Read Online The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley - Free Book Online Page B

to the land at the foot of the Greenland bottom, and they pointed out to him the way that the shore turned westward, and the western shore, too, could be seen in fine weather. And it did seem that they had reached the end of the ocean fjord, and Nicholas was about to turn back, when one morning they awoke to find themselves in a wide fjord or riverlike body of water with a strong current. According to Nicholas, the direction of this fjord headed due north. But night had returned to the land by this time, and the Greenlanders were hesitant about entering far into this northward-tending fjord. When it was time to sleep, Nicholas took Osmund aside, and spoke with him for a long time, keeping him awake, for Nicholas, it appeared, needed no sleep, and was again like a madman about his project, and he harried and chattered at Osmund and Hauk and the rest of the Greenlanders, until they finally agreed to go a day’s sail to the north. And that day, many narwhal were sighted, and in addition four polar bears, and so the Greenlanders thought that hunting might be good here.
    They moved forward, avoiding the drift ice, hunting one day for every day that they sailed, and the Greenlanders were pretty well satisfied, and at last they came into open sea, and Nicholas said that they were at the top of the world, judging by the stars and the sun, but the Greenlanders were inclined to think that they had merely found another large bay. Here the ship turned around and began to head southward. Now, although it was only a few days after their northward sailing, the fjord was much fuller of pack ice, and leads between the floes opened and closed in a matter of moments. Ice, as every Greenlander knew, could suddenly begin heaving and exploding into the air as if flung up by the curses of witches and trolls. From time to time the men had to get out of the ship and drag it over the ice to open water. It was on one of these trips that they encountered a group of skraelings in sledges drawn by packs of wolves. These people could not be approached because of the howling of these wolves, until one skraeling went amongst his pack and beat at them with a bone club. The skraelings were carrying piles of narwhal hides and tusks, which the Greenlanders eyed enviously, but only Hauk Gunnarsson consented to approach them, for, he said, he knew some of their devilish tongue from earlier journeys to the north. In the end, the skraelings traded a considerable number of horns and some seal blubber for two iron-tipped spears and three of the Englishman’s iron-bladed knives, and they appeared to consider themselves well repaid. One of these knives had a tempered blade and a silver handle with the figure of St. Matthew on it, and some of the Greenlanders laughed at the thought of a skraeling with such a knife. Nicholas grumbled that Hauk would have traded away all of his astronomical instruments, but nevertheless he appeared well pleased with his look at the devilish skraeling peoples, and declared them certainly to be denizens of hell, as the old books said. He made the Greenlanders promise to have the narwhal horns blessed at the cathedral as soon as Gardar was reached.
    Now the Greenlanders were anxious to return home, for the days were shortening quickly, but the ship got among some islands that none of the Greenlanders had ever seen, where the currents were strong and the ice thick and deceptive. The ship was fog- and icebound many times, and the travelers began to despair of their lives at the approach of winter. Only Nicholas and Hauk Gunnarsson were confident, the one because of the mercy of God, for which he prayed loudly and long every day, and the other because he had wintered in the north before, and knew that there would be much game, even in the dark of the long winter night. But the others were not as confident, and pressed for continuing the journey south at every possible opportunity.
    Now they were having to pull the ship out of the water and