it exists in two different versions, of which one seems to
have been made in the north, the other in the west, of Iceland. The
western version is the earlier and in some respects the better. It is
found in two vellums, that of the great collection known as _Hauks-bok_
(AM. 544), and that which is simply known as AM. 557 from its catalogue
number in Arni Magnusson's collection. Of these the former, which is the
best preserved, was written in a beautiful hand by Hauk Erlendsson,
between 1305 and 1334, the year of his death. This western version is
the one which has generally been printed under the title, "Saga of
Thorfinn Karlsefni." It is the one to which I have most frequently
referred in the present chapter.[239]

[Footnote 239: It is printed in Rafn, pp. 84-187, and in
_Groenlands historiske Mindesmaerker_, i. 352-443. The most
essential part of it may now be found, under its own name, in
Vigfusson's _Icelandic Prose Reader_, pp. 123-140.]

[Sidenote: The northern or Flateyar-bok version.]

The northern version is that which was made about the year 1387 by the
priest Jon Thordharson, and contained in the famous compilation known as
the _Flateyar-bok_, or "Flat Island Book."[240] This priest was editing
the saga of King Olaf Tryggvesson, which is contained in that
compilation, and inasmuch as Leif Ericsson's presence at King Olaf's
court was connected both with the introduction of Christianity into
Greenland and with the discovery of Vinland, Jon paused, after the
manner of mediaeval chroniclers, and inserted then and there what he knew
about Eric and Leif and Thorfinn. In doing this, he used parts of the
original saga of Eric the Red (as we find it reproduced in the western
version), and added thereunto a considerable amount of material
concerning the Vinland voyages derived from other sources. Jon's version
thus made has generally been printed under the title, "Saga of Eric the
Red."[241]

[Footnote 240: It belonged to a man who lived on Flat Island,
in one of the Iceland fiords.]

[Footnote 241: It is printed in Rafn, pp. 1-76, under the title
"Thaettir af Eireki Rauda ok Graenlendingum." For a critical
account of these versions, see Storm, _op. cit._ pp. 319-325; I
do not, in all respects, follow him in his depreciation of the
Flateyar-bok version.]

[Sidenote: Presumption against sources not contemporary.]