﻿126 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 59 



displayed them. The Skrellings sprang from their boats, and they met then, 

 and fought together. There "was a fierce shower of missiles, for the Skrel- 

 lings had war-slings." Karlsefni and Snorri observed, that the Skrellings 

 raised up on poles a great ball-shaped body, almost the size of a sheep's belly, 

 •and nearly black in color, and this they hurled from the pole upon the land 

 above Karlsefni's followers, and it made a frightful noise, where it fell. 

 Whereat a great fear seized upon Karlsefni, and all his men, so that they 

 ■could think of nought but flight .... for it seemed to them, that the troop of 

 Skrellings was rushing towards them from every side, and they did not pause, 

 until they came to certain jutting crags where they offered a stout resistance. 

 Freydis came out, and seeing that Karlsefni and his men were fleeing, she 

 cried : " Why do ye flee from these wretches, such worthy men as ye, when, 

 me-seems, ye might slaughter them like cattle ? Had I but a weapon, methinks, 

 I would fight better than any one of you." They gave no heed to her words. 

 Freydis sought to join them, but lagged behind, for she was not hale; she 

 followed them, however, into the forest, while the Skrellings pursued her; 

 she found a dead man in front of her; this was Thorbrand, Snorri's son, 

 his skull cleft by a flat stone ; his naked sword lay beside him ; she took it 

 up, and prepared to defend herself with it. The Skrellings then approached 

 her, whereupon she stripped down her shift, and slapped her breast with the 

 naked sword. At this the Skrellings were terrified and ran down to their 

 boats, and rowed away. Karlsefni and his companions, however, joined her 

 and praised her valor. Two of Karlsefni's men had fallen, and four of the 

 Skrellings. Karlsefni's party had been overpowered by dint of superior num- 

 bers. They now returned to their dwellings, and bound up their wounds, and 

 weighed carefully what throng of men that could have been, which had seemed 

 from the land ; it now seemed to them, that there could have been but the 

 one party, that which came from the boats, and that the other troop must 

 have been an ocular delusion. The Skrellings, moreover, found a dead man, 

 and an axe lay beside him. One of their number picked up the axe, and 

 struck at a tree with it, and one after another [they tested it], and it seemed 

 to them to be a treasure, and to cut well ; then one of their people hewed at 

 a stone and broke the axe ; it seemed to him of no use since it would not 

 withstand stone, so he cast it down. 



It now seemed clear to Karlsefni and his people that although the country 

 thereabouts was attractive, their life would be one of constant dread and 

 turmoil by reason of [the hostility of] those who dwelt there before, so they 

 forthwith prepared to leave, and determined to return to their own country. 

 They sailed to the northward off the coast, and found five Skrellings, clad in 

 skin-doublets, lying asleep near the sea. There were vessels beside them,, 

 containing animal marrow, mixed with blood. Karlsefni and his company 

 concluded that they must have been banished from their own land. They 

 put them to death. They afterwards found a cape, upon which there was a 

 great number of animals, and this cape looked as if it were one cake of dung, 

 by reason of the animals which lay there during the winter. They now 

 arrived again at Straumfiord 



It will be instructive to consider this return journey first and in 

 reverse order. The nearest point down the coast from Straumey 

 recorded by the saga is of course the headland covered by the animals. 

 No doubt they were seals, for no land animals would congregate in 



