The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Page 37

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
35
It is greatly ito his credit that Co-
lumbus thoroughly informed himself
before embarking upon his long and
hazardous journey. By all reliable ac-
counts that are available to us, he cer-
tainly did not just sail “out into ithe
blue”. If we oan accept the biography
written and published in 1521 by his
own son, Ferdinand, as a reliable
source of information, Columbus did
visit Iceland in February 1477. His
genius as a navigator and an explorer
was enhanced because he had studied
the scientific records of the time and
thus, contrary to the popularly accept-
ed theory of the day, he had sound
reasons to believe that the world was
round. By using the navigational in-
formation at his disposal, Columbus
calculated that land could be reached
by travelling seven hundred leagues
westward from Spain. This estimate
proved to be correct, even though he
failed to reach the East Indies.
When Columbus was forced, at the
Robida Convent, to give his reasons
for his belief that land existed beyond
the rim of the Western Ocean, he
stated that he based this conviction
“ . . first, on the nature of things,
secondly, on the reports of navigators;
and third, on the authority of learned
writers . . .”
In 1497, John Cabot sailed westward
from Bristol, England, on a voyage of
discovery. According to the well-
known Canadian historians, Lower
and Chafe, “. . .the prosperity of
Bristol was dependent on the cod
fisheries of Iceland. The agreement
under which these were open to Eng-
lishmen was about to run out and the
merchants of Bristol were naturally
anxious to find new fishing grounds. .”
Cabot explored and charted the
coasts of Newfoundland and Nova
Scotia. On his return to England, he
reported amongst other things—on the
fabulous fishing grounds off the coast
of Newfoundland. Subsequently, these
fishing grounds provided an important
source of food for the people of
Europe.
In 1534 and 1535, Jacques Cartier
sailed from France and explored the
mighty St. Lawrence River as far as
the Indian village of Hochelaga where
the City of Montreal now stands. Car-
tier was ithe [first person to apply the
name Canada to this country.
Mr. Prime Minister, Ladies and
Gentlemen—to become involved in a
Centennial project of this kind has
many compensations, one of which is
that it adds to one’s knowledge of the
time and events described in the early
Icelandic documents.
The ancient Icelandic Sagas are re-
ceiving increasing attention by modern
scholars because of their great literary
value and by historians because of the
important information they shed on
events that occurred in the early hi-
story of northern Europe.
Lord Tweedsmuir, a former Gover-
nor-General of Canada, said that: “. . .
for myself, I put the Icelandic Sagas
among the chief works of the human
genius. . .”
In 1966, extensive use was made of
the Sagas as the most authentic and
complete source of information regard-
ing the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
These ancient records also have
preserved a grat deal of early Scandi-
navian history which would otherwise
have been lost.
In 1965, the Yale University Press
published a Pre-Columbian Vinland
Map which provided further evidence
to confirm the discovery of Vinland.
This map was made about the year