Page:The Finding of Wineland the Good.djvu/237

 was a large woman, tall, and very stout; with dark brown eyes set close together, and thick brown hair; she was for the most part pleasant in her bearing, attended church every morning before she went to her work, but was not, as a rule, easy of approach nor inclined to be talkative. It was the common opinion that Thorgunna must be in the sixties.' [Eyrbyggja Saga, ed. Vigfusson, pp. 92–3.] In the autumn after her arrival Thorgunna died, and the strange events accompanying her last illness, are recorded in the chapter following that above quoted. As she approached her end, she called the master of the house to her, and said: '"It is my last wish, if I die from this illness, that my body be conveyed to Skálholt, for I foresee that it is destined to be one of the most famous spots in this land, and I know that there must be priests there now to chant my funeral service. I would, therefore, request thee to have my body conveyed thither, for which thou shalt have suitable compensation from my possessions; while of my undivided property Thurid shall receive the scarlet cloak, and I thus direct, that she may be content, if I make such disposition of my other property as I see fit; moreover, I would have thee requite thyself for such expense as thou hast incurred in my behalf, with such articles as thou wishest, or she may choose, of that which I so appoint. I have a gold ring, which is to go with my body to the church, but my bed and hangings I wish to have burned, for these will not be of profit to any one; and this I say, not because I would deprive any one of the use of these things, if I believed that they would be useful; but I dwell so particularly upon this," says she, "because I should regret, that so great affliction should be visited upon any one, as I know must be, if my wishes should not be fulfilled."' [Eyrbyggja Saga, l. c. pp. 95–6.]

The age here assigned to Thorgunna hardly agrees with the probable age of the Hebridean Thorgunna of Leif's acquaintance. Indeed the description of this remarkable woman, as given in 'Eyrbyggja,' would seem to indicate that there may have been an error in the age there assigned her, possibly a clerical error; if this is not the fact, it is pretty clear, that the Hebridean Thorgunna of Leif's acquaintance and the Thorgunna of 'Eyrbyggja' cannot be the same person. We are given to understand in the Saga of Eric the Red, that the woman of Leif's intrigue was a woman out of the ordinary rank; we are also told, that Leif gave her many precious bits of finery, among the rest a gold ring, and a mantle of wadmal. The Thorgunna of 'Eyrbyggja' was certainly an extraordinary woman, and was distinguished also for the apparel and ornaments which she possessed. The parallelism is sufficiently striking to point to the possibility, that the Thorgunna of 'Eyrbyggja' was the Thorgunna of Eric's Saga, who had, perhaps, come to Iceland to seek a passage to Greenland, in pursuance of her intention as announced to Leif at their parting. It is stated in Eric's Saga to have been rumoured, that Thorgunna's son came to Iceland in the summer before the Fródá-wonder. The Thorgunna of the Eyrbyggja Saga arrived in Iceland the summer before this 'wonder,' which indeed, owed its origin to her coming, but there is no mention in this saga of her having had a son, a singular omission, truly, if it be an omission, in so minute a description as the saga has preserved of this remarkable woman. Finally, it is evident, if Leif's voyage to Norway was made in 999, and the Thorgunna of Leif's intrigue and she of 'Eyrbyggja' are the same, that Thorgunna's son must have been of a very tender age at the time of his mother's arrival in Iceland. In view of these, as well as certain chronological difficulties, which this narrative presents, it seems not improbable that the whole account of