The Vinland Sagas

"They were tossed about at sea all summer and did not know where they were"

The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red's Saga contain the first ever descriptions of North America, a bountiful land of grapes and vines, discovered by the Vikings five centuries before Christopher Columbus. Written down in the early thirteenth century, the sagas recount the Icelandic settlement of Greenland by Eirik the Red, the chance disovery by seafaring adventurers of a mysterious new land, and Eirik's son Leif the Lucky's perilous voyages to explore it. Racked by storms, stricken by disease and plagued by navigational mishaps, some survived the North Atlantic to pass down this compelling tale of the first Europeans to talk with, trade with and wage war on Native Americans.

Keneva Kunz's meticulous yet highly accessible translation is accompanied by an introduction by Gisli Sigurdsson, which discusses the historical reliability of the two sagas and the geographical placing of Vinland, and builds up a picture of the explorer's likely sea routes to the new world. this edition also contains maps, a family tree and an index of characters, a chronology and suggestions for further reading.