SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Observations on the Discoveries of the Norsemen 185
Greenland. The account in Eiriks saga of the church of
pj66hildr tends to bear this out: the ruins were found at
Brattahli6 in 1961 and their position in relation to the
remains of the old farm is in close accord with the reports
of the saga. Gunnlaugr Leifsson passed over in silence
the discoveries of the heathen, Bjarni Herj6lfsson.
People seem to have been quick to believe the stories about
Leifr as a missionary, so it was necessary to rewrite the
Gramlendinga saga to suit the new wisdom, and to make it
pleasanter and more edifying reading for Christians.
This endeavour becomes clear, for instance, in the tales
of the behaviour of Freydis Eiriksdottir in Vinland. In
the Grcenlendinga saga she is the most evil creature one
can find in all the Old Icelandic literature: she herself kills
defenceless women when men refuse to perform her wicked
work. But in the Eiriks saga she is a heroine endowed
with the appearance of a fertility goddess, as she presses
forward in battle and puts the Skrcelings to flight.
Professor Jones's contention (p. 83) that both sagas
contain original material is more than doubtful. It is
impossible to argue with any certainty that the author of
Eiriks saga had much such material at his disposal. His
main sources must have been the work of Gunnlaugr
Leifsson, the Gramlendinga saga, and the general
geographical knowledge common to educated men of his
day. J6n J6hannesson suggests that the author of
Eiriks saga invented the storyofDorbjorg litilvolva. This is
not to saythat the storyis not a source of some value for the
history of Norse culture, even if it bears no relation to the
true biography of Gu6ri6r Porbjarnard6ttir. When the
author worked in this way we cannot put much confidence
in his story about Porhallr veioimarir and Bjarni
Grim6lfsson. He had to have some Bjarni in the saga.
Their ship drifts to the Irish coast, just as Eirik the red's
did when he was blown round the "inner ocean", but
sagas written to elucidate such absurd geography are
obviously fantasy.