This Country of Ours

In days long long ago there dwelt in Greenland a King named Eric the Red. He was a man mighty in war, and men held him in high honour. Now one day to the court of Eric there came Bjarni the son of Heriulf. This Bjarni was a far traveler. He had sailed many times upon the seas, and when he came home he had ever some fresh tale of marvel and adventure to tell. But this time he had a tale to tell more marvelous than any before. For he told how far away across the sea of Greenland, where no man had sailed before, he had found a new, strange land. But when the people asked news of this unknown land Bjarni could tell them little, for he had not set foot upon those far shores. Therefore the people scorned him.