It was long before any attempt was made, according to the narratives, to search for the land discovered by Gunnbjörn. In Hauk's Landnámabók [c. 122] we read:
[Sidenote: Snæbjörn Galti and Rolf of Raudesand]
"Snæbjörn [Galti, Holmsteinsson] owned a ship in Grimså-os, and Rolf of Raudesand bought a half-share in it.[243] They had twelve men each. With Snæbjörn were Thorkel and Sumarlide, sons of Thorgeir Raud, son of Einar of Stafholt. Snæbjörn also took with him Thorodd of Thingnes, his foster-father, and his wife, and Rolf took with him Styrbjörn, who quoth thus after his dream:
'The bane I see of both of us, all dolefully north-west in the sea, frost and cold, all kinds of anguish; from such I foresee the slaying of Snæbjörn.'
"They went to seek for Gunnbjörnskerries, and found land. Snæbjörn would not let any one land at night. Styrbjörn went from the ship and found a purse of money in a grave-mound ['kuml,' a cairn over a grave], and hid it. Snæbjörn struck at him with an axe, and the purse fell. They built a house, and covered it all over with snow ['ok lagdi hann i fonn']. Thorkel Raudsson found that there was water on the fork that stuck out at the aperture of the hut. That was in the month of Goe.[244] Then they dug themselves out. Snæbjörn made ready the ship. Of his people Thorodd and his wife stayed in the house; and of Rolf's Styrbjörn and others, and the rest went hunting. Styrbjörn slew Thorodd, and both he and Rolf slew Snæbjörn. Raud's sons and all the others took oaths [i.e., oaths of fidelity] to save their lives. They came to Hálogaland, and went thence to Iceland, and arrived at Vadil." There both Rolf and Styrbjörn met their death.
[Illustration: The Eastern Settlement of Greenland. The black points mark ruins of the homesteads of the ancient Greenlanders (from Finnur Jónsson, 1899)]
It is possible that this strange fragmentary tale points back to an actual attempt at settlement in Greenland, due to Snæbjörn and Rolf having to leave Iceland on account of homicide. The attempt may have been abandoned on account of dissensions, or because the country was too inhospitable. From the genealogical information the voyage may possibly be placed a little earlier than Eric the Red's first voyage to Greenland [cf. K. Maurer, 1874, p. 204]. Whereabouts in Greenland they landed and spent the winter is not stated; but the fact that the snow first began to thaw in the month of "Goe" would point to a cold climate, and this agrees best with the east coast of Greenland. But the story is so obscure that it is difficult to form any clear opinion as to its general credibility; the grave-mound and the purse of money must in any case have come from elsewhere. The circumstance that on their return they sailed first to Norway and thence to Iceland may be derived from a later time, when there was no direct communication between Greenland and Iceland, but the communication with Greenland took place by way of Norway.