Once there was a man who was called Thorfinnur karlsefni. He
was a son of a man who was called Thordur the horsehead. He had a big and
good family and had also a lot of money.
One
summer Karlsefni made his ship ready and sailed to Greenland.
He came to Brattahlíð
where Eiríkur the Red lived.
Eiríkur invited Karlsefni and his men to stay over the
winter. The next spring Thorfinnur karlsefni married Gudridur
Thorbjarnardóttir, Thorsteinn's widow. Thorsteinn was one of
the sons of Eirikur the Red.
[Maybe Guðríður and Thorfinnur karlsefni looked a bit
like this viking couple at the Viking Museum in Ribe, Denmark. Harpa
took the picture.]
This
same spring Karlsefni sailed with his wife and one hundred and sixty men
to explore Amerika. He stayed
there for three years. He traded with Indians.
But the relationship with the natives ended with a big fight betveen
the Europians and the Indians. The Indians won and Karlsefni and his men
escaped on flight. In America Karlsefni and Gudridur had a son. He
is the first European who was born in Amerika. On the way home Karlsefni
thougt they had discovered a tribe of people with only one leg.
[The picture of Guðríður, Thorfinnur karlsefni and their
son Snorri was drawn by Guðrún.]
They came back to Greenland and then went to Iceland and they lived
at Reynisnes in Iceland for the rest of their lives. Descended from Guðríður
and Thorfinnur karlsefni are three bishops: Thorlákur Runólfsson,
Björn Gilsson and Brandur Sæmundsson.
