IN AUDUBON'S LABRADOR 



There is very little difficulty about the gen- 

 eral location of Helluland and Markland, and 

 there is no reasonable doubt that the Norse- 

 men reached Labrador and very probably New- 

 foundland. Vinland the Good is, however, a 

 different matter. The description of the land- 

 fall as given in the Sagas can be made, by the 

 use of a little imagination, to fit a number 

 of places exceedingly well. Its location may 

 depend to a considerable extent, therefore, on 

 the significance of vinber. If the Norsemen 

 really found grapes and vines, — and it would 

 seem that Leif's foster-father definitely re- 

 ferred to grapes, — Vinland must be at least 

 as far south as southern Maine, possibly as 

 Professor Hovgaard suggests, on the sandy 

 shores of Cape Cod, n6twithstanding the fact 

 that the Saga allows only two days for the 

 voyage from Markland. On the other hand, 

 the terms vinber and vinland may have been 

 used to make the voyages appear more mar- 

 velous or in order to induce settlers to come 

 there. Such exaggeration or myth-meiking is 

 common enough in ancient legends. Eric the 

 Red frankly states that he gave Greenland 

 its name, "because men would be more read- 



216 



