Action along the coast of Vinland
What Freydis Eiricksdottir has to tell us.
Despite the dearth of information concerning the courses of Freydis from Greenland or along the Coast of Vinland, she did leave us two very important items for us to consider:
One: that her expedition of two ships separated early, yet arrived at what had been considered a "lost" destination within a fortnight of each other. This is insightful to not only the seafaring skills of Vikings, it is testimony that the searoads to Leifsbudir were familiar to them and no longer problematical.
Second: the most incredible factor of defining the range from Greenland that Vinland must have been. The Saga quote is that she and her crew in the stolen ship of the slain brothers departed Leifsbudir in "-- early Spring --" and arrived in Greenland in "-- early Summer --" after a "-- happy trip."
This, of course, tells us that it took at least three months and more likely four as the Northward courses would be following the seasons. Early Spring in New England would have been (estimated for easier climate of the time), perhaps in March and early Summer in Greenland might have been June.
The maps above give insight to conditions of the area of Leifsbudir. The one on the left is by one Blaskiwitz, commander of a French expedition of 1764 giving his impression of the terrain of Narragansett Bay. While this might seem exaggerated to us - the hills are by no means so steep as this implies - it does show the difficulties of the area. It also lays to rest the question of Narragansett Bay being what is termed a fjord. Geologically it really is a fjord and this shows that it also looks like one.
The right hand map shows the general terrain of the entire State of Rhode Island. Most maps of the terrain show it as nearly flat because there are few really high places, but flat it isn't.
Both maps show why Pettaquamscutt is so often neglected for study. It is left off the French map as insignificant and the right map shows the terrain there as marshy, which is a long way from the fact. Pettaquamscutt Basin has high and often steep hills to over a hundred feet all along it.
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