Norsemen’s route from Greenland to Wineland. 157 
the 17 century that Wineland’s name was once more drawn into lite- 
rature, and in reality it was first Тновмор Torrzus who, in 1705, 
through his treatise “Vinlandia” really seriously drew the attention 
of the literary world to the Norsemen’s ancient discovery of America. 
Finally in 1837 С. С. Rarn’s Antiquitates Americane came out, and gave 
the literary world a summary of the Icelandic accounts of the Wine- 
land voyages. 
Both Torfæus and Rafn, as well as all the other authors of this 
period, gave Flateyarbök’s Graenlendingapättr as the chief source on 
which they founded their observations. When examining Wineland’s 
geographical position they still started from where it is related about 
the duration of the day at the winter solstice in Wineland that “there 
was less difference in the length of the day than in Greenland or Ice- 
land, the sun there had “eykt’’-position and “dagmäl”-position at the 
winter solstice”. 
Long discussions have been carried on about the meaning of these 
words. The difficulty of explaining this passage is, that there was a 
difference of opinion concerning the significance of the word eykt. In 
that respect Gustav Storm has no doubt said the decisive word, by his 
thorough examination of the word’s signification in Iceland and in Nor- 
way. Storm has come to the result that it can be taken for granted that 
Wineland does not lie further north than 49° 55’, whereas a corresponding 
southern limit to the position cannot be given on the basis of the stated 
attitudes of the sun during the winter solstice 1. 
To localize Wineland more accurately, astronomically, was according 
to Storm’s view — and without doubt correctly — an impossibility ; 
therefore he completely dismissed the attempt which С. С. Rafn had 
made to prove that Wineland was Rhode Island. Storm himself tried 
another way, starting from the information which especially Eric the 
Red’s saga gives about the voyages and the countries visited. There- 
fore he had first to prove that it is the saga and not the райг that is 
the most valuable historical source. 
Everyone can see that with Storm’s work a great stride forward 
was taken in the direction of clear judgment both of the sources 
and of the position of the countries mentioned. In any case concerning 
the position of the first country on the way to Wineland, namely Hellu- 
land, which Storm decided as the north-east coast of Labrador, against 
which no serious objections were raised later on. 
In reality there are, from a purely geographical view, hardly any 
other possibilities than Labrador in the present connection. That Mark- 
land, which means “forest-land,’ thereafter must be placed on the wood- 
clad coast regions which lie to the south of the treeless north-eastern 
coast of Labrador there can be no particular doubt; but here more 
1Gustav Storm: Studier over Vintandsrejserne; Aarboger for Nordisk Old- 
kyndighed og Historie, Kobenhavn 1887, p. 293 ff. 
