Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-09-08


Paul du Chaillu, the explorer, at the re-
cent geographical congress in Recital hall,
lauded the vikings as the original dis
coverers of America" and said that five
distinct accounts of five different voyages
by the vikings long before Columbus set
sail from Palos show that the Scandina-
vians discovered this country" He backed
up his opinion with some account of his
own explorations in the land of the vi
kings, where he opened mounds in which
he found Roman coins antedating the
Christian era, fine weapons of Roman
make, Grecian art treasures and other
things which showed that the Norsemen
were seafaring and far sailing people hun
dreds of years before Columbus.
The original of the Flatey book has be-
longed to the Royal library at Copenhagen
since 1862 1t gets its name from the fact
that it was discovered on the island of
Flatey in the Brede ford. 1t is priceless
historical document, altogether too pre-
cious to risk sending to the fair, which ac-
counts for the facsimile being furnished
in it's place. 1t is folio manuscript bound
in two volumes. Its pages are divided
into two written columns and illuminated
with those quaint devices so dear to the
heart of the monkish photographer. 1t is
supposed to have been written about the
year 1915.
1t narrates in graphic style how Left the
Lucky son of Eric the Red, sailed along
the coast of North America and named
various porti>ls of the continent after
what appeared to him to be their charac-
teristc features. The place he called Hellu-
land (trom bella, a fat stone) is believed to
be Labrador. MARYLAND (meaning forest
land) is probably what we call Nova Scotia
while there are good reasons for thinking
that Nineland is now known as the state
of Massachusetts, where traces of prehis-
torc settlements have been found which
which seem 10 bear out the statement of
the saga that Left built huts and wintered
there
After Leif's return to Greenland his
brother Thorwald made voyage and
reached the place where Left had built his
huts. He was killed in combat with the
natives, whom the Norseman called Skrel-
lings, and was buried at place where he
had expressed a desire to make his home.
His followers returned to Greenland, and
| Thorstein, the third son of Eric the Red,
set out, accompanied by his wife, Gudrid,
| to bring his brothers body home. He did
! not succeed, for he was driven ashore on
! the western coast of Greenland, where he
| and many of his men died. Gudrid how
ever, found her way back to Lief, her broth
/ er-in-law, who gave her a home, and she
was a prime mover in the next expedition,
which was undertaken with the definite
purpose of settling colony in Nineland.
Having married high born Icelander
named Karlsefui, Gudrid urged him to
join the expedition, of which he seems to
have become the leader. They reached
! Nineland and located on an island inhab-
tied by so many cider ducks that their eggs
Law scattered all over the ground. Here
Gudrid gave birth to son, Snarri, who
pfterward became great man in Iceland.
The settlers appear to have done some
profitable trading with the Skrellings for
awhile, but they finally quarreled, and after
several attacks by the savages karlsefui
resolved to return to Greenland.
The last expedition to Nineland of which
the saga gave an account was made by
Freydis, the daughter of Eric the Red Ac-
companied by considerable number OF
men and women, among whom were Helgi
and Finbagi, two brothers of Icelandic de
scent, she landed near the place where her
brother Left had once built huts. The ac-
count given of this undertaking is chiefly a
record of Freydis' attempts to incite her
husbands resentment against Helgi and
Finbagi, in which she was so successful
that the brothers and all who sided with
Them were slain, after which she and her
husband, with their followers, returned to
Greenland, pretending to have left the rest
of their companions alive and well in the
foreign country.
From all of which it would seem to be es-
tablished that the terrible lurs or war horns
of the vikings had sounded on American
shores long before the days Of Columbus,
as they had unQuestiOnably sounded on
tn ose of England, France, Spain and Italy
when the vikings landed there.
C. T. BAXTER.