Straums-ey
Straums-ey is an island on the northeast coast of North America , which , according to the Erik saga , is said to have been entered around the year 1000 by a Greenland-Icelandic expedition in search of Vinland . Their exact location is unknown. According to the saga, the island is located across from a sea bay or fjord , which the Nordmanns called Straumsfjordr .
Description of the island
The island is mentioned in the Erik saga . The northerners gave it the name Straums-ey (current or current island) because strong currents existed around it. Based on the description in Chapter 8, Paragraphs 6 to 9 of the Eiríks saga rauða (quoted from the English translation by J. Sephton, 1880), it can be assumed that it was home to a larger breeding colony of birds. Furthermore, it must have been possible to reach it promptly from within the fjord with rowed boats. It must have been of a certain size, as it took a search lasting four “half days” to find a member of the expedition who had moved away from the group; moreover, it had rocks and cliffs.
Presumed position of the island
It is not known for sure where Straums-ey Island or Straumsfjordr is located. At L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland, a settlement has been excavated that could correspond to Straumsfjordr. These places may also be located on the coast of the American mainland in the Canadian provinces of Labrador or Québec . In the absence of more informative archaeological findings, the assumptions vary widely. It was even argued that it was Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick .
Meaning in the Erik saga
In the Erik saga, the island becomes the scene of a conflict between Christians and followers of the old gods. According to the author, the majority of the members of the expedition were already Christians, whose faithfulness will be tested in Straumsfjordr. Although their cattle can find enough food, food for the Northmen becomes scarce during the winter in Straumsfjordr. They decide to go to Straums-ey Island to look for food. But the success remains low.
“Then they called on God, praying that He would send them a small supply of meat, but their prayer was not granted as soon as they hoped. Thorhall vanished out of sight and they began to look for him; they searched for him continuously for three half days. "
“On the fourth half day Karlsefni and Bjarni found him on the top of a rock. He lay with his face up to the sky, with open eyes, mouth and wide nostrils, scratching and pinching himself, and reciting something. "
A little later, a whale - of a species unknown to the northerners - is propelled. Yet its meat is prepared and eaten. However, consumption does not benefit them. In the following it turns out that the whale is to be regarded as a gift from the god Thor, which his follower Thorhall had asked him to give:
“[Thorhall] said, isn't it that the redbeard [Thor] has shown himself to be a better friend than your Christ? This was the gift for the verses I wrote about Thor, my patron; seldom has he disappointed me. "
Now, after the men knew this, none of them would eat it, and they threw it off the cliff and turned to the grace of God (Christ) with their prayers. As a result there was no shortage, as fishing, hunting, on the mainland, and collecting bird eggs were now successful.
The following summer, opinions differed as to how to continue the journey. Thorhall drives back to Kjalar-nes along the Furdus beaches to search for Vinland from there. As is described in the 9th chapter, the Gentile Thorhall "no more than nine men" followed; whereas the majority follows the Christian merchant Thorsefni. As a result, Thorhall goes off course and ends up in Ireland, where he is slain. The followers of Karlsefnis, i.e. the Christians, mostly return to Greenland and Iceland after they have found Vinland or a place they call “ Hóp ”.
- interpretation
The author is obviously interested in showing that the followers of “true” faith were rewarded for their trust in God. The food that has accrued to them through no fault of their own as a result of a pagan invocation does not get them. After they have explicitly turned away from the pagan gods, they fare better. The pagans, on the other hand, suffer a bad fate.