The Tale of the Greenlanders
Grænlendingaþáttr
The Sagas of Icelanders
© 2026 We Vikings translation by Eiður Eyþórsson
of Grænlendinga þáttur (e. The Tale of the Greenlanders)
from Old Norse to English.
Content selection
I
About This Translation
We welcome you to this English translation of Grœnlendinga þáttur (The Tale of the Greenlanders), a short story, which is not to be confused with Grænlendinga saga (The Saga of the Greenlanders), which takes place roughly a century before the following events.
This story takes place shortly before 1125 AD. Although strictly speaking, the events take place after the Viking Age, the story follows the descendants of the Norse settlers who founded Greenland in that era. The Greenland settlement has then endured for more than a century, and its people seek a bishop, hoping for wise spiritual guidance. Their wish is granted, but what they receive instead is turmoil and death, as a chain of ill-fated decisions throws the community into conflict.
The Tale of the Greenlanders survives in a single medieval manuscript, Flateyjarbók (GKS 1005 fol.) This translation is based directly on the text of GKS 1005 folium, consulted through digital facsimiles available at handrit.is. The edition of Matthías Þórðarson in Íslenzk fornrit IV was used for comparison and reference.
We have aimed to bring the saga into clear, accessible modern English while remaining as close as possible to its original wording and narrative voice.
We Vikings are glad to share this saga with you and hope you enjoy it.
1
Arnald made bishop of Greenland
There was a man named Sokki, son of Thorir. He lived in Brattahlid in Greenland. He was highly respected and well-liked. His son was named Einar, a promising man. The father and son held great authority in Greenland and were greatly esteemed above others there.
One time Sokki called an assembly and announced to the people that he did not want the country to remain without a bishop any longer. He wanted all the people to contribute their wealth so that a bishop’s seat might be established. All the farmers agreed to this.
Sokki asked his son Einar to make the journey to Norway, saying he was the most suitable man to carry out such a mission. Einar said he would go as his father wished. He took with him a large quantity of ivory and hides in order to present himself properly before the men of power.
They came to Norway. At that time Sigurd the Crusader was king of Norway. Einar went to meet the king, presented gifts, explained his request and mission, and asked for the king’s support so that he might obtain what he sought for the country’s needs. The king said that would surely be arranged.
Then the king summoned a man named Arnald. He was a good cleric and well suited to be a church leader. The king asked him, for God’s sake and at his request, to undertake this task.
“And I will send you to Denmark to meet Archbishop Ozur in Lund with my letters and seals.”
Arnald said he was reluctant to accept, first because he felt himself unworthy, second because he would have to leave his friends and kinsmen, and third because he would have to deal with difficult people. The king said that the greater trials he endured from men, the greater good he would receive in return.
Arnald said he would not refuse the king’s request, “but if it should come to pass that I receive consecration as bishop, then I want Einar to swear an oath to uphold and defend the rights of the bishop’s seat and the property given to God, to punish those who attack it, and to act as its protector in all matters.”
The king said he must do so. Einar agreed to it.
After that the bishop-elect went to meet Archbishop Ozur and presented his errand along with the king’s letters. The archbishop received him warmly, and they got on well. When the archbishop saw that this man was well suited to such dignity, he consecrated Arnald as bishop and formally installed him. Arnald then returned to the king, who received him well.
Einar had brought a bear from Greenland and gave it to King Sigurd. In return he received honors and distinction from the king.
After that the bishop and Einar sailed on one ship. On another ship, Arnbjorn the Norwegian and his companions prepared to sail as well, wishing to go out to Greenland. They put out to sea, but the winds did not favor them much, and the bishop and Einar came ashore at Holtavatnsos beneath Eyjafjoll in Iceland.
At that time Saemund the Learned lived at Oddi. He went to meet the bishop and invited him to stay with him for the winter. The bishop thanked him and said he would accept. Einar spent the winter beneath Eyjafjoll.
It is told that when the bishop rode from the ship with his men, they stopped at a farm in Landeyjar and sat outside. Then an old woman came out holding a wool comb in her hand. She went up to one of the men and said, “Will you fix, good fellow, the tooth in my comb?”
He took it and said he would, then took a small hammer from a pouch and repaired it, and the old woman was very pleased. That man was in fact the bishop himself, and he was quite handy with tools. This story is told because it showed his humility. He stayed at Oddi that winter and got along very well with Saemund.
But nothing was heard of Arnbjorn. The bishop and Einar supposed he must have reached Greenland.
The following summer the bishop and Einar left Iceland and came to Greenland, arriving in Eiriksfjord, where people received them very warmly. Still there was no news of Arnbjorn, which seemed strange, and several summers passed. People began to say that they must have perished.
The bishop established his seat at Gardar and settled there. Einar, and his father as well, became his greatest supporters. They were also the men most honored by the bishop among all the people of the land.
2
Arnbjorn and His Men Found Dead
There was a man named Sigurd, son of Njal, a Greenlander. He often went hunting in the wilderness during the autumn and was a great seafarer. They were fifteen men together.
In summer they came to the glacier called Hvitserk and found traces of human hearths and some signs of hunting.
Then Sigurd said, “Which would you rather do, turn back or go farther? There isn’t much summer left, and our catch has been small.”
The crew said they would rather turn back and warned that it was very dangerous to travel through the great fjords and beneath the glaciers.
He said that was true, “but I have a feeling that the farther we go, the greater the catch will be, if we reach it.”
They asked him to decide, saying they had long followed his leadership and it had always turned out well. He said he preferred to go on, and so they did.
There was a man on their ship named Steinthor. He spoke up:
“I dreamed last night, Sigurd, and I’ll tell you the dream. As we sailed into this great fjord, I dreamed I was caught between certain cliffs and cried out for help.”
Sigurd said the dream was moderately good: “But you must not tread too close beneath cliffs, nor go into such isolation that you cannot hold your tongue.”
Steinthor was rather quick tempered and reckless by nature.
As they sailed further into the fjord, Sigurd said, “Is it as I think, that there’s a ship in the fjord?”
They said it was so. Sigurd said that must mean news of some kind, and they sailed toward it. They saw that the ship had been hauled ashore at a river mouth and secured above. It was a large ocean-going vessel. They went ashore and saw a hut and a tent nearby.
Sigurd said they should pitch their own tents first. “The day is wearing on, and I want the men to be quiet and cautious.” So they did.
In the morning they went to look around. They saw a log beside them with an axe stuck in it and a human corpse nearby. Sigurd said the man must have been chopping wood and been overcome by exhaustion from hunger. They then went to the hut and saw another corpse.
Sigurd said that man must have walked as long as he could. “These must have been servants of the men who were inside the hut.” An axe lay beside him as well.
Then Sigurd said, “I think the best plan is to break open the hut and air out the stench from the bodies inside and the decay that must have lain there a long time. Let the men beware of being harmed by it, for there is no small danger in things so contrary to human nature, though it seems unlikely these dead men will do us harm.”
Steinthor said it was strange to go to such trouble and went to the door while the others broke open the hut.
When Steinthor came out, Sigurd looked at him and said, “The man has been greatly frightened.”
Steinthor at once began screaming and running, his companions chasing after him. He ran into a narrow gorge where no one could reach him, and there he met his end. Sigurd said his dreams had been too accurate.
Afterward they opened the hut and did as Sigurd had said, and no harm came to them. Inside they found dead men and a great deal of wealth.
Sigurd said, “It seems best to strip the flesh from their bones in their own cauldrons, for then it will be easier to carry them to a church. And it’s likely Arnbjorn was here. I’ve heard that this fine ship standing ashore belonged to him.”
It was a head-ship, decorated and very valuable. This merchant ship was badly damaged below, and Sigurd said he thought it would be of no use. They removed the fastenings and burned the ship. They had their ship loaded with what they gathered in the wilderness, including the ship’s boat, and the head-ship.
They returned to the settlement and found the bishop at Gardar. Sigurd told him the news and about the treasure they had found.
“I see no better course,” he said, “than that their wealth should go with their bones, and if I have any say, that is what should be done.”
The bishop said he had acted well and wisely, and everyone agreed. Great wealth accompanied the bodies. The bishop said the head-ship was a remarkable treasure. Sigurd said it seemed most fitting that it should go to the church for the sake of their souls. The rest of the wealth they divided among themselves according to Greenland law.
When this news reached Norway, a man named Ozur heard of it, he was Arnbjorn’s nephew. There were also others who had lost kinsmen on that ship and expected compensation from the property. They came to Eiriksfjord, and people went to meet them and made agreements. The visitors then took lodgings. Ozur the steersman went to Gardar to the bishop and stayed there for the winter.
At that time another merchant ship was in the Western Settlement. On it was Kolbein, son of Thorljot, a Norwegian. A third ship was commanded by a man named Hermund, son of Kodran, along with his brother Thorgils, and they had a large company of men.
3
Of Ozur and the Bishop
During the winter, Ozur spoke with the bishop, saying he believed he had a claim to property there from his kinsman Arnbjorn, and he asked the bishop to arrange a settlement both on his own behalf and for other men. The bishop said he had taken charge of the property according to Greenland law in such circumstances. He said he had not acted on his own authority, and that it was most fitting for that wealth to go toward the salvation of the souls of those who had acquired it, and to the church where their bones were buried. He added that it showed little honor to demand that property now.
After this, Ozur did not want to stay in Gardar with the bishop, and he went to his kinsmen; they all remained there together through the winter.
In spring, Ozur brought a case before the Greenlanders’ assembly, which was held at Gardar. The bishop and Einar Sokkason came there with a large following. Ozur and his shipmates also attended.
When the court was set, Einar approached it with many supporters and said he thought it would be difficult to deal with foreign men in Norway if such things were to happen there. “We want the laws that apply here,” said Einar.
When judgment was given, the Norwegians failed to press their case and withdrew.
Ozur was displeased, he felt he had gained humiliation but no property. In anger he went to where the decorated ship stood and chopped out two planks, one on each side, from the keel up. After that he went to the Western Settlement and met Kolbein and Ketil Kalfsson and told them what had happened. Kolbein said that taking revenge like that was disgraceful, and that the decision was not good.
Ketil said, “I advise you to come stay here with us, because I’ve heard how firmly the bishop and Einar are allied. You won’t be able to remain where you are because of the bishop’s authority and Einar’s power. Better that we all stay together.”
Ozur said that was probably how it would turn out. Among the merchants staying there with them was Isa-Steingrim. Ozur then returned to Kidjaberg, where he had been before.
4
The Killing of Ozur
The bishop became very angry when he heard that the ship had been damaged, and he called Einar Sokkason to him and said:
“Now is the time for you to carry out what you promised with oaths when we left Norway: to punish those who dishonored this place and its property. I declare that Ozur has forfeited his rights, since he has damaged our property and shown us hostility in every way. It cannot be concealed that I am not pleased with how things stand, and I will call you an oath-breaker if nothing is done.”
Einar answered:
“This was not well done, lord. Yet some may say that Ozur deserves some pity, seeing how much he has lost, though he did not handle matters rightly, when they saw the fine goods their kinsmen had owned and could not obtain them. I scarcely know what I should say in this matter.”
They parted coolly, and the bishop’s face showed anger.
When people later went to church mass and to a feast at Langanes, the bishop was there, and Einar at the feast. Many people had come for the service, and the bishop sang mass. Ozur was there and stood south of the church against the church wall, and a man named Brand, son of Thord, who was one of the bishop’s household men, spoke with him.
This man asked Ozur to make amends with the bishop.
“And I expect,” he said, “that things will go well then, though they seem threatening now.”
Ozur said he could not bring himself to do that, considering how badly he had been treated, and they spoke together about it.
Then the bishop left the church and went home to the hall, and Einar walked with him. When they came before the hall door, Einar turned away from the group and walked off alone toward the churchyard. He took an axe from the hand of a church server and walked south around the church. Ozur stood there leaning on his own axe. Einar struck him at once with a death-blow and afterward went inside. The tables were already set. Einar stepped to his place at the table opposite the bishop and did not speak a word.
Then Brand Thordsson went into the hall before the bishop and said:
“Has any news been told to you, lord?”
The bishop said he had heard none.
“What do you have to say?”
He answered:
“A man has just fallen dead outside.”
The bishop said:
“Who caused that? Who has been struck down?”
Brand said the man who could tell that best was nearby.
The bishop said:
“Are you the cause of Ozur’s death, Einar?”
He answered:
“I certainly am.”
The bishop said:
“Such deeds are not good, but still, some mercy is due.”
Brand asked that the body be washed and sung over. The bishop said he would allow time for that. Men sat at the tables and went on quietly, and the bishop obtained priests to sing over the body as Einar had requested, saying it would be proper to do so with honor.
The bishop said he thought it would be more fitting not to bury him at the church,
“but at your request he shall be buried here at this church, since there is no parish priest.”
He did not get clergy to sing over him until preparations for the body had first been made.
Then Einar said:
“Now things have taken a sudden turn, and no small part of that is due to you. There are powerful men involved here, and I fear that great quarrels will arise among us.”
The bishop said he hoped men would restrain that violence and instead be praised for their handling of this case and its judgment, if only they did not yield to violence.
5
The Killing of Einar Sokkason
These events became known, and the news reached the merchants.
Then Ketil Kalfsson said, “My guess was not far off, that it would be the death of him.”
There was a man named Simon, a kinsman of Ozur, a big man and strong. Ketil said it might be expected that, if Simon acted according to his nature, “he will avenge the death of his kinsman Ozur. Simon said he would not make large claims about it.
Ketil had their ships prepared and sent men to find Kolbein the steersman and tell him the news, “and tell him also that I will bring a case against Einar, for I know Greenland law, and I am prepared for it. We have a large following if it comes to that.”
Simon said he would follow Ketil’s advice. Then he went and met Kolbein, told him of the killing and passed on Ketil’s message, that they should gather support from those in the Western Settlement and attend the Greenlanders’ assembly. Kolbein said he would certainly come if he could, and he didn’t want the Greenlanders to think it advantageous to kill their men.
Ketil immediately took up the case from Simon and went with a group of men, but told the merchants to follow quickly after, “and bring your goods with you.”
Kolbein went at once when he received these words and told his companions to go to the assembly, and said they would have such a following that it would be uncertain whether the Greenlanders could prevail against them. Then Kolbein and Ketil met and discussed their plans. Both were influential men. They set out, and though bad weather hindered them, they still made their way and had a large following, although smaller than they had expected.
Men came to the assembly. Sokki Thorisson was there. He was a wise man and now old, and very much accustomed to settling men’s disputes.
He goes to meet Kolbein and Ketil and says he wants to seek a settlement. “I will offer to mediate,” he said, “between you, and though I have more difficulty in dealing with Einar, my son, still I shall decide it as seems fair and just to me and other wise men.”
Ketil said he intended to press the case to its conclusion, but would not refuse settlement, “matters have been pressed hard against us, and we are not used to letting our share be diminished here.”
Sokki said he thought they would not stand equally matched in a fight, and that it was uncertain they would gain more honor even if he did not judge.
The merchants went to the court, and Ketil brought the case forward against Einar.
Einar said, “It will be widely known if they press a case against us here,” and he approached the court and broke it up so they could not hold it.
Then Sokki said, “The offer still stands that I made, that you should settle and let me judge the matter.”
Ketil said he thought that would not happen now, “when you offer compensation which is still the same injustice Einar committed in this case,” and they parted on that.
The reason merchants from the Western Settlement did not come to the assembly was that there was a headwind when they were ready with two ships.
In the middle of the summer a settlement meeting was to be held at Eid. Then the merchants came from the west and landed at a headland, and they all met there and had talks.
Kolbein said it would not have gone so far with the settlements if they had all been together, “but now I think it best that we all go to this meeting with whatever equipment we have.”
So they went and hid in a concealed bay not far from the bishop’s seat.
It happened at the bishop’s seat that the bells rang for High Mass, and Einar Sokkason arrived. When the merchants heard this, they said great honor must be shown to him, that bells should be rung to greet him, and they called such a thing a great outrage and were displeased.
Kolbein said, “Do not be angered by this, for it may turn out that these will be funeral bells before evening.”
Then Einar and his men came and sat down on a slope. Sokki had valuables brought out as marks of honor and those intended as payment.
Ketil said, “I want Hermund Kodransson and me to value the goods.”
Sokki said that should be so.
Simon, Ozur’s kinsman, showed displeasure and walked about while the payment goods were set out. Then an old coat of mail was brought forward.
Simon said, “It is shameful that such a thing should be offered for such a man as Ozur was,” and he threw the mail-shirt down on the ground and walked up toward the men sitting on the slope. When the Greenlanders saw that, they sprang to their feet and faced him.
Next Kolbein went up behind them while they were all looking away. He rushed onto their backs and went alone from his men, and at that very moment he got behind Einar and struck him with an axe between the shoulders, and Einar’s axe struck Simon’s head, and both received death wounds.
Einar said as he fell, “That was to be expected.”
Then Thord, Einar’s foster-brother, ran at Kolbein and tried to strike him, but Kolbein turned quickly and thrust forward the point of his axe and struck Thord in the throat, and he died at once.
Then a fight broke out among them. The bishop sat beside Einar, and he died in his lap. There was a man named Steingrim who said they would do well not to fight, and he stepped between them with some men, but both sides were so furious that Steingrim was run through with a sword in that clash. Einar died at the top of the slope beside the Greenlanders’ booth.
Many men were badly wounded, and Kolbein and three of his men reached their ship and then went across Einarsfjord to Skjalgsbudar. The merchant ships were there, fully prepared.
Kolbein said some conflict had taken place then, “and I suppose the Greenlanders are no better pleased now than before.”
Ketil said, “You spoke true, Kolbein, when you said we would hear funeral bells before we left, and I think Einar has now been carried dead to church.”
Kolbein said he had helped bring that about.
Ketil said, “It is likely the Greenlanders will come against us, and I think it best that men keep themselves ready as they can and all stay aboard the ships at night.”
So they did. Sokki grieved greatly at this news and asked men to support him in pursuing vengeance for the killing.
6
Settlement Between the Greenlanders and the Merchants
There was a man named Hall. He lived at Solarfjoll, a wise man and a good farmer. He was in Sokki’s following and came last with his band.
He said to Sokki, “Your plan does not look promising to me, to attack large ships with small boats against, given the defenses as I think they will have. I do not know how reliable a force you have, though all brave men will do well, but the others will hold back more, and the leaders will be exposed because of that, and then our case will look even worse than before. Now it seems to me best, if men are going to attack, that oaths be sworn, that each man shall either fall here or gain victory.”
At Hall’s words the men were greatly disheartened.
Sokki said, “We shall not part from this so that the matter remains unsettled.”
Hall said he would try to arrange a settlement between them, and he called the merchants and said, “May I come and speak with you safely?”
Kolbein and Ketil answered that he could. Then he met them and emphasized the necessity of settling matters after such serious events.
They said they were ready for either course, whatever the others wished, and said all this injustice had come from those countrymen, “but now that you show such goodwill, we agree that you shall judge between us.”
He said he would judge as seemed most just to him, whether either side liked it or not.
This was then reported to Sokki. He said he too would accept Hall’s judgment. The merchants were to stay ready with their equipment at night, and they said Sokki would like nothing better than that they leave as soon as possible, “but if they delay their preparations and try my patience, then it is certain they will get no compensation if they are captured.”
So they parted on those terms, and a settlement meeting was appointed.
Ketil said, “Our preparations are not going quickly, and our provisions are running out. It is my advice that we seek supplies, and I know where a man lives who has plenty of food, and I think it best to go after it.”
They said they were ready for that. One night they went up from the ships, thirty men together, all armed, and came to the farm, but everything there was empty. The farmer who lived there was named Thorarin.
Ketil said, “My plan has not turned out well,” and they went away from the farm and headed back down toward the ships, and there was brushwood where they passed.
Then Ketil said, “I am sleepy, and I must sleep.”
They said that was not very wise. But he lay down anyway and fell asleep, and they kept watch over him.
A little later he woke up and said, “Much has happened to me. What would happen if we pull up this bush that is under my head?”
They pulled up the bush, and beneath it was a large underground storehouse.
Ketil said, “Let us first see what provisions are here.”
They found sixty slaughtered animals, twelve measures of butter, and a great quantity of dried fish.
“Well, that’s good,” said Ketil, “that I didn’t lead you astray.”
They then went to the ships with their provisions.
Now the time for the settlement meeting approached, and both sides came to it, merchants and countrymen.
Hall said, “This is the settlement I declare between you: the killings of Ozur and Einar shall stand equal; and for the other deaths, compensation shall fall on the Norwegians, so that they shall have neither lodging nor winter stay here. These killings shall also be counted equal: Steingrim the farmer and Simon; Krak the Norwegian and Thorfinn the Greenlander; Vighvat the Norwegian and Bjarni the Greenlander; Thorir and Thord. Now one of our men remains uncompensated, whose name is Thorarin, a man without kin. He shall be compensated in property.”
Sokki thought these terms harsh, and so did the other Greenlanders, since the killings were thus balanced. Hall said he expected his ruling would stand nonetheless. And with that they parted.
Afterward ice drifted in and covered all the fjords, and the Greenlanders thought it was a good opportunity to capture them and they did not leave as agreed. But just as the new month arrived, all the ice drifted away, and the merchants were able to depart from Greenland, and so they parted.
They came to Norway. Kolbein had taken a polar bear from Greenland and brought the animal to King Harald Gilli and gave it to him, and he told the king how badly the Greenlanders had treated them, and greatly slandered them. But later the king heard another account and thought Kolbein had deceived him, and no reward came for the animal.
Later, Kolbein joined a band with Sigurd Slembedjakn and went against King Harald Gilli and wounded him.
And then, when they sailed past Denmark and had gone far, Kolbein was in the small boat behind, the weather was rough, and the boat broke loose and Kolbein drowned. But Hermund and his companions came to Iceland to their families’ homes.
And there this saga ends.
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