They could not find that any European had ever visited this place; butsome of the Skraelings told them of a place farther south, which theycalled "the Land of the Whiteman," or "Great Ireland." They said that inthat place there were white men who clothed themselves in long whitegarments, carried before them poles to which white cloths were hung, andcalled with a loud voice. These, it was thought by the Norsemen, must beChristian processions, in which banners were borne and hymns were chanted.It has been thought from this that some expedition from Ireland--that ofSt. Brandan, for instance--may have left a settlement there, long before,but this has never been confirmed. The Skraelings and the Northmen weregood friends for a time; until at last one of Erik's own warriors killed aSkraeling by accident, and then all harmony was at an end.They saw no hope of making a lasting settlement there, and, moreover,Freydis who was very grasping, tried to deceive the other settlers and getmore than her share of everything, so that Harald himself lost patiencewith her and threatened her. It happened that one of the men of the party,Olaf, was Harald's foster-brother. They had once had a fight, and afterthe battle had agreed that they would be friends for life and always sharethe same danger. For this vow they were to walk under the turf; that is, astrip of turf was cut and held above their heads, and they stood beneathand let their blood flow upon the ground whence the turf had been cut.
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