Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/361

 KINGS OF NORWAY. 349 blamed his comrades very much, and prepared to go with appendix. twelve men on an expedition to find him ; but they had gone vii^kiid ; only a short way from the station before Tyrker came to ti'cn sails meet them, and he was joyfully received. Leif soon per- G^eenlrnd, ceived that his foster-father was merry. Tyrker had a high and rescues forehead, sharp eyes, with a small face, and was little in size g^l'^neiir^' and ugly ; but was very dexterous in all feats. Leif said to him, " Why art thou so late, my foster-father? and why didst thou leave thy comrades ? " He spoke at first long in Turkish *, rolled his eyes, and knit his brows ; but they could not make out what he was saying. After a while and some delay, he said in Norse, " I did not go much farther than they ; and yet I have something altogether new to relate, for I found vines and grapes." " Is that true, my foster- father?" said Leif. " Yes, true it is," answered he; "for I was born where there is no scarcity of vines and grapes." Now they slept all night, and next morning Leif said to his men, " Now we have two occupations to attend to, and day about; namely, to gather grapes or cut vines, and to fell wood in the forest to load our vessel." And this advice was followed. It is related that their stern-boat was filled with grapes, and then a cargo of wood was hewn for the vessel. There was also self-sown wheat in the fields, and a tree which is called Massur. Of all these they took samples ; and some of the trees were so large that they were used in houses. Towards spring they made ready and sailed away ; and Leif gave the country a name from its productions, and called it Vinland. They put to sea, and had a favourable breeze until they came in sight of Greenland and the fielde below the snow-covered mountain range. Then one of the men said to Leif, " Why do you bear away so much?" Leif replied, " I mind my helm, but I attend to other things too : do you see nothing strange ? " He answered that he saw nothing to speak of. " I that the man and the language were Turkish ; that is, Hungarian, or from Constantinople. The Teutonic or German could not have been a foreign and unknown language ; and would have been called Saxon (Saxneskr), not Thyrskr. The communications with Constantinople through the Northmen in the Vseringers' corps, would make it as likely that a native of those eastern countries should be in Greenland, as that a native of the south of Germany should be there.
 * Thyrsko the language, and the man's name Tyrker, must mean