<P> In the other version of the story, Eiríks saga rauða or the Saga of Erik the Red, Leif Ericsson accidentally discovers the new land when travelling from Norway back to Greenland after a visit to his overlord, King Olaf Tryggvason, who commissions him to spread Christianity in the colony . Returning to Greenland with samples of grapes, wheat and timber, he rescues the survivors from a wrecked ship and gains a reputation for good luck; his religious mission is a swift success . The next spring, Thorstein, Leif's brother, leads an expedition to the new land but is driven off course and spends the whole summer wandering the Atlantic . On his return, he meets and marries Gudrid, one of the survivors from a ship which has made land at Herjolfsnes after a difficult voyage from Iceland . Spending the winter as a guest at a farm on Greenland with Gudrid, Thorstein dies of sickness, reviving just long enough to make a prophecy about her future as a far - travelling Christian . The next winter, Gudrid marries a visiting Icelander named Thorfinn Karlsefni, who, with his business partner Snorri Thorbrandsson, agrees to undertake a major expedition to the new land, taking livestock . Also contributing ships for this expedition are another pair of visiting Icelanders, Bjarni Grimolfsson and Thorhall Gamlason, and Leif's brother and sister Thorvald and Freydis, with her husband Thorvard . Sailing past landscapes of flat stones (Helluland) and forests (Markland) they round a cape where they see the keel of a boat (Kjalarnes), then continue past some extraordinary long beaches (Furthustrandir) before landing and sending out two runners to explore inland . After three days, the pair return with samples of grapes and wheat . After sailing a little farther, the expedition lands at an inlet next to an area of strong currents (Straumfjörð), with an island just offshore (Straumsey) and makes camp . The winter months are harsh, and food is in short supply . One day an old family servant, Thorhall the Hunter (who has not become Christian), goes missing and is found mumbling to himself; shortly afterwards, a beached whale is found which Thorhall claims has been provided in answer to his praise of the pagan gods . The explorers find that eating it makes them ill, so they pray to the Christian God, and shortly afterwards the weather improves . </P> <P> When spring comes, Thorhall Gamlason, the Icelander, wants to sail north round Kjalarnes to seek Vinland, while Thorfinn Karlsefni prefers to sail southward down the east coast . Thorhall takes only nine men, and his vessel is swept out into the ocean by contrary winds; he and his crew never return . Thorfinn and Snorri, with Freydis (plus possibly Bjarni), sail down the east coast with 40 men or more and establish a camp on the shore of a seaside lake, protected by barrier islands and connected to the open ocean by a river which is navigable by ships only at high tide . The settlement was known as Hop, and the land abounds with grapes and wheat . The teller of this saga is uncertain whether the explorers remain here over the next winter (said to be very mild) or for only a few weeks of summer . One morning they see nine hide boats; the local people (Skraelings) examine the Norse ships and depart in peace . Later a much larger flotilla of boats arrives, and trade commences (Karlsefni forbids the sale of weapons). One day, the local traders are frightened by the sudden arrival of the Greenlanders' bull, and they stay away for three weeks . They then attack in force, but the explorers manage to survive with only minor casualties by retreating inland to a defensive position a short distance from their camp . Pregnancy slows Freydis down, so she picks up the sword of a fallen companion and brandishes it against her bare breast, scaring the attackers into withdrawal . One of the local people picks up an iron axe, tries it, and throws it away . The explorers subsequently abandon the southern camp and sail back to Straumsfjord, killing five natives they encounter on the way, lying asleep in hide sacks . </P> <P> Karlsefni, accompanied by Thorvald Eriksson and others, sails around Kjalarnes and then south, keeping land on their left side, hoping to find Thorhall . After sailing for a long time, while moored on the south side of a west - flowing river, they are shot at by a one - footed man, and Thorvald dies from an arrow - wound . The explorers return to Straumsfjord, but disagreements during the following winter lead to the abandonment of the venture . On the way home, the ship of Bjarni the Icelander is swept into the Sea of Worms (Madkasjo) by contrary winds . The marine worms destroy the hull, and only those who escape in the ship's worm - proofed boat survive . This is the last Vinland expedition recorded in the saga . </P> <P> The oldest commonly acknowledged surviving written record of Vinland appears in Descriptio insularum Aquilonis, by Adam of Bremen, a German (Saxon) geographer and historian, written in about 1075 . To write it he visited the Danish king Svend Estridsen, who had knowledge of the northern lands and told him of the "islands" discovered by Norse sailors far out in the Atlantic, of which Vinland was the most remote . The exact phrasing of this, the first mention of Vinland in known written sources, is as follows: </P>

Where do scholars believe vinland was and why