28 



Vesterbygd'\ we read here. Ivar himself had been one of the 

 men in Greenland whom the governor had appointed to go to 

 Vesterbygd to expel the Skrælings. They found Vesterbygd 

 entirely laid waste and completely deserted, so it seems as if 

 the Skrælings, for the time being, had withdrawn. 



The next account that л\е have of a conflict between 

 Skrælings and Norsemen goes back to the year 1418. In a 

 bull by Pope Nicolai V dated Sept. 20, 1448*), it is stated 

 that '•Hhe barbarians from the adjacent coasts of the heathen 

 arrived 30 years ago tvith a fleet, attacked the Norman poptda- 

 tion, destroyed a number of their churches and took many 

 captives. But most of these captives returned later from their 

 captivity and reconstructed their dwellings''. — The attack this 

 time was on Østerbygd, and, as it is seen, the population 

 here was not altogether exterminated, but recovered again, even 

 if it was only to die a lingering death. 



At that time, the communication with Iceland and Norway 

 had already long been inconsiderable. This is evident from the 

 scarcity of information about the ships which sailed to Green- 

 land. According to the Icelandic annals, there came a ship to 

 Straumsfjord in Iceland in 1347, which was on the way from 

 Greenland to Markland (Newfoundland), but which had been 

 driven by a storm to Iceland. In 1368, a ship brought the 

 last bishop (Alfr) to Greenland. He lived there ten years, but 

 the news of his death did not rearch Norway until in the year 

 1383**). In 1385 it is related that four ships sailed to Green- 

 land and remained there two winters. One of them was com- 

 manded by Björn Einarson Jorsalafari, who in Greenland 

 took two young "trolls", that is, Eskimos, to himself***). 



found in Gr. hist. Mindesm. Ill, p. 248 IT., cf. pp. 461 11'. and in Med- 

 delelser 0. Gr. XX, p. 322 ff. 



Liber XXIII, Registri Bullarum p. 261, cf. Gr. hist. Mindesm. Ill, 166,466. 

 F. Jonsson : Den isl.-grönl. kolonis historie p. 543, in Nordisk Tidskrift 

 for Vetenskap, Konst och Industri. 1893. 

 Gr. hist. Mindesm. HI, 437. On the vay home from Jerusalem, he lost 



