VINLAND THE GOOD 



like one large flat stone. . . . Then said Leif: 

 '. . . Now I will give this land a name and 

 call it Helluland.' " The glaciers suggest Baf- 

 fin Land, although it is generally supposed to 

 be Labrador. Then they sailed to another 

 land which was "flat and covered with woods, 

 and there were extensive white sands, wher- 

 ever they went, and the beach was not steep. 

 Then said Leif: 'This land shall be named 

 according to its nature and it shall be called 

 ■Markland.'" Labrador at Sandwich Bay is 

 one of the interpretations of "Markland"; the 

 usual one is Newfoundland. Again they sailed 

 out into the open sea with a northeast wind, 

 and after two days saw land and it was here 

 that vinvio and vinber were found, or grape- 

 vines and grapes as ordinarily interpreted. 

 They were first seen by Tyrker Southman, 

 Leif's foster-father, a German, who said to 

 Leif, "I was born where there is no lack of 

 either vinvio or vinber." Leif therefore named 

 the land Vinland. Hveiti and masur or mosurr 

 wood are also mentioned several times in the 

 Saga. These terms have been interpreted to 

 mean Indian corn or wild rice and maple, 

 but Professor Fernald has shown that they 

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