12 DANIEL BRUUN. 
or Broadfiord) thereafter he steered to the south east part of the fiord, as 
far as the mouth of the Hvammsfiord which is filled with rocks and is- 
lands, through which there runs a rapid current, which however a 
capable seaman ought to be able to manage. In Hvammsfiord there is a 
landing place, which is still used and where in the Saga age several 
commercial stalls were found, wherefrom the place has derived its name 
Budardal. There was not more than about an hour and a quarters ride 
from here to the place in Haukadal where, Éric and his bride were to 
settle. 
When one rides from the head of Hvammsfiord into the Haukadal 
(valley), one passes fine farms and good fields, and it is a delightful 
sight on a summer day to gaze over the mountains which are not very 
high, and see the harvesters at work, since hay in Iceland is brought 
home to the farms on horseback, in big bundles one on each side of the 
horse. Or one sees the sheep grazing on the slopes of the valley under 
the charge of a boy whose cries one hears from afar. But far away over 
the vast expanse of mountains, the young cattle and lambs lead a free 
life until they are driven home in the autumn. 
Alter an hour’s ride or so one reaches a fresh water lake (Vatn) 
surrounded by meadows, where gnats swarm. Down by the lake lies 
a farm Stora Vatnshorn (Big Vatnshorn) and also a church. We are now 
in the district where Eric the Red’s mother-in-law lived with her se- 
cond husband as it is told in “Vatn” (most likely Stora Vatnshorn). A 
little further along we reach the place where Eric “cleared the ground” 
and fixed his residence. He called his new farm Æricsstad after his own 
name; he generally liked later on, to name places, where he stayed 
in the same manner. On the slopes of the valley one sees the site of 
Ericsstad which has been dug out by the Icelander Ærlingsson. Their 
position on the adjacent grounds to Stora Vatnshorn shows that 
Thorbiorn had given Eric the ground. His wife was now near her mother, 
and the conditions here compared to those at Drangar were less labori- 
ous and more attractive. It is doubtful whether Eric could put up 
with this quiet existence after being used to very much harder con- 
ditions. Meanwhile the site of the habitation shows how extremely 
frugal a freeborn man could live at that time in Iceland. To begin 
with, Eric had to be satisfied with a colonist’s habitation, until he had 
the farm in order and the fields cleared, first then he could think of 
establishing a proper abode — but he had to leave before he had got 
so far. 
The want of timber to a great extent was the cause why colonists 
in Iceland as a rule were obliged to build their houses, both in- and out- 
houses, with thick walls of earth aad turf, the gables at the very most 
were made of timber or boards. The ruin at Ericsstad consists of two 
houses with united sidewalls, whose length on the inside is a. 14 m each 
with a corresponding breadth of a. 4% m. There was an entrance to 
