Among the first Christian settlers were one Thorbjörn and his beautiful daughter Gudrid. This Thorbjörn received with his wife Hallveig an estate in Iceland called Langarbrekke or “the warm spring’s slope,” on the southern side and near the outer end of the Cape called Snowfellsness. The wife died, and Thorbjörn’s motherless child was fostered and brought up by Halldis and her husband, Orm of Arnastopi or the eagle’s crag, a short distance to the north-east of Langarbrekke. Gudrid, the foster child of Orm and Halldis, acted such a prominent part in the history of the Greenland colony and the discovery of America, that her story cannot be passed over. Though converted to Christianity Halldis had stored the child’s mind with all the lore of the Asgård mythology. For various reasons her father Thorbjörn resolved to join his friend Erik the Red in Greenland, though he was blessed with many friends in Iceland. He therefore sold his land and bought a ship, which was fitted out in Hraunhavn, or the lava haven. Thirty persons formed the crew, including Orm and Halldis, who both died during the voyage. At length, on the verge of winter, the ship reached Herjulfsfjord, the most southern of the Greenland settlements, where Thorbjörn and his daughter were hospitably received by a settler named Thorkel, and passed a winter in his house. When the summer arrived Thorbjörn got his ship ready, and sailed away with Gudrid until they came to Brattahlid. They were received with open arms by Red Erik and his family, and Erik gave Thorbjörn land on Stokkaness, where a good farmstead was established. Gudrid was married to Thorstein, the eldest son of Erik the Red, and they went to live at a farm called Lysefjord. But Thorstein died, and was soon followed by Thorbjörn. So Gudrid became a great heiress, and Erik took her to his home at Brattahlid, and treated her as his own daughter. It was the union of the young widow with Thorfin Karlsefni, a young Icelandic chief of noble lineage, descended from the renowned Ragnar Lodbrog, which led to the discovery of America. One summer Karlsefni fitted out his ship in Iceland, taking with him a follower named Snorri Thorbrandsson and a crew of 40 men. At the same time two men named Bjarni and Thorhall fitted out another ship. The two ships put to sea together, with the intention of sailing to Greenland. They arrived at Brattahlid in the autumn and began to do a goodly trade with Red Erik. Thorfin Karlsefni and his comrades were invited to pass the winter there, and before the winter was over he and Gudrid were united in marriage.