is a shape-changer, and the patron god of hanged men. In His hall Valhalla He gathers together the most vahant of the battle-slain in preparation for the day of the Fenris-Wolf. His two black crows are called Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory); they circle the world and tell Him everything.
King Olaf the Saint (Haraldsson) King of Norway AD 1015P-1030. Completed Olaf Trygvesson's work. Considered more holy than he. A martyr, like most of the old Norse Kings. He was revered when he was safely dead.
King Olaf Tree-Feller Son of King Ingjald the Evil-Worker. Disbelieved that men could transform themselves without the Bear-Shirt.
King Olaf Trygvesson (now more correctly spelled "Trygvason." Perhaps the nineteenth-century translators used the former spelling in order to make the pronunciation closer. In any event, I have preferred it, in order to appall and annoy) King of Norway AD 995P-1000. The grandson of King Harald Fairhair. Probably bore a special grudge against Queen Gunhild, because she sought to destroy him when he was a child, and because her son Gudrod killed his father. King Trygve Olafsson. A zealous Christianizer who tortured or killed those who would not convert: during his reign Norway, Iceland, the Faroes, the Shetlands, the Orkneys and possibly Greenland became nominally Christian. Some accounts have him commanding Leif Eiriksson to bring the True Faith to Greenland. He sought the hand of Queen Sigrid of Sweden, but the engagement was broken off Died in battle, leaping into the water with his shield above his head, and never rising again.
King On Swedish King who sacrificed all but one of his sons to ODIN to prolong his life. (Variant: Ann.)
King Onund Road-Builder Father of King Ingjald the Evil-Worker.
Orm Foster-father of Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir. Married to Halldis. When pressed by Einar, a suitor for Gudrid's hand, he interceded with her father, but was rewarded by having Gudrid taken from his care. Accompanied her to Greenland, but died on the voyage.
King Ottar Egilsson The first of the Yngling Kings to have trouble changing himself into a bear.
Ragnhild Harald Goldbeard's Daughter Wife of Halfdan the Black; mother of King Harald Fairhair.
Ragnhild the Mighty One of King Harald Fairhair's wives.
Seth Pilsk the Thin He explored Slab-Land, and was almost drowned for his pains.
The Shining One Hebridean deity (Celtic?), about Whom little is known.
Queen Sigrid the Haughty A Swedish Queen who burnt up all her lesser suitor-Kings. The mother of King Olaf of Sweden. She was engaged to King Olaf Trygvesson, but they quarreled over religion, she being pagan. She later married King Swend Forkbeard of Denmark and goaded him into attacking her ex-fiance.
Skofte Carrion-Crow Thrall to Freydis Eiriksdottir. He helped her find
Yggdrasil in Vinland. Slayer-Styr Thorgritnsson A strong man. He supported Eirik the Red against
Thorgest of Breidabolstead in the feud of Eirik's bench-boards, and sought
a favorable verdict with Snorri the Priest at the Thorsness Thing (see
Glossary V). Slepnir Odin's horse (see LOKI). (Variant: Sleipnir.) Snxfrid (Snowfrid) Svasesdottir A Lappish witch who enchanted King Harald
Fairhair. He married her and had four sons by her. When she died, the bewitchment remained so strong that for three years he thought her still hving. Snorri Karlsefnisson The first white born in Vinland. Son of Gudrid and
Karlsefni. Snorri Sturlusson Author of the Heimskringla and many other great works. An
Icelander. Born 1178. He was very greedy and ambitious, and met his deserved
fate when agents of the Norwegian King, the current Hakon, murdered him in
his cellar in 1241. Snorri the Priest He officiated at the Thorsness Thing, where a decision was to
be made as to whether or not Eirik the Red should be outlawed for killing
two sons of Thorgest of Breidabolstead. Snorri Thorbrandsson A friend of Thorfinn Karlsefni, whom he accompanied
to Vinland. His son Thorbrand Snorasson was slain by Skraelings: Karlsefni's son
Snorri was perhaps named in his honor. Solveig Wife of Bjorn the Crusader. Spirit Woman Ancestor of the Inuit.
King Swegde Norse King who sought ODIN and was trapped in a rock. King Swend Forkbeard King of Denmark. Married Queen Sigrid the Haughty.
He was a great warrior in England. The famous Canute was his son. Thjodhild Jorundsdottir Wife of Eirik the Red. Daughter of a woman named
Thorbjorg Ship-Breast. She bore Eirik three sons, Leif, Thorstein and Thorvald,
and accompanied him to Greenland, where she lived out her Hfe with him. She
became a Christian even though Eirik did not, and refused to have sexual relations
with him until he should convert. Thjodhild's church was discovered in Greenland
in the 1960s. Thorbjorg Ship-Breast Mother of Thjodhild Jorundsdottir, who married Eirik
the Red. After her husband Jorund Ulfsson died, she married Thorbjom of
Haukadale. Thorbjorg the Prophetess An old clairvoyant at Herjolfsness who foretold the
end of a famine in Greenland, and promised a bright future for Gudrid
Thorbjornsdottir. Thorbjorn of Haukadale Foster-father of Thjodhild Jorundsdottir, who married
Eirik the Red. It would have been Thorbjorn's responsibility to decide on Eirik's
suitability as a match for Thjodhild.
Thorbjorn Vifilsson Son of a freed slave named Vifil. His wife's name was Hallveig Einarsdottir. Supported the cause of Eirik the Red against Thorgest of Breidabolstead. He tended to live beyond his means, and was forced in the end to leave Iceland for Greenland with his daughter, the famous Gudrid.
Thorbrand of Alptafjord His sons supported Eirik the Red against Thorgest of Breidabolstead in the feud of Eirik's bench-boards.
Thorgeir of Hitardale He supported Thorgest of Breidabolstead against Eirik the Red in the feud of Eirik's bench-boards.
Thorgeir Vifilsson Brother of Thorbjorn Vifilsson.
Thorgest "the Yeller" of Breidabolstead He held some bench-boards in keeping for Eirik the Red, but when Eirik wanted them back, Thorgest refused. Eirik attacked him and killed two of his sons. For this, Eirik was outlawed for three years, and went to Greenland. At the end of that time Eirik returned to Iceland and had another battle with Thorgest, which again he lost; after this they were reconciled.
Thorgils Leifsson Bastard son of Leif the Lucky by the witch Thorgunna. Supposed to have been a very pale and uncanny person, whose coming to Greenland might have coincided with an outbreak of disease. Nonetheless, Leif duly acknowledged him.
Thorgunna A Hebridean witch who had an affair with Leif Eiriksson (Leif the Lucky). Leif tired of her, and she thought to pursue him to Greenland, but was blown to Iceland, where she died. Her corpse haunted the country for a time. Her son Thorgils later came to Greenland.
Thorir First husband of Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir. A sea-captain. He may never have existed, as he is mentioned in only one of the sagas, in an anecdote which contradicts another.
Thorkel A farmer at Herjolfsness, who guested Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir and her father when they first came to Greenland.
Thorolf A farmer in Frodis-Water, Iceland. Husband of the covetous Thurid; host of the Hebridean witch Thorgunna.
Thorstein Eiriksson The second son of Thjodhild Jorundsdottir and Eirik the Red. An unlucky man who tried to reach Vinland but was blown hither and thither by unfavorable winds. He married Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir in Greenland and died of a plague shortly thereafter. His corpse prophesied a glorious future for Gudrid.
Thorstein the Black A Greenland householder in the Western Settlement who provided Thorstein Eiriksson and his wife Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir with lodging. After his wife Grimhild and Gudrid's husband both died of the plague, he seems to have fallen in love with Gudrid, but she did not marry him.
Thorvald Asvaldsson Father of Eirik the Red.
Thorvald Eiriksson Third and last son of Thjodhild Jorundsdottir and Eirik the Red. He sailed to Vinland, attacked a settlement of Micmac
or Beothuk
Indians (Skraelings) unprovoked, and was killed in the succeeding battle. His men
buried him there, at a place they called Cross-Ness. Thorvard of Gardar One of the richest men in Greenland during the early
settlement times. He married Freydis Eiriksdottir and accompanied her to
Vinland, where he got rich cheating the Skraelings at trade. He and his wife
eventually returned to Greenland, where nothing more is written of them. Thrym In the Norse myths, a great Frost-Giant; King of Jotunheim. Thurid A woman from Frodis-Water, Iceland, who asked the witch Thorgunna
to dwell with her because she coveted her clothes. Earl Torbrand Henchman of King Harald Greycloak. Ungertok Inuit name for the last of the Norse Greenlanders, who was slain by
the Inuit as told in one of their legends. Valthjof Neighbor of Eirik the Red at Haukadale. They had a dispute that
culminated in landslides. Eirik killed Valthjof, and also his kinsmen Eyjolf Saur
and Hrafn the Dueller. He was outlawed from Haukadale. Vifil A British captive brought to Iceland by the matriarch Aud the Deep-Minded.
Aud freed Vifil from slavery and gave him land. He had two sons, Thorbjorn
and Thorgeir. Thorbjorn was the father of Gudrid. Ygg "Terror." Name for ODIN. Ymir "Roarer." According to the Norse myths, the great giant from whose corpse
the world was made. Younger Brother Ancestor of the Inuit.
II
Q(ossary ofJDynasHeSj Races aniC Monsters
Bearsark [Norse] A Kvedulf, a man capable of supernatural strength in battle when the bear-fit came upon him. Berserkers may have eaten the death-cap mushroom to bring on their fits. {Sark = shirt.)
Beothuk [?] An Indian culture that once inhabited Nova Scotia. The Beothuk resisted assimilation and were exterminated by British Canadians in the nineteenth century. Several different types of Skraelings are described in the Vinland Sagas, and it seems likely that the Norse at least gUmpsed Beothuk people in Vinland.
Berserker [Norse] See Bearsark.
Boooineeskwa [Micmac] Witch.
Draugar (sing. Draugr) [Norse] Undead warriors who fight fiercely and leap up from the ground no matter how many times they are slain. (More generally, says Mr. Tom Johnson, any revenant.)
Eskimo [Undian] Foreigners' name for the Inuit. The literal meaning is "eater of raw meat." Many Inuit now consider it derogatory.
Greenlandic CoUoq. for the Kalaallisut language spoken in Greenland. See also Inuktitut; and the Note on Greenlandic Orthography immediately preceding these Glossaries.
Halfsstramb [Norse] Sea-monster, sometimes described as manlike, elsewhere as octopoid.
Inuit (sing. Inuk) [Greenlandic, Alaskan, Canadian and Soviet Inuktitut] "The people" - the natives of Arctic Canada, Greenland and Alaska; the Eskimos' term for themselves. (See also Eskimo.) Robert McGhee says that "the Eskimo populations of West Alaska, South Alaska and Siberia speak other related Eskimo languages and do not think of themselves as inuit." But I have heard this both ways.
Inuktitut [Inuktitut] The language of the Inuit. Greenlandic is a dialect of Inuktitut. (Mr. Nuka M0ller, who is more precise than I, adds the following: "A dialect of Inupik, which is a scientific term for the Eastern 'Eskimo' language which covers Inupiaq (Alaskan), Inuvialuptun {Western Canadian 'Eskimo'), then Inuktitut, which is Eastern Canadian 'Eskimo', and Kalaallisut {Greenlandic). The western 'Eskimo' language has the branches Yupik {Southern Alaskan-Siberian) and Aluutiq {Aleutian Islands) . . . [But] 'Inuktitut' will be understood throughout ... the Inuit world
as 'the Inuit language.'") See the Note on Greenlandic Orthography immediately preceding these Glossaries.
Jenuaq (sing. Jenu) [Micmac] Northmen, or northern demons, according to the Rev. S.T. Rand (who spells it Chenoo). In one of the Micmac legends in his compilation, they have hearts of soHd ice. But Ruth Holmes Whitehead, who knows more, says: "It does NOT mean 'Northern Devil' ... A Jenu is a human who has become transformed (probably by fat deprivation in winter). These people become psychotic and eat and kill other humans. They can be cured by drinking fat and being thawed out."
Jipijka'maq [Micmac] Race of horned serpents.
Kvedulfr [Norse] "Wolf of evening"; a berserker.
Marguguers [Norse] Mermaids.
Micmac [French', from a misunderstanding of the word nikmaq used in greeting, meaning "my kin-friends"] An Algonkian culture once widespread in Maine, Nova Scotia, Quebec Province and environs. Still in existence. Also called Souriquois by the French. Like many Indian tribes, they called themselves "the People" - in their language, Lnu'k. Quite likely it was the Micmac whom Norse Greenlanders encountered at the beginning of the eleventh century. See the Note on Micmac Orthography immediately preceding these Glossaries.
Netsiliks [Anglicized Inuktitut] Actually, the Netsilingmiut, or Seal People. These Inuit lived in Arctic Canada, between Pelly and Dolphin and Union Strait. They wintered on the frozen sea, hunting for seals.
Norse A culture that dominated Scandinavia, Iceland, parts of Greenland and much of the British Isles during early medieval times. One thinks of Vikings when the Norse are mentioned; most Norse, however, were traders and farmers. The people (at least as described in their sagas) seem to have been brave, fatalistic, ruthless and highly regardful of their honor. See the Note on Norse Orthography immediately preceding these Glossaries.
Qivittoq [Greenlandic; pronounced "hrevitoq"] "A man who went to the mountains to Hve alone, usually because of women or other factors that made it impossible to hve in Inuit society. Much feared . . . and believed to have magic powers. There are stories about people having met reHgious qivittut (plur.) with Bibles and psalm books. But mostly they were believed to be bad people who came either to steal food or seek revenge by scaring people. Some of them were believed to have the ability to transform themselves [in]to animals. They were perfect 'boogie-men' to us Greenlandic kids." - Nuka MoUer.
Skraelings [Icelandic] Generic term used by the Norsemen to describe the Inuit of Greenland and also the Red Indians of Vinland. It meant something like "dried-up savage wretches." (Jacqueline Simpson (1964) proposed two variant meanings: "Screechers" and "Flinchers.") In the map of Sigurdur Stefansson (1590) there is an explanatory note on the Skraelings: "These people are so named from their aridity, being dried up both by heat and by cold."
Tornaq [Greenlandic] Assistant spirit. (Modern spelling: Toornaq.)
Troll [Norse] Everyone knows what a troll is. But I cannot resist quoting the definition of H. Rider Haggard: "an Able-Bodied Gobhn."
Tunersuit [Greenlandic] Legendary race of evil giants with black hands who fought the Inuit. Possibly Northmen; possibly some other native tribe. (Robert McGhee in his Canadian Arctic Prehistory (1978) mentions a mythology o( gentle giants, the Tunit, who were dispossessed by the Thule Inuit. He equates them with the Dorset Inuit.) In Seven Dreams I have assumed that they were in fact Norse.
Viking [Norse] A Scandinavian sea-raider or pirate.
Ynglings [Norse] The first dynasty of Norse rulers, descended from the god Frey. Their saga says: "Frey was called by another name, Ygnve; and this name was considered long after as a name of honor, so that his descendants have since been called Ynghngs." In this volume, the following Yngling Kings appear: King Dag the Wise, King Swegde, Kings Alric and Eric, King On, King Egil, King Ottar, King Adils, King Onund Road-Builder and King Ingjald the Evil-Worker, after whom the kingship fell from their race.
Gtossary of Places'^
Aasgaard The world of the Norse gods, ruled by ODIN. Also known as Asaheim. In the Heimskringla, Snorri identified it with Asia.
Blauserk (Blaserk) Blue-Shirt, the great glacier in Greenland used as a landmark by Eirik the Red in sailing west from Snaefellsness. See also Bloserken and Mukla Jokel.
Bloserken [Danish] Blue-Shirt. Later called Huidserken, White-Shirt, when the ice changed color (or when the chroniclers got confused).
Brattahlid Steep-Slope. The hall of Eirik the Red i
n Greenland. (Variations: Brattalid, Brattelid, etc.) The Inuit name for this place is Qagssiarssuk.
Breidabolstead A farm on the Icelandic mainland south of Breidafjord, where there lived a man named Thorgest ("the Yeller" or "the Old"). Thorgest refused to return Eirik the Red's bench-boards, which caused a dispute between them.
Breidafjord "Broad-Firth." The widest fjord in Iceland, on the western side. The isle of Flatey, where the Flateyjarbok was written, lies here, as does Oxney (Oxen) Island, where Eirik the Red Hved after being outlawed from Haukadale. (Haukadale is on the mainland, but very close; so is Breidabolstead.) The bird-islands where Eirik hid from Thorgest are in Breidafjord. It was from here that Eirik sailed to Greenland, with Snaefellsness on his left; it was to Breidafjord that his eldest son's concubine, Thorgunna, came to die.
Cross-Ness Place in Vinland where Eirik the Red's son Thorvald was buried after a battle with Skraelings.
Dimunar Two hills close together. Eirik the Red hid from his enemy Thorgest in Dimunarsbay, on an island in Breidafjord.
Drontheim Modern Trondheim (Norway).
East Bygd; West Bygd The East and West Settlements of the lost Greenland colony. Oddly, both of these are on the western coast of Greenland, the East Bygd coming first and south, in the more fertile area, and the West Bygd (where Nuuk, the capital, is now) being to the north of it. Both sets of ruins are in sheltered networks of fjords, where the coast is not nearly as bleak as between them.
* Unless otherwise stated, all place-names in this Glossary are Norse.
Eiriksfjord Brattahlid was located here. (Inuit equivalent: Tunugoliarfik.)
Eiriks Holms "Eirik's Isle." Small isle explored by Eirik the Red, near where he eventually settled in the East Bygd.
Estland "East Land." This could have been any of the petty kingdoms east of Sweden.
Finnmark Lapland.
Gardar The site of Freydis Eiriksdottir's farm, in the East Bygd. Her husband Thorvard was from there. Gardar was at the inner extremity of Einarsfjord. The Inuit name for the place was Igaliko or Igaliku, meaning "the deserted cooking-place. "
Ginnunga Gap The primeval abyss in which the world was created when ice and fire met. Sometimes thought to be Davis Strait (between Greenland and Baffin Island). In the Norse myths it lay between Muspelheim to the south and Niflheim to the north, which realms supphed the fire and the ice, respectively. From the heat-droplets thus generated came the first being, Ymir, an evil Frost-Giant. In some accounts, Ginnunga Gap was thought to be a channel which led out from the land to the great world-circHng Ocean-Sea.
The Ice-Shirt Page 41