with the assistance of two
secretaries made Hauk's Book, are known. He was in 1294 made a "lawman"
in Iceland, and died in Norway in 1334. There are reasons for believing
that the vellum bearing his name was written a number of years before his
death, probably during the period 1310-1320. Hauk was particularly
interested in the "Saga of Eric the Red," as he was descended from
Thorfinn Karlsefni, the principal character of the saga, a fact that
perhaps lends a certain authority to this version as against that of the
Flat Island Book. Hauk brings the genealogical data of the saga down to
his own time, which is not done in No. 557, one fact among others which
shows that 557 is not a copy of 544.

The early history of AM. 557 is not known. The orthography and hand
indicate that it was made later than Hauk's Book, probably in the early
part of the fifteenth century. Vigfusson considered it a better text than
the Hauk's Book version, though rougher and less carefully written.[5-2]
Other critics (Jonsson and Gering) consider 544 the safer text.

In regard to the date of composition of the archetype, it may be remarked
that both 544 and 557 speak of Bishop Brand "the Elder," which
presupposes a knowledge of the second Bishop Brand, whose accession
occurred in 1263. Before this date, therefore, the originals used in
making 544 and 557 could not have been written. But this mention of
Bishop Brand "the Elder" does not, we think, give an adequate basis for
fixing the date of the _composition_ of the saga, as Dr. Storm believes,
who places it somewhere between 1263 and 1300, with an inclination toward
the earlier date. Dr. Finnur Jonsson,[6-1] who accepts Dr. Storm's
opinion in other respects, says on this point: "The classic form of the
saga and its vivid and excellent tradition surely carry it back to about
1200.... To assume that the saga was first written down about 1270 or
after, I consider to be almost an impossibility." Nor does this
conservative opinion by Dr. Jonsson preclude the possibility, or even
probability, that written accounts of the Vinland voyages existed before
this date. John Fiske's[6-2] well-considered opinion of this same saga
(544 and 557) has weight: "Its general accuracy in the statement and
grouping of so many remote details is proof that its statements were
controlled by an exceedingly strong and steady tradition,--altogether too
strong and steady, in my opinion, to have been maintained simply by word
o