THORFINN KARLSEFNI 15 



they prayed to God for help. The weather thereupon 

 improved, and they could now row out and fish j and 

 thereafter there was no lack of provisions, there was 

 game on the land, eggs on the island, and fish in the 

 sea." 



One draws the conclusion from the narrative that 

 the voyage was essentially one of colonization 5 that 

 is why so many went there, 1 60 men and women, and 

 carried livestock with them. However, it is not ex- 

 plained why Thorfinn went first north to the Western 

 Settlement, before leaving Greenland. Some have 

 conjectured that it had something to do with the 

 property that Gudrid inherited there through Thor- 

 stein, her first husband. It has also been suggested 

 that Thorfinn and his men preferred to leave from 

 the Western Settlement because with a northerly wind 

 they could take a more westerly course than if they 

 set out from the Eastern Settlement.^® The location 

 of Bear Island, to which Thorfinn and his men sailed 

 from the Western Settlement, is an open question. 

 An ancient description of Greenland declares that it 

 lies towards the north, nine days' rowing from Lysu- 

 f jord j further, that it takes twelve days to row around 

 it. In view of this, it would appear that the island 

 referred to in the Saga is the island of Disko, although, 



^^ H. P. Steensby, The Norsemen's Route from Greenland to Wine- 

 land, Copenhagen, 191 8, pp. 33ff. 



