Leif Ericson

For other uses, see Leif Ericson (disambiguation).

A statue of Leif near the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul dedicated on October 9, 1949.

Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leif Erícsson)^[1] (c. 980 – c. 1020) was an Icelandic/Norwegian explorer and the first European thought to have landed in North America—more specifically, the region that would become Newfoundland and, by later extension, Canada.

The Saga of Leif Ericson the Viking

A statue of Leif outside Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was a gift from the United States government.

Early life in Iceland

It is believed that Leif was born about 980 in Iceland, the second son of Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eiríkr rauði), a Norwegian-Icelandic explorer and outlaw and himself the son of another Norwegian outlaw, Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson. Leif's mother was Thorhild (Þjóðhildr).^[2] Erik the Red had founded two Norse colonies in Greenland, the Western Settlement and the Eastern Settlement, as he had named them. Apparently, Leif Ericson had two brothers, Þorvaldr and Þorsteinn, and one half-sister, Freydís. Leif married a woman named Þórgunnr, and they had one son, Þorkell Leifsson.

Exploration west of Greenland

During a stay in Norway, Leif converted to Christianity, like many Norse of that time. He also went to Norway to serve the King of Norway, Olaf Tryggvason. When he returned to Greenland, he bought the boat of Bjarni Herjólfsson and set out to explore the land that Bjarni had found (located west of Greenland), which was, in fact, the mainland of North America.

The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that Leif set out about 1000 to follow Bjarni's route with 35 crew members, but in the opposite direction.^[3]

Helluland and Markland

The first land he encountered was covered with flat rocks (Old Norse: hellur). He therefore called it Helluland ("Land of the Flat Stones"). Probably it was the present day Baffin Island. Next he came to a land that was flat and wooded, with white sandy beaches. He called Markland ("Wood-land"), and it is usually assumed to have been Labrador.

Settlement in Vinland

When Leif and his crew left Markland and found land again, they landed and built some houses. They found the area pleasant: there were plenty of salmon in the river and the climate was mild, with little frost in the winter and green grass year-round. They remained at this place over the winter. The sagas mention that one of Leif's men, Tyrkir, possibly a Hungarian (because those time the Hungarians were named as Turks ^[4]), found wild grapes, and that Leif accordingly named the country Vínland after them.

On the return voyage, Leif rescued an Icelandic castaway named Þórir and his crew — an incident that earned Leif the nickname 'Leif the Lucky' (Old Norse: Leifr hinn heppni).

The L'Anse aux Meadows discovery

Research done in the 1950s and 1960s by explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine, strongly suggests that the settlement of Leif Ericson and his party in Vínland was actually at the tip of Newfoundland, later known as L'Anse aux Meadows.

Leif Erikson Day

In 1964, President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson declared October 9 to be "Leif Erikson Day" in the United States.

Map

Speculation

• A few have speculated that Norsemen may have penetrated as far as Minnesota, either coming down from Hudson Bay or going west through the Great Lakes. Some suggested that the Manan showed evidence of pre-Columbian explorers from Europe, a view that was once popular but is not accepted by the bulk of scholarship today. ^[5]
• In the 19th century, the theory that Ericson and his men visited New England gained in popularity. The statue of Ericson on Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, Massachusetts and the Norumbega Tower in Weston, Massachusetts were both created as monuments to this supposed Viking presence. ^[6]
• There is only one piece of hard evidence that evidence suggests Vikings may have visited America: an 11th century Norse coin found in Brooklin, Maine along with thousands of other artifacts during an excavation of a former Native American trading center. However, it is noted that this coin may have made it from Newfoundland via trade or may have even been brought to North America centuries later by the English or Portugese.^[7]
• Although there have been numerous attempts over the decades to show Viking presence in America, such as fanciful translations of mysterious stone carvings, there has been no evidence accepted by the professional archaeological community. ^[8]

Notes

See also

• Explorers
• Bjarni Herjólfsson
• St. Brendan
• Vinland
• John Cabot
• Matthew (ship)
• Erik the Red
• L'Anse aux Meadows

External links

• A reconstructed portrait of Leif Ericsson – Based on historical sources, in a contemporary style; from Reportret: gallery of reconstructed portraits
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Leif Ericson Homepage – From the Great Norwegians webpages, hosted by Metropolitan News Company's website MNC Online.
• Leif Ericson Viking Ship LEVS is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit educational organization dedicated to the study, education and promotion of the fact that Leif Ericson was the first European to set foot upon and explore the North American Continent and of Vikings in general, their times and travels throughout the world.

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