our intercourse together should be expensive to you; but so it is, that it will seem to me an ill thing if it is heard that you never spent a worse Yule than this, just now beginning, when Eirik the Red entertained you at Brattahlid, in Greenland.”  Karlsefni answered, “It must not come to such a pass; we have in our ships malt, meal, and corn, and you have right and title to take therefrom whatever you wish, and to make your entertainment such as consorts with your munificence.”  And Eirik accepted the offer.  Then was preparation made for the Yule-feast, and so magnificent was it that the men thought they had scarcely ever seen so grand a feast.  And after Yule, Karlsefni broached to Eirik the subject of a marriage with Gudrid, which he thought might be under Eirik’s control, and the woman appeared to him to be both beautiful and of excellent understanding.  Eirik answered and said, that for his part he would willingly undertake his suit, and said, moreover, that she was worthy of a good match.  It is also likely, he thought, that she will be following out her destiny, should she be given to him; and, moreover, the report which comes to me of him is good.  The proposals were now laid before her, and she allowed the marriage with her to be arranged which Eirik wished to promote.  However, I will not now speak at length how this marriage took place; the Yule festival was prolonged and made into a marriage-feast.  Great joy was there in Brattahlid during the winter.  Much playing at backgammon and telling of stories went on, and many things were done that ministered to the comfort of the household.

7.  During this time much talk took place in Brattahlid about making ready to go to Vinland the Good, and it was asserted that they would there find good choice lands.  The discourse came to such conclusion that Karlsefni and Snorri prepared their ship, with the intention of seeking Vinland during the summer.  Bjarni and Thorhall ventured on the same expedition, with their ship and the retinue which had accompanied them. [There was a man named Thorvard; he married Freydis, natural daughter of Eirik the Red; he set out with them likewise, as also Thorvald, a son of Eirik.] There was a man named Thorvald; he was a son-in-law[B] of Eirik the Red.  Thorhall was called the Sportsman; he had for a long time been Eirik’s companion in hunting and fishing expeditions during the summers, and many things had been committed to his keeping.  Thorhall was a big man, dark, and of gaunt appearance; rather advanced in years, overbearing in temper, of melancholy mood, silent at all times, underhand in his dealings, and withal given to abuse, and always inclined towards the worst.  He had kept himself aloof from the true faith when it came to Greenland.  He was but little encompassed with the love of friends, but yet Eirik had long held conversation with him.  He went in the ship with Thorvald and his man, because he was widely acquainted with the unpeopled districts.