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The Date of the Saga of the Greenlanders 61
He was thereafter called Leifr the Lucky. 6 Similar
accounts are found in Heimskringla, 7 the Saga of
Christianity (Kristni sagas," the Great Saga of Oldfr
Trygguason'' and a geographical treatise in AM 194, 8vo
(from 1387).1° Some scholars have erred in ascribing the
latter in its entirety to Abbot Nikulas of Pvera (died II59),
but there is no doubt that he did not write the part which
deals with Leifr.t! The wide distribution of these accounts
has led scholars to accept them as true. In reality,
however, it is likely that all are to be traced to one source,
i.e., as Sigurour Nordal has hinted, the Latin Saga of
Oldfr Tryggvason by the monk, Gunnlaugr Leifsson of
pingeyrar (died 1219).
The author of the Saga of the Creenlanders had no
knowledge of either the visit of Leifr to Norway or
missionary activity in Greenland, and according to him
it was not Leifr Eiriksson but Bjarni Herj6lfsson who
first discovered Vinland. On the other hand, Leifr later
sailed in search of the lands which Bjarni had seen, and
found them. On his homeward voyage he rescued
shipwrecked sailors from a skerry and was from then on
called Leifr the Lucky.
This account in the Saga ofthe Greenlanders is obviously
not dependent on the account given by Gunnlaugr
Leifsson and the other works which follow him. But how
is it possible that the author of the Saga ofthe Greenlanders
was not acquainted with an account which at an early
date became very well known and was regarded as
trustworthy by leading scholars? Ignorance cannot be
pleaded, for if that were the case, his knowledge of many
individuals of the eleventh and twelfth centuries who
appear to be historical personages would be inexplicable.
The only acceptable explanation is that the Saga of the
• Sagorna om Vinland I, 45-8; I slensk fornrit IV 209-212.
7 islenzk fornrit XXVI (1941), 334, 347.
• Biskupa si!gur I (1858), 20.
oSee islenzk fornrit IV 243-244, 248.
10 AlfrceiJi islenzk I (1908), 12.
11 ibid. J x x ,