In the early 14th Century, a geography encyclopedia called Geographica Universalis was compiled at Malmesbury Abbey in England, which was in turn used as a source for one of the most widely circulated medieval English educational works, Polychronicon by Ranulf Higden, a few years later. Both these works, with Adam of Bremen as a possible source, were confused about the location of what they called Wintland—the Malmesbury monk had it on the ocean east of Norway, while Higden put it west of Denmark but failed to explain the distance. Copies of Polychronicon commonly included a world map on which Wintland was marked in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, but again much closer to the Scandinavian mainland than in reality. The name was explained in both texts as referring to the savage inhabitants' ability to tie the wind up in knotted cords, which they sold to sailors who could then undo a knot whenever they needed a good wind. Neither mentioned grapes, and the Malmesbury work specifically states that little grows there but grass and trees, which reflects the saga descriptions of the area round the main Norse expedition base.
In the early 14th Century a geography encyclopedia called Geographica Universalis was compiled at Malmesbury Abbey in England which was in turn used as a source for one of the most widely circulated medieval English educational works Polychronicon by Ranulf Higden a few years later Both these works with Adam of Bremen as a possible source were confused about the location of what they called Wintland—the Malmesbury monk had it on the ocean east of Norway while Higden put it west of Denmark but failed to explain the distance Copies of Polychronicon commonly included a world map on which Wintland was marked in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland but again much closer to the Scandinavian mainland than in reality The name was explained in both texts as referring to the savage inhabitants' ability to tie the wind up in knotted cords which they sold to sailors who could then undo a knot whenever they needed a good wind Neither mentioned grapes and the Malmesbury work specifically states that little grows there but grass and trees which reflects the saga descriptions of the area round the main Norse expedition base