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historical facts were subjected to a long process of
narrative entertainment, and then to a process of
artistic and literary treatment; and in this process,
it is easy to believe, the facts were often glossed over
or adorned and embellished, magnified or minimized.
But in the sagas of the classical period (and to this
period the Saga of Erik the Red belongs), the main
facts, and even a mass of the details, seem, after a
century of sifting and winnowing, to be, in large
measure, based on actual experience, although there
is always evidence of extraneous matter in the form
of episodes of a more or less legendary or romantic
character. This being the case even in such
professedly historical works as the “ Ileimskringla, ” the
sifting and winnowing of the saga literature will,
and should, continue. But it should be done with
extreme care and caution by specialists in the field
(at least the final verdict should rest with them), and
not by men of the Nansen type, who have (as Nansen
has said of himself) precious little respect for author-
#
Ay in any field of intellectual endeavor, whether
secular or religious. Scientific investigations may
possibly be rightly conducted along such
independent and isolated lines; but historical
investigation certainly cannot be so conducted. Here one is
constantly dependent upon authority. But this again
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