The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503 | Page 5

internal evidence, however, Dr. Storm of
the University of Christiania thinks that this original account was a late
production, possibly of the fourteenth century.[4-1] It is, moreover,
evident that this original account was quite different from the one from
which the existing "Saga of Eric the Red" was made, so that we have
two distinct accounts of the same set of events, both separately derived
from oral tradition, a fact which, on account of the lack of harmony in
details, has been the source of much confusion, but which nevertheless
gives strong testimony concerning the verity of the Vinland tradition in
its general outlines.
The saga which has best stood the test of modern criticism, namely the
"Saga of Eric the Red," has beyond this fact the additional advantage of
having come down to us in two different vellums. The one is found in
Hauk's Book, No. 544 of the Arne-Magnæan Collection in Copenhagen,
and the other is in No. 557 of the same collection. These two narratives
(in vellums 544 and 557) tell the same story. They are so closely allied
that the translation which appears in this volume has been made from a
collation of both texts, that of Hauk's Book (544) having been more
closely followed.[5-1] The Hauk's Book text is clearly legible; No. 557
is not in such good condition.
Many facts in the life of Hauk Erlendsson, who with the assistance of
two secretaries made Hauk's Book, are known. He was in 1294 made a
"lawman" in Iceland, and died in Norway in 1334. There are reasons
for believing that the vellum bearing his name was written a number of
years before his death, probably during the period 1310-1320. Hauk
was particularly interested in the "Saga of Eric the Red," as he was

descended from Thorfinn Karlsefni, the principal character of the saga,
a fact that perhaps lends a certain authority to this version as against
that of the Flat Island Book. Hauk brings the genealogical data of the
saga down to his own time, which is not done in No. 557, one fact
among others which shows that 557 is not a copy of 544.
The early history of AM. 557 is not known. The orthography and hand
indicate that it was made later than Hauk's Book, probably in the early
part of the fifteenth century. Vigfusson considered it a better text than
the Hauk's Book version, though rougher and less carefully written.[5-2]
Other critics (Jonsson and Gering) consider 544 the safer text.
In regard to the date of composition of the archetype, it may be
remarked that both 544 and 557 speak of Bishop Brand "the Elder,"
which presupposes a knowledge of the second Bishop Brand, whose
accession occurred in 1263. Before this date, therefore, the originals
used in making 544 and 557 could not have been written. But this
mention of Bishop Brand "the Elder" does not, we think, give an
adequate basis for fixing the date of the composition of the saga, as Dr.
Storm believes, who places it somewhere between 1263 and 1300, with
an inclination toward the earlier date. Dr. Finnur Jonsson,[6-1] who
accepts Dr. Storm's opinion in other respects, says on this point: "The
classic form of the saga and its vivid and excellent tradition surely
carry it back to about 1200.... To assume that the saga was first written
down about 1270 or after, I consider to be almost an impossibility."
Nor does this conservative opinion by Dr. Jonsson preclude the
possibility, or even probability, that written accounts of the Vinland
voyages existed before this date. John Fiske's[6-2] well-considered
opinion of this same saga (544 and 557) has weight: "Its general
accuracy in the statement and grouping of so many remote details is
proof that its statements were controlled by an exceedingly strong and
steady tradition,--altogether too strong and steady, in my opinion, to
have been maintained simply by word of mouth." And Vigfusson,[6-3]
in speaking of the sagas in general, says: "We believe that when once
the first saga was written down, the others were in quick succession
committed to parchment, some still keeping their original form through
a succession of copies, others changed. The saga time was short and

transitory, as has been the case with the highest literary periods of
every nation, whether we look at the age of Pericles in Athens, or of
our own Elizabeth in England, and that which was not written down
quickly, in due time, was lost and forgotten forever."
The absence of contemporary record has caused some American
historians to view the narratives of the Vinland voyages as ordinary
hearsay. But it is important to remember that before the age of writing
in Iceland there was a saga-telling age, a most remarkable period of
intellectual activity, by means of which