Norsemen’s route from Greenland to Wineland. LEA 
direction which they had followed up to now they could not avoid 
noticing, but they could not know anything of its further course. 
Now the expedition has spent the winter in Straumfjord, where 
Straumey — Hare Island — was their head-quarters. They are now 
about to go further, so as to find Wineland. Thorhal, the hunter, im- 
mediately wishes to go north, first for the 25—30 km from Hare Island 
to Furdustrands, and then to proceed along this to the right, that is to 
say along the continuation of Furdustrands towards the north-east, or 
however the course of the coast may be found on the unknown side of 
the outlet of Straumfjord. Karlsefni, however, wishes to go southwards, 
as he first wishes to examine Straumfjord closer. It is this which the 
one of the two saga-manuscripts (A. M. 557) thus expresses a little more 
elaborately than the other: “Vill Porhallr veidimadr fara norör um 
Furöustrandir ok fyrir Kjalarnes ok leita svå Vinlands, enn Karlsefni 
vill fara suör fyrir land ok fyrir austan, ok pykkir land pvi meira sem 
suör er meirr, ok pykkir honum pat räöligra, at Каппа hvarttveggja?.” 
When Karlsefni holds out so strongly for the country towards the 
south (i. e. at Straumfjord) being examined at once, and for not waiting 
until the continuation of Furdustrands had been examined, the explana- 
tion possibly lies hidden in the remark made by Karlsefni, that “the 
country would become the bigger -the further south they went,” that 
is to say that the continuation of the Furdustrands south or east of the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence River would not proceed in the former south- 
south-westerly direction, but would swing far towards the east, as it 
showed an inclination to do immediately east of Green Island and opposite 
Saguenay. It is to be presumed that Karlsefni, like a good observer, 
got a suspicion while coasting along the last part of Furdustrands of there 
being much land in a southerly direction. 
Karlsefni wishes, therefore, first to investigate that part of Straum- 
fjord which lies to the south of Straumey, before continuing along Fur- 
dustrands, in case it should eventually prove that Leif’s Wineland was 
not to be found within Straumfjord. 
This statement is a geographically likely interpretation of the ac- 
count. There now follow a few details in the saga as to Thorhal’s enter- 
prises which literally do not quite agree with this interpretation, and 
also, taken literally, are certainly rather meaningless. Thorhal exhorts 
them in a song to “travel back again to where their countrymen are,” 
and further on it is written in the text that Thorhal and his eight 
companions “sailed northwards past Furdustrands and Kjalarnes and 
wished to cross towards the west, but a strong westerly wind rose against 
them and drove them over to Ireland, there they were defeated and 
made slaves, and there, according to what merchants have related, 
Thorhal lost his life.” 
I wonder whether these remarks about travelling back again to 
1 cf. G. Storm, Eiriks Saga Rauda [Copenhagen 1891] p. 35. 
