Book Description

Excerpt from The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen: With Translations From the Icelandic Sagas The chief aim of this work is to place within the reach of the English-reading public every portion of the Icelandic-Sagas relating to the Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen, and to indicate the movements by which that discovery was preceded. The reader will, therefore, find in this volume material from the Sagas not to be found in any other work in an English form. The Sagas have been left, in the main, to tell their own story, though the necessary notes and explanations have been added. So long ago as the year 1838, a distinguished writer in the North American Review, in closing a valuable and appreciative article on the Sagas relating to America, said: "We trust that some zealous student of these subjects will be immediately found, who will put the Icelandic authorities into an English dress, and prepare them, with proper literary apparatus, for the perusal of the general reader." In 1868 this suggestion was acted upon by the writer. Availing himself liberally of the studies of those who had preceded him, he brought out a volume devoted to the subject. That work, however, owing to a large demand, soon went out of print; while in 1890 the progress of discussion, and the nearness of the coming Columbian Celebrat on, justified a new edition, which was brought out, with various improvements, being soon exhausted. A third edition is now called for, and, in fact, rendered necessary by the discovery in the Vatican Library, at Rome, of a number of Papal letters that exhibit the subject in a new light. The testimony of these letters is of the highest value. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.