Saga of Greenlanders/Eirik the Red's Saga:
posted by Heidi @ 4:33 PM
Monday, April 7, 2008
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- Egil's Saga Ch.49-90
- Egil's Saga Ch.1-48
- Prologue to Prose Edda
- Norse Mythology Intro
- The Saga of the Confederates
- The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi
- Havamal (Hovamol) - Poetic Edda
- Gisli Sursson's Saga
- The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue
- Entry 1: Six Tales Pgs. 678-724
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Oops, I sent the blog before typing so here is my entry:
I will be presenting the Saga of the Greenlanders so I will comment on Eirik the Red's Saga and the similarities and differences between the two.
Eirik the Red's Saga is very detailed, describing family lineages, numerous characters, and miniscule events as well as grand ones. After Eirik the Red is the first to settle and name Greenland, his son Leif Eiriksson spots land west of Greenland(Vinland) but does not name it(in this saga atleast). After, Eirik and son Thorstein try and fail to sail there(Vinland). Then Snorri, Karlsefni, Freydis, and Thorvald(son of Eirik) sail for Vinland(named out of nowhere) and before finding it first encounter and name Helluland, Markland, Kjalarnes, Furdustrandir, the island Bjarney, the island Straumsey, Straumsfjord and finally Hop(tidal pool) which leads them to Vinland and the natives. A one-legged man is also mentioned, who kills Eirik the Red's son, Thorvald at Krossanes. Whether the one-legged man is a native or not is never mentioned.
This saga differs from the Saga of the Greenlanders, in which Leif is said to have discovered Helluland, Markland and Vinland. These voyages seem to be mixed up with eachother. In the Saga of the Greenlanders, after Leif's discovery of Vinland, Thorvald first makes the journey to Vinland, and is shot with an arrow and dies(does not mention one-legged man) and in a separate voyage after Thorvald's crew returns, his brother Thorstein unsuccessfully tries to go to Vinland to retrieve Thorvald's body. When Thorstein dies, his widow Gudrid then marries Karlsefni and they voyage to Vinland and have a son, Snorri.
It is obvious how these voyages were compacted into and mixed up in Eirik the Red's Saga compared to the Saga of the Greenlanders.
Gudrid and Freydis prove to be main characters in each saga, both going on voyages to Vinland. Each also had distinctive characteristics, although extremely different from eachother. Aud the Deep-minded is also a prominent woman figure in the beginning of Eirik the Red's Saga where she has a knorr built, and leads a crew of twenty men to Iceland and claims her own land there.
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