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Ericson Leif
(c. 970—c. 1020)
Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson) was a Norse explorer often thought to be the first European to have landed in North America. According to the Norse sagas he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which has been tentatively identified with the L'Anse aux Meadows site in Newfoundland, Canada.
It is believed that Leif was born about AD 970 in Iceland, the son of Erik the Red, a Norwegian explorer and outlaw and himself the son of a Norwegian outlaw, Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson. Leif's mother was Thjodhild. 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.
During a stay in Norway, Leif Ericson converted to Christianity, like many Norse of that time. He also went to Norway to serve the King of Norway, Olaf I. 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 likely Newfoundland, Canada.
The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that Leif set out in the year 1003 to follow Bjarni's route with 35 crew members, but going north.
The first land he went to was covered with flat and shiny rocks. He therefore called it Helluland ("Land of the Flat Stones"). This was possibly Baffin Island. Next he came to a land that was flat and wooded, with white sandy beaches. He called this Markland ("Wood-land"), which is possibly Labrador.
Leif and his crew left Markland and again found land, which they named Vinland. They landed and built a small settlement. 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 in the region over the winter.
The sagas mention that one of Leif's men, Tyrkir, possibly a Hungarian (because at that time the Hungarians were referred to as Turks) 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.
Research done in the 1950s and 1960s by explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine, identified a Norse settlement located at the northern tip of Newfoundland, known as L'Anse aux Meadows, which many have connected to Leif's settlement.
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.
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. A rather dubious runestone with carvings of a Scandinavian nature was discovered near Kensington, Minnesota, aptly titled the Kensington Runestone. In the 19th century, the theory that Ericson and his men visited New England gained in popularity.
Bequia, 1988, Leif Ericksson
Denmark. Faroe Islands, 1992, Map and ship of Leif Eriksson
Denmark. Faroe Islands, 1992, Map and ship of Leif Eriksson
Hungary, 1978, Leif Eriksson
Iceland, 1938, Leif Ericksson monument
Iceland, 1939, Viking ship and route to America
Iceland, 1992, Ship of Leif Ericksson
Iceland, 1992, Ship of Leif Ericksson
Iceland, 2000, Vikings
Sao Tome e Principe, 1982, Leif Ericson, Viking longship
USA, 1968, Leif Ericksson monument
