22 



Thus there is neither linguistically, geographically nor his- 

 torically any objection to be urged against the supposition that 

 the Skrælings, whom the old Icelanders in the saga claim to 

 have seen on the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia about 

 the year 1000, really were Eskimo. 



When did the Norsemen first come across the Eskimo in 

 Greenland? 



In "Speculum regale", which othenvise carefully and at 

 length describes the curiosities of Greenland, there is not the 

 slightest indication of the existence of Skrælings. This work 

 was written about 1250*). 



But not long after this we have the first account of how 

 fresh traces of Skrælings had been found in the north of 

 Greenland. This is the account given by the Icelandic "lögmaör"' 

 Haukr Erlendsson, who in the year 1320 collected and copied 

 historical documents referring to Iceland and Norway**). His 

 work (Hauksbök) contained a letter***), where it was indirectly 

 stated that the Norse Greenlanders were accustomed to start 

 out on long expeditions toward the north from their colonies in 

 South Greenland. This is confirmed by some extant fragments 

 of a couple of sagas which are otherwise lost. They tell us 

 that all the storbœndr (chief landowners) in Greenland owned 

 big ships which had been built to be sent to the northern 



place, -nmt or -тип: to, toward. There are elements in the four 

 Skræling words which remind us of these Eskimo word». 

 ') F. Jonsson . "Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie" (1898), 

 Vol. II, p. 995. 



*•) Ibid. Vol.11, p. 594. 



***) Hauksbök, ed. Copenhagen 1892—96, p. 500. — Grönlands Instoriske 

 Mindesmærker, Vol. Ill, pp. 239 11'. — Antiquitates Americanæ, Hafniæ 

 1837, pp. 269 — 276 The letter is preserved in only one copy made by 

 the Icelander Björn Jonsson (1574 — 1656). 



