''Grœnlendinga þáttr'' ('The Tale of the Greenlanders') or ''Einars þáttr Sokkasonar'' ('The Tale of Einarr Sokkason') is a short
medieval Icelandic
Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...
tale (
þáttr
The ''þættir'' (Old Norse singular ''þáttr'', literally meaning a "strand" of rope or yarn)O'Donoghue (2004:226). are short stories written mostly in Iceland during the 13th and 14th centuries.
The majority of ''þættir'' occur in two compend ...
).
It is preserved in the manuscript ''
Flateyjarbók
''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey") is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and produced by the priests and scribes ...
'', towards the end of the second half of the manuscript which was written by
Magnús Þórhallsson
Magnús Þórhallsson was an Icelandic priest who was one of two scribes (the other being Jón Þórðarson) who wrote the manuscript Flateyjarbók for Jón Hákonarson. Magnús was responsible for the second part of the manuscript after Jón Þ ...
.
The author of the tale itself is unknown.
The tale takes place in
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
, but unlike
Grœnlendinga þáttr (I)
''Grœnlendinga þáttr'' ('The Tale of the Greenlanders') is a short story about the exploration of Vinland in North America by Leif Erikson and later Norse explorers, including Thorvald Eiriksson, Thorfinn Karlsefni, and Freydís Eiríksdótt ...
, it makes no mention of
Vinland
Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...
.
In the tale, Einarr Sokkason brings a priest, Arnaldr, to Greenland from Norway to be
Bishop of Greenland
The Bishop of Greenland is a diocesan bishop of the Church of Denmark, and the leader of the Church of Greenland, which is an episcopal church in the Lutheran tradition.
History
Historically (before the Reformation) the Bishop of Greenland was kn ...
. Around this time, a Norwegian merchant named Arnbjörn sets off for Greenland, but is wrecked and his ship later found in a firth. Arnbjörn’s kinsmen sail to Greenland and request his recovered property. The bishop refuses this, leading to feud between the two groups. A battle occurs in which men from both sides are killed, including Einarr Sokkason.
References
Further reading
* Jones, Gwyn, trans. (1986) ''The Norse Atlantic Saga: Being the Norse Voyages of Discovery and Settlement to Iceland, Greenland, and North America'', revised edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 236-241
External links
*
Guðni Jónsson
Guðni Jónsson (22 July 1901 – 4 March 1974) was an Icelandic professor of history and editor of Old Norse texts.
Life and career
Guðni was born at Gamla-Hraun at EyrarbakkiPáll Lýðsson"GUÐNI JÓNSSON" Minningargreinar, ''Morgunblaði ...
's edition a
heimskringla.no*
Guðbrandur Vigfússon
Guðbrandur Vigfússon, known in English as Gudbrand Vigfusson, (13 March 1827 – 31 January 1889Jón þorkelsson, "Nekrolog över Guðbrandur Vigfússon" in ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi'', Sjätte bandet (ny följd: andra bandet), Lund, 18 ...
and
Carl Richard Unger
Carl Richard Unger (2 July 1817 – 30 November 1897) was a Norwegian historian and philologist. Unger was professor of Germanic and Romance philology at the University of Christiania from 1862 and was a prolific editor of Old Norse texts.
...
's edition a
heimskringla.no* Edition with modern Icelandic spelling a
{{Þættir
Þættir
Flateyjarbók
Norse settlements in Greenland