Eirik the Reds Saga | Page 4

gifts among the
guests, and then the feast was brought to an end, and they departed to
their own homesteads. Thorbjorn sold his lands, and bought a ship
which had been laid up on shore at the mouth of the Hraunhofn
(harbour of the lava field). Thirty men ventured on the expedition with
him. There was Orm, from Arnarstapi, and his wife, and those friends
of Thorbjorn who did not wish to be separated from him. Then they
launched the ship, and set sail with a favourable wind. But when they
came out into the open sea the favourable wind ceased, and they
experienced great gales, and made but an ill-sped voyage throughout
the summer. In addition to that trouble, there came fever upon the
expedition, and Orm died, and Halldis, his wife, and half the company.
Then the sea waxed rougher, and they endured much toil and misery in
many ways, and only reached Herjolfsnes, in Greenland, at the very
beginning of winter. There dwelt at Herjolfsnes the man who was
called Thorkell. He was a useful man and most worthy franklin. He
received Thorbjorn and all his ship's company for the winter, assisting
them in right noble fashion. This pleased Thorbjorn well and his
companions in the voyage.
At that time there was a great dearth in Greenland; those who had been
out on fishing expeditions had caught little, and some had not returned.

There was in the settlement the woman whose name was Thorbjorg.
She was a prophetess (spae-queen), and was called Litilvolva (little
sybil). She had had nine sisters, and they were all spae-queens, and she
was the only one now living. It was a custom of Thorbjorg, in the
winter time, to make a circuit, and people invited her to their houses,
especially those who had any curiosity about the season, or desired to
know their fate; and inasmuch as Thorkell was chief franklin
thereabouts, he considered that it concerned him to know when the
scarcity which overhung the settlement should cease. He invited,
therefore, the spae-queen to his house, and prepared for her a hearty
welcome, as was the custom whereever a reception was accorded a
woman of this kind. A high seat was prepared for her, and a cushion
laid thereon in which were poultry-feathers. Now, when she came in
the evening, accompanied by the man who had been sent to meet her,
she was dressed in such wise that she had a blue mantle over her, with
strings for the neck, and it was inlaid with gems quite down to the skirt.
On her neck she had glass beads. On her head she had a black hood of
lambskin, lined with ermine. A staff she had in her hand, with a knob
thereon; it was ornamented with brass, and inlaid with gems round
about the knob. Around her she wore a girdle of soft hair, and therein
was a large skin-bag, in which she kept the talismans needful to her in
her wisdom. She wore hairy calf-skin shoes on her feet, with long and
strong-looking thongs to them, and great knobs of latten at the ends. On
her hands she had gloves of ermine-skin, and they were white and hairy
within. Now, when she entered, all men thought it their bounden duty
to offer her becoming greetings, and these she received according as
the men were agreeable to her. The franklin Thorkell took the
wise-woman by the hand, and led her to the seat prepared for her. He
requested her to cast her eyes over his herd, his household, and his
homestead. She remained silent altogether. During the evening the
tables were set; and now I must tell you what food was made ready for
the spae-queen. There was prepared for her porridge of kid's milk, and
hearts of all kinds of living creatures there found were cooked for her.
She had a brazen spoon, and a knife with a handle of walrus-tusk,
which was mounted with two rings of brass, and the point of it was
broken off. When the tables were removed, the franklin Thorkell
advanced to Thorbjorg and asked her how she liked his homestead, or

the appearance of the men; or how soon she would ascertain that which
he had asked, and which the men desired to know. She replied that she
would not give answer before the morning, after she had slept there for
the night. And when the (next) day was far spent, the preparations were
made for her which she required for the exercise of her enchantments.
She begged them to bring to her those women who were acquainted
with the lore needed for the exercise of the enchantments, and which is
known by the name of Weird-songs, but no such women came forward.
Then was search