Thórhallur was Eirikur the
Red's hunter in the summer time, but his cook in winters. Thórhallur
was a mighty man and strong. He had black hair and he was rather clumsy
in behaviour. Thórhallur didn´t speak much and when he did
he swore a lot, even when he was talking to Eiríkur the Red. Thórhallur
was not Christian.
One day Thórhallur went searching for Vínland
with Thorfinnur karlsefni, Guðríður,
Thorfinnur's wife, and other people. Thórhallur was known
for his skill in finding is way out in the wild and that is why it was
extremely handy for Thorfinnur to have Thórhallur with him
on this journey to the unknown lands.
One day when they had arrvived to Vínland and were very short
on food, Thórhallur disappeared. Thorfinnur's crew searched
for him for three days and then found him on high up on a mountain . There
he lay on a piece of a rock and stared up in the sky with his mouth wide
open and was reeling off something. Thórhallur then went back with
the men but a little while later a whale washed up on the shore.
It seemed that Thórhallur had attracted the whale by using heathen
witchcraft. Some of the people ate the whale but everyone who did so got
sick.
When they kept on their journey in search for the treasurous Vínland,
Thórhallur and nine other men wanted to head north but Thorfinnur
and the rest of the men wanted to go south. So they split up and Thórhallur
and his men sailed north. On their way north a strong west- wind came upon
them, and they drifted to Ireland and their ship stranded there.
There they were treated very badly and according to some tradespeople Thórhallur
died there.
