CHAPTER 5
The tombThey had been so far blown off their course that they did not sight land till the seventh day. Eiric, the youngest of the crew, called out in the early hours of the morning and Neil rushed to the side to see a series of black rocks jutting out into the sea.
It took them some time to negotiate the islands, but when they had, Iceland itself loomed to the right of them, a land of rugged black cliffs and wheeling sea birds. There appeared to be no trees, but the hills and cliff tops were clothed in a lush, vivid green. Innumerable species of moss and grass lay like a rich brocade over the land, but where the folds of it did not fall, the earth was purple and black, rust red and deep maroon. He had never seen such colours.
‘The soil is rich,’ Baldur said. ‘Many of my countr
