Straumfjörð


Straumfjörð, or Straumfjǫrð sometimes anglicised to Straumsfjordr, Straumfjordr, Straumsfjord or Straumfjord, is according to the Sagas of Icelanders a fjord in Vinland where Thorfinn Karlsefni set up a temporary settlement. It is described in the Saga of Erik the Red, but not in the Greenland saga. Its name translates to "Current-fjord", "Stream-fjord" or "Tide-fjord".
Two somewhat different versions of the travels of Karlsefni appear in the sagas; they are found in the Hauksbók and the Flateyjarbók. They tell that Straumsey lies at the mouth of Straumfjörð; this is an island with an extreme density of birds.
The whereabouts of Straumfjörð has been, and is, subject to intense speculation.

Location

The exact location of Straumfjörð is disputed. The only Norse settlement which has been recovered in North America beyond Greenland is located on L'Anse aux Meadows.
According to the Saga of Erik the Red the location is significantly south of Markland.

Directions

Based on Septhon's 1880 translation - notice that this is claimed to be a mix between the Hauksbók and Flateyjarbók versions.
Thorfinn Karlsefni, trying to find a country seen by Bjarni Herjólfsson and visited by Leif Ericson, sails from Brattahlíð, Eastern Settlement to Vestribygd, both in Greenland. From here, they move on to "Bjarneyjar". After two half-days or days of sail with northerly wind they arrive at Helluland. After another two half-days or days of sail with northerly winds, they arrive at Markland.
Off Markland to the South-East is an island that Karlsefni and his company called Bear Island. From Markland, after yet another two half-days or days of sail, they encounter a headland. This headland is possibly identical with Kjalarnes. Keeping the coast on their starboard side, they journey along Furdustrandir. Then, the coast becomes indented with creeks. They find grapes and wild wheat, and continue until the shore is cut into by a fjord with an island, Straumsey at its mouth; this is Straumsfjord.
To the south of Straumsfjord is Hóp, where no snow falls during winter, and on the west side of Kjalarnes is a wilderness, and a river which flows from east to west. East of Kjalarnes is the "Irish Ocean". Straumsfjord is estimated by Karlsefni to be equidistant from Hóp and a location north of the river that runs westwards. He also regards Hóp and this location by the river to share the same mountain .
The "two half-days or days" , referenced three times in the saga, are important to the question of the whereabouts of Straumsfjord because they suggest the distance travelled when Karlsefni and his men, perhaps, crossed open seas. The two doegr were suggested by Carl Christian Rafn in 1841 to be equivalent to about 54 to 60 miil. He bases this on old Icelandic sources such as the Landnámabók. Miil would refer to either :nn::sjømil|sjømil or to Scandinavian mile. William A. Munn assumes the two days to correspond to "about 200 miles". Jónas Kristjánsson and colleagues, in a 2012 article, suggest that 170 nautical miles, which is the distance between Greenland and Baffin Island, or an even longer distance, could well be transversed over two doegr, as modern replicas of Norse ships have been reported to make 12 knots and more under favourable conditions. Geoffrey Malcolm Gathorne-Hardy and William Hovgaard estimated a day of 24 hours' sail at about 150 miles.

Saga of Erik the Red

According to the Saga of Erik the Red, Straumfjörð is located beyond the Wonderstrands. It describes the area thus, according to the "fusioned" 1880 translation by J. Sephton:
Later, after giving up settling farther south due to the presence of hostile Skrælings, Karlsefni and his men again reach Straumsfjord when retreating northwards:

Hallmarks

If the saga's accounts and the translation are accurate, within Straumsfjord, there are mountains, the place was fair to look upon, with large pastures, a harsh winter, and hunting opportunities. A crag or crags are found within some distance. An unknown species of whale shored; it was inedible. On Straumsey, there are so many birds that it is difficult not to step on eggs, it also has poor fishery, but gave good sustenance for their cattle. Fishery failed, but later recovered.

Currents

A defining feature of Straumsfjord and Straumsey must have been high tides or strong currents. The settlement which was established farther south, Hóp may also have been connected to strong currents or tides, as it has been translated into "tidal pool" or "tidal lake". According to a 2008 article by Thomas Hayne in the journal Weather, this may give some clues as to the whereabouts of the fjord:

Climate

Theories on where Straumsfjord and the other places described in the saga were to a large extent based on the saga's descriptions of flora and fauna. The Northern Atlantic has since the saga was written, however, been through periods of natural changes in the regional climate and, more recently, global warming. This adds an extra layer of uncertainty to every climate-dependent observation.

Seamanship

Common sense seamanship implies to avoid open and treacherous seas unless they are unavoidable. Moreover, appropriate natural harbours would be required for the ships. This provides possible constraints to the routes taken.

Skepticism

and Anne Stine Ingstad, in The Viking Discovery of America, take a sceptical approach. They argue that
The similarities are also described by Mats G. Larsson. However, according to a 2012 article in Acta Archaeologica, it is "now generally accepted" that the two sagas were written independently.
Fridtjof Nansen, in his I tåkeheimen, written before the discovery of L'Anse aux Meadows, conjectures that the Saga of Erik the Red was inspired by tales about the Fortunate Isles and, although admitting that it is indeed possible that the Norse reached America, considers the saga to not be trustworthy. Julius E. Olson of the University of Wisconsin strongly attacked this stance in a 1911 article, saying "If there isn't a substantial background of history to the Saga of Eric the Red, it is the most clever piece of literary deception over practiced in the name of history".

Suggested locations

The following suggestions for the location of Straumfjörð are gathered from both scholarly and popular literature. They are sorted by increasing distance from the Western Settlement, Greenland: they make increasingly optimistic estimates for the distance travelled by Karlsefni and his company. Evidently, the headland, promontory or cape Kjalarnes is difficult to identify; for seafarers the keel placed there would make its identification obvious, but it is now lost, and Furdustrandir and Straumsfjord lay beyond this point. As will be shown in the following, Kjalarnes is sometimes, but not always, identified as L'Anse aux Meadows, Gaspé Peninsula, Cape North/Cape Breton and Cape Cod. Many, but not all, of the following suggestions can be placed some distance beyond these points, within four coastal regions: Newfoundland; Chaleur Bay; Nova Scotia/Maine; between Cape Cod and New York.

Ungava Bay

Hayne connects the extreme tides of Ungava Bay to the alleged currents or tides at Straumsfjord and Hóp, without drawing any conclusions.

Sandwich Bay

in The Voyages of the Norsemen to America takes into account the tales in the Greenland Saga. According to William Stetson Merrill, Hovgaard places Karlsefni's first winter at Sandwich Bay, Labrador. It is not made explicit whether this refers to Straumsfjord.

L'Anse aux Meadows

Birgitta Linderoth Wallace places the settlement at Straumfjörð at L'Anse aux Meadows.

Sop's Arm

et al. assume that the headland of Kjalarnes referred to in the saga is at L'Anse aux Meadows, suggests that Straumsfjord refers to Sop's Arm, Newfoundland, as no other fjord in Newfoundland was found to have an island at its mouth, and as pitfall traps of possible Norse origin were found at this location.

St. Lawrence

In an 1831 letter sent from Copenhagen to the Massachusetts Historical Society, published in the 1880 Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Rasmus Christian Rask gives a thorough account of the sagas and states,
This would refer, it would seem, either to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence or to lower Saint Lawrence River, depending on naming conventions in use at the time. He refuses to propose a theory of the whereabouts of Straumsey, claiming it "impossible", but hopes for future saga translations to illuminate the issue.
H. P. Steensby held that "The coast lines were guides for the ancient Norsemen and they must also be ours". According to Merrill, Steensby's opinion was that

Baie des Sept-Îles

Cappelen's History of Norway suggests a location at Baie des Sept-Îles, Quebec.

Chaleur Bay

An early 1920s book review by Sigfús Blöndal in Historisk Tidsskrift, referring to scholarly consensus of the past decades and to the authority of Gustav Storm and H. P. Steensby, places Straumsfjord at Chaleur Bay, which separates Gaspé Peninsula from New Brunswick.
Halldór Hermansson also placed Straumfjord in Chaleur Bay, "where the tide rises from five to ten feet". Matthias Thordarsson, who authored The Vinland Voyages, agreed with his views.

Mira Bay

Juul Dieserud placed Straumsfjord at Mira Bay, Nova Scotia.

Strait of Canso

Geraldine Barnes connects Straumsfjord to the Strait of Canso between Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia, due to its high tides and the birdlife at nearby Isle Madame.
According to a 1935 article by William Stetson Merrill in The Catholic Historical Review, the opinion held by Gustav Storm was as follows:

Lobster Bay

considers the Strait of Canso a candidate due to its strong currents, but notes that the currents do not extend to islands. Therefore, he considers Lobster Bay a better candidate. He notices that Samuel de Champlain named this bay "Baye courante, i.e. the same name as the Norse one". Larsson further observes,

Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy is claimed to have the highest tides in the world. Julius E. Olson pointed out that Fridtjof Nansen, taking a very sceptical stance, was dismissive of the idea of Vinland being located at Nova Scotia, partly because he held that the birdlife there would not match the extreme abundance which the saga describes on Straumsey. Olson points, however, to the Bay of Fundy and the isle of Grand Manan, and quotes Samuel de Champlain's observation of birds on islands by the Nova Scotia coast :
William Henry Babcock placed Straumsfjord on the firth leading into Passamaquoddy Bay, referring to the tides around the Bay of Fundy, and also places Straumsey at Grand Manan Island.
The Bay of Fundy was also mentioned in a 2008 article in Weather, but without any conclusions being drawn.

Environs of Mount Desert Island

William L. Traxel, in his explorative 2004 book Footprints of the Welsh Indians: Settlers in North America Before 1492 connects Straumsey to Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park, Maine, United States, and consequently Straumsfjord with one of the nearby inlets:
He bases this on an identification of Cape Breton Island as Kjalarnes north of Straumsfjord, and on three candidate locations of Hóp to the south. Traxel refers to a number of archeological findings by Frederick J. Pohl at Follins Pond, and connects these to the settlement of Hóp. He also reports that Robert Ellis Cahill found a Norse longhouse near Buzzard's Bay He also holds Pettaquamscutt River, Rhode Island as a candidate for the location of Hóp.

Buzzards Bay

According to the 1880 Sephton translation of the saga, Carl Christian Rafn and other Danish scholars placed Kjalarnes at Cape Cod, Straumsfjord at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts and Straumsey at Martha's Vineyard.
Rafn suggests these views in a comprehensive treatment in the 1840-1841 :no::Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie|Annals for Nordic Ancient Knowledge, observing that the interference of the Gulf Stream by Barnstable would give significant currents in this area. He further identifies Hóp as Mount Hope Bay, Rhode Island, suggesting that the Norse language name may have survived through "the Indians' Mont-Haup". He also mentions a nearby Egg Island as a candidate for Straumsey.
The suggested connection to Buzzard's Bay is reiterated by Benjamin Franklin DeCosta in The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen
The methodology of the account of Edward F. Gray, author of Leif Eriksson: Discoverer of America, appears to be particularly favoured in the 1935 review article by William Stetson Merrill. Considering all Vinland sagas as a whole, Gray suggested that it was not Karlsefni, but Leif Ericson who reached Straumsfjord. The currents of Straumsfjord, Gray holds, relates to the currents of Nantucket Sound, and he proceeded past Martha's Vineyard to build his Leifsbudir at Menemsha Pond.

Long Island Sound

argued that Straumfjörð is identical with Long Island Sound, with Straumsey "at its eastern extremity", i.e. at Fisher's Island. To put this in context, he held Helluland to refer to Labrador and Newfoundland, Markland to refer to Nova Scotia, Kjalarnes to be at Cape Cod.
This contradicted earlier estimates. William Paton Ker, in a 1922 book review published in The English Historical Review favoured this view before that of Gustav Storm, who placed Vinland in Nova Scotia.

Hudson River

According to a 1963 article in Sunnudagsblaðið, Charles Michael Boland, the author of the 1961 book They All Discovered America which suggests widespread pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, held Straumfjord to be the Hudson River and Straumsey to be Governors Island.
A December 1965 article in Folk og Land suggests that the Hudson River is Straumfjörð, and that Manhattan Island is Straumsey. Reasons provided are that the name seems apt, that there were excellent natural harbours in this area, such as in the East River and New York Harbor, that this location would be a good base for further exploration, that it is a land of plenty, that the winters on Manhattan Island are relatively cold, and that cliffs, described in the saga, can be found by the Harlem River.