In the Skálholtsbók, one of the (now fragmentary) sources we have for Icelandic sagas, which is from the early fifteenth century, there survives a short saga called Eireks saga víðförla, the saga of the traveller Eirekr. Eirekr was the son of Thrand, the king of Thrandheim, a region in northern Norway, and he made a vow that he would travel the whole world if necessary to find Ódáinsakr, the Deathless Land. He set out for Denmark in a magnificent ship with twelve men. There he was welcomed by the king of Denmark, also named Eirekr, and they became good friends, so that when Eirekr son of Thrand continued on his way, Eirekr the Dane-King went with him, bringing twelve more men. Then they journeyed to Miklagard, or, as we call it, Constantinople. There the king of Miklagard, i.e., the Emperor, heard about their quest and asked to see them, and bestowed great honors on them.
What follows next in the saga is a sort of catechism, because Eirekr the son of Thrand happens to ask the Emperor about what created the world. The Emperor tells him that there is one who made the world, God almighty, one God in three greiningar, which I think here might mean something like 'distinctions'. Just as the sun has fire, brightness, and heat, but is one sun, so also God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but one almighty. God is above all things, knows all things, and lives with angels (englar), whom God made to be servants. God made a bright hall, Heaven, and also a deep dungeon, which is our world, within which is a pit called Hell. The wicked are punished in this pit and ruled over by Satan, but God bound Satan there when He suffered, died, and rose from the dead, and when God ascended back into Heaven, he prepares it for us so that we may fill up the gaps created by the angels who became corrupted. The Eirekr asks who is in Hell, and the Emperor says that heathens and traitors are; Eirekr asks why the heathens are there, because they worship gods. When the Emperor says that these gods are not God, Eirekr is surprised, because he has heard nothing of this before.
They then discuss various things about the nature of the world, and, of course, inevitably, Eirekr asks the Emperor where Ódáinsakr is, and the Emperor says that it is east of India and protected by a wall of fire. The Emperor agrees to help Eirekr try to get there, if Eirekr and his men will be baptized, which they eventually are.
Thus they set out again, walking, and riding, and walking, all the way to India, where they saw many, many wonders. They eventually reach the river Phison, which the Emperor had told them flows out of Paradise, the Deathless Land, and come to a bridge across it. But on the bridge is lying a fierce dragon. Eirekr the Dane urges Eirekr of Thrandheim to go no further, but Eirekr of Thrandheim, with one of his companions, tries to cross the bridge and is apparently swallowed by the dragon. Saddened by this, Eirikr the Dane-King goes home.
The story is not over for the other Eirekr, however. From his perspective, and that of the companion with him, they jumped into a lot of smoke, which they pushed through, and when they came out they were in a beautiful country. They soon came to a tower hanging from the sky, with a ladder up against it. They climb the ladder, and find an amazing feast. They praise God for having found Ódáinsakr and go to sleep.
Eirekr has a dream, in which a good-looking man greets them, and introduces himself as the angel who guards the gates of Paradise. He had from the beginning aided Eirekr in his quest, serving as his guardian. However, the place they have found is not Paradise, but something that in comparison to the actual Paradise is just a wasteland. It is called the Land of the Living; no one gets to Paradise alive. Then the angel offers Eirekr a choice: he can stay in the Land of the Living, or he can go back home. Eirekr chooses to go back home, because otherwise people will think he died horribly.
Thus Eirekr and his companion go back the way they came and come out of the dragon's mouth. After four years of travel, they come again to Constantinople, and after staying three years there, they return to Norway. Because of his travels, Eirekr is a changed man. He prays every day, and in the eleventh year, the angel from the tower takes him to Paradise, and no one on earth can find him.
There is a complete translation of the saga here, by Peter Tunstall.
