Unnamed Area West of Vinland in “The Saga of the Greenlanders”

[Thorvald’s expedition]

Chapter 4

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[...]That spring Thorvald said they should make their ship ready and several men were to take the ship's boat and go to the west of the land and explore there during the summer. They thought the land fine and well forested, with white beaches and only a short distance between the forest and the sea. There were many islands and wide stretches of shallow sea.

Nowhere did they see signs of men or animals. On one of the westerly islands they did find a wooden grain cover [hay rick], but discovered no other work by human hands and headed back, returning to Leif's camp in the autumn. [...]

Source: Keneva Kunz, trans., "[Unnamed Area West of Vinland in] The Saga of the Greenlanders" in The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, (New York, London, Victoria (Australia), Toronto, Auckland: The Penguin Group, 2000), 636-652. Notes: Translations first published in "The Complete Sagas of Icelanders," volumes I-V (forty-nine tales), Leifur Eiriksson Publishing, Ltd., Iceland, 1997.

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