herman during the summer, and as his steward during the
winter. Thorhall was stout and swarthy, and of giant stature; he was a
man of few words, though given to abusive language, when he did speak,
and he ever incited Eric to evil. He was a poor Christian; he had a wide
knowledge of the unsettled regions. He was on the same ship with Thorvard
and Thorvald. They had that ship which Thorbiorn had brought out. They
had in all one hundred and sixty men, when they sailed to the Western
Settlement,[32-1] and thence to Bear Island. Thence they bore away to the
southward two "doegr."[32-2] Then they saw land, and launched a boat,
and explored the land, and found there large flat stones [_hellur_], and
many of these were twelve ells wide; there were many Arctic foxes there.
They gave a name to the country, and called it Helluland [the land of
flat stones]. Then they sailed with northerly winds two "doegr," and
land then lay before them, and upon it was a great wood and many wild
beasts; an island lay off the land to the south-east, and there they
found a bear, and they called this Biarney [Bear Island], while the land
where the wood was they called Markland [Forest-land]. Thence they
sailed southward along the land for a long time, and came to a cape; the
land lay upon the starboard; there were long strands and sandy banks
there. They rowed to the land and found upon the cape there the keel of
a ship, and they called it there Kialarnes [Keelness]; they also called
the strands Furdustrandir [Wonder-strands], because they were so long to
sail by.[33-1] Then the country became indented with bays, and they
steered their ships into a bay. It was when Leif was with King Olaf
Tryggvason, and he bade him proclaim Christianity to Greenland, that the
king gave him two Gaels; the man's name was Haki, and the woman's
Haekia. The king advised Leif to have recourse to these people, if he
should stand in need of fleetness, for they were swifter than deer. Eric
and Leif had tendered Karlsefni the services of this couple. Now when
they had sailed past Wonder-strands, they put the Gaels ashore, and
directed them to run to the southward, and investigate the nature of the
country, and return again before the end of the third half-day. They
were each clad in a garment, which they called "kiafal,"[33-2] which was
so fashioned, that it had a hood at the top, was open at the sides, was
sleeveless, and was fastened between the legs with buttons and loops,