X THE VINLAND VOYAGES 



It is not conceivable that a man in Ireland should 

 know so precisely this distinction between direct sun- 

 light and bright twilight on the south coast of Iceland 

 without either having been there himself or, as Dicuil 

 expressly states, possessing the testimony of men who 

 had been there. 



About the time when the Irish began to visit Ice- 

 land in a type of ship that must have been more 

 efficient if not more seaworthy than coracles, there 

 were a dozen or a score of independent kings and 

 earls in Norway. Then, after the middle of the ninth 

 century, one of the petty kings named Harald the 

 Fairhaired developed a military and organizing gen- 

 ius, overthrew his fellow kings, and welded the coun- 

 try into a single monarchy. Princelings who had lived 

 by taxation or its equivalent did not find it pleasant 

 to take orders and pay tribute. This brought about 

 what has been described as the only large-scale migra- 

 tion in history where the nobility moved out and the 

 peasantry remained at home. But it is to be remem- 

 bered that the emigrating Norse nobility were accom- 

 panied by their retainers and also by their slaves, so 

 that, while a great many of the upper classes were 

 involved, there were also concerned numbers of every 

 grade below them. 



The biggest lot of expatriates were those who con- 

 quered France to become the rulers of Normandy 



