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Canadian Journal of History/'Annales canadiennes d'histoire, X LVII, winter/hiver 2012 pp. 493-514, ISSN 0008-4107 C Canadian Journal of History

Abstract/Rsum analytique

Vinland and Wishful Thinking: Medieval and Modern Fantasies

Sverrir Jakobsson

This article discusses the evidence for the journeys of several Norsemen to a place called Vinland around the year 1000. In hindsight, the stories of the unsuccessful attempt to settle Vinland have been enduringly linked to the consequent discoveries of the American continents, which occurred five centuries later. However, as there are no contemporary, or near-contemporary, written records of journeys to Vinland and the nearby islands, all reconstructions of those events spring from later texts, some of them written down 300 years or more after the fact. Yet what may, or may not, have happened has gradually been granted the status of a real event. Reevaluating the wishful reality of the Vinland islands requires that the stories of the Vinland journeys be squarely situated in the context of the world geographic system adopted by those who told those stories. This article examines how information about the newly encountered lands intersected with the dominant system of defining and classifying knowledge. It thus sheds light on the worldview, now obsolete, in which that system was embedded. A careful dissection of the narrative of the Vinland journeys makes it possible to understand the morphology of this worldview, its epistemic underpinnings, and the spell it continues to cast on the Western imagination. Nous discutons dans cet article de l'vidence de voyages de plusieurs Scandinaves dans un endroit appel Vinland autour de l'an 1000. Les rcits des tentatives infructueuses de dveloppement de Vinland ont t inexorablement relis avec les dcouvertes subsquentes des continents amricains qui se produisirent cinq sicles plus tard. Toutefois, comme il n 'existe aucun crit contemporain ni mme proche de l'poque relatant ces voyages en Vinland et ses les environnantes, toutes les reconstitutions de ces vnements dcoulent de textes crits ultrieurement aprs les faits, voire mme jusqu ' trois cents ans plus tard. Pourtant, ce qui est arriv, ou aurait pu tre arriv, peu peu est devenu ralit. Une des grandes importances de la rvaluation de ces ralits imaginaires des les de Vinland est de les situer carrment dans le contexte du systme de gographie mondiale adopt par les navigateurs des voyages au Vinland. Cet article examine la faon dont l'information au sujet de ces terres nouvellement dcouvertes a t encadre par le systme dominant de dfinition et de classification des connaissances. Comme tel, il nous claire sur les mcanismes de ce systme spcifique qui tomba en dsutude. Un examen minutieux du rcit des voyages au Vinland nous permet de sonder la morphologie de cette vision du monde, l'epistemologie sur laquelle elle a t fonde et le charme qu 'elle continue de jeter sur l'imaginaire occidental.

Canadian Journal of HisoryiAnnales canadiennes d'histoire XLVII winter/hiver 2012, pp. 493-514, ISSN 0008-4107 Canadian Journal of History
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Sverrir Jakobsson

VINLAND AND WISHFUL THINKING: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN FANTASIES

I. Introduction
That an island named W i n l a n d or V i n l a n d exists is asserted in four medieval texts. Three o f them were written in O l d Norse and one i n L a t i n . The oldest texts chronicles composed i n the 1070s and 1120s briefly mention W i n l a n d and its inhabitants. There exist two longer accounts in three manuscripts from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. These four written accounts are the only textual evidence about what the medieval Norse might have k n o w n about the W i n l a n d and its surroundings in the M i d d l e A g e s . There are no contemporary, or near-contemporary, written records o f journeys to Winland and the nearby islands. A l l reconstructions o f those events spring from later texts, some o f them written d o w n three centuries or more after the fact. Yet what may, or may not, have happened has gradually been granted the status o f a real event. A detailed analysis o f these textual sources is essential for a reassessment o f the W i n l a n d journeys, past and present. The focus o f the present study w i l l not be on whether events actually took place i n the manner depicted by the sources, but rather on the conventions o f their narration. Reevaluating the wishful reality o f the V i n l a n d islands requires that the stories o f the Vinlandjourneys be squarely situated in the context o f the w o r l d geographic system adopted by those w h o told those stories. D i d the w o r l d v i e w o f medieval Christianity shape accounts o f possible events at the western edges o f the world? A careful dissection o f the narrative o f the Winlandjourneys might make it possible to comprehend the morphology o f this worldview, its epistemic underpinnings, and the spell it continues to cast on the Western imagination.

II. The Evidence of the Texts

The earliest mention o f Greenland is i n the Latin source, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiaepontificum, composed by A d a m o f Bremen i n the 1070s. It notes the fact o f Greenland's settlement and Christianization, even i f no particular date is mentioned, and, in addition to this, refers to an island even further away than Greenland, called Winland. It is described as follows, based on the testimony o f K i n g Svend o f Denmark (r. 1047-1076):

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Besides, he [the king] told o f an island in that ocean found by many, which is called Winland, because o f the w i l d grapes that grow there, out o f w h i c h a very good w i n e can be made. Moreover, that grain unsown grows there plentifully is not a fabulous fancy, but is based on trustworthy accounts o f the Danes. H e said that following that island, there is no land to be found i n this ocean, but all those regions which are beyond are filled with insufferable ice and boundless gloom. (Lat. Preterea unam adhuc insulam recitavit a multis in eo repertam oceano, quae dicitur Winland, eo quod ibi vites sponte nascantur, vinum optimum ferentes. Nam et fruges ibi non seminatas habundare non fabulosa opinione, sed certa comperimus relatione Danorum. Post quam insulam, ait, terra non invenitur habitabilis in ilio oceano, sed omnia, quae ultra sunt, glacie intolerabili ac caligine inmensa plena sunt.)' This description is very brief, and linked with K i n g Harald o f N o r w a y ' s (r. 1046-66) attempt to discover the outermost extremity o f the Earth. That the Norse had come upon a country k n o w n as Winland was thus a c o m m o n belief in the late eleventh century, even i f no details o f the events connected with its exploration can be derived from these early sources. In the early twelfth century the founder o f Greenland was k n o w n in Iceland as E i r i k r raui (Erik the Red), and he was also k n o w n as the man responsible for giving Greenland an attractive name in order to encourage settlement there. A c cording to the earliest k n o w n Icelandic sources, E i r i k r had organized a Norse settlement in Greenland i n 985 or 986. A l l o f this is related i n a typically laconic manner in the B o o k o f the Icelanders ( O N . Islendingabk) written by A r i I w g i l s son the learned (c. 1067-1148), i n this instance quoting I w k e l l Gellisson, who, in turn, was said to have spoken to an eye-witness o f the events. A r i also claims that Greenland was uninhabited at the time although there was evidence o f an earlier settlement by "that kind o f people . . . w h i c h has inhabited V i n l a n d and the Greenlanders call S k r l i n g s . " ( O N . pess konarpj... es Vinland hefir byggt ok Grcenlendingar kalla Skrlinga.) This tidbit o f information is not elaborated upon by A r i , but from this source it can be deduced that V i n l a n d was k n o w n as an inhabited country at the time.
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The Norse community in Greenland was still thriving when sagas about E i r i k r and the first generations o f settlers were written d o w n in the thirteenth century. There are two main accounts o f the exploits o f the Greenlanders; one o f them, Eiriks saga raua, is found in two medieval manuscripts, Hauksbok (c. 1302-1310)

' Magistri Adam Bremensis Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae Pontificum 4.39, in Werner Trillmich and RudolfBuchner (eds.), Quellen des 9. una 11. Jahrhunderls zur Geschichte der hamburgischen Kirche und des Reiehes. Ausgewahlte Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte des Mittelalters. Freiherr vom Stein-Gedachtnisaufgabe, 11 (Berlin, 1961), pp. 488, 490. A r i froi )>orgilsson, Islendingabk, cap. 6, in Islenzkfornrit 1. Islendingabk, Landnmabk, ed. Jakob Benediktsson (Reykjavik, 1968), pp. 13-14.
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and Sklholtsbk (fifteenth century), both o f w h i c h are based on a c o m m o n original that was composed sometime between 1263 and 1302. The other account, Grcenlendinga saga, is found i n o n l y one manuscript, Flateyjarbk, written between 1387 and 1394. A s the sagas seem to have been composed independently o f each other it has been surmised that they must have been composed at a similar time. This would, however, depend on the context within the manuscripts in which they were written. H a u k s b k , for example, is replete w i t h material concerning Greenland and it is evident that the compiler, Haukr Erlendsson (c. 1265-1334) made great efforts to collect and write down such evidence. It w o u l d thus seem unlikely that he knew o f Grcenlendinga saga, as he did not make use o f it. The context o f Greenlendinga saga i n Flateyjarbk is different, as it is preserved in two parts and placed within a biography o f K i n g lfr Tryggvason o f N o r w a y .
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The time span between the discovery o f Winland and the composition o f these two sagas is measured i n centuries rather than decades. They are evidently unreliable sources as to the events they describe, and their accounts o f these events are also w i d e l y different. What symmetry appears to exist between the sagas must derive from a c o m m o n tradition, be it o f oral or literary nature, and it is this common thread that has generated the greatest scholarly interest and regarded as a key to "what actually happened." The fact that a common oral tradition existed concerning the Norse settlement i n W i n l a n d one that influenced both sagas does not, however, make their narrative a more credible guide to events that had occurred many centuries ago. In fact, i n most respects the divergence between the narratives is considerable.
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Despite the evident differences between the two sagas, Eiriks saga rauda and Greenlendinga saga are often interpreted as a single unit, "the V i n l a n d sagas." This is possible only because the texts are not seen as distinct pieces o f evidence w h i c h are open to interpretation, but rather as manifestations o f a truth that is a l ready taken for granted: the reality o f the Norse journeys to N o r t h A m e r i c a . C o n 8

sequently, the narratives have then been evaluated as to h o w they correlate with this reality. A more open-ended reading o f the evidence provided by the sagas
9

lafur Halldrsson, Greenland i mialdaritum (Reykjavik, 1978), pp. 398-400. Sigurour Nordal, "Sagalitteraturen," in Sigurour Nordal (ed.), Nordisk kultur 8B. Litteraturhistorie B. Norge og Island (Uppsala, 1953), pp. 180-273, at p. 248. Sverrir Jakobsson, "Hauksbk and the Construction of an Icelandic World View," Saga-Book 31 (2007), pp. 22-38, at p. 32. Eireks pttr raua, in Gubrandur Vigfusson (ed.), Flateyjarbk: En samling af norske kongesagaer med indskudte mindre fortllinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler, 3 vols (Christiania [Oslo], 1860-1868), 1 : pp. 429-32; Grcenlendinga pttr, in Flateyjarbk 1: pp. 538-49. A s Jnas Kristjnsson states, "when it comes to the description of the events, the sagas are rarely in full agreement. The characters change roles, accounts of the same events are inconsistent and many events are only mentioned in one of the sagas," The First Settler of the New World. The Vinland Expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni (Reykjavik, 2005), p. 30. See for instance, Hermann Palsson and Magnus Magnusson (eds.), The VinlandSagas (Harmondsworfh, 1965). ' See for instance Gisli Sigursson's attempt to evaluate the information from the sagas by the yardstick of how it "appears to correlate ... with the geographical facts" (in other words, the modern
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w o u l d consist o f an evaluation o f this evidence independent from modern geographical and ethnographical interpretations. It would then be evident that the compatibility o f the accounts given in the sagas is far from great, except for a few basic facts. The next step w o u l d be to examine the reasons for this dissonance. The journeys to W i n l a n d / V i n l a n d were thought to have taken place when Christianity was first introduced to the region, but in the centuries between these events and the writing o f the sagas Christian learning and the Christian worldview gained much ground among the literate community i n Iceland. This v i e w entailed particular ideas about the world, its shape and its inhabitants, w h i c h Icelandic clerics incorporated and drew upon when narrating the sagas o f the alleged journeys to Winland. In their different ways, Eiriks saga rauda and Grnlendinga saga are important testimonies to this worldview, especially as they deal with journeys to unknown islands w h i c h were not a part o f the w o r l d depicted i n L a t i n sources. H o w could such new knowledge be harmonized with what was already k n o w n about the world? The sagas differ greatly i n the evidence they provide about the actual moment o f the encounter with the new lands. In this respect, Eiriks saga rauda is much more brief. A c c o r d i n g to this source, the son o f E r i k the R e d , Leifr Eiriksson, was on his way as a missionary to Greenland at the behest o f K i n g Olafr Tryggvason, but got lost along the way. After Leifr, along with his crew, had been tossed about at sea for a long time, ... he chanced upon land where he had not expected any to be found. Fields o f self-sown wheat and vines were growing there; also, there were trees k n o w n as maple, and they took specimens o f all o f them. (ON. ok hitti lndpau er hann vissi dr enga von til. Vru par hveitiakrar sjlfsnir ok vnvidr vaxinn. Par vru pau tr er msurr heita ok hfdu peir af pessu llu nkkur merki.)
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This is a very brief description and no further clues are provided to the whereabouts o f Winland; Leifr might have chanced upon almost anywhere. In contrast, Grnlendinga saga contains a long narrative concerning the first encounters with W i n l a n d involving not only Leifr, but also the Icelander Bjarni Herjolfsson who, shortly after its settlement, went to Greenland to seek his father. A c c o r d i n g to the saga, Bjarni and his companions got lost and had no idea where they were going. They came upon three lands on their journey to Greenland, the third o f w h i c h they learned was an island, but Bjarni declined to explore them as none o f them seemed to be anything like the land o f glaciers and ice-caps, for

worldview); Gisli Sigursson (transi. Nicholas Jones), The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition: A Discourse on Method. Publications of the Milman Parry Collections of Oral Literature no. 2 (Cambridge, Mass., 2004), p. 297. Eiriks saga raua, in Finnur Jonsson and Eirikur Jonsson (eds.), Hauksbok udgiven efter de arnamagnanske hndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 40 samt forskelHge papirshndskrifter (Copenhagen, 1892-1896), p. 432.
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which he had been searching. Leifr Eiriksson then went on an expedition to seek the lands that Bjarni had found. H e went briefly ashore on two o f them, and named them R o c k y L a n d ( O N . Helluland) and Forest L a n d ( O N . Markland). H e made a longer stop on the third land, w h i c h he later named V i n l a n d . N o description is provided o f the course o f his journey, other than that they had sailed for two days and nights with a "north-easterly w i n d " ( O N . landnyrdingsvedr) between M a r k l a n d and this third land. This land is described as containing grapes, on which a German traveling with Leifr gets inebriated, and an abundance o f large salmon. A s for its climate, the narrative relates that: The temperature never dropped below freezing during the winter and the grass only withered very slightly. The days and nights were much more equal in length than i n either Greenland or Iceland. In the depth o f winter the sun was aloft by mid-morning and still visible at mid-afternoon. ( O N . par kmu eingi frost vetrum ok Iitt rnuu par gros. Meira varpar jafndgri en Grcenlandi edrlslandi, sl hafdipar eyktarstad ok dagmlasta um skammdegi.)
n

It is, however, not made clear in the saga whether Leifr's journey took h i m westward or eastward from Greenland. Although O l d Norse sources confirm that sailing due east or west was possible at such northern latitudes, this always depended on known points o f departure and arrival. Such points were indispensable, i f a ship happened to lose its way.
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In Eirks saga rauda more claims are made about the possible location o f V i n land, with the factual narrative differing on major points. A large expedition led by the Icelander l>orfinnr karlsefni (also called Karlsefni in the narrative) is described as sailing South for two days and two nights before coming to a land which they named R o c k y L a n d . F r o m there, when the w i n d shifted to a southeasterly direction ( O N . br til landsudrs r sudri), they sailed again for two days, and they came upon a land they called Forest Land. They sailed south along the shores o f this land, w h i c h they named Shores o f Wonder ( O N . Furdustrandir)^ and then came to a bay, w h i c h they named Current Fjord ( O N . Straumfjrdr). F r o m here,
13

Flateyjarbk 1, p. 539. This would seem to indicate a location south of 50 North, using the modern coordinate system, see Gustav Storm, "Om Betydningen af 'Eyktarstaor' i Flatobogens Beretning om Vnlandsreiserne," Arkiv for nordiskfilologi 3 (1888), pp. 121-31, at p. 128. According to I>orsteinn Vilhjlmsson, this only implies a location south of 58 degress north, see "Navigation and Vinland," in Andrew Wawn and t>runn Sigurardottir (eds.), Approaches to Vinland. A Conference on the Written and Archaeological Sources for the Norse Settlements in the North Atlantic Region and Exploration of America. TheNordic House, Reykjavik 9-11 August 1999. Proceedings, Sigurour Nordal Institute Studies, 4 (Reykjavik, 2001), pp. 107-21, at p. 112. On latitude sailing G.J. Marcus, The Conquest of the North Atlantic, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1998; 1st ed. 1980), pp. 106-18. In the saga text fcorfinnr is usually only referred to by his nickname, and called Karlsefni. Richard Perkins regards the place-name Furustrandir as a later invention by the author of the saga,"The Furustrandir of Eirks saga raua," Mediaeval Scandinavia, 9 ( 1976), pp. 51 -98.
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Karlsefni and his men again sailed southwards to search for V i n l a n d until they found a land fitting the description given by Leifr: a land with self-sown wheat and an abundance o f vines, fish and game. Thus, both o f the sagas describe the first encounters with Winland, but both also tell o f later journeys in w h i c h attempts were made to colonize it. These tales are much different i n detail, although both sagas name I>orvaldr Eiriksson, Leifr's brother; t>orfinnr karlsefni; and Freydis Eirksdttir, the sister o f Leifr; as leaders o f one such expedition. A c c o r d i n g to Eiriks saga raua, these people all traveled together whereas i n Grnlendinga saga they each went on a separate expedition.
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Despite great variation in detail, a common theme in both sagas is that resistance by the inhabitants o f Winland, the aforementioned Skraelings, was instrumental in thwarting the attempts o f the Norse to settle i n W i n l a n d . A c c o r d i n g to Graenlendinga saga, the first encounter with the natives was during the mission o f t>orvaldr Eiriksson when he and his companions found three hide-covered boats ( O N . hudkeipar) with three men lying under each o f them. I>orvaldr and his crew killed eight o f the men but one o f them escaped. Afterwards, they were mysteriously stricken by sleep but an unknown voice woke them just as a vast number o f men in hide-covered boats began to attack. Jporvaldr was shot by an arrow and killed, and his companions gave h i m a Christian burial before leaving W i n l a n d .
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In Grnlendinga saga, it is then related that t>orfinnur Karlsefni and his company became aware o f the natives after a winter's sojourn. The Skraelings were startled by the bull w h i c h the Norsemen had brought with them, but then trading began, with the natives offering fur pelts and sables. The natives were reportedly extremely interested in dairy products and, having been offered them once, wished to purchase nothing else. In the end, a fight broke out, when one o f the natives was killed while trying to seize weapons from one o f Karlsefni's companions. In this source, two o f the natives were described in more detail. A woman who encountered Karlsefni's wife G u r i r turned out also to be named Gurir. She was described as short and pale with light red-brown hair and very large eyes. N o one but G u r i r saw this woman, who might thus have been an apparition. The second native was described as a tall and handsome man and, in Karlsefni's opinion, likely to be the leader o f the Skraelings. This tall man intervened when one o f the natives tried to use one o f the Norse weapons, an ax, by striking one o f his companions with it and k i l l i n g him. "The tall man then picked up the ax, examined it awhile, and then hurled it as far out onto the sea as he c o u l d . " ( O N . p tk s hinn mikli madr vit xinni ok Ieit um stund ok varp henni sdan sjinn sem lengst matti hann.) After successfully fending off the natives, Karlsefni and his men returned to Greenland and then traveled on to Iceland. "It was said that no
17 lg

Hauksbk, pp. 437-39. Flateyjarbk I, pp. 541-42. For a further discussion of this apparition see Gunnar Karlsson, "Friarboskapur og kvenlegt sjnarhorn i Grnlendinga sgu," in Soffia Auur Birgisdttir (ed.), Kynlegir kvistir tindir til heiurs Dagnyju Kristj'nsdtturfimmtugr (Reykjavik, 1999), pp. 95-99. Flateyjarbk I, pp. 546.
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ship sailing from Greenland had been loaded with more valuable goods than the one he commanded." ( O N . er pat mal manna at eigi mundi audgara skip gengit hafa af Grnlandi en pat er hann styrdi.) F o l l o w i n g Karlsefni's undertaking, there is a third expedition to Winland, led by Freydis Eirksdttir. This time the natives were absent but the members o f the expedition were divided into two groups, who eventually turned on each other. U l timately, one o f the two factions was annihilated. Freydis turned out to be the most vicious and cruel person fighting. She was personally responsible for k i l l i n g all o f the women o f the other party. H e r expedition then disintegrated o w i n g to general i l l - w i l l , with Freydis gaining ill-repute upon her return to G r e e n l a n d .
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In Eirks saga rauda, the narrative refers to only one expedition to Winland, led by i>orfinnur karlsefni. In that account, the travelers also had encounters with the native Skraslings, beginning about a fortnight after the Norse mariners arrived in Winland. A t this time, they saw a number o f hide-covered boats whose crews waved wooden poles that made a great sound as they turned them toward the sun (from east to west). t>orfinnur and his men took this as a sign o f peace and answered by raising a white shield. The visitors are depicted as "black men and malignant-looking with i l l - l o o k i n g hair; they had wide eyes and broad cheeks." ( O N . svartir menn ok illigir ok hafdu Hit hr hfi. Peir vru mjk eygir ok breiir i kinnum.) After a short inspection they [the natives] leave but after a m i l d winter they return. "There were so many o f them [the natives] that it looked as i f bits o f coal had been tossed over the water, and there was a pole w a v i n g from each boat." ( O N . sv mart sem kolum vri st fyri fipit. Var p ok veift af hverju skipi trjnum.) The Norse traded w i t h the natives, who had a strong desire for red cloth, and for which they were prepared to pay a high price as the supply began to drain. The trading came to an end abruptly, when the natives were frightened by a bull belonging to the Norse.
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Three weeks after the first encounter, the natives returned, this time waving the poles counter-clockwise and shrieking loudly. Karlsefni and his companions answered by raising a red shield, and then a battle ensued. The natives used catapults in their attack, and then: Karlsefni and his men saw the Skraslings raise a pole on top o f which was a large round object, about the size o f a sheep's gut, and rather bluish in color. They threw it from the pole at Karlsefni's group, and it made a terrible noise where it landed.

Flateyjarbk I, pp. 548. According to Jenny Jochens, "sexual tension, fully as much as the hostility of the natives, forced the Norse to go back," "Vikings Westward to Vinland: The Problem of Women," in Sarah M . Anderson and Karen Swenson (eds.), Cold Counsel: Women in Old Norse Literature and Mythology (New York and London, 2002), pp. 129-58, at p. 147. Hauksbk, p. 440. Ibid.
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( O N . Pat s peir Karlsefni at Skrcelingar fcerdu upp stng kntt stundar mikinn, pvi nr til at jafna sem saudarvmb, ok heist bln at lit, okfleygdu af stnginni upp landityfir lid peirra Karlsefnis ok let illilega uidr par sem nidr kom.)
2i

This caused panic among Karlsefni's party and they fled, with the natives attacking from all sides. In the end, only two o f the Norsemen were killed but a great number o f the Skraslings were slain, and when the Norsemen return to the site again they began to think that the attackers had only come from the boats, and that the rest o f the other attackers had only been an illusion. The Skraelings had taken an ax from one o f the fallen, but they threw it away once they discovered that it was not able to cut a rock. After this battle Karlsefni's party decided to retreat, after they had realized that "despite everything the land had to offer there, they w o u l d be under constant threat from its prior inhabitants." (ON. pott par veeri landzkostir gir, atparmyndi jafnan tti ok ufridr liggja af peim erfyri bjuggu.) O n their way north they encountered a party o f five sleeping Skraelings. They reckoned them to be outlaws and killed them. Further north they encountered a uniped ( O N . einfcetingr) who shot and killed I>orvaldr Eiriksson with an arrow. They thought that they saw the country o f unipeds but did not dare take any further risk i n exploring it. W h e n they returned to M a r k l a n d they encountered five natives: one man and two women who escaped, and two children w h o m they captured. They took the two boys with them and taught them their language. These boys described the customs o f the Skraelings, who had no houses, but rather slept i n caves or holes. Their father they called Oveegir and their mother Vethildr. They told o f two kings ruling the country, one named Avaldamon, the other Avaldidida. They also spoke o f another land, across from their own, inhabited by men i n white clothing, who carried poles, banners, and shouted loudly. This land the Norse reckoned to be the k i n g d o m o f the white men ( O N . Hvitramannaland).
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This is the basic storyline, recounting the discovery and colonization o f W i n land. W h i l e the details vary greatly, some basic facts o f the story seem to have formed a c o m m o n l y k n o w n tradition i n thirteenth-century Iceland: the name o f the three lands found by the seafarers, the names o f some o f the principal protagonists, the conflict with the Skraslings, and the strange role o f the bull i n startling the natives. There are also several problems that call for closer inspection, and it is to them that we now turn.

III. Escaping the Teleological Perspective

In modern times, the narratives o f the Winland expeditions have been the subject o f intensive study by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, scientists, and en-

2 3

Ibid. I b i d . , p. 441.

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thusiasts o f exploration. Yet some aspects o f the narratives remain relatively unexplored. The reason for this is that almost all modern research has concentrated on harmonizing the evidence o f the sagas with the modern belief that the journeys were directed towards North A m e r i c a . The sagas are thus approached primarily in connection with American history, rather than as sources o f evidence for the history of the culture o f the seafarers themselves and/or those w h o told stories o f their journeys. This is a perfectly legitimate approach which has provided many fruitful i n sights. The unearthing o f Norse settlements in L ' A n s e aux M e a d o w s i n N e w f o undland i n 1960 brought a new dimension to the history and archeology o f European contacts with North A m e r i c a . It also opened up new avenues for speculation into the events o f the early eleventh century. This archaeological discovery has generally been regarded as proof "that something, at least, o f the Sagas was history rather than fiction." A s exciting as these findings are, their value for the study o f the W i n l a n d narratives does not reach much further. I f the presence o f Norse seafarers i n North A m e r i c a can now be regarded as a historical fact, the evidence o f the sagas concerning the voyages o f Leifr Eiriksson or t>orfinnr Karlsefni remains problematic and filled with contradictions.
25 26

The single most important difference between W i n l a n d , as it existed i n the medieval imagination, and the present-day imagined V i n l a n d is that while the latter is located i n North A m e r i c a the former was not. M o d e r n cartographic representations o f the V i n l a n d expeditions show the continents of Europe and N o r t h A m e r i c a with the possible route o f the Norse between them. They are shown traveling southwards but mostly towards the West. This is not in accordance with the evidence o f the sagas, which fail to indicate a westward trajectory for any o f the expeditions going to V i n l a n d . In the tenth and eleventh centuries it was impossible to measure longitude with any precision. Journeys from east to west were nevertheless common and are w e l l documented. In H a u k s b k , where Eirks saga rauda is found, there is also a detailed description o f common sea routes from N o r w a y to Iceland and then to Greenland, in a generally westward direction. N o similar information is provided about the route from Greenland to Winland, most likely because it had never become customary enough to be documented i n similar fashion.
27 28 29

Thus geographers must have been at a loss as to where and how to locate W i n land, and i n the earliest works where the land is mentioned, no clue is given with

See Anne Stine Ingstad and Helge Ingstad, The Norse Discovery of America (Oslo, 1985). David B . Quinn, "Norse America: Reports and Reassessments," Journal of American Studies 22 ( 1988), pp. 269-73, at p. 269. See the map in Gisli Sigursson, The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition, p. 286, in which to sail "out to sea" (ON. I haf) is translated to a map as sailing directly to the west. On the quest to discover longitude in the eighteenth century see for instance, Dava Sobel, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (London, 1998; I ed. 1995). According to Sobel, with the best techniques available to Medieval mariners, "one could hope to get a longitude fix once a year" (p. 22). ' Hauksbk, p. 4.
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respect to its geographic location. In the geographical treatise i n H a u k s b k , for example, while there is mention o f Iceland and Greenland, there is no reference to W i n l a n d . In another geographical treatise preserved i n two manuscripts the elder o f which was written i n Iceland around 1300 there is a reference to W i n land and an attempt is made to locate it, due south o f Greenland:
30 31

South from Greenland, there is Helluland (Rocky Land), then there is M a r k l a n d (Forest Land), where there is not a long way to V i n l a n d the good, w h i c h some men reckon is connected to Africa. ( O N . Fra Grcenlandi i suor liggr Helluland, p er Markland; paan er eigi langt til Vinlands, er sumir menn cetla at gangi af Affrika.)
12

In the earlier manuscript there is a further explanation: " A n d i f such is the case, then an ocean flows into a strait between M a r k l a n d and V i n l a n d . " ( O N . ok ef sv er, p er thaf innfallanda milli Vinlands ok Marklands.)
33

Thus, instead o f discovering America, it seems that learned Icelanders thought that their ancestors might have gone to Africa. This idea also made sense i n light o f an earlier belief, found in the twelfth-century Historia Norwegie, that Greenland "marks the western boundary o f Europe, and almost touches the islands of Africa, where the Ocean tides surge i n . " (Lat. terminus est ad occasum Europe, fere contingens Africanas nsulas, ubi inundant occeani refluenta.) In this text, W i n l a n d is not mentioned but might be considered a part o f the islands referred to therein.
34

B o t h the careful phraseology i n the fourteenth-century manuscripts, as w e l l as the fact that no attempt is made to locate Winland i n A f r i c a i n either Eiriks saga rauda or Grnlendinga saga, serve to alert us to the fact that the position o f W i n land within the w o r l d system was very far from being regarded as a certainty i n the fourteenth century. However, during the same period, at no time was there an attempt made to identify W i n l a n d with a " N e w w o r l d " unknown to the medieval authorities.
35

Ibid., p. 155. A M 736 I, 4to and A M 194 8vo. Carl Christian Rafh (ed.), Antiqvitates Americance sive Scriptores septentrionales rerum antecolumbianarum in America: Samling af de i Nordens oldskrifter indeholdte efterretninger om de gamie Nordboers opdagelsesreiser til America fra del IOde til del 14de Aarhundrede (Copenhagen, 1837), p. 289. Cf. Kristian Klund (ed.), Alfri islenzk: Islandsk encyklopdisk litteratur 1. Cod. mbr. AM. 194, 8vo., Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 37 (Copenhagen, 1908), p. 12.
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Alfri islenzk 1, p. 12. In the later manuscript there is also a brief tale of Karlsefni's travels which does not stem from either Eiriks saga or Grnlendinga saga: "It is said that t>orfinnr Karlsefni cut down a tree for carved decoration on the prow and then went to seek Vinland the good, and they came there where they thought this land to be but did not manage to explore or derive any benefits of the land." (Pat er sagt, at Porfidr Karlsefni hjggi husasnotru tr ok fieri sidan at leita Vinlands ins goda ok kmi par er peir tludu pat land ok nu eigi at kanna ok engum landskostum.) Inger Ekrem and Lars Boje Mortensen (eds.), Historia Norwegie (Copenhagen, 2003), pp. 54-55. This also applies to the description of the physical features and climate of the lands, they were "simply an extension of an existing frame of reference," Graldine Barnes, Viking America: The First Millennium (Cambridge, 2001 ), p. xiv.
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The issue here is not, however, the failure o f the Norse geographers to discover A m e r i c a , but rather: what options did they have when it came to locating new geographical findings, that is, with islands or continents that were not accounted for in the standard classical and catholic works? H o w was new geographical information adapted i n order to fit the prevailing model, and what w o u l d the nature o f that information have to be i n order to challenge the model? A consideration o f the ethnography o f Winland, often explored in the context o f what was happening in N o r t h A m e r i c a around 1000, and less with respect to the epistemological models available to the Norse narrators o f the V i n l a n d sagas, raises similar questions. O n the basis o f the limited information offered by the sagas, speculation has been rife as to which Native A m e r i c a n tribe fits the description given o f the Skraslings i n the narratives. Such hypotheses must necessarily accept the veracity or partial authenticity o f the narratives as a precondition. Yet it is evident that the information provided about the Skraelings i n the narratives is often contradictory. The narrators d i d not possess the modern ethnographical or anthropographical knowledge by w h i c h the Skraslings could be identified with a particular Inuit or A m e r i n d i a n tribe. Instead their information about the Skraslings had to accord to the models available to medieval geographers.
36

Several problems had to be addressed when determining the identity o f the Skraslings. A c c o r d i n g to the oldest available evidence, the twelfth-century Islendingabk, the Skraslings had formerly inhabited Greenland. T h i s was also known to the author o f Historia Norwegiae, who depicted the Skraslings as residents o f the North, i n the following manner: Farther north beyond the Greenlanders, hunters have come across dwarfs w h o m they call Skraslings. I f these creatures are struck with weapons and survive, their wounds grow white without bleeding, but i f the blows are fatal the b l o o d scarcely stops flowing. They are totally without iron and employ walrus teeth as missiles, sharp stones as knives. (Lat. Trans Viridenses ad aquilonem quidam homunciones a uenatoribus reperiuntur, quos Screlinga appellant. Qui dum uiui armisferiuntur, uulnera eorum absque cruore albescunt, mortuis uero uix cesst sanguis manare. Sed ferri metallo penitus careni; dentibus cetinis pro missilibus, saxis acutispro cultris utuntur.)
37

In general this description does not fit very w e l l w i t h the ethnographic information provided by later narratives, i n which no mention is made o f the Skraslings as dwarfs (Lat. homunciones) or as residents o f the far N o r t h . Neither are the strange effects o f wounds upon them mentioned. One thing, though, is common

For an overview see Robert McGhee, "Contact between Native North Americans and the M e dieval Norse: A Review of the Evidence," American Antiquity, 49 (1984), pp. 4-26. Historia Norwegie, pp. 54-55.
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to this description and to the narrative o f the V i n l a n d sagas: that the Skraelings are unfamiliar with iron and weapons made o f iron. One of the common features in the descriptions o f the Skraelings in both Eirks saga rauda and Grcenlendinga saga is the mention o f their hide-covered boats. The slendingabk mentions fragments o f hide-covered boats ( O N . keiplabrot) but within O l d Norse literature, their occurrence seems limited to those narratives concerning Greenland. In Flamanna saga, for instance, an Icelandic saga connected to Haukr Erlendsson, the redactor o f H a u k s b k , the protagonist builds himself a hide-covered boat during his travels in Greenland.
38

The Skraelings's fear o f cattle is another feature w h i c h occurs in both Eirks saga rauda and Grcenlendinga saga, easily explained by the fact that these peoples were evidently unfamiliar with such animals. It is less evident w h y this particular feature is emphasized in both narratives. Does this reflect genuine ethnographical information on the habits o f some N o r t h A m e r i c a n tribe, or rather literary convention? A g a i n the uncertainty revolves around the possible models and methods w h i c h were available to the narrators for the purpose o f constructing an image o f a people hitherto unknown. In this sense, the Skraslings are a representative case of medieval anthropology, within the O l d Norse literary w o r l d and that o f Christianity in general. Here, a distinction should be made between the concise narrative o f Grcenlendinga saga and the much more learned Eirks saga rauda. In Grasnlendinga saga, apart from the emphasis on the wide eyes o f the otherwise unremarkable woman w h o m G u r r encounters, there is little information provided on the appearance o f the Skraslings. There is no suggestion o f alien ethnicity inherent in this description, as the phrase " e y g r m j k " was on occasions applied to Icelanders. A m o n g the Skraslings there is one person o f great stature who seems to be their leader, and he is described rather respectfully. Thus, despite their i n 39

ability to understand each other's language, the Norse and the Skraslings do not seem to be worlds apart. A l s o , in this version, the Skraslings are hardly responsible for the failure o f the settlement, as the last attempt led by Freydis Eirksdttir goes awry for purely internal reasons. Not much is said about the customs o f the Skraslings other than references to their hide-covered boats, arid to their unfamiliarity with cattle and iron weapons. The items o f their trade are gray skin and sable whereas they desire Norse m i l k products. A n d mysteriously, their land seems to be protected by some sort o f charm

slenzkfornrit 13. t>rhallur Vilmundarson and Bjarni Vilhjalmsson (eds.), Hardarsaga, Bardar saga, Porskfirdinga saga, Flamanna saga (Reykjavik, 1991), p. 289. On Hauler's relationship with Flamanna saga see Richard Perkins, Flamanna saga, Gaulverjabcer and Haukr Erlendsson, Studia Islndica 36 (Reykjavik, 1978). See the description of Viga-Styrr in Eyrbyggja saga, or one of the companions of the Vatnsfiringar in Sturlunga saga, tslenzk fornrit 4. Einar Olafur Sveinsson and Matthias Poroarson (eds.), Eyrbyggja saga, Grcenlendinga sgur (Reykjavik 1935), p. 21 ; Jn Jhannesson, Magnus Finnbogason and Kristjn Eldjarn (eds.), Sturlunga saga, 2 vols (Reykjavik 1946), 1, p. 351.
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that causes drowsiness, w h i c h leads to the death o f I>orvaldr Eiriksson. This mystical element is present throughout the narrative, indicated again by the fact that, apart from her Icelandic namesake, no one sees the other Gurir. It is an important key to understanding Grnlendinga saga's narration o f cultural contact. Here Eiriks saga rauda draws a different picture, as the saga's emphasis on the differences between the Norse party and the Skraslings is much greater. The Skraelings are described as very dissimilar in looks to the Norsemen, and much is made o f the difficulty between the two peoples in understanding each other. A s observed by Victoria Hanselmann, the semiotic interests o f the narrator are evident in the depiction o f the first contacts between Karlsefni's group and the Skraelings through the m e d i u m o f sign language. The technology o f the Skraelings is described i n greater detail, including the catapults and the mysterious round bluish object, w h i c h make the Skraelings seem rather advanced i n some respects, despite their ignorance o f iron.
40

A c c o r d i n g to Eiriks saga rauda, the Skraelings are only one among a number peoples inhabiting the lands south o f Greenland. I>orfinnur Karlsefni's group also encounters a uniped and they hear rumors o f a nearby country o f white men. In this saga, there is an obvious reference to a wider w o r l d w h i c h is lacking in Grnlendinga saga. The issues identified so far are as follows: what parameters did the O l d Norse narrators o f the V i n l a n d j o u r n e y s have at their disposal to locate Winland, H e l l u land, or M a r k l a n d , whether i n A f r i c a or somewhere else within the hegemonic model o f the world? A n d correspondingly: what tools were available to them for an ethnographic definition o f the peoples that the Norse had encountered in W i n land? The divergence between the two main narratives, Grnlendinga saga and Eiriks saga rauda, is o f paramount importance here, as it allows us to study how a c o m m o n paradigm could serve various purposes and strategies.

IV. Winland and the Medieval System of the World

In medieval geography there was a general consensus that there were three continents, Europe, A f r i c a , and A s i a . This model o f the w o r l d was not only reinforced by its reference to the G r e c o - R o m a n classical tradition, but also was regarded as harmonious with the sacred word o f the B i b l e . This much had beenclarified by the greatest authority within R o m a n Catholic Christianity, St. Augustine (354-430), who had ascertained that no antipodeans living beyond the equator could exist, as they were not mentioned i n the B i b l e . Similarly, the inhabitants o f any "new
41

* Victoria Hanselmann, "Periter representationer: Vinlandssagorna, "det andr" och representationens strategier," Arkiv fr nordiskfilologi, 120 (2005), pp. 83-110, at pp. 88-89. According to Augustine, "For Scripture, which proves the truth of its historical statements by the accomplishment of its prophecies, does not lie; it is too absurd to state that some men might have taken a ship and traversed the whole ocean, and crossing from this side of the world to the other, and that thus even the inhabitants of that distant region would be descended from that one first man." (Lat.
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worlds" would, in this line o f reasoning, have to be descendants o f A d a m . H o w ever, no B i b l i c a l authority made any mention o f such peoples. In the Norwegian K i n g ' s M i r r o r ( O N . Konungs skuggsj) the existence o f antipodeans is discussed as a hypothesis. The narrator notes that such people ( i f they existed) would see the sun in the north in the middle o f the day, and that they would have the opposite seasons o f the people living in the Northern Hemisphere. In most O l d Norse scientific textbooks the Earth is described as a globe or a sphere
42

( O N . bllr) and the climate belts on both sides o f the Equator are listed. This had no reflection on maps o f the T-O type that portray the Earth as a disc ( O N . kringla) divided between three continents. Such maps could easily appear in the same manuscripts that note the spherical nature o f the Earth. The T-O maps were a graphic representation o f the inhabited part o f the Earth with no regard for the other twothirds o f the globe.
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The implications o f regarding the disc-shaped Earth o f the maps as the northernmost part o f a spherical Earth did not affect most medieval map-makers who put the poles at the extremities o f their maps instead o f placing the North Pole at its center, which w o u l d have been more consistent with the idea o f a spherical Earth. It may, however, have occurred to O l d Norse geographers, who postulated that Greenland the northernmost land o f Europe w o u l d be adjacent to the northernmost fringes o f A s i a or Africa. It is thus stated: " F r o m Permia [Bjarmaland] northwards the lands are uninhabited until one reaches Greenland." ( O N . Af Bjarmalandi ganga lnd bygg af norrcett, uns vitekr Greenland.)
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The idea that a journey beyond Greenland w o u l d naturally lead westwards would have seemed unfamiliar to avid connoisseurs o f medieval maps or medieval geographical treatises. Indeed, i f Greenland was situated at the northern fringe o f the world, as was the consensus among O l d Norse geographers, one could travel from there equally in every possible longitudinal direction. The only certainty was that the journey would be southwards, as is indicated in the narratives, most clearly in Eirks saga rauda. Such a conclusion might have gained some support from the fact that Winland was evidently a land much further south than Greenland, Iceland or Scandinavia. Thus the expeditions to W i n l a n d went south and in the end they came to a land populated by the Skraslings. A s any student o f Saint Augustine (or, for that

Quoniam nullo modo scriptum ista mentitur, quae narratis praeteritis facit fidem eo, quod eius praedicta conplentur. nimisque absurdum est. ut dicatur aliquos homines ex hac in illam partem, Oceani inmensitate traiecta. nauigare ac peruenire potuisse, ut etiam Mie ex uno ilio primo homine genus institueretur humanum.) Magnus Mar Larusson (ed.), Konungs skuggsj - Speculum Regale (Reykjavik, 1955), pp. 67-68. Nathanael Beckman and !Cristian Klund (eds.), Alfrdi islenzk - Islandsk encyklopdisk Iitteratur2. Rimtol. Samfund tiludgivelse afgammel nordisk litteratur41 (Copenhagen, 1914-16), pp. 8587, 112-116, and 124. For a more thorough discussion of this dichotomy between the worldview of natural philosophy in the Middle Ages and that of the schematic mapmakers see Rudolf Simek, Erde und Kosmos im Mitlelalter: Das Weltbild vor Kolumbus (Munich, 1992), pp. 55-73. A M 194, 8vo; Alfrdi islenzk, 1, p. 12.
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matter, o f most B i b l i c a l authorities) w o u l d have known, these Skraelings had to be a people o f some ancient pedigree, and the land which they inhabited w o u l d have to be connected to the k n o w n w o r l d somehow. The problem was determining which people they might be. A s to that matter, Grnlendinga saga and Eiriks saga rauda offer somewhat different answers. In the context o f the manuscript in which Grnlendinga saga is preserved the late fourtheenth-century Flateyjarbk a pattern can be detected in the way it depicts inter-ethnic relations. F o r example, the Skraelings are depicted as sellers o f fur pelts and sable. A similar description is also to be found in another text i n Flateyjarbk, that is, in lafs saga helga, describing the voyage o f the lord f>rir hundr to the eastern country o f Permia, also known as Bjarmaland ( O N . Bjarmaland), w h i c h supposedly took place i n the 1020s. A c c o r d i n g to this text, t>rir and his companions first went to a town where they traded and bought "grey cloaks, beaver skin and sable" ( O N . grvru ok bjr ok sfala). Then they sailed along the D v i n a and began to raid the local population. A t the instigation o f I>rir, the Norse mariners looted silver and jewelery from local graves, including gems belonging to the local deity called J o m a l i . Then they were chased by the Bjarmar "with yells and ill-sounding h o w l i n g " ( O N . me kalli ok gaulun illiligri), though they managed to escape through the use o f magic. There seems to be a pattern o f interaction between Norsemen and exotic peoples, w h i c h applies equally to the Bjarmar and to the Skraelings. A c c o r d i n g to the geographical description found i n an aforementioned manuscript, there was a link between Greenland and Bjarmaland, and a journey from the former to the latter w o u l d be directed southwards. A n d thus, geographically, W i n l a n d might not have been situated far from Bjarmaland. Yet, there is no suggestion that the Skraelings o f Winland are the same as the Bjarmar. Rather, the depictions o f how the Norse related to these exotic peoples shared a common element: a pattern o f inter-ethnic relations.
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Another narrative i n Flateyjarbk also has similarities to Grnlendinga saga. This is the episode i n Orkneyinga saga depicting the journey o f Earl Ragnvald (d. 1156) to the East R o m a n Empire and the H o l y Land. The Earl and his companions travelled by sea through the Mediterranean and, in the vicinity o f Sardinia, they encountered a band o f Saracens, with w h o m they proceeded to do battle. A m o n g the Saracens there was " a man both taller and more handsome than the rest, and the Norsemen reckoned h i m to be their leader." ( O N . einn madr s, at bdi var meiri ok friari en adrir; pat hfdu Nordmenn fyrir satt, at s mundi vera hfdingi peirra.) This man was captured by the Norsemen who tried to sell h i m into slavery in North Africa. A s no one w o u l d purchase h i m he was released, but soon returned with a flock o f men. H e graciously allowed the Norsemen to continue on their journey, after informing them that he was actually "a prince o f the Saracens" ( O N .

Flateyjarbk 2, p. 256. On this particular episode see Alan S.C. Ross, The Terfinnas and Beormas of Ohthere (Leeds, 1940; 2nd ed. London, 1981), pp. 48-56. A M 194, 8vo.
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lingr af Serklandi). This description o f the prince recalls the supposed leader o f the Skraelings, who also was tall and more imposing than his companions. The respect accorded to the leader o f the exotic antagonists was a marked exception to a relationship otherwise characterized by hostility. A n d yet, the Saracens were not so different from the Skraelings or the Bjarmar. Relations with them also alternated between bouts o f trading and raiding. The similarities between the interactions o f the Norsemen with the Skraelings and their encounters with Bjarmar i n the East and Saracens in the South are unmistakable. This is less due to literary borrowing than a common typology o f interethnic relations. A l l o f these peoples share a common exotic feature, which is that o f Paganism, o f not belonging to the Christian oecumene. We need not look far beyond Grasnlendinga saga to note this pattern o f relations, as it can be found i n several narratives within the same manuscript, Flateyjarbk. The narrator o f Grnlendinga saga notes this important characteristic o f the Skraelings, their status among the pagans, which is an important step in their classification. A further effort in classifying them, by distinguishing them from peoples such as the Bjarmar o f the East or the Saracens o f North Africa, is not attempted in Grnlendinga saga. The identity o f the Skraelings is thus left open to interpretation. The same typological connection between exotic peoples in different places can also be seen in Eiriks saga raua. There is a similarity between Yngvars saga and Eiriks saga rauda, w h i c h has been noted both by Theodore M . Andersson and the present author, in the depiction o f the use o f sign language and patterns o f trade between Norsemen and pagan peoples. The main difference is that the narrative in Yngvars saga takes place beyond the eastern confines o f Russia, while the narrative in Eiriks saga rauda takes place in Winland. This w o u l d suggest the same pattern in depicting inter-ethnic relations which was prevalent i n Grnlendinga saga.
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In contrast, Eiriks saga rauda ventures much further in locating the Skraelings both geographically and ethnographically. To begin with, there is the Uniped. This strange figure kills t>orvaldr Eiriksson and lives in the "country o f the unipeds" ( O N . Einftingaland), next to W i n l a n d . This clue to the location o f W i n l a n d is more definitive than any information given in Grnlendinga saga. It is located next to the country o f unipeds, and, i n fact, the unipeds were much better k n o w n in medieval sources than the Skraelings.

Flateyjarbk 2, p. 486. Cf. Theodore M . Andersson, "Exoticism in Early Iceland," in Michael Dallapiazza, Olaf Hansen, Preben Meulengracht Sorensen, and Yvonne Bonnetain (eds.), International Scandinavian and Medieval Studies in Memory of Gerd Wolfgang Weber (Trieste, 2000), pp. 19-28, at p. 27; Sverrir Jakobsson, '"Black Men and Malignant-Looking': The Place of the Indigenous Peoples of North America in the Icelandic World View," in Andrew Wawn and t>runn Siguroardttir (eds.), Approaches to Vinland. A Conference on the Written and Archaeological Sources for the Norse Settlements in the North Atlantic Region and Exploration of America. The Nordic House, Reykjavik 9-11 August 1999. Proceedings, SigurourNordal Institute Studies, 4 (Reykjavik, 2001), pp.88-104, at pp. 90-91.
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The nation o f the unipeds appears i n several ancient sources, most famously in the Naturalis historia o f P l i n y the Older (23-79). He quotes the more ancient authority o f Ctesias who
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... describes a tribe o f men called M o n o c o l i who have only one leg, and who move in jumps with surprising speed; the same are called Sciapodes (Shadow-Feet) tribe, because i n hotter weather they lie on their backs on the ground and protect themselves with the shadow o f their feet. (Lat. idem hominum genus, qui Monocoli vocarentur, singulis cruribus, mirae pernicitatis ad saltum; eosdem Sciapodas vocari, quod in maiore aestu humi iacentes resupini umbra se pedum protegant.)
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This information provided the background for much o f the speculation surrounding unipeds in medieval learned works. The unipeds were also k n o w n in Iceland; a picture o f a uniped is found in a manuscript o f the O l d Icelandic Physiologus from around 1200. A l s o , they are listed among "nations with peculiar customs" ( O N . marghttaarpjdir) in Hauksbk, the manuscript w h i c h contains the oldest version o f Eirks saga rauda. In H a u k s b k the location'of their country is not g i v e n . However, such medieval authorities as Honorius Augustodunensis and H u g o o f St. Victor had unambiguously stated that the unipeds lived in I n d i a . This influenced the notion that became current at the court o f E r i k o f Pomerania in the early fifteenth century, namely that India might be reached from Greenland, via the land o f the unipeds. In the M i d d l e Ages, stories o f unipeds were far from regarded as fables, and so the proximity o f their land to Winland could inherently be regarded as evidence for the possibility o f circumnavigating the Earth. But, while this became a matter o f speculation in some circles in the fifteenth century, the narrator o f Eirks saga rauda d i d not go that far. The appearance o f the Uniped in the saga, however, clearly called for interpretative analysis, as it provided a link between the unknown and entrenched
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Teresa Proli, "How many are the unipeds' feet? Their tracks in texts and sources," in Wilhelm Heizmann, Klaus Boldl and Heinrich Beck (eds.), Analecta Septentrionalia: Beitrage zur nordgermanischen Kultur- und Literaturgeschichte. Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde - Erganzungsbande 65 (Berlin, New York, 2009), pp. 281-327. Plinius major, Naturalis historia 7.2, in Ludwig von Jan and Karl Mayhoff (eds.), C Plinivs Secvndvs Naturalis historia. Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, 5 vols (Munich and Leipzig, 1892-1909), 2, p. 9. Halldor Hermannsson (ed.), The Icelandic Physiologus. Islndica, 27 (Ithaca, New York, 1938). Hauksbk, p. 166. According to Proli the phrase "this people in Africa" refers to the Unipeds, "How many are the unipeds' feet?" p. 306, but to me it seems quite clear that this statement applies to the next nation on the list, the one that is immune to the poison of snakes, see Hauksbk, p. 166. Proli, "How many are the unipeds' feet?" pp. 295-96. Another possible location, popularized by S. Isidore of Seville, was Ethiopia. Janus Moller Jensen, Denmark and the Ci-usades 1400-1650. The Northen World series, number 30 (Leiden, 2007), pp. 190-91.
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knowledge. In this case, the existence o f unipeds was the established fact onto w h i c h new information about the Skraelings could be grafted. The options for defining the inhabitants o f W i n l a n d were circumscribed by the necessity for the Skraelings to belong to one o f 72 nations inhabiting the Earth, a medieval dogma w e l l established i n Iceland. I f all o f the inhabitants o f the Oecumene had to be descendants o f one or another o f these nations, this w o u l d equally apply to the Skraelings as w e l l as any other tribe inhabiting any land that Norse seafarers w o u l d come upon. Yet, i n contrast to the lively discussion concerning the concerning the identity o f Native Americans w h i c h arose i n Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, these problems were never discussed systematically i n any O l d Norse text.
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Beyond the land o f the unipeds, according to Eirks saga rauda, there lay another country. This was "the land o f white men or Ireland the great" ( O N . Hvitramannaland ea rland hit mikla). This land was a staple o f Icelandic legend. In the B o o k o f Settlements ( O N . Landnmabk) a tale is told o f a man who drifted to this land, " w h i c h some people call Ireland the great. It lies west i n the sea near V i n l a n d the good. It is said to be six days and six nights sailing westwards from Ireland." ( O N . pat kalla sumir Irland hit mikla. Pat liggr vestr i hafi ncer Vinlandi hinu goda. Pad er kallad sex dgra sigling vestr fra Mandi.) The authority for this tale is reported to have spent time i n L i m e r i c k i n Ireland and to have heard the tale there. Another tale about a country o f white men is related i n Eyrbyggja saga, which mentions its westerly location but does not refer to W i n l a n d . The proximity to the land o f white men is the main evidence for a possible westward location o f Winland. However, the narrative i n Eiriks saga rauda adds a twist to this tradition by linking this western isle to the land o f the unipeds, w h i c h was not usually associated with the Atlantic Ocean. These conflicting traditions made l o cating W i n l a n d a difficult task, but i n Eiriks saga r a u a an attempt is certainly made to place it within a geographical and ethnographical context. This is i n contrast to the rather generalized picture offered by Grnlendinga saga, in w h i c h the Skraelings appear similar to the inhabitants o f most other exotic nations.
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In Eirks saga rauda the Skraelings are evidently not savages, but are rather depicted as living i n an ordered society with their o w n kings. It also made clear that the Skraelings possess some technology that placed them on a more superior footing to the Norsemen i n warfare. O f particular interest was the "large round object, about the size o f a sheep's gut, w h i c h was rather bluish i n c o l o r " w h i c h they catapulted into the throng o f Norsemen, creating great mayhem. This appeared to be remarkably similar to some superior eastern technology o f warfare, such as a

See for instance, Hauksbk, pp. 157-58. Lee E. Huddleston, Origins of the American Indians: European Concepts 1492-1729 (Austin, Texas, 1967). islendingabk, Landnmabk, p. 162. This episode is missing from the Hauksbk edition of the Landnmabk. On this tradition see Hermann Plsson, "Hvtramannaland," Timarit Mis og menningar, 21 (1960), pp. 48-54.
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gunpowder bomb that was hurled by a k i n d o f catapult, and which had been known in C h i n a since the ninth century. In the thirteenth century, o w i n g to M o n g o l expansion westwards, knowledge o f such things was transmitted to Europe. A m o n g the first to spread the w o r d m a y have been Scandinavian trader-envoys who reached C h i n a i n 1261. Whatever the explanation behind this catapult marvel assuming that it incorporates a valid knowledge o f some superior technology its origins must surely be sought i n the East rather than the West.
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Indications o f the Skrasling's affinity with eastern peoples are not surprising in the context o f the time o f composition o f Eirks saga rauda and Grcenlendinga saga. The most important event i n thirteenth-century western history was the opening o f new avenues to the East and interaction with Eastern rulers such as the M o n gols. E v e n i n far away Iceland, the activities o f the M o n g o l rulers were mentioned in chronicles and narratives o f contemporary history. In the following centuries, tales about the wealth and wonders o f the East fed the longing o f Europeans for travel and exploration. They spurred on adventurers such as Christopher Columbus who went on a hazardous journey to seek the westward route to the "Indies," fueled in equal measure b y boldness and poor mathematics. Just like the Greenlanders, who had made these journeys five centuries earlier, and the Icelandic narrators, who sought to describe their epic travels just two centuries prior, Columbus had never expected to discover a new world. Such was the resilience o f the medieval worldview.

V. America: An Idea Whose Time Had Not Yet Come

The V i n l a n d sagas contain narratives about Norse mariners traveling to and from Greenland around the year 1000 who came upon lands that turned out to be inhabited. In hindsight, the stories o f the unsuccessful attempt to settle W i n l a n d have been enduringly linked to the consequent discoveries o f the A m e r i c a n continents, w h i c h occurred five centuries later. Their importance is seen as an early precursor to a world-historic event that shaped all future history. The discovery o f A m e r i c a occasioned the rise o f the European nations to world powers, as they became equal and ultimately superior to the great Eastern powers. It also contributed to a paradigmatic shift i n the w o r l d v i e w o f the Christian nations, and consequently led to the Scientific Revolution. The voyages o f the Norse travelers to W i n l a n d are thus connected to some o f the most important grand narratives o f modern history. H o w ever, they did not themselves herald any world-historic event. The Norse failure to discover A m e r i c a does not, however, detract from the significance o f their expeditions. O n the contrary, their lack o f success is precisely what makes them an interesting subject o f historical inquiry. The fact that Winland was never depicted as a new w o r l d is one o f the best illustrations o f both the

Joseph Needham and L i n Wang, Science and Civilization in China 5.1: The Gunpowder Epic (Cambridge, 1987), pp. 571-72; Herbert Franke, "Sino-Western Contacts under the Mongol Empire," Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 6 (1966), pp. 49-72, at pp. 54-55.

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strength and the limits o f the medieval Catholic worldview, understood as an epistemologica! and scientific paradigm. A n analysis o f the evidence o f the W i n l a n d expeditions provides an opportunity to examine how a coherently structured paradigm (or "episteme") is able to absorb new knowledge without shaking the foundations o f the system to the core. The W i n l a n d expeditions d i d not count as a historical event, i n the sense o f a definite break in the spirit o f the age. O n the contrary, they were incorporated into the existing body o f knowledge through literary descriptions, absorbed by the medieval w o r l d v i e w without forcing a paradigm shift.
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The O l d Norse narratives that depicted the events o f the W i n l a n d expeditions first appeared i n written form centuries after they had taken place. A n d thus, i n one respect, they can be seen as impressive monuments to the tenacity o f this particular historical memory. However, they also serve their function as chapters in an altogether different story, that o f the Norse colonization o f the islands at the margins o f Europe. In the medieval narratives, this is the only context i n w h i c h they could be placed, as, at the time o f writing, the later event o f the discovery o f the N e w W o r l d had not yet occurred. The missions to W i n l a n d are thus linked to the earlier colonization o f the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, a context that is often missing in modern historiography where they are placed i n the context o f the later C o l u m b i a n discovery o f A m e r i c a . The evidence o f the V i n l a n d sagas concerning these findings is often ambiguous, i n large part due to major differences between Grnlendinga saga and Eirks saga rauda. Neither o f the sagas places the newly found lands unhesitatingly to the west, whereas their southern location was beyond dispute. A n examination o f the events depicted in the sagas contained epistemological problems for anyone wishing to account for these unknown lands and their natives, and to fit knowledge about their existence and customs into the paradigmatic model o f the w o r l d that shaped the reception o f new knowledge. This was done through a historical narrative that offered clues, w h i c h were often vague and conflicting, rather than definitive answers to the riddle o f the location o f the new-found islands and their exotic inhabitants. To locate Winland close to A f r i c a was thus a reasonable assumption given the known facts. The ethnic identity o f the Skraelings was also a matter o f uncertainty, about w h i c h the sources are disharmonious. Graenlendinga saga depicts them as stock examples o f exotic peoples, resembling examples o f other pagans encountered in the East or i n the South. O n this matter, Eirks saga rauda offers further clues, mainly due to the proximity o f Winland to the land o f the unipeds and the land o f the white men. However, one o f these places was usually located i n the East and the other in the West. In the end, the medieval Icelandic literati never

For a discussion of these particular terms cf. Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2nd edition, Chicago, 1970), pp. 23-24; Michel Foucault, Les mots et les choses. Une archologie des sciences humaines (Paris, 1966), pp. 355-59.

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managed to solve the mystery o f the location o f W i n l a n d and the identity o f its i n habitants, not even to their o w n satisfaction. W i n l a n d remained a nebulous apparition within Icelandic medieval geography. The evidence o f how the information about the newly encountered lands was processed w i t h i n the parameters o f the dominant system o f defining and classifying knowledge is nevertheless not without interest, as it casts a light on the workings o f that particular system, w h i c h became obsolete in the early modern period.

Sverrir Jakobsson is adjunct lecturer in medieval history at Hskli islands (University of Iceland) in Reykjavik. His research interests include Icelandic and western Scandinavian worldviews in the Middle Ages, medieval thought systems, and the history of space. He has published the book Via og verldin. Heimsmynd Islendinga 1100-1400 (2005), as well as several articles on Scandinavian medieval history.