. Climatic variation in historic and prehistoric time. De Gourmonts chart. Pining and Porthorst are called pirates because later they too were suspected of piracy and condemned. Geographers and historians have never been able to agree as to the exact situation of the mountain Hvitserk. This mountain is al- ways given as the first landmark on the way to Greenland. Finnur Jonsson who has been most active in localising the ancient colonies holds Mount Hvitserk to be identic with Cape Farewell. I do not share his view because Hvitserk, which may be the »Blaserk» men- tioned by the oldest Sagas, is
. Climatic variation in historic and prehistoric time. De Gourmonts chart. Pining and Porthorst are called pirates because later they too were suspected of piracy and condemned. Geographers and historians have never been able to agree as to the exact situation of the mountain Hvitserk. This mountain is al- ways given as the first landmark on the way to Greenland. Finnur Jonsson who has been most active in localising the ancient colonies holds Mount Hvitserk to be identic with Cape Farewell. I do not share his view because Hvitserk, which may be the »Blaserk» men- tioned by the oldest Sagas, is expressly described as a high moun- tain and in later records as a »j6kel» i. e. an ice-clad mountain. In my opinion the name should apply to one of the lofty nunatakes that rise out of the ice north of Cape Farewell. I will go more ful- ly into this matter when discussing the ancient records containing the directions for navigation between Iceland, Norway and Green- land. It seems important, however, that Finnur Jonsson too thinks to locate Hvitserk in the vicinity of the old straits that led to the »Osterbygd». There is a tendency now to underrate the intercourse and me- ans of communication in bygone ages. Professor 0. Montelius has caused this view to be modified by bringing facts to light which show that even a thousand years before the Viking-age an eager intercourse was kept up between England, Sweden and Denmark across the North Sea Eric Rode's Saga shows the national character to have been the same then as now at least as regards the tendency to emigrate. In the tenth and eleventh centuries a strong emigration took place to Iceland and Greenland. It was to the interest of Eric Rode to encourage this tendency. The year after his return a Viking-fleet num- bering some 25 ships with colonists on board sailed for Greenland. They carried cattle, building material and householdgoods. Pro- bably each ship carried 30—40 human beings. By and by the sett- lement of Oste
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