European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Q a photo by Sid Moody associated press site the first european to see North America was Bjarni her the first european to land on it was Leif the first european born there was Snorri Thor Christopher who neither landed on nor even saw North America showed up 500 years after All these of Viking history As told in the sagas can be More than a Little so we do not celebrate Bjarni Herjeu lesson but there can be Little ii Bate that the first Viking ship to discover not to mention fort Myers or the Maloos Ohatchee River was called Saga Ragnar Thorseth there Are photos to prove it was cold enough to freeze Orange juice right on the who has the heating system of a Polar had even put on a Ragnar is a Saga in his own he is the first norwegian to reach the North pole he traversed the Northwest passage atop Canada in a 20foot outboard pleasure when a he rowed across the North Britain Prince Phil who by Chance was on hand when Ragnar arrived in the shetlands in his Little said youre right now Ragnar is sailing Saga a replica of a Viking trading around the Why does who has a Small farm in do such things instead of milking goats because he wants he that True but does not explain the the Crew says Ragnar has a horned Viking just As Jack Kennedy deftly avoided wearing funny hats lest he become a caricature As Calvin Coolidge did when photographed in an Indian Ragnar wont be caught dead in the but see him at the carved handle of Saga Sig Lars steering the As Blue and As steady As a 2 Ball resting in still life on a Pool the with a slight Reddish one the name of Leif Ericsson the other a heros name from a famous Ragnar the name of the first Viking to plunder this Ragnar is an like a woolly Mammoth come to life intact from a cake of he would Ragnar but Down deep Ragnar Thorseth is a a reborn a a a Pii smoking throwback in a Fisherman sweater t a High seas people who gave their name to an Saga Siglar Sailer of sagas is a reborn Viking at 54 fees she is an exact replica of a Viking merchant Vowiel exhumed from the mud of Rosmilde fjord in Denmark in she is a utilitarian Cousin of the Viking their perhaps the Graceful vessels Ever i modern men had never before seen such a known As a Knarr the is As the k in Knute tote should be but the term had survived in the scandi Navian expression for a 1 buxom woman Knarr Ragnar had the replica built in it Cost Ragnar wanted to learn How it he wanted to recreate he wanted to prove a Knarr could sail around the world even if one never and he wanted he set sail last june from Norway and followed the old Viking route Westward via the Faroe is Greenland and where a Norse settlement from 1000 has been in route he survived Hurricane Force winds with Eirik lashed to his Ragnar finds this less arduous than weathering the Greet Ings tendered him by sons of Norway club Mem Bers who turned out to Greet him in such ports of Call As new new Houston and they locked to drinking horns in to wish him Ragnar makes these visits because his Circum navigation must float on Money As Well As the Vikings of Yore financed their voyages sometimes by pillaging and Ragnar ruefully acknowledges that hype has replaced no adventurer nowadays can leave Home without to hype the trip and shake the Tambou a photo Ragnar Thorseth wants to prove his Viking ship can sail around the the Saga an exact copy of a Viking trading sails into new York Harbor last Matingly identical Litany of How does he feel How big have the Waves been thirty what kind of boat is this he still has the rest of the world to the publicity has already contributed to his farm being How did the burglars know he want everybody in Norway knows in not Ragnars current epic will Cost about that Why the Crew Sells Saga Siglar shirts norwegian knives and posters every time they reach in Houston they sold Worth of shirts in one this leg of the from Petersburg to features a visit at Jensen Beach to Ralph husband of former actress Frances Langford and son of Ole the norwegian american outboard maybe Ralph would like to help a Viking sail a Knarr around the Many norwegian companies have chipped including the Hansa Beer people who have stashed strategic supplies of product along the a German cigarette is coming out with a new tobacco product next year called featuring Saga Siglar predominantly in its finn a Norge Gia american is a so is Tenne which drills for Oil off Norway i Long since stopped believing in Santa but i go where the Money May says Ragnar in explaining his univ Kingfish his other concessions to the 20th Century sometimes the 19th Are two prefab boxes he has installed one holds the electronic navigational devices and several replicas of Viking Battle he shows them to Tours of Vikings went for the he tells a foe who cant run is the other Box is for his the two boys and the Crew an assortment of up to five or six at any one time who come and go like lemmings sleep it was patterned after the cans norwegians pack sardines each Crew mans bunk has headroom of about a the distance from the Normal Elbow to the Normal first a the Viking term for a native North is a temporary inhabitant of a top the ski Selling takes his first turn at the steering oar As Saga rather faster than but As steady As an sails out of Pete into the Gulf of the wind chill is in single Florida disk Wail about a new ice lighting yet another Marlboro in the Teeth of the remains a perfect por trait of Viking ice is his Ragnar was born 37 years his father was a Ragnar first put to sea As a Tot when the cows were rowed out to an Island for summer at 6 or 7 an Uncle gave him a copy of Snorri Sturl sons monumental 13th Cen Tury the history of the Kings of a seed had been i had dreams just like any other dreams of the dreams were nurtured in a humorous fatal or that seems to run in the norwegian a fatalism that has such maxims As dont put the Bearskin on the floor until youve shot the it is not easy to isolate what makes one Man head for the North pole and another run for the train rowing across the North sea proved to me i could be on my says i could make reality of my doing these things is More to please myself than other there is also the Challenge to endure and sur Vive the forces of to inspire and Lead other the challenges met by Viking explorers and other voyagers to far they must be met by both tact and singular to go to the North pole you have to have the ability to close your eyes and look at one you have to be Blind and Goa Lori and if you make you end up a couple of Hundred thousand dollars in besides the ghosts of the Vikings calling to there is the ghost of Ragnars famous Raold the first Man to reach the South pole and to sail the Northwest Amundsen used sled dogs to reach the his the englishman Robert Falcon used ponies and died in the if Scott had thought about it he probably would have used Ragnar a Little More brains and a Little less Money int a bad Ragnars trip to the North which he reached in tested his leadership As Well As his an expedition member whose determination was not As Strong As Ragnars had weakened the resolve of the Eskimo guide with whom he shared a Mutiny Ragnar brought Back the guides courage by patiently reasoning with him that his gods would not be pleased with any sign of an insight into Ragnar As Leader As a boy when he saw his Side winning a he would promptly change to the other by evening things i hoped to make Ragnar took a year of journalism in then became by 1975 it was becoming i planned a trip across the Atlantic via Greenland in a Small fishing i talked it Over with she do when i got to i started putting myself in the position of the old then i started putting myself in their the ancestral seed had been Ragnar began thinking of building a replica of the original now in a museum in Ros and sailing around the he made a Deal with a museum he would donate the boat provided he sailed it around the world once people could see the and see that Ragnar was Money began coming at fort Saga Siglar turns Inland up the Maloos Ohatchee River toward Lake Okee Ragnars claim that his is the first Viking ship to discover Florida seems to be substantiated by the they dont know what to make of Saga As the its single Square sail bellied to the makes its Way past Palm shaded retirement people run to the River Bank to Point and scratch their a youth in a motor boat As Garish As a burlesque House marquee roars up and Points to the norwegian Flag you All from Bermuda he at Clewiston on the Lake a Bass Fisherman shakes his head wonderingly from Side to Side that boat homemade Saga Siglar finally reaches Jensen Beach where Ralph Evinrude has a huge yacht and his wife a hotel and several some of them sons of Norway and their Auxilia turn out to say Skoal John a year old crewman from starts hawking shirts and explains for about the time this is a replica of a year old Viking merchant ship called a Knarr if were in the Middle of the Ocean we dont Anchor at we keep sailing we take turns cooking we have a 22horse diesel the Vikings didst have diesels Ralph Evinrude decides to give some Money if it can be tax and Ragner repairs to the bar of miss Lang Fords hotel to catch up on smoking and drinking Brandy with Coffee on the conversation has turned what should a Man do Ragnar asks what he can so Long As he Doest Hurt too Many people dont live out their in fulfilling Ive had the Best of both maybe this will be my last such in too old to begin climbing Jungles dont interest i May want to take up some if you can believe that in the outdoors in the company of friends and requires skill and and what might that Ragnar the ski Selling Page 14 the stars and stripes Thi stars and stripes Page 15