Eir

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Eiríks saga rauða

• SS 476 Discussion
• 8 February 2005

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Agenda

• Background
• The texts
• The places
• The people
• Things to look for
• Recap of the saga
• Questions for group discussion

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Background The texts

• Two Vinland Sagas
• Eiríks saga rauða
• Grœnlendiga Saga
• Timeframe
• Action c. 970 1030
• Writing c. 1220 1280
• Some overlap, some divergence between the two
  texts
• Historical roots are quite noticeable in these
  two sagas
• We will focus only on The Saga of Eirik the Red

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Background The places

• Iceland
• Greenland
• Eastern Settlement, Eiriksfjord
• Western Settlement
• Helluland
• Markland
• Vinland

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Background Regional map
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Background Places in Greenland
Present-day Eiriksfjord (Eastern Settlement)
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Background Getting from place to place

• From Stad in Norway it is 7 doegr sailing to
  Horn, on Icelands east coast but from
  Snaefelsnes, in Iceland, it takes 4 doegr to sail
  to Kvarv in Greenland. From Herdla nr. Bergen
  in Norway one is to sail directly westward to
  reach Kvarv in Greenlandsail south of Iceland,
  but only so far away that one can see the birds
  and whales common in Icelandic waters
  -Hauksbok c. 1334

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Background The people

• Note The Viking era robe and axe at right were
  found in Greenland
• Eirik and his sons Leif, Thorstein, Thorvald
• Thorfinn Karlsefni and Gudrid Thorbjornardottir
  and their son Snorri
• Others to watch for Aud, Freydis, Thorhall the
  Huntsman, Bjarni Grimolfsson

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Things to look for

• Six sections of a typical saga
• Introduction, Conflict, Climax, Revenge,
  Reconciliation, Aftermath
• Honor
• Role and portrayal of women
• Conflict between old, new religions

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Recap of the saga (1 of 14)

• Section 1
• Gudrids ancestry traced back to Vifil, a slave
  of Aud the Deep-minded and King Olaf the White of
  Dublin
• Olaf dies, Aud takes charge, moves self and son,
  Thorstein, to Hebrides
• Thorstein dies, Aud takes charge again, moves to
  Iceland, claims land, builds a church
• Aud sets Vifil free

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Recap of the saga (2 of 14)

• Section 2
• Eirik the Red and father flee from Norway to
  Iceland because of some killings.
• Eirik gets involved in more killings and is
  outlawed
• Full outlawry Banished for life, property
  forfeit, can be killed without redress, etc
• Lesser outlawry Banished for three years,
  property not forfeit, enclosure, can return
  later and continue a normal life

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Recap of the saga (3 of 14)

• Section 2 ctd
• Eirik explores Greenland, claims land and settles
  there
• Eirik returns after sentence is up and recruits
  people to move to Greenland
• Section 3
• Thorbjorn moves to Greenland daughter Gudrid
  comes along

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Recap of the saga (4 of 14)

• Section 3 ctd
• Great famine in Greenland
• Gudrid compelled to help seeress Thorbjorg in
  pagan rite against her will
• Thorbjorg prophesies end of famine, Gudrids
  marriage to Thorstein, Gudrids future in
  Iceland, success of Gudrids offspring

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Recap of the saga (5 of 14)

• Section 4
• Leif sails to Norway to stay with King Olaf
• Blown off course to Hebrides
• Fathers child with Thorgunna
• King Olaf charges Leif with Christianization of
  Greenland
• Leif sails back to Greenland
• Blown off course to unknown lands, brings back
  samples of wild rice, grapes, timber, maple, etc
• Rescues shipwrecked men, earns moniker The Lucky

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Recap of the saga (6 of 14)

• Section 4 ctd
• Leif preaches Christianity in Greenland
• Eirik does not accept Christianity
• Eiriks wife, Thjodhild, converts, builds church
  (ruins discovered in 1960s), moves out
• Greenlanders decide to find lands Leif described
• Eirik to come along, hides chest of gold, silver
• Eirik falls off horse, tells wife where chest is

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Recap of the saga (7 of 14)

• Section 4 ctd
• Voyage is storm-tossed all summer, they see
  Iceland, birds from Ireland, return to Greenland
• Thorstein marries Gudrid
• Thorstein dies, comes back from dead, tells
  Gudrid to be a good Christian, change burial
  practices, give money to poor, not marry a
  Greenlander, dies again

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Recap of the saga (8 of 14)

• Section 4 ctd
• Thorbjorn (Gudrids father) dies, Gudrid inherits
  his property
• Gudrid taken in, protected by Eirik
• Section 5
• Thorfinn comes to Greenland, stays with Eirik
• Thorfinn finances Eiriks Christmas festivities
• Throfinn marries Gudrid, they winter with Eirik

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Recap of the saga (9 of 14)

• Section 5 ctd
• Large voyage, led by Throfinn, to seek out
  Vinland - 160 people, including
• Thorhall described as a bad Christian
• Eirik the Reds (illegitimate?) daughter Freydis
• Sail to Western Settlement, then to Bear Isles,
  then two days to Helluland
• Sail two days to heavily forested Markland and
  Bjarney

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Recap of the saga (10 of 14)

• Section 5 ctd
• Sail south along land to Kjalarnes, Furdustrands
• Send two (possibly fictional) Scots on 3 day
  running trek they return with wild grain and
  grapes
• Unload at Straumsfjord to make winter camp
• Bad food situation, pray, but no answer, Thorhall
  disappears

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Recap of the saga (11 of 14)

• Section 5 ctd
• Thorhall found chanting mysteriously
• Beached whale turns up, Thorhall credits Thor,
  disparages Christ
• Crew disposes of whale and weather improves
• Thorhall and nine others decide to search for
  Vinland on own, blown off course to Ireland,
  where they die as slaves

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Recap of the saga (12 of 14)

• Section 6
• Thorfinn and crew sail to Hop
• Skrælings come for the first time
• Thorfinn and crew winter in Hop
• Skrælings return in spring to trade furs for
  cloth Thorfinn forbids trading weapons
• Thorfinns bull gets loose, Skrælings frightened,
  flee, disappear for three weeks

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Recap of the saga (13 of 14)

• Section 6 ctd
• Skrælings return for vengeance, Vikings flee
• Pregnant Freydis picks up sword and slaps it to
  breast, Skrælings flee
• Throfinn and company decide to go back to
  Straumsfjord
• On quest to find Thorhall, Uniped kills Thorvald,
  who, while dying, makes a joke about the size of
  his belly

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Recap of the saga (14 of 14)

• Section 6 ctd
• They decide to sail back to Greenland first
  mention of 3 year old Snorri
• One ship, captained by Bjarni Grimolfsson, goes
  off course, starts sinking
• Draw lots for the lifeboat
• Bjarni honorably trades places with crewman,
  mocks his desire to live
• Lifeboat washes up in Dublin, rest drown
• Thorfinn and Gudrid settle in Iceland, three
  bishops among descendants, prophecy fulfilled

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Questions for group discussion

• Why do we still find this story interesting?

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Questions for group discussion

• Who is the hero of this saga?
• Eirik?
• Leif?
• Thorfinn?
• Gudrid?

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Questions for group discussion

• Does this saga fit the structure described in
  lecture?
• Introduction
• Conflict
• Climax
• Revenge
• Reconciliation
• Aftermath

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Questions for group discussion

• What can we say about the role that women play in
  this saga?
• Aud
• Freydis
• Compare to Greenlanders saga
• Gudrid

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Questions for group discussion

• How is religion treated in this saga?
• Does our answer about the structure of the text
  change if we consider the two combatants are
  Christianity and Paganism?
• Gudrids lineage followed by Eiriks lineage
• Thorbjorgs prophecy
• Thorsteins prophecy
• Thorhall and the whale
• Gudrids progeny pagan prophecy fulfilled with
  three bishops!

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Bibliography

• Images from the web
• Eiriksfjord, map of Greenland http//www.archaeol
  ogy.org/online/features/greenland/
• Regional map http//www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage
  /subset/markland/environment.html
• Garments from Greenland http//www.heritage.nf.ca
  /exploration/norse.html
• Texts
• Thorsson, Örnólfur. 2000. Sagas of Icelanders.
  London Penguin.
• Tornöe, J. Kr. 1965. Norsemen Before Columbus.
  Oslo Universitetsforlaget.