 16, 19, 8i

Italian sailors and cartographers (se«
Compass-charts), ii. 217

Itiniraire Brugeois, ii. 250, 256, 262,
263, 272

Itineraries, Roman, i. 116, 123, 153

Ivar Bardsson's description of Green-
land, i. 262-3, 290, 292, 295, 302,
304 ; ii. 82, 87, 88, 102, 106, 107-11,
126, i66, 171, 241, 256, 261, 276

Ivar Bodde, probable author of the
King's Mirror, ii. 242

Jacob, G., i. 187,284; ii. 145,157,202

Jakobsen, Dr. J., i. 163, 293, 374

Jan Mayen, i. 287 ; ii. 168, 169, 171

Japanese myth, ii. 56-8, 213

Jaqut, ii. 143, 144

Jaubert, P. A., ii. 204

Jenkinson, Anthony, ii. 152

Jensen, A. S., ii. 104

Jomard, ii. 220, 229

Jones Sound, i. 304, 306

Jonshok, Icelandic MS., i. 316, 320,

329 ; ii. 24
J6nsson, Finnur, i. 166, 198, 256, 258,

260, 262, 265, 266, 273, 301, 305,

314, 331, 367 ; ii. 79, 107, 108, 167, 237
Jordanes, i. 104, 120, 129-38, 142,

143. 144, 145, 147, 148, 149, 153,

154, 155, 194, 203, 206 ; ii. 211
Jorgensen, N. P., i. 272, 274-5
Jotunheim, i. 303 ; ii. 147, 172, 238
Jovius, Paulus, ii. iii
Joyce, P. W., i. 360, 379
Julianehaab, Greenland, i. 267, 271,

274
Jutland, i. 69, 71. 72, 82, 85, 93, 94.

loi, 102, 105, 117, 139, 142, 143,

147, 169, 180, 185, 246 ; ii. 192 ;

in mediaeval cartography, ii. 219,

224, 225, 235, 257, 265

ICahler, F., i. 43, 68

Kandalaks, river and gulf, i. 174,

218-9, 222

INDEX

Kaxa Sea, i. 212

Karelians (Kirjals), Karelia, i. 175,
218, 219, 220, 222, 223 ; ii. 85, 137,
140, 146, 167, 173, 174 ; " Kareli
infideles," ii. 85, 117, 224, 225, 255,
262, 270, 271, 272

Karlsevne, Thorfinn, i. 260, 313, 318,

319. 331. 333. 336, 346, 354 ; ii- ^4.

15, 18, 23, 25, 65 ; voyage to Wine-
land, i. 320-30, 334-45 ; battle with

the Skraelings, i. 328 ; ii. 6-1 1
*' Kassiteros," Derivation of, i. 25-6
Kayaks, Eskimo, ii. 10, 68, 70, 72, 74,

85, 91, 92, 127, 270
Kemble, John M., i. 364
Kensin^on stone, Minnesota, ii. 31
Keyser, R., i. 58, 59, 60, 65, 93, 99.

104, 105, 107
Khordadbah, Ibn, ii. 195, 196-7
Kiaer, A., ii. 63
Kingigtorsuak, Runic stone from, i,

297 ; ii. 84
King map {circa 1502), ii. 331, 354,

355. 358. 364, 373, 374
King's Mirror, The, {Konungs-Skugg-
■ sja), i. 3, 272-3, 277, 279-80, 300,

352 ; ii. I, 2, 29, 87, 88, 95, 96,

98, 155. 157. 172, 193. 234, 242-8;

authorship of, ii. 242
Kjaer, A., i. 324
Kjalarnes, i. 322, 323, 324, 325, 326,

329 ; ii. 23
Kjelmo, archaeological find from, i,

212-9, 224
Kjolen range, i. 102, 224 ; ii. 222
Kleiven, Ivar, i. 340
" Knarren," Royal trading ship to

Greenland, ii. 38, 98-9, 106, 122
Knattleikr, Norse ball-game, ii. 38-9,

61, 93 ; similar to lacrosse, ii. 39
" Kobandoi " (Cobandi), i. 93-4, 118
Koch, J., i. 156
Kohl, J. G., ii. 148, 340, 353
Kohlmann, P. W., i. 194
Koht, H., i. 247 ; ii. 43
Kola peninsula, i. 173, 174, 217, 223 ;

ii. 135, 142, 165, 176
Koren-Wiberg, Christian, ii. 80
3&abbo, Hermann, i. 202 ^

Krag, H. P. S., i. 340
Kraken, sea monster, i. 375 ; ii. 234,

244
Kretschmer, K., i. 10, 12, 14, 74, 78 ;

ii. 215, 222, 223, 226, 228, 229, 230,

282, 284, 294, 313. 353
Kristensen, W. Brede, i. 347
Kristni-saga, i. 313. 33i. 3^7 ; ii- 59
KrdksfjarSarheiSr (Greenland), i. 267,

299, 300-1, 304, 306, 308, 309, 310 ;

ii. 72, 83, 88

Kulhwch and Olwen, Tale of, i. 342 ; ii. 8

Kunstmann, F., ii. 229, 378

" Kunstmann, No. 2," Italian mappa-
mundi, ii. 374

Kvaenland (Cvenland, Cwfinland ; Fin-
land), i. 155, 170, 175. 178, 198 ;
the name mistaken for " Land of
Women," i. 112, 186-7, 3^3 ; ii- 64,

214. 237
Kvaens (see Finns), Cwenas, i. 178, 191,
206, 207, 220, 223 ; ii. 137, 141, 167 ;
their name confused with " cyon "
(dog), i. 155, 188

Labrador, i. 322, 323, 334, 335 ; ii.
5, 23, 41, 68, 105, 106. 131, 133, 308.

314. 335. 338, 352. 358, 364. 370 ;

=Greenland, ii. 129, 132, 133, 315,

331. 335 ; the name of, ii. 331-2.

357-8
Lacrosse, ii. 38-41 ; perhaps derived

from Norsemen, ii. 40
Lactantius, i. 127
Lsestrygons, i. 13, 78
Laffler, Prof. L. F., i. 132, 134, 136.

297 ; ii. 63
"Lageniensis," i. 357, 379 ; ii. 228
Lagnus, bay, i. loi, 105
Lambert map, ii. 188, 259
Lampros, S. P., ii. 281
Landa-Rolf, i. 285-6
Landegode (Landit GolSa), island ofE

Bodo, Norway, i. 369-70, 372, 373,

374 ; ii. 60
Landndmdbok, i. 166, 251, 255, 256, 258,

260, 261, 266, 273, 288, 291, 293,

313. 324. 330. 332, 353, 366. 367. 368.

369, 377 ; ii- 21, 42, 58, 60, 62, 166,

168, 169, 170, 172
Langebek, i. 179

Langobards, i. 138, 139, 155, 156, 159
Laon globe, ii. 290
Lappenberg, I. M., i. 193. I95. 3^3
Lapps, i. 61, 113, 150, 171, 173, 177,

190, 191, 203-8, 218, 220, 224-32,

372 ; ii. 76, 135. 164, 168. 175, 178 ;

their magic, i. 191, 204, 219, 227, 229 ;

ii. 32, 77, 136, 137 ; their archery, i.

227-30 ; their languages, i. 228-9
Lascaris, Cananos, travels in the North,

ii. 281
Las Casas, ii. 214
Latitude, calculation of, i. 46-8, 64,

76, 78, 1 16-7 ; ii. 22, 260, 307 ;

scale of, on Ptolemy's and other

maps, ii. 259, 260-1, 264, 274-5
Latris, island, i. loi, 105
Laurentius Kalfsson's saga, ii. 8
Leardus, Johannes, mappamundi by,

ii. 282

407

INDEX

L'Ecuy globe (or Rouen globe), ii. 129,
131-2

Leem, K., ii. 178, 191

Leif Ericson, i. 270, 313, 314, 315-8,
321, 331. 332. 338, 339, 343» 346.
359, 380, 384 : "• 4, 21. 22, 25, 50,
51, 59. 65; called "the Lucky,"
i. 270, 313, 317, 331 ; meaning of
the name, i. 380-2; discovers
Wineland the Good, i. 313, 317,
332 ; rescues the shipwrecked crew,
i. 317 ; introduces Christianity,
i. 317, 332, 380

Lelewel, J.,ii. 131, 203, 278, 282, 284, 286

Leucippus, i. 12, 127

Liebrecht, F., ii. 228

Ligurians, i. 41, 42, 114

Lik-Lodin, i. 282-3

Lillienskiold, Hans Hansen, i. 177

Lind, E. H., i. 332

" Liver Sea " (Lebertneer), i. 69, 181,
363 ; ii. 20, 51, 231

Lok, Michael, Map of 1582, ii. 130, 321,
323

Lonborg, S. E., i. 102, 112, 131, 135,
156, 174, 180, 193, 197 ; "• 150

Longest day, calculation of, ii. 52, 54

Lot, F., i. 357, 379

Loth, J., i. 342

Lucian, i. 352, 355, 356, 360, 361, 363,
366, 376 ; ii. 54, 150

Lugii (Vandal tribe), i. 247

"Lycko-Par " (" Lykke-Per "), i. 381

" Lykk-Anders," Tale of, i. 381

Lyschander (Grunlands Chronica), ii.
loi, 102, III

Lytton, Lord, i. 350

Machutus, St., Voyage of, i. 334, 354;

363
Macrobius, i. 123, 126, 184 ; ii. 182,

193, 247
Maelduin, Voyage of, 1. 336-7, 338,

355. 356. 358. 360, 361. 362, 363.

364. 366 ; ii. 9, 18, 45, 150
Maelstrom, Legends of the, i. 157-9 ;

ii. 138, 150-3, 241
Maeotides, i. 88
Maeotis Palus (Sea of Azov), i. 89 ; ii.

199, 211, 283, 284
Maggiolo, map by (1527). ii- 321, 335.

358, 359
" Mag Mell " (the happy plain), i. 355,

357, 365. 370
Magnaghi, A., ii. 227, 230
Magnus Barfot's Saga, i. 197
Magnussen, Finn, ii. 102
Magus, Arab name for Northern

Vikings, ii. 55, 196, 200, 201, 209,

210

408

Maine, coast of, ii. 316, 317

Mair. G., i. 35, 36, 37, 43. 47, 59

ManannAn mac Lir, i. 363, 370 ; ii. 45

Mandeville, Sir John, ii. 271, 292

Manna, i. 338

Mannhardt, W., i. 365

Manuel, King of Portugal, ii. 346, 347,

352, 353. 375. 376. 377. 37^

Mapes, Walter, ii. 75-6

Maps (see also Compass-charts), earliest
Greek, i. 11, 76, 77, 78 ; ii. 182 ;
Ptolemy's, i. 116-22 ; wheel-maps,
i. 151 ; ii. 183-8, 193, 218, 222 ;
T- and OT- maps, i. 151:; ii. 183-4,
193 ; Arab maps, ii. 203 ; 15th
century mappemundi, ii. 281-7

Marcianus of Heraclea, i. 123

Margaret, Queen of Denmark, Norway
and Sweden, ii. 118, 132

Marinus of Tyre, i. 115, 116, I2i, 122 ;
ii. 194, 249

Markham, Sir C. R., i. 43, 58, 64 ; iit
295. 336, 373

Markland, i. 299, 305, 307, 312, 313,
322, 323, 324, 329, 334, 335, 336,
338 ; ii. I, 19, 22, 23, 36, 37, 42, 6i.
92-93, 96, 229, 279 ; ship from M«
reaches Iceland, ii. 22, 25, 36-8;
61, 229

Martellus, Henricus, ii. 276, 279

Martyr, Peter, ii. 303, 330, 336^ 337,

338, 339. 342
Marx, F., i. 37

Massagetae, i. 81, 148 ; ii. 188
Massalia, i. 31, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48,

67, 70
Mas'udi, ii. 198-^, 207
Matthew Paris, ii. 281
Matthias, Franz, i. 36, 43
Maurenbrecher, B., i. 349
Maurer, K., i. 265 ; ii. 9
Mauro, Fra, map by, ii. 177, 278, 285,

286
Medici Atlas (1351), i. 362 ; ii. 229,

234-6, 236, 240, 255, 256, 257, 258,

259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265»

272-6
Mehren, A. F., ii. 143, 145, 212
Meissner, R., i. 255
Mela, Pomponius, i. 15, 19, 28, 38, 44,

55. 63. 72. 75. 85-96, 97. loi. 103.

114, 118, 131, 144, 155 ; u. 32, 192,

208
Melville Bay, i. 305, 310
Mercator, Gerard, ii. 261 ; his map of

1569, ii. 130
Meregarto.i. 69, 181-4, 193, 252 ; ii.51
Mevenklint (Kolbeins-ey), i. 264, 286,

287 ; ii. 166, 169, 170, 172
Meyer, Kuno, i. 198, 354

INDEX

Michelsen, A. L. J., i. 214

Midgards-worm, i. 364 ; ii. 234

Mid-glacier {MtSjqkull), Greenland,
i. 267, 288, 290, 293, 294, 295

Midnight sun (long summer day and
winter night in the North), i. 14,
45. 53-4. 62, 79, 92, 98, 106, 131,
133-4. 140. 157. 165, 193, 194. 309-
II ; ii. 144, 190, 212, 281

Mikhow, Andrei, ii. 163, 173, 174

Mikkola, Prof., ii. 175

Miller, K., i. 77, 87, 90, 109, 115, 123,
150, 152, 180, 182 ; ii, 185, 186, 187,
192, 193, 223, 226, 282, 284

Modena compass -chart, ii. 230-1, 235,
266, 282

Moe, Prof. Moltke, i. 69, 247, 304, 332,
341, 342, 352, 358, 364, 366, 370,

372. 373. 374. 378. 379. 381 ; n.
8, II, 15, 16, 20, 33, 44, 45, 46, 51,
56, 75, 147, 213, 228, 242, 245

Mommsen, T., i. 57, 123, 129, 136, 137,
193 ; ii. 143

Monopoly of trade with Greenland,
ii.98, n8-9, 179-80 ; withFinmark,
ii. 179

Montelius, O., i. 239, 241

" Moorbriicken," i. 36

Mordvins, ii. 142, 143, 199

Morimarusa, i. 99, 100, 105 ; ii. 58

Moskenstrom (Lofoten), i. 158 ; ii.
152-3, 154, 241

" Mosurr " (masur), wood from Wine-
land, i. 317 ; ii. 5, 25

Much, R.. i. 93, 94, 95, 99, 110, 112,

119, 120, 246, 247

Miillenhoff, K., i. 37, 38, 41, 42, 43,
56, 57. 59. 60, 61, 65, 83, 85, 92, 93.
102, 103, 110, III, 112, 113, 114,

120, 128, 132, 134, 136, 137, 145,
206, 207, 234, 235, 246, 247

MuUenhofi and Scherer, i. i8i

Mailer, I., i. 83

Miiller, S., i. 22

Munch, P. A., i. 50, 132, 134, 136, 146,

179, 180, 205, 246, 247, 258, 331 ;

11. 154
Muratori, ii. 162
Murman coast, i. 212 ; ii. 173, 176,

269
Mylius-Erichsen, i. 2, 3

Naddodd Viking, i. 255-7

Nansen, F., First Crossing of Green-
land, i. 281, 293

Nansen, F., Eskimo Life, ii. 72, 73, 105

Narwhale, i. 300, 303

Natives of North America, brought to
England in 1501 or 1502, ii. 333 ;
probably Eskimo, ii. 334 ; brought

to Lisbon by Corte-Real's expedi-
tion, ii. 348, 349, 351-2, 366-7 ;
perhaps Eskimo, ii. 367

Negri, Francesco, i. 226

Nepos, Cornelius, i. 87

Nestor's Russian Chronicle, ii. 143

Newfoundland, i. 248, 322, 323, 324,
334. 335 : ii- 23, 91, 308, 309, 312,
313. 314. 315. 317. 318, 321, 322,
329, 335. 337. 355. 362, 363, 364,
376 ; discovery of, by Corte-Real,
ii- 330. 354. 355. 362 ; on i6th
century maps, ii. 370-5 ; fisheries
of, ii. 330-1, 378 ; called Terra de
Corte-Real, ii. 354, 355, 376, 378

Newfoundland Banks, ii. 154, 309,
318, 363

New Land (Ny aland), i. 285-6

Nicholas V., Pope, Letter to, on Green-
land, ii. 17, 86, 112, 116, 256, 270,
288, 366 ; Letter from, on Green-
land (1448), ii. 1 13-5, 278

Nicholas of Lynn, ii. 86, 151, 153, 214,
249, 256, 261, 270, 289

Nicolayssen, O., i. 375

Nielsen, Prof. Konrad, i. 219, 223 ;

ii- 175
Nielsen, Prof. Yngvar, i, 369 ; ii. 29,

39. 90, 92, 154
Niese, B., i. 14
Nikulas Bergsson, Abbot, of Thvera,

(Icelandic geographical work), i,

198, 313 ; ii- I. 2, 237, 256
Nilsson, Sven, i. 35, 60, 205
" Nisse," Scandinavian fairy, i, 373,

381 ; ii. 15
Njal's Saga, i. 372
Noel, S. B. J., ii. 160, 173
" Nordbotn " (Norderbondt, Nord-

hindh Bondh, Nordenbodhn), the

Polar Sea, i. 303, 304 ; ii. 171, 256,

259, 267, 268, 269
Nordenskiold, A. E., i. 226 ; ii. 32,

220, 223, 229, 230, 234, 249, 250,

266, 282, 285, 357
NorSrsetur (Greenland), i. 267, 296,

298-307, 308, 309, 310 ; ii. 83, 88
Nor^rsetudrdpa, i. 273, 298
Normans, i. 145, 146, 153, 188, 234 ;

ii. 159-62, 200-2
North Cape, i. 171, 172, 174 ; ii. 124
North Pole, whirlpool at, i. 159 ; land

at, ii. 239, 263, 272
North Sea, amber from, i. 14, 32, 34;

35
North-West Passage, 1. 115 ; ii. 129,

130. 378
Norway, 1. 58, 60-5, 147, 253, 292,
316, 324, 353 ; ii. 98-100, 169,
170, 204, 237 ; the name of, i. 107,

409

INDEX

^79 » Jordanes on, i. 136-8;
Solinus MSS. on, i. 161 ; Ottar on,
i. 1 70-1, 175-80 ; Adam of Bremen
on, i. 188, 190-2, 194, 200 ; anthropo-
logical characteristics in, i. 209-10 ;
fairylands in, i. 369-70 ; whaling in,
ii. 155-9 ; Edrisi on, ii. 205 ;
Shirazi on, ii. 211 ; in mediaeval
cartography, ii. 219, 221, 225, 227,
230. 235-6, 257, 258,-61, 265-9,
286

Norwegian seafaring, i. 62, 221, 223,
224, 233-5, 246-52, 287; ii. 135,
140 ; decline of, ii. 179-81

Nova Scotia, i. 329, 335, 345 ; ii. 3,
5. 90, 91, 309, 314-6, 317, 321 ;
probably discovered by John Cabot,
ii. 314-6

Novaya Zemlya, i. 212, 248 ; ii. 165,
166, 173, 238

Novilaxa, Carvings on grave-stone at,
i. 238, 239

Novgorod, ii. 140, 142

Nydam, Boat from, i. no, 238, 241,
244, 246

OcEANus, i. 8, 9, 10, II, 16, 79, 192,

198, 199, 200, 201 ; ii. I, 154, 182,

198, 200, 204, 239, 248
Ochon, King of the Eruli, i. 141, 148
Odysseus, i. 13, 78 ; ii. 53, 54
" (Ecumene " (the habitable world),

i. 8, 10, 12. 45, 55, 76, 78, 79, 81, 82,

115, 121, 198 ; ii. 182, 217
CEneae, or (Eonae (egg-eaters), i. 91, 92,

95. 131. 155
QEstrymnides, i. 28, 37-41 ; >= Cassi-

tendes, i. 39
Ogygia, i. 182, 347, 355, 363 ; ii. 43
Olaf the Saint, i. 331 ; ii. 49, 50, 171
Olaf Tryggvason, i. 270, 316, 321, 339 ;

ii. 50
Olaus Magnus, i. 205, 211, 228 ; ii.

17, 89, III, 123, 124, 125, 127, 128,

129, 131, 139, 141, 152, 163, 173,
178

Oliveriana map (circa 1503), ii. 358,

369, 370. 374-5
Olrik, Axel, ii. 252, 253
Olsen, Gunnar, i. 377
Olsen, Prof. Magnus, i. 228, 229, 246,

297
Omar al 'Udhri, i. 284 ; ii. 156
Ongania (reproductions of maps), ii.

221, 234, 278, 282, 287
Oppert, J., i. 35
Orcades, i. 57, 90, 106, 107, 117, 123,

130, 160, 161, 192, 199, 200 ; ii.
186, 192, 200

Ordericus Vitalis, i. 382 ; ii. 31
410

" Orkan " (or " Orkas "), i. 50-3, 58,

90
Orkneys, i. 52-3, 90, 107, 113, 117,

192, 195, 258 ; ii. 55, 148 ; in

mediaeval cartography, ii. 219, 228
Orosius, Paulus, i. 38, 44, 123, 151,

169, 184 ; ii. 183, 192, 193
Oseberg ship, i. 246, 247
Ostiaei, i. 69, 72

Ostiimans (Ostimnians), i. 38, 69, 72
Ost-s^, i. 169
Ostyaks, i. 207 ; ii. 147
Ottar (Ohthere), i. 170-80, 204, 211,

213, 214, 218, 220, 225, 230, 231,

247; ii. 135-6, 142, 156, 159, 164.

173. 243

Panoti (long-eared), i. 92

Paris, Gaston, i. 359

Parmenides of Elea, i. 12, 123 ; ii. 182

Pasqualigo, Lorenzo, ii. 301, 302, 303,

312, 314, 316, 317
Pasqualigo, Pietro, Venetian Minister

at Lisbon, ii. 347-9, 355. 360, 361,

362, 363, 365, 367, 372
Paulus Warnefridi, i. 136, 139, 155-60,

184, 187, 196, 203, 284 ; ii. 147, 148,

150. 153
Pechora, river, ii. 144, 146, 147, 173
Pedo, Albinovanus, i. 82-4 ; ii. 148
" Perdita " (the Lost Isle), i. 376 ; ii.

213
Permians, i. 174

Peschel, Johannes, i. 352 ; ii. 147
Peucini, i. in, 112, 113, 114
Peyrere (Relation du Groenland), ii. 120
Phaeacians, i. 347, 371, 378 ; ii. 53, 54
Philemon, i. 99, 100
Phoca fcetida, i. 177
Phoca grcenlandica (saddleback seal),

i, 217, 276
Phoca vitulina, i. 217
Phoenicians, i. 24, 25, 27, 30, 33, 34-6,

40. 41, 99, 233, 249, 346, 349, 362,

376
Pilestrina, map of 15 11, attributed to,

ii. 374. 376, 377

Pindar, i. 18, 348

Pining, Didrik, ii. 123-9, 133, 345

Pistorius, ii. 173

Pizigano map (1367), ii. 229, 230, 236

Plato, ii. 46, 293

Pliny, i. 15, 19, 20, 26, 28, 30, 33, 37,
38. 44, 52, 53, 55, 57, 58, 65, 70, 71.
72, 75, 84, 85, 87, 93, 96-107, 118,
121, 123, 126, 134, 155, 162, 185,
334. 348. 349. 362, 376 : ii. 48, 55»
59. 214

Plutarch, i. 156, 182, 187, 349, 363,

376 .• ii- 43

INDEX

Polar Sea, i. 169, 172, 195-6, 213, 283,
303 ; ii. 145, 164. 165, 166, 171, 173,
174, 176, 177, 238

Polo, Marco, li. 288, 289

Polus (equinoctial dial), i. 46, 48

Polybius, i, 43, 44, 45, 52, 56, 66, 67,
73. 74. 78. 80 ; ii. 160

Pontoppidan, Erich, i. 375

Porthan, H. G., i. 179

Portolani, ii. 216

Portuguese adventurers, Arab tale of,

ii. 51-5
Portuguese chart of about 1520, at

Munich, ii. 353, 354, 355. 356
Portuguese, maritime enterprise of,

ii. 292-3, 345, 377
Posidonius, i. 14, 23, 27, 52, 79, 115 ;

ii. 292, 297
Pothorst, associate of Pining, ii. 123-9,

133. 345

Priscianus Caesar iensis, i. 123

Procopius, i. 60, 94, 132, 134, 138,
139-50, 154, 194, 203, 372

Promised Land (see Tir Tairngiri and
Terra Repromissionis)

Provisioning of Viking ships, i. 268-9

Psalter map, ii. 187, 188

Ptolemy, i. 26, 38, 44, 72, 75, 76, 79,
93. 99. 102, III, 112, 115-22, 128,
130, 131, 132, 142, 143, 144, 246,
349 ; 11. 182, 194, 195, 197, 206,
208, 210, 21 r, 212, 220, 236, 249,
250, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259,
260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266,
■ 267, 275, 277, 278, 279, 280, 292

Puebla, Ruy Gonzales de, Spanish
Ambassador to Henry VII., ii. 300,

324, 325

Pull6 and Longhena, ii. 230

Purchas his Pilgrimes, ii. 126

Pygmies,ii.i7, 75, 76, 85, 86, iii, 117,
206, 255, 263, 269, 270

Pythagoras, i. 11, 12

Pytheas, i. 2, 29, 38, 41, 43-73. 74.
75. 77. 78, 80, 81, 82, 90, 92, 97,
100, io6, 116, 165, 172, 193, 234,
246 ; date of his voyage, i. 44 ; his
astronomical measurements, i. 45 ;
his ship, i. 48 ; in Britain, i. 50 ;
in Thule, i. 53 ; on the sea beyond
Thule, i. 65 ; voyage along the coast
of Germania, i. 69

QAZwiNi, i. 187, 284 ; ii. 57, 144, 156,

202, 209-11, 234
Qodama, ii. 198
Querini'S travels in Norway (1432), ii.

177, 286
Qvigstad, J. K., i. 173, 220, 221, 226,

228, 229, 372 ; ii. 210

Rafn, C, i. 304, 340 ; ii. 31. 33, 193
Ragnaricii (see Ranrike), i. 136
Raka, island in Arab myth, ii. 207-8
Ramusio, G. B., ii. 298, 303, 337, 338,

339, 340. 341. 354. 364
Ranii, i. 136, 137
Ranisch, W., i. 18
Ranrike, i. 136
Rask, R., i. 179

Raumarici (see Romerike), i. 136
Ravenna geographer. The, i. 144,

152-4, 203
Ravenstein, E. G., ii. 287, 289
Ravn Hlymreks-farer, i. 354, 366
Reeves, A. M., i. 267, 322 ; ii. 30
Reinach, S., i. 26, 27
Reindeer, i. 175, 176, 191, 204, 212,

217, 226, 227, 230, 276, 277
Reindeer-Lapps, i. 61, 190, 204, 205,

207, 218, 220-32 ; ii. 269
Reinel, Pedro, map by, ii. 321, 322,

358. 364. 370. 371. 374. 376. 377
Rheims mappamundi in MS. of Mela,

ii. 282-3
Rhipaean, or Riphsean, Mountains, i.

13, 16, 79, 81, 88, 89, 98, loi, 128,

189, 190, 191, 194, 200 ; ii. 223
Riant, Paul, ii. 55
Ribero, Diego, map of 1529, ii. 315,

335. 356. 357. 359
Rietz, i. 373
Rimbertus, i. 167
Rink, H., ii. 8, 69, 70, 71, 106
Rock-carvings, Scandinavian, i. 236-

41. 245
Rodulf, Norwegian king, i. 129, 132,

135. 136. 137. 138, 139. 143. 147
Roger II., Norman king of Sicily, ii,

202, 203
Rohde, E., ii. 57, 58, 234
Rok-stone, The, i. 138, 148
Rolf of Raudesand, i. 264, 315
Romerike, i. 136
Romsdal, i. 136, 137, 147
Rordan, Holger (Monumenta Hisioriee

DaniccB), ii. 129
Ross, H., i. 341, 352 ; ii. 13, 171
Rudimentum Novitiorum, Map in, ii.

32 ; geography in, ii. 189
Rum (Eastern and Central Europe), ii-

197, 209, 211
Rus (Scandinavians in Russia), ii.

196, 197, 198, 199
Rusbeas, or Rubeas, promontory, i.

99-100, 102
Russia (see also Bjarmeland), i. 185,

187, 188, 191, 214, 383 ; ii. 141, 143,

164, 174, 195, 196, 197, 206
Ruste, Ibn, ii. 146, 198
Ruysch's map (1508), i. 262 ; ii. 289

INDEX

Rydberg, Viktor, i. 156, 158

Ryger (Ruger, Rugii), i. 136, 138, 147,

179, 209, 246
Rygh, K., i. 173, 304, 323, 324, 369
Rygh, O., i. 304, 324, 374 ; ii. 211
Rymbegla, i. 188, 249, 287, 322, 335 ;

ii. II, 167, 170, 239, 240, 256, 260,

263, 264, 271, 272

Sabalingii, i. 72, 118

Saevo, Mons, (or Suevus), i, 85, loi, 102

Sa'id, Ibn, ii. 177, 208-9

Sailing-directions, Icelandic, i. 262,
285, 288, 290 ; ii. 166, 168-71, 261

St. John, Island of, on sixteenth-
century maps, ii. 320-1, 377

St. John, Valley of. New Brunswick,
i. 335 ; ii. 3, 5

St. Lawrence, Gulf of, ii. 68

Sallust, i. 349 ; ii. 183, 186 ; " Sallust
map " at Geneva, ii. 282, 283

Samoyeds, i. 212, 223 ; ii. 143, 146,

175
Samson Fagre's Saga, 11. 172
Sanali (long-eared), i. 91, 92
San-Marte, i. 365
Santa Cruz, Alonso de, ii. 332
Sanudo, Marino, ii. 222-5, 227, 262,

272, 282
Sargasso Sea, i. 40
Sarmatia, Sarmatians (Slavs), i. 87, 91,

95, 97, loi, 109, 113, 120, 170
Sars, J. E., i. 234, 258
Save, P. A., i. 374
Savolotchie (the country on the

Dvina), ii. 141-2
Saxo Grammaticus, i. 193, 206, 355,

364 ; ii. loi, 147, 165-6, 221,

222-3, 224, 227, 238, 242, 258, 259,

263
Saxons, i. 145, 153, 154, 180, 235, 242,

245
" Scadinavia," or " Scatinavia," 1. 93,

loi, 102-4, 105, 155, 156

" Scandia " (" Scandza "), i. 102-4,
J06, 107, 119, 120, 130-1, 136,
142-4, 153, 155 ; ii. 254, 257

Scandinavia, regarded as a peninsula,
i. 185 ; ii. 222 ; as an island, ii. 186,
188, 225 ; representation of, in
mediaeval cartography, ii. 221-5,
227, 234-6, 250, 258-69, 285, 286 ;
geography of, in Northern writers,
ii. 237-9

Schafairik, i. 185

Schanz, M., i. 83

Schiern, F., i. 191

Schirmer, G., ii. 44

Schlaraffenland, i. 352

Schliemann, H., i. 24

412

Schonnerbol, ii. 152, 153
Schoolcraft, H. R., ii. 7
Schrader, O., i. 24, 34, 36
Schroder, C, i. 360 ; ii. 9, 19, 43, 44,

Schiibeler, Prof., ii. 5
Schuchhardt, C, i. 14
Schultz-Lorentzen, ii. 73
Sciringesheal (Skiringssal), i. 179, 247
Scirri (Skirer), i. loi, 179, 247
Scisco, Dr. L. D., ii. 43
Scolvus, Johannes, ii. 129-33
Scotland, i. 161 ; ii. 204 ; !^rtheas in,

i. 53-6 ; in mediaeval cartography »

ii. 221, 257
Scottish runners, Karlsevne's, i. 321,

324-5. 337. 339-43 : "• 65
Scythia, Scythians, i. 13, 16, 19, 20,

23, 69, 70, 71, 81, 85, 87, 88, 89,

95. 97. 98, 99, 101, 114, 153, 154,

185, 187
Sealand, i. 93, 94, 103, 105, 138 ; in

mediaeval cartography, ii, 219, 254,

255. 257. 265
Seals, Sealing, i. 177, 216-9, 224^

276-8, 286-7, 299, 300 ; ii. 72, 91,

97, 155. 156, 165, 173, 243
" Sea-lung," i. 66-7
Sebillot, P., i. 377
Seippel, Prof. Alexander, ii. 143, 196,

197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203, 204,

205, 208, 210, 211
Seleucus, i. 77
Semnones, i. 85
Sena, island off Brittany, i. 29, 356;

"• 32, 47
Seneca, i. 82, 84

Seres, Serica (China), ii. 262, 271
" Sermende " (= Sarmatians ?), i, 170
Sertorius, i. 349-50
Setala, Prof. E., i. 219 ; ii. 175
Seven Cities, Isle of the, ii. 293, 295,

304. 325

Seven Sleepers, Legend of the, i. 20,
156, 284

Severianus, i. 127

Shetland Isles, i. 52-3, 57, 58, 67, 90,
106, 107, 117, 161, 163, 179, 192,
234. 257, 292, 374 ; ii. 207 ; in
mediaeval cartography, ii. 219, 228,
266

Ship-burials, i. 239, 241

Ships, Egyptian, i. 7, 23, 235, 237, 242,
243 ; Greek, i. 48-9, 235, 237, 242,
243, 245 ; Phoenician, i. 35, 237,
243, 245 ; early Scandinavian, i.
no, 236-44; Viking, i. 236, 238,
241, 242, 243, 246-7 ; in Greenland,

i- 305
Shirazi, ii. 21 1-2

INDEX

*' Sfd '* (Irish fairies), i. 356, 371 ; ii.

1 6, 20, 45-6, 60
Sigurd Stefansson's map of the North,

ii. 7
Simonsson, J6n, i. 227
Sinclair, Legends of, in Norway, i,

339-41

Sindbad, i. 159 ; ii. 57, 234

Siret, L., i. 22, 24, 29

Sitones, i. 11 1-2

SkaSi, Norse goddess, i. 103, 207

Skdld-Helga Rimur, i. 298-9, 300

Skane, i. 72, 103, 104, 180 ; in medi-
aeval cartography, ii. 221, 222, 235,
257, 258, 267, 285

Skaw, The, i. 85, 100, 105, 186 ; ii.
204

Ski-running, i. 149, 157, 158, 203, 223 ;
ii. 139

Skolte-Lapps, i. 214, 220, 231

Skraelings, in Greenland, i. 260, 298,
308, 312, 327 ; ii. 17, 77-90, loi,
108, III, 117 ; in Wineland, i. 260,
312, 313, 327-30. 368 ; ii. 6-1 1, 26,
60, 90-3, 206, 208 ; in Markland, i.
329 ; ii. 15, 19, 20, 92-3 ; in Hellu-
iand, ii. 35 ; originally mythical
beings, ii. n-20, 26, 60, 75-6;
meaning of the word, ii. 13 ; called
Pygmaei, ii. 12, 17, 75, 270

Skridfinns (Screrefennae, Scrithifini,
Rerefeni, Scritobini, Scride-Finnas,
Scritefini), i. 131-2, 140, 143, 144,
149-50. 153-4. 156-7, 170, 189, 191,
194, 198, 203-8, 210, 221, 222, 223,
382 ; ii. 139, 192

Skull-measurements, of Scandinavians,
i. 209, 211 ; of Lapps, i. 219-20 ;
of Eskimo, ii. 67

Slavs (see also Sarmatians), i. 167, 188,
208, 209, 210 ; ii. 142, 143, 197, 198

Sleswick, i. 70, 72, loi, 119, 179, 180 ;
ii. 202, 204

Sluggish sea, outside the Pillars of
Hercules, and in the North, i. 38,
40-1, 68, 83, 100, 108, 1 12-3, 130,

165
Smith Sound, i. 304, 306 ; ii, 71, 72,

73. 74
*' Smorland " as a name for fairyland,

i. 374
Snaebjorn Galti, i. 264, 280
Snaefell (Greenland), i. 267, 308, 310
Snaefellsnes (Iceland), i. 257, 262, 267,

288, 290, 293, 294, 295
Snedgus and Mac Riagail, Voyage of,

ii. 53-4
Snorre Sturlason, i. 270, 273 ; ii. 18,

64. 137. 239
Snorre Thorbrandsson, Wineland

voyager, i. 313, 319, 320, 326, 327,
333

Soderberg, Prof. Sven, on Wineland,.
ii- 63-5 ^

Solberg, Dr. O., i. 213, 214, 217, 219,
230, 306 ; ii. 72, 73, 103

Soleri map (1385), ii. 229

Solinus, C. Julius, i. 52, 55, 57, 64, 66,
99, 123, 126, 151, 160, 184, 189, 193,
348

Soncino, Raimondo di, Milanese Minis-
ter in London, ii. 296-7, 298, 301,
302, 303-5, 306, 307, 308, 309, 312,
314, 316. 323

Sorensen, S. A., i. 179

Spain, tin in, i. 23, 31 ; suggested
origin of the name of, i. 380 ;
Viking raids in, ii. 199, 200

Spherical form of the earth. Doctrine
of, i. II, 97, 126, 127, 151, 194, 199 ;
ii. 185, 247

Spies, in land of Canaan, i. 339

Spitzbergen, i. 248 ; ii. 165, 168, 170,
172, 173, 179, 238

Steensby, H. P., ii. 69, 70

Steenstrup, Japetus, i. 172

Steenstrup, Johannes, ii. 161, 162

Stenkyrka (Gotland), Stone from, i.
239, 243

Stjdrn (Norwegian version of Old
Testament), i. 338 ; ii. 4

Stokes, Whitley, i. 357

Storm, Gustav, i. 132, 174, 196, 218,
228, 254, 255, 260, 284, 285, 292,
301, 305. 313. 314, 317. 321, 322,
324. 329. 333. 369 ; 11- I, 2, 3, 7, II,
14, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30.
35. 36, 43. 47. 48. 75, 79, 82, 86.
90, 93, 99, 100, loi, 107, III, 112,
114, 117, 118, 121, 122, 124, 129,
131, 136, 137. 141, 147, 150, 153.
158, 167, 168, 229, 235, 237, 240,
242, 249, 250, 256, 257, 258, 262,
267, 268, 270, 272, 279, 289, 294

Stow, John, Chronicle, ii. 333

Strabo, i. 14, 15, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28, 38,
42, 43, 44, 45, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57,
61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72, 73,
74, 75, 76, 77, 80-2, 87, III, 112,
161, 187, 349 ; ii. 47, 75, 160, 201

Straumsfjord (Wineland), i. 325, 326,

329. 330. 337. 343. 345
Strom, Han (^Description of Sondmor),

i- 370, 375
Strong Men, Island of, ii. 43, 46, 50, 61
Sturlubok, i. 255, 256, 257, 261, 262,

293. 331, 354, 367. 368 ; ii. 169, 261
Styx, i. 359, 372

" Suehans " (see Svear), i. 135, 137
Sueones (see Svear), i, 188-9

INDEX

" Suetidi," i. 136, 137

Suevi (Suebi), i. 87, 108-9

Suhm (Historie af Danmark), ii. 154

Suiones (see Svear), i. 110-2, 236, 238,

244. 245
Sun-dial, i. 46-7
Sun's altitude, measurement of, i.

249, 250, 309-11 ; ii. 307
Svalbard (Spitzbergen ?), ii. 165, 166-

73. 238
Svear (Swedes, Suiones, Suehans,

Sveones, Sueones), i. 110-2, 135,

137, 167, 170, 188-9 ; ii- 190
Svein E^tridsson, King of Denmark, i.

184, 188, 189, 195, 201, 383 ; ii.

148
Sverdrup, Otto, i. 306 ; ii, 70, 71
Sviatoi Nos, promontory, i. 171, 174 ;

ii. 136, 138, 140, 155
Svinoi, name of island off Sunnmor, i.

369-70, 378 ; island off Nordland,

i. 378 ; island in the Faroes, i. 375,

378 ; probable origin of the name,

i. 378

Sweden, i. 71, loi, 112, 134-5, ^1^>
187, 188-9, 210, 381, 383 ; ii. 190,
205, 237 ; in mediaeval carto-
graphy, ii. 219, 221, 222, 223

Swedes {see Svear and Goter)

Swedish legends and fairy-tales, ii.
55-6

Sydow, C. W, von, i. 342, 364

Tacitus, i. 69, 71, 83, 95, 104, 107-14,
131, 144, 149, 150, 203, 236, 238,
244, 245 ; ii. 47

Tanais (the Don), i. 66, 70, 78, 88, 151 ;
ii. 186

Tarducci, F., ii. 295, 304, 319

Tarsia (Tarshish, Tartessos), i. 24, 28,

31. 38
Tartarus, i. 11, 68, 158 ; ii. 150, 240
Tartushi, at-, i. 187, ; ii. 202
Tastris, promontory, i. 101, 105
Terfinnas, i. 171, 173-5, 204, 213, 218 ;

ii. 146
"Terra del Rey de portuguall " on

Cantino map, ii. 352, 363, 372 ;

= Newfoundland, ii. 363, 370
"Terra Repromissionis Sanctorum,"

i. 357. 358. 359, 363. 364; "• I9,

228
Teutones, i. 70, 72, 91, 93, 94
Thedbitzer, W., ii. 19, 67, 70, 73, 88,

90. 93
Thales of Miletus, i. 12, 33, 34, 47
Theodoric, King of the Goths, i. 128,

129, 136, 137, 138, 147
Theopompus, i. 12, 16, 17, 355
Thietmar of Merseburg, i. 229

Thomsen, V., ii. 175, 198, 199 '

Thor, i. 325. 333, 341, 343, 364 :
Thor-" names, i. 332-3 ; ii. 51

Thorbjorn Vivilsson, i. 318, 319, 320,
332

Thorbrand Snorrason, killed in Wine-
land, i. 313, 328, 333 ; ii. 10

Thore Hand's expedition to Bjarme-
land, ii. 137-8

Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney, i. 354;

50
Thorgils Orrabeinsfostre, sails to

Greenland, i. 280-2 ; ii. 81, 89
Thorgunna, Leif's mistress, i. 316,

333
Thorhall Gamlason, Wineland voyager,

i. 313. 319, 320, 333, 367
Thorhall the Hunter, i. 296, 320, 321;

325-6, 329, 333, 338, 343-4; ii.

24
Thorkel Gellisson, i. 253, 258,260, 313,

354, 366, 367, 368 ; ii. 42
Thormod Kolbrunarskald, i. 276 ;

ii. i8
Thorne, Robert, ii. 324, 341 ; map by,

334. 335
Thoroddssen, Th., i. 262 ; ii. 225
Thorolf Kveldulfsson, i. 175, 231
Thorolf Smor, i. 257, 374
Thorsdrdpa, i. 219
Thorstein Ericson, i. 249, 317-9, 320,

321, 331, 333 ; attempts to find

Wineland, i. 318
Thorvald Ericson, i. 318, 320, 329,

332 ; ii. 4, 13, 17-8
Thorvard, Wineland voyager, i. 320,

332
Three Brethren, Strait of the, ii. 130,

133

Thue, H. J., i. 60

Thule (Tyle, Thyle, Ultima Tile, -Ac),
i. 123. 134, 147; ii. 75, 149, 188,
192, 197, 198, 200 ; visited by
Pytheas , i. 53-64 ; derivation of,
i- 58-79; = Norway, i. 60; Mela
on, i. 92 ; Pliny on, i. 106 ;
Tacitus, i. 108 ; Ptolemy, i. 117,
120, 121 ; Jordanes, i. 130 ; Pro-
copius, i. 140-4 ; Solinus MSS., i.
i6o-i ; Adam of Bremen, i. 193-4 r
Dicuil on (^Iceland), i. 164-7 •
Tjodrik Monk (^Iceland), i. 254 ;
Historia Norwegiae (= Iceland), i,
255 ; in mediaeval cartography, ii.
219, 228, 257, 266, 268, 269

Thyssagetae, i. 88

Tides, on W. coast of France, i. 40 ;
observed by Pytheas, i. 50 ; on
coast of N. America, ii. 316

Timaeus, i. 44, 51, 70, 71

INDEX

Tin in ancient times, i. 23-31 ; deri-
vation of Greek, Celtic and Latin
words for, i. 25-7 ; tin-trade in
southern Britain, i. 68

" Tir fo-Thuin " (Land under Wave),
i. 358, 370, 373

" Tir Mor " (The Great Land), i. 357,
367 ; ii. 48

" Tir na Fer Finn " (the White Men's
Land), ii. 44

"Tir na m-Ban " (Land of Women),

,^ i. 354. 355
Tir na m-Beo " (Land of the Living),

i- 357. 371
" Tu: na n-Ingen " (Land of Virgins),

i- 355. 356. 363 ; ii- 45
"Tir na n-Og " (Land of Youth),

i- 357
"Tir Tairngiri " (Promised Land),

i. 357 ; ii. 228
Tjodhild, wife of Eric the Red, i. 267,

270. 318, 331
Tjodrik Monk, i. 166, 254, 255, 256, 257
Toby, Maurice, Bristol chronicle, ii.

302, 305-6
Torfaeus, Tormodus, ii. 7, 32, 34, 154,

241
Torlacius (Gudbrand Torlaksson), ii.

241
Torp, Prof. Alf, i. 25, 26, 27, 58, 59, 94,

107, 148, 181, 183, 210, 304, 361,

371 ; ii. 13, 14, 228
Toscanelli, ii. 287, 292, 296, 372
Trade-routes to the North in ancient

times, i. 14, 21-2, 28, 31, 36, 75, 96
" Trag M6r " (the Great Strand), i.

339. 357. 371 ; ii- 48
Triads, in legend, i. 337-8 ; ii. 6
Triquetrum (regula Ptolemaica), i.

47
Trolls, attributes of, i. 327, 344 ; ii.

10, 14-6, 19, 76
Trondhjem, i. 192 ; ii. 85, 117, 177,

205, 227, 235, 264, 265, 266, 267,

268, 269, 270
Troy, Bronze in, i. 24, 25
Turcae, i. 88
Tylor, E. B., i. 380
T5T:ker (in Wineland story), i. 341,

343-4. 360 ; ii. 4

Ua Corra, Navigation of the Sons of,

i- 338-9, 355, 361 ; ii. 20
Unger, C. R., i. 331, 338, 360
Unipeds (Einfotingar, Ymantopodes),

i. 189, 329 ; ii. II, 13, 17, 263
Urus (aurochs), i. 191
" Uttara Kuru," i. 19, 351

Vandals, i. 247

Vangensten, O., i. 226 ; ii, 85, in, 233,

268, 286
Van Linschoten, i. 376
Varanger Fjord, i. 213, 214, 217, 219,

220 ; ii. 178, 210-11
Varangians' Sea (see Warank), ii. 210,

211, 212, 213
Vardohus fortress, ii. 126, 127, 141
Varzuga, river, i. 174 ; ii. 135
Vaux, C. de, ii. 213
Velleius, i. 85

Venedi (Wends), i. 101, 113
Vener, Lake, i. 131 ; ii. 266
Veneti, i. 39, 40, 242
Venusberg myth, i. 355, 371
Verrazano's map of 1529, ii. 335
Vesconte, Perrinus, map of 1327,

ii. 229 ; atlas of 1321, ii. 230
Vesconte, Pietro, ii. 222-5, 230, 255,

257, 258, 259, 276, 282, 283, 284,

285
Vigfiisson, Gudbrand, i. 258, 314
Viking expeditions, the earliest; i.

234-5 .* i'^ Spain, ii. 200
Vikings, origin of the name, i. 244, 245
Viladeste, Mecia de, compass-chart of

1413, ii. 234
" Villuland " (Norse land of glamour),

i. 377 ; ii. 206
Vincent of Beauvais, ii. 158
Vine, Wild, (Vitis vulpina), in N.

America, i. 317 ; ii. 3-4
"Vinili," i. 136
" Vinoviloth," i. 136, 203
Virgil, i. 130, 157, 159, 363
Vistula, i. 71, 75, 95, 96, loi, 104,

119, 120, 121, 130, 131, i8i
Vogel, i. 235

Volga, ii. 142, 143, 144, 146, 197
Voyage of 1267, to the north of

Baffin's Bay, i. 250, 307-11 ; ii.

82, 83, 88

Wackernagel, W., ii. 32, 189

Walkendorf, Archbishop Eric, ii. 86,
112, 117, 163, 174

Walrus, ii. 112, 155, 163, 165, 243 ;
hunting, i. 172, 176-8, 212, 216, 221,
276-8, 287, 300 ; ii. 72, 163-4,
173-8 ; tusks, i. 172, 176, 192, 212,
217, 277, 300, 303 ; ii. 163, 174 ;
hide for ropes, ii. 172, 176, 212, 277,
303 ; ii. 164, 178

Walsperger, Andreas, mappamundi by,
ii. 283, 284, 286

Warank, Varyag, Varangi (Arab,
Russian and Greek name for Scandi-
navians), ii. 196, 199, 200, 210-1

Wattenzone, Die, i. 68

Welcher, F. G., i. 371

INDEX

Wends, i. loi, 113, 169, 180

Western Settlement of Greenland, i.
266, 271, 272, 300, 301, 302, 307,
311, 321, 322, 334; ii. 71, 90;
decline of, ii. 95-100, 102, 106, 107-
III ; visit of Ivar Bardsson to,
ii. 108

West-sae, i. 169, 170

Whales, Whaling, i. 251 ; ii. 145, 173 ;
in Bay of Biscay, i. 39 ; ii. 159, 161 ;
in Normandy, ii. 159, 161 ; Nor-
wegian, i. 172 ; ii. 155-9, 178. 243 :
in Greenland, i. 276, 277 ; ii. 72 ;
in Ireland, ii. 156 ; in the Mediter-
ranean, ii. 162 ; in legend, i. 325-6,
344. 363. 364 ; ii- 213, 234

Whirlpools (see Maelstrom)

White Men's Land, The (see Hvitra-
manna-land, and Tir na Fer Finn)

White Sea, i. 169, 171, 172, 174, 175,
218-9, 222 ; ii. 135-42, 164, 173,
179, 237

Wichmann, Prof., i. 219

WidsiiS, i. 234

Wieland, C. M., i. 352, 362 ; ii. 54,

150

Wieser, von, ii. 249

Wiklund, K. B., i. 112 ; ii. 175

" Wildlappenland," i. 226; ii. 256,
263, 268 ; " Wildlappmanni," ii.
269, 270

Wilhelmi, ii. 366

Wille, Prof. N., ii. 3

William of Mahnesbury, i. 378

Wilse, J. N., i. 352

Wineland (Vinland, Vinland, Vindland,
Winland, Wyntlandia, etc.), i. 184,
195.196-8, 201, 249, 260, 273, 312-84;
ii. 1-65, 90-3, no, 154, 188,
190-1, 228, 239, 240, 293, 294,
304; called "the Good," i. 313,
353. 369, 373 ; ii. 60 ; vines and
wheat in, i. 195, 197-8, 317, 325,
326-7, 345-53. 382-3 ; ii. 3-6, 59 ;
"=the Fortunate Isles, i. 345-53,
382-4 ; ii. 1-2, 61 ; authorities for
the Wineland voyages, i. 312-3 ;
discovered by Leif Ericson, i. 317 ;
JCarlsevne's voyage, i. 320-30 ; Irish

origin of ideas of, i. 167, 258, 353-69 ;

ii. 60 ; the name of, i. 353, 367 ;

ii. 6 1 ; summary of conclusions on,

ii. 58-62
Winge, Herluf, i. 275
Winship, G. P., ii. 295, 305, 319, 320,

324, 326, 333, 336, 340, 341, 342
'' Wtsu " (or " Isti "), Arabic name for

a people in North Russia, ii. 143-6,

200, 270
Wizzi, i. 188, 383 ; ii. 64, 143
Wolf, Jens Lauritzon, i. 364
Wolfenbiittel, Portuguese i6th century

map at, ii. 331, 332, 335, 356
Women, Land of (Terra Feminarum),

on the Baltic, i. 186-7, 383 ; ii.

214
Women's boats (umiaks), Eskimo,

ii. 19, 70, 72, 74, 85, 92, 269, 270
Wonders, Book of (Arabic), ii. 207,

213-4
Worcester, Willemus de, ii. 294
Wulfstan, i, 104, 180
Wuttke. H., i. 154
Wytfiiet, Cornelius, ii. 131

X AM ATI, i. 88

Xenophon of Lampsacus, i. 71, 99.
100

Yagug and Magug, ii. 144, 212, 213
Ynglinga Saga, i. 135
York, Cape, i. 306, ii. 71
Yugrians, ii. 173, 174, 200

Zarncke, ii. 242

Zeno map, ii. 131, 132

Zeuss, K., i. 112, 120, 145, 234;

235
Ziegler, Jacob, i. 294 ; ii. 17, 86, 106,

III, 127, 128
Zimmer, H., i. 234, 281, 334, 336, 339,

354. 355. 356, 357. 35^. 360, 361.

363. 364. 371 ; "• 9. 10. 20, 44, 45,

53. 54. 150. 151
Zizania aquatica (wild rice), in N.

America, ii. 5
Zones, Doctrine of, i. 12, 76, 86, 123 ;

ii. 182, 193, 247

PRINTED BY

BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD

TAVISTOCK ST.COVENT GARDEN

LONDON

- f

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY

Acme Library Card Pocket

Under Pat. " Ref. Index File."
Made by LIBRARY BUREAU

iii

lliti

iiilitriiiiii I^^^^^^^^^H

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "In northern mists : Arctic exploration in early times"

See other formats