ISBN 0-9682761-2-1

    'Thorfinn Thorhallson's Saga' (or: 'What happened to the Greenland Norse?') is an adventure novel that, in part, offers an explanation for the unsolved mystery of what happened to the inhabitants of the West Settlement, the most northern of the two Norse settlements in Greenland. The West settlement was found abandoned and derelict around 1350.

    The main character of the story is Thorfinn Thorhallson, born in the West Settlement around 1317 and named for the Norse explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni.

    During his youth, Thorfinn's great aunt Vigdis whiled away the long Greenland nights telling stories. One was about a legendary Norseman named Audin who travelled from Iceland to get a polar bear cub to present to the King of Denmark.

    At about age 14, Thorfinn accompanies his family to Markland (Labrador) where the Norse had camps but no permanent settlements. There they replenish their supply of bog iron and Thorfinn makes contact with the "Skraelings," or natives. It is a friendly meeting, with gifts exchanged.

    In 1332, while hunting with his father, Thorfinn meets an Inuit boy named Maku and they become fast friends. Maku goes back to the West Settlement with Thorfinn.

    Then comes the great adventure for both Thorfinn and Maku. They are captured, taken to Spain and sold as galley slaves to a muslim merchant.

    After 12 years of slavery they gain their freedom and set out on a long journey that takes them to a Norse settlement in Russia.

    The spread of the "Black Death" across Europe causes people to flee to far off places to avoid the disease. Thorfinn and Maku and an Icelander named Vifil decide to return to their home countries.

    After many strange adventures they reach Iceland, and then Thorfinn and Maku go on to Greenland where they are welcomed as if returned from the dead.

    Thorfinn and Maku take up their old way of life and in the succeeding chapters the author offers his explanation for the disappearance of the people of the West Settlement.

    This is an engaging little novel filled with adventure and romance, giving us a feel for life in 14th-century Greenland and Europe.

- Mike McCarthy

(originally printed in 'The Telegram' newspaper, Newfoundland, January 14, 2001)


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