EM EM : monthly magazine - 01.09.1941, Blaðsíða 3

Em Em
3
See Frontpage.
The Routes sailed by the discoverers of America. The map shows the course steered by Bjami Herjólfsson
986, by Leifur Eiríksson in the year 1000, and later on by Thorvald Eiriksson, Thorstein Eiríksson, Thorfinn
the Atlantic by strong, unfavour-
able winds for many days.
At last, however, it cleared up,
and they saw land, but it did not
answer to the description Bjami
had heard of Greenland. So he
stood north-east for many days
and at last reached his destina-
tion.
In Greenland Bjarni and his
crew told of the flat, wooded land
they had seen far to the south.
These tales excited curiosity, and
about the year 1000 Leif the
Lucky landed on the coast of
North-America. He wintered there
and then retumed home with a
cargo of “wine and wood”.
More voyages were made to
the New world by various Green-
Karisefni and others who made voyages to „Wineland the Good“.
There is no chapter in the
history of the Icelanders that
makes a finer reading than the
tale of the brave men who in their
frail, open boats crossed the
Atlantic and discovered America,
some 500 years before the famous
Columbus put his foot on shore
there.
It is true that the first Ice-
lander, Bjarni Herjólfsson, to sight
the New world, was not on his
way to America when this happen-
ed, for he cannot have had any
idea of the existence of this vast
continent.
In 986 Bjarni had sailed his
trading-ship to Norway as was
his wont. But while he was away,
his father Herjólf, emigrated to
Greenland which had been coloniz-
ed a little before by Eirík the Red.
On retuming to Iceland and
hearing what his father had done,
Bjarni did not tarry, but put to
sea at once, determined to pass
the winter with his family as
hitherto. This was foolhardy
enterprise, for it was already late
summer, and besides Bjami had
no idea or at best a very hazy
one, of the course to be followed.
AU he knew was that Greenland
was a mountainous and glacier-
covered country and lay some-
where to the west of Iceland.
Nothing daunted he set sail, but
was soon caught in northerly gales
and fogs, lost his bearings, and
was driven and buffeted about