''Grœnlendinga þáttr'' ('The Tale of the Greenlanders') or ''Einars þáttr Sokkasonar'' ('The Tale of Einarr Sokkason') is a short
medieval Icelandic 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 compen ...
).
It is preserved in the manuscript ''
Flateyjarbók
''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey, Breiðafjörður, Flatey") is an important medieval Iceland, Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and p ...
'', towards the end of the second half of the manuscript which was written by
Magnús Þórhallsson.
The author of the tale itself is unknown.
The tale takes place in
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
, but unlike
Grœnlendinga þáttr (I), it makes no mention of
Vinland
Vinland, Vineland, or Winland () 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 Cabot. The name appears in the V ...
.
In the tale, Einarr Sokkason brings a priest, Arnaldr, to Greenland from Norway to be
Bishop of Greenland. 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 and
Carl Richard Unger's edition a
heimskringla.no* Edition with modern Icelandic spelling a
{{Þættir
Þættir
Flateyjarbók
Norse settlements in Greenland