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The last tale tells of Thorfinn Karlsefni, his wife Gudrid Thorbjarnadottir and Erik the Red's daughter Freydis and their explorations in Vinland.

MONK
Ah yes! Tale me the famous tale of Karlsefni and Gudrid. That's a tale I want to hear.

THORFINN
Thorstein left a widow, beautiful and intelligent, the Christian woman Gudrid Thorbjarnadottir. Which brings us to the longest of the tales about Vinland: The journey of Karlsefni and Gudrid.

Gudrid lived in the house of her husband's father, Erik the Red. They were visited there by a rich trader named Thorfinn Karlsefni. Not long after, Gudrid and Karlsefni were married, and not long after that, they thought they would explore Vinland.

He hired a crew. With sixty men, five women, and all sorts of livestock, they set sail to Vinland and to Leif' s Camp. They spent a harsh winter at Leif's Camp, then explored further south, and made a new camp in a place they called "Hop" (or "Tidal Pool").

One morning skraelings arrived, in nine boats, twirling wooden poles which made a swishing sound. Karlsefni said, "What do you suppose that means?"

His shipmate, Snorri replied, "It may be a sign of peace. We should wave the white shield." Which they did, and then the natives came ashore. They were short people with fierce features, broad-cheeked, and with tangled hair. They seemed astonished at the sight of the Vikings.

In the next spring, more hide-covered boats arrived, so many that the water seemed strewn with charcoal. They landed and started trading dark pelts for red cloth. They also wanted swords and spears, but Snorri and Karlsefni would not let that happen. Instead, the Vikings offered milk and cheese to trade. Suddenly a bull from the ship's livestock charged out of the forest, bellowing loudly, and the natives fled in fear. They rowed away to the south again, around the point.

During all this, Karlsefni's wife Gudrid gave birth to a boy. They honored their shipmate and named the infant "Snorri," the first Viking born in Vinland the Good.

MONK
I never knew that Snorri was born in Vinland! His descendents included a long line of Bishops!

THORFINN
So I have heard.

MONK
Oh, this is exciting! Snorri's mother Gudrid made a pilgrimage to Rome! And she set up nunneries in Iceland! ...

THORFINN
Yes, yes, I know. But not all of the explorers were Christians. Let me continue the tale. Not only good things happened in Vinland. Here are the reasons no one has returned.

Erik the Red had an illegitimate daughter named Freydis, a proud and haughty pagan woman. She wanted to go to Vinland as her brothers had done, so when Karlsefni and Gudrid went on their voyage, Freydis and her husband went with them, and settled in Hop.

Just before the second winter began, many more hide-covered boats arrived in Hop. Again they wanted to trade their pelts for weapons, and again Karlsefni said "No" to that. One of Karlsefni's servants killed a skraeling when he caught him stealing weapons, and they all ran away.

Karlsefni said, "We have to make a plan. They will be back again, and many more next time." So, Karlsefni built a palisade around his farm, and they prepared to defend themselves. When the hide-covered boats came again, there were many of them. They were twirling their poles, but in the opposite way, and all of them were shrieking loudly. With their red shields, the crew went down to meet them. And the fighting was hard: arrows were raining down, and the natives had catapults to hurl boulders.

Snorri and Karlsefni saw flying at them a large black orb the size of a sheep's gut, which when it landed made an enormous noise. This struck such fear into Karlsefni and his men that they fled and ran upriver. But as they fled, Freydis came out of the camp, moving slowly because she was pregnant, and called out after them, "You men run away from such miserable enemies! If I had a sword I'd fight better than any of you!"

Freydis then took up the sword of a fallen Viking. "Hah!" she cried, and advanced upon the natives. She bared one of her breasts and slapped it with the sword, and the natives were struck dumb. Then the humiliated Vikings returned, and many skraeling were killed. Those who survived fled in great haste into the forest.

Now Karlsefni knew that though the land was rich, the inhabitants of the place would always attack them. The Vikings spent the winter, but in spring chose to return to Greenland. They readied their ship. With many products of the land aboard -'winewood,' berries, skins and grapes-they sailed back safely and landed in Eriksfjord. Vinland was a beautiful, bountiful place, but far too dangerous for permanent settlement. Or so the stories say. (back to The Sagas introduction.)

Part I "Erik the Red" | Part II "Leif Eriksson" | Part III "Karlsefni and Gudrid"