Information about Leif Ericson

Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson)^[1] (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse^[2] explorer known to be the first European to have landed in North America^[3] (in Newfoundland, Canada).

Biography

Early life in Iceland

It is believed that Leif was born about 970 AD in Iceland^[4], the son of Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eiríkr inn rauði), a Norwegian explorer and outlaw and himself the son of another Norwegian outlaw, Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson. Leif's mother was Thjodhild (Þjóðhildr).^[5] Erik the Red had founded two Norse colonies in Greenland, the Western Settlement and the Eastern Settlement, as he had named them.

Leif Ericson had two younger brothers, Thorvaldr and Thorsteinn, and one sister, Freydís. Leif married a woman named Thorgunna, and they had one son, Thorkell Leifsson.

Exploring west of Greenland

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

The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that Leif set out in the year 1003 to follow Bjarni's route with 15 crew members, but going north.^[6]

Helluland and Markland

The first land he went to was covered with flat and shiny rocks (Old Norse: hellur, German: "hell"). He therefore called it Helluland ("Land of the Flat Stones"). It was probably the present day Baffin Island. Next he came to a land that was flat and wooded, with white sandy beaches. He called it 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 large 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 at that time the Hungarians were named as Turks^[7]), or a German, found wild grapes. 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 located at the northern tip of Newfoundland, later known as L'Anse aux Meadows.

United States commemoration

In 1964, the United States Congress authorized and requested the President to proclaim October 9 of each year as "Leif Erikson Day". That date was chosen for its connection to the first organized immigration from Norway to the United States, not for any event in the life of the explorer. The day is also an official observance of several U.S. states.

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 Mandan showed evidence of pre-Columbian explorers from Europe, A runestone with carvings of a Scandinavian nature was discovered near Kensington Minnesota, aptly titled the Kensington Runestone; this stone dates back to approximately 1030. ^[8]
• In the 19th century, the theory that Ericson and his men visited New England gained in popularity. The statue of Ericsson on Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, Massachusetts and the Norumbega Tower in Weston, Massachusetts were both created as monuments to this supposed Viking presence.^[9]
• There is only one piece of hard evidence that suggests Vikings may have visited the area now called the United States: an 11th century Norse coin, the Maine Penny, 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 Portuguese.^[10]
• Although there have been numerous attempts over the decades to show Viking presence in United States, such as fanciful translations of mysterious stone carvings, or supposed European traits in some Native-American tribes, there has been no evidence accepted by the professional archaeological community.^[11]

See also

• Christopher Columbus
• Explorers
• Bjarni Herjólfsson
• St. Brendan
• Vinland
• John Cabot
• Matthew (ship)
• Erik the Red
• L'Anse aux Meadows
• Kensington Runestone
• Maine Penny
• Helge Ingstad

External links

• Account of the discovery of North America from the “Saga of Eric the Red”.
• 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.
• http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/archeo.html A writing about the vikings in "vinland".