I was in Utrecht as a fugitive. For we had two bishops, who did us much harm. Since I could not remain at home, I lived my life in exile. When I came to Utrecht, I found a good man, The very good Reginpreht, he delighted in doing all that was good. He was a wise man, so that he pleased God, A pious priest, of perfect goodness. He told me truly, as many more there [also said], He had sailed to Iceland--there he found much wealth-- With meal and with wine and with alder-wood. This they buy for fires, for wood is dear with them. There is abundance of all that belongs to provisions and to sport [pleasure] Except that there the sun does not shine--they lack that delight-- Thereby the ice there becomes so hard a crystal, That they make a fire above it, till the crystal glows. Therewith they cook their food, and warm their rooms. There a bundle of alder-wood is given [sold] for a penny."
We find in this poem the same idea of a curdled or clotted sea--here probably in the north-west near Iceland--as appeared early among the Greeks and Romans, perhaps even among the Carthaginians and Phœnicians (see pp. 40, 66 f.).[178] It is possible that it may have found its way into this poem by purely literary channels from classical authors; but the description seems to bear traces of more life, and it rather points to a legend which lived in popular tradition.
In this poem and in Adam of Bremen Iceland is mentioned for the first time in literature,[179] in both works as a country that was known, but of which strange things were told, which is natural enough, since it lay near the borders of the unknown. The pious Reginbrecht may have travelled to Iceland as a missionary or clerical emissary, which would not be unnatural, as the country was under the archbishopric of Hamburg. On the other hand, it is surprising that people as early as that time sailed thither from Germany with meal, wine and wood. But as these articles must have been precisely those which would be valuable in Iceland, with its lack of corn and poverty in trees, it points to knowledge of the facts, and does not seem improbable. That there should be great wealth there does not agree with Adam's description, which tends in the contrary direction; but as immediately afterwards abundance of provisions is spoken of, it is probable that the rich fisheries were meant, and perhaps the breeding of sheep, which was already developed at that time.
