IN NORTHERN MISTS 



Mayen. As Langanes in particular, the north-east point of 

 Iceland, is mentioned as the starting-point, we should be 

 inclined to think that Svalbard was supposed to lie in a north- 

 easterly direction; it is true that the course to Ireland is 

 calculated from Reykjanes and not from the south-east point 

 of Iceland; but this may be because the voyage was mostly 

 made from the west country. 



The distances given in these sailing directions in the 

 Landnamabok are even less accurate than the points of the 

 compass. From Stad in Norway to the east coast of Iceland 

 is said to be seven " dcegrs' " sail, while from Snaefellsnes to 

 Hvarf is four "doegr," from Reykjanes to Ireland three or 

 five "dcegr," from Langanes to Svalbard four "doegr," and 

 from Kolbeins-ey to the uninhabited parts of Greenland one 

 "doegr." The actual distances are, however, approximately: 

 from Norway to Iceland 548 nautical miles, from Snaefellsnes 

 to Hvarf 692, from Reykjanes to Ireland 712, from Langanes 

 to Spitzbergen 840 (from Langanes to Jan Mayen 288), and 

 from Mevenklint to the east coast of Greenland 184 nautical 

 miles. It is hopeless to look for any system in this; the 

 distances from Iceland to Greenland and from Iceland to 

 Ireland are given as being much less ( 1 and 3 or 5. ) than the 

 distance from Norway to Iceland, whereas in reality they are 

 considerably more. In the fourth part of the " R5niibegla " 

 [1780, p. 482] a "doegr's" sail is given as equal to two 

 degrees of latitude, that is, 120 nautical miles (or twenty-four 

 of the old Norwegian sea leagues), but according to the 

 measurements given there would be eighty nautical miles in 

 a " doegr's " sail between Norway and Iceland, 172 between 

 Iceland and Greenland, and 236 (or 144) between Iceland and 

 Ireland. These measurements of distance are therefore far 

 too uncertain to be of any use in finding Svalbard. According 

 to the scale in the " R5nTibegla " it would be two and a half 

 " doegr " to Jan Mayen, and seven " doegr " to Spitzbergen 

 from Langanes.^ 



1 As already mentioned, a " dcEgr " was half a day of twenty-four hours, 

 170 



