DOCUMENTARY SOURCES 5 



the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, particularly that writ- 

 ten by Jon Thordarson, the priest, in the renowned 

 "Flatey Book."^ It forms two interpolated portions, 

 and they are called the "Tale of Eric the Red" and 

 the "Tale of the Greenlanders" respectively.^ It seems 

 probable that they are based to some extent on the 

 original "Saga of Eric the Red" either in its written 

 or oral form. It is evident, however, that the tradi- 

 tion has undergone many changes, been added to and 

 thus become less reliable j hence these tales are not to 

 be depended upon whenever they contradict the Saga. 

 Yet they cannot be disregarded entirely. The best 

 edition of them is by Gustav Storm (together with the 

 "Saga of Eric the Red") and both he and Finnur 

 Jonsson agree as to their slight historical value.'' 



The narrative of Leif's voyage from Norway and 

 his discoveries in the summer of 1000 as presented in 

 the "Saga of Eric the Red," Hauk's Book text, is as 

 follows: 



^ See Flateyjarbok (edited by G. Vig-fusson and C. R. Unger, 3 vols., 

 Christiania, i86o), Vol. i, pp. 429-432 and 538-549. Those portions 

 are given in facsimile with English translation in A. M. Reeves, The 

 Finding of Wineland the Good, London, 1890. A facsimile edition of 

 the whole Flatey Book was issued by Levin and Munksgaard, Copen- 

 hagen, 1930. 



^ In all probability these formed one continuous account, as Gustav 

 Storm and others have maintained. He and others call them both the 

 "Tale of the Greenlanders," and they will be so referred to here. 

 Sometimes they have been called the "Saga of Eric the Red." 



^ Aarh0ger for Nord. Oldk. og Hist., 1887, pp. 305-313, and 19 15, 

 pp. 205-221. 



