perceptible in the border-areas where the waning Gulfstreambranch 

 contents with currents of northern origin as in Cattegat, the Baltic, 

 Baffins Bay and at the south-point of Greenland. It is inconceivable 

 that a state of equilibrium lasting through thousands of years should 

 exist in those parts. Even now the conditions, especially the ice- 

 conditions, vary greatly from year to year in these seas. In Green- 

 land there are good ice-years and bad ones. Now I will show the con- 

 ditions in South Greenland in a good year like 1883 when Norden- 

 skiold on the Sophia landed at Fredriksdal and penetrated into the 

 sounds north of Cape Farewell which have not been navigated by 

 European ships since the days of the Vikings. Then I will give an 

 instance of the conditions and the route of navigation in a bad year 

 like 1902 as described by the Danish archeologist, Captain Bruun. 



Finally I will draw a comparation between these conditions and 

 those which prevailed a thousand years ago when Iceland and Green- 

 land were colonised and the Norsemen discovered America. 



In our time the eastcoast of Greenland from 65° lat. to Cape 

 Farewell is almost inaccessible. 



In good years the pack-ice may form a narrow belt along the 

 coast. But the pressure of this ice-girdle, w-hich is packed close 

 to the coast whenever the wind blows in that direction, is almost 

 more formidable to navigators than in bad years when the ice 

 spreads for miles over the sea but generally leaves an open channel 

 along the shore. This channel was used by the Danish expeditions 

 under Graah, Holm and Garde o. a. Nansen too used this channel 

 to get to the point from wdience he started on his ice-wandering 

 after he had landed on the drift-ice and carried his boats across 

 it, just as they did in cases of emergency in ancient time, as is told 

 in Kungaspegeln (the Kings Mirror) from the 13th century. Doubtless 

 600 — 700 years ago it was at times dangerous and even impossible 

 to penetrate to the eastcoast of Greenland if it happened to be a 

 bad ice-year. But it must be remembered that in the Viking-age 

 such years were exceptions and not the rule as is now the case. In 

 spite of the strong tidal currents the sounds between Cape Farew T ell 

 and the mainland are now always blocked by drift-ice which is cramm- 

 ed into their eastern inlets by the polar current outside. West of 

 Cape Farewell there is the great fjord-district with' the settlements 

 of the ancient »Eystribyggd ». All summer the Bay is blocked by 

 drift-ice, and navigation is generally impossible till authumn and 

 then only by circuitous routes as shown by the dotted lines in the 

 map on Plate II. 



Circumstances being exceptionally favourable, Nordenskiold 

 was able to get to Julianehaab as early as the 17 of June 1883. It 

 is generally neccessary to w r ait till late in summer and, working through 

 the ice-girdle, make the coast by the northliest route through 

 Nunarsiut Sound, then go south-wards on an inner route along 

 the coast to Julianehaab and Fredriksdal which is the farthest ac- 

 cessible settlement. From here the expeditions of Wallo, Giesecke, 

 Graah, Holm and Garde in eskimo-boats penetrated through the 

 sounds north of Cape Farewell: the Ikerasak, the Ikek, the Tunua, 

 the Kipisak a. o. which, though never sounded, were found to be 

 navigable up to their eastern inlets, where the ice of the polar cur- 

 rent was encountered. In spite of the favourable conditions in 

 1883 Nordenskiold had no better luck. He was turned back by 

 the ice when trying to penetrate through the sounds and was unable 

 to reach the eastcoast. Such are the conditions in a good ice-year. 

 The ice-charts of 1903 and Captain Bruun's description of his journey 

 to Greenland in the summer 1903 show how the navigation must 

 be performed in a bad year. 



»Cape Farewell as usual lay shrouded by heavy mist from our 

 sight (in May 1903). We put into Davis Sound and very soon en- 

 countered the great ice. Having made Cape Farewell you follow 

 the ice-border till south of Nunarsiut, at the earliest, you may break 

 through the ice. South of that headland your change your course 

 making the coast in a curved line. » Commander Norman says: »East 

 of Cape Farewell the ice presses continuously on to the coast so that 

 it must be regarded, as impossible to reach it from the south. West 

 of Cape Farewell the ice also presses on to the coast, part of the 

 year, and makes navigation difficult, but as a rule this only concerns 

 the harbours in Julianehaab Bay, for as soon as Nunarsuit (Cape Desola- 

 tion) is passed the current leaves the coast and the ice begins to 

 scatter, so that only in bad years and after continous sea-wind 

 the sailor wall be troubled by it. » 



Great indeed is the difference between the experiences of these 

 modern travellers and those of the Vikings as told in the Sagas. 

 Eric Rode's discovery of Greenland is described in this manner: 

 »6rik came from the sea to land at the middle-glacier and 

 the place called »Blaserk» (Black Sark). from thence be went 

 south along the coast to see if the land was habitable. Che 

 first year be wintered on 6rik's Island. In the following 

 spring be went to Grik's fjord and settled there. Chat sum- 

 mer be journeyed to the western Wilderness Che second 



winter be spent on eriks-bolme att fivarfsgnipa. But the 

 third summer be went north as far as Snefjeld and into the 

 Rafnsfjordj be then thought that the inmost creek of the 

 eriksfjord lay just opposite to the place be bad reached. Re 

 then turned back and spent the third, winter on 6riks Island 

 in the mouth of the Grik's fjord.» 



It is inconceivable that Eric should have carried out this pro- 

 gram without the greatest hindrance from the ice in the Juliane- 

 haab bay if the ice-conditions had been the same then as now. 

 But if drift-ice existed in these parts in Eric's time, the Sagas do 

 not mention it. Nor is it mentioned by any Sagas from the Viking-age. 



As my knowledge of the Icelandic Sagas is not sufficient to autho- 

 rise such a statement, I asked for information from Professor Fin- 

 nur Jonsson of Copenhagen on this matter. By Prof. Jonssons leave 

 I here give an extract of the lettre containing his answer to my ques- 

 tion: 



»WitJi regard to your question I can tell you that there is no 

 mention of ice in the original records of the journeys to Wineland. 

 They go from Greenland to Wineland as if there was no question of 

 difficulties from the ice. Indeed there is no hint at all of such hind- 

 rances on the coast of the ancient Osterbygd. This has always struck 

 me when thinking of the present conditions. The spread of colonisation 

 from Ikigait (Herjolfsnes) up to Erik'sfjord has always appeared more 

 natural to me, provided they could get into the inner fjords directly 

 from the sea. I think it much less likely that the colonisation should 

 have spread southwards from Erik'sfjord to Ikegait, by land. Judging 

 from present conditions, however, we must surmise this to have been 

 the case. » 



G. Brynjulfsson in a lecture to Nordisk Oldskrifts Forening 1871, 

 pointed out that the colonists in Greenland experienced little diffi- 

 culty from the ice in their hunting expeditions to Baffins Bay. In 

 Nordr-setudrapa (the 11th century) there is no mention of ice in 

 these northern parts though dangers arising from wind and waves 

 are dwelt upon. The Norsemen possessed tw r o fishing- and hunting- 

 places: Greipar and Fur6uSustrandir on Baffins Bay. South of these 

 was Helluland. He mentions the rune-stone that was found on an 

 island 25 miles north of Upernivik. This stone was put up by Er- 

 ling Sivatsson »Loverdag for Gangdag» (25th of Apr. 1135), viz. at 

 a time of year wJien this place is inaccessible nowadays. (The deci- 

 phering of this rune-stone is however disputed). Bjdrn Jonsson's 

 version of the H auks-book (but not the Hauksbook as it now 

 exists) describes an adventurous journey in 1266 or 1271 to Smith's 

 Sound and further on to an open sea. Eskimoes were first encoun- 

 tered at Smith's Sound (Krogsfjordsheden?) Their invasion into 

 Greenland appears to have commenced in the 14th or at the end of 

 the 13th century. 



Reading the ancient records in chronologic order we find: 



1) That the Sagas proper from the 9th to the close of the 12th 

 century never mention that the Norsemen were hindered by ice in 

 their journeys to Osterbygden while still adhering to the old naviga- 

 tion-route »the Erikstefna ». Eric himself spent 3 successive winters 

 on the islands in the Julianehaab bay and starting from thence every 

 summer explored the country. This cannot be explained otherwise 

 than by assuming that the polar ice did not reach Cape Farewell 

 and the westcoast of Greenland in those clays. 



2) In the »Kungaspegel » from the 13th century we are told that 

 those who sail for Greenland encounter much ice in the sea. Navi- 

 gators are warned not to make the east-coast too soon on account 

 of the ice; still there is no new route recommended then. 



The only mention of ice-bergs I can find in the older writings is 

 from the Kungaspegel and runs thus: 



»Cbere is yet another kind of ice in that sea (the Green- 

 land Sea) which is of a different shape and called »falljaccla» 

 (falling glacier) by the 6reenlanders. It has the appearance 

 of a mountain rising out of the sea and it never mixes with 

 other ice but keeps to itself.» 



Considering the part ice-bergs play in the accounts of all modern 

 travellers, we must conclude that in the Viking-age they were very 

 rarely seen on the south-coast of Greenland. 



On the east-coast matters were- different. Even in the 10th 

 century the east-coast of Greenland was a wilderness, the refuge of 

 a few outlaws who settled there. The landing was dangerous on 

 account of the ice, partly drifting down from the Denmark Sound 

 and partly formed by the. calving of the glaciers on the coast. In the 

 »Floamanna Saga» w r e are told of Thorgils, an Icelander wdio in 998 

 w r ent to Greenland to visit Eric Rode but was wrecked on the east- 

 coast where he was hospitally received by his countryman Rolf, 

 an outlaw, who had settled there. After many adventures Thorgils 

 and Rolf at last reached a sound which led to the »Osterbygd ». In 

 the words of the Saga: 



»£)eir fara sudr fyrir land ok koma i fiord og logdu i laegi. » 

 according to the commentor of Gr. Hist. Mindesm. the translation 



quite clear if Eric spent two or three winters in this district (see Finnur Jonasons Gronlands gamle Topografi in Meddelelser om Gronland 7 p. 270.) 



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