# Which versions of the Vinland Sagas mention Skraelings? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-versions-of-the-vinland-sagas-mention-skraelings/993356 "2023-11-19T03:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-versions-of-the-vinland-sagas-mention-skraelings/993356/1 "2023-11-19T03:57:21Z")
I’m reading a 1997 paperback of “The Sagas of Iceland”. I was expecting to see the word Skraeling in the text. Instead I see the repeated word ‘natives’. Which translations use the terrm Skraeling? Has the term ‘Skraeling’ been generally dropped from modern translations? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-versions-of-the-vinland-sagas-mention-skraelings/993356/2 "2023-11-19T21:19:59Z")
Google Books offers full-text search: [https://books.google.com/](https://books.google.com/) So you might get some ideas searching there [search titles for the word Skraeling]. Likewise there are probably discussions which can be found in Google Scholar about this subject: [https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as\_sdt=0%2C16&q=Skraeling+vinland+sagas+&btnG=](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C16&q=Skraeling+vinland+sagas+&btnG=) If you are a Reddit user I would ask in the Norse sub-reddit which is a subreddit for academic discussion of Norse and Viking history, mythology, language, art and culture. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Norse/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Norse/) ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-versions-of-the-vinland-sagas-mention-skraelings/993356/3 "2023-11-21T15:36:11Z")
Thanks PastTense. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-versions-of-the-vinland-sagas-mention-skraelings/993356/4 "2023-11-22T00:27:44Z")
I learned about Skraelings in a university history course. I think that the only other reference to Skraelings might have been on an APTN (a Canadian TV station (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network) history documentary show called “Nations at War”. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-versions-of-the-vinland-sagas-mention-skraelings/993356/5 "2023-11-22T08:50:08Z")
Thanks Velomont. I keep reading that the term Skraeling appears in the Vinland sagas. It’s certainly not in my Penguin edition. I’d like to know which translations into any language have kept the term Skraeling. I have yet to come across it in a saga in English. I haven’t looked at the original Norse text of the Vinland sagas. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-versions-of-the-vinland-sagas-mention-skraelings/993356/6 "2023-11-22T12:48:59Z")
You’re welcome. Though I took some history courses, I was getting an English degree and I had a History of the English Language course and an Old and Middle English course, both of which included some Norse writings. I honestly don’t recall any mention of Skraelings there.