Leif Erikson

Last updated

Leif Erikson
Leif Erikson Statue, Duluth (15290644106).jpg
Modern artistic rendering of Leif Erikson in Leif Erikson Park, Duluth, Minnesota
Bornc. 970s [1]
Icelandic Commonwealth
Diedc. 1018 to 1025 [1]
Greenland
Nationality Norse: Icelandic
OccupationExplorer
Known forFirst European in Vinland (part of North America; probably Newfoundland)
PartnerThorgunna (c. 999)
Children2
Parent(s) Erik the Red (father)
Þjóðhildur (mother)
Relatives Thorvald, Thorstein, and Freydís (siblings)

Leif Erikson, [note 1] also known as Leif the Lucky (c. 970s – c. 1018 to 1025), [1] was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. [7] [8] According to the sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which is usually interpreted as being coastal North America. There is ongoing speculation that the settlement made by Leif and his crew corresponds to the remains of a Norse settlement found in Newfoundland, Canada, called L'Anse aux Meadows, which was occupied approximately 1,000 years ago.

Contents

Leif's place of birth is unknown, [9] although it is assumed to have been in Iceland. [10] [11] [12] His father, Erik the Red, founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland, where Leif was later raised. Following his voyage to Vinland and the subsequent death of his father, Leif became chief of the Greenland settlement. He had two known sons: Thorgils, born in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as Greenland's chieftain.

Early life

Leif was the son of Erik the Red and his wife Thjodhild (Old Norse: Þjóðhildur), and, through his paternal line, the grandson of Thorvald Ásvaldsson. When Erik the Red was young, his father was banished from Norway for manslaughter, and the family went into exile in Iceland (which, during the century preceding Leif's birth, had been colonized by Norsemen, mainly from Norway). Leif was also a distant relative of Naddodd, [13] [ unreliable source? ] who discovered Iceland. [14]

Leif's year of birth is often estimated in the c. 970s. [15] Though his birthplace is not accounted for in the sagas, [16] it is likely he was born in Iceland, [10] where his parents met [17] —probably somewhere on the edge of Breiðafjörður, and possibly at the farm Haukadal, where his mother's family was based. [10]

Erik was later banished from Iceland and sailed west to a place he named Greenland. He then briefly returned to Iceland to bring his family and other colonists back with him to Greenland, establishing its first permanent settlement in 986. [16] [18] Leif grew up on the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland. He had two brothers, whose names were Thorstein and Thorvald, and a sister, Freydís. [19] Tyrker, one of Erik's thralls, had been specially trusted to keep charge of Erik's children, as Leif later referred to him as his "foster father." [20]

Discovering Vinland

Leif Eriksson Discovers America by Hans Dahl (1849-1937) Leif Erikson Discovers America Hans Dahl.jpg
Leif Eriksson Discovers America by Hans Dahl (1849–1937)

The Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders , both thought to have been written around 1200, [21] contain different accounts of the voyages to Vinland (usually interpreted as coastal North America). [22] [23] The only two known strictly historical mentions of Vinland are found in the work of Adam of Bremen c. 1075 and in the Book of Icelanders , compiled c. 1122 by Ari the Wise. [24]

Account in the Saga of Erik the Red

The words Leifr hinn heppni, "Leif the Lucky", written out in the early 14th century Hauksbok, the oldest manuscript of the Saga of Erik the Red Leifr hinn heppni.jpg
The words Leifr hinn heppni, "Leif the Lucky", written out in the early 14th century Hauksbók, the oldest manuscript of the Saga of Erik the Red

According to this saga, Leif discovered Vinland after being blown off course on his way from Norway to Greenland. [25] Before this voyage, Leif had spent time at the court of Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvesson, where he had converted to Christianity. When Leif encountered the storm that forced him off course, he had been on his way to introduce Christianity to the Greenlanders. After they had arrived at an unknown shore, the crew disembarked and explored the area. They found wild grapes, self-sown wheat, and maple trees. Afterwards, they loaded their ship with samples of these newly-found goods and sailed east to Greenland, rescuing a group of shipwrecked sailors along the way. For this act, and for converting Norse Greenland to Christianity, Leif earned the nickname "Leif the Lucky". [26] Leif did not return to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did, including Thorfinn Karlsefni. [27]

Account in the Saga of the Greenlanders

According to this saga, Leif was not the first European to discover Vinland. Instead Bjarni Herjólfsson and his crew—on a voyage from Iceland to Greenland—were overtaken by wind and fog, missed the southern tip of Greenland, and encountered an unknown coast. Believing it to be somewhere other than Greenland, they did not disembark but rather continued to sail and found two additional coasts that did not correspond with their understanding of Greenland. [28] After sailing back east, they eventually made it to their original destination, and then told of their discoveries. [29]

Roughly 15 years later, Leif approached Bjarni, purchased his ship, gathered a crew of thirty-five men, and mounted an expedition towards the land Bjarni had described. [30] [31] His father Erik was set to join him but dropped out after he fell from his horse on his way to the ship, an incident he interpreted as a bad omen. [32] Leif followed Bjarni's route in reverse and landed first in a rocky and desolate place he named Helluland (Flat-Rock Land; possibly Baffin Island or northern parts of Labrador). [33] After venturing further by sea, he landed the second time in a forested place he named Markland (Forest Land; possibly near Cape Porcupine, Labrador). [33] After two more days at sea, he landed on an island to the north (possibly Belle Isle), and then returned to the mainland, going past a cape on the north side (perhaps Cape Bauld). [33] They sailed to the west of this and landed in a verdant area with a mild climate and plentiful supplies of salmon. As winter approached, he decided to encamp there and sent out parties to explore the country. [33] During one of these explorations, Tyrker discovered that the land was full of vines and grapes. Leif therefore named the land Vinland ('Wineland'). [33] [34] There, he and his crew built a small settlement, which was called Leifsbudir (Leif's Booths) by later visitors from Greenland.

After having wintered over in Vinland, Leif returned to Greenland in the spring with a cargo of grapes and timber. [30] [35] On the return voyage, he rescued an Icelandic castaway and his crew, earning him the nickname "Leif the Lucky". [36] Leif never returned to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did.

Archeological evidence of Vinland

Modern recreation of the Norse site at L'Anse aux Meadows. The site was originally occupied c. 1021 and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1968 Authentic Viking recreation.jpg
Modern recreation of the Norse site at L'Anse aux Meadows. The site was originally occupied c. 1021 and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1968

Most researchers and scholars agree that Vinland was a region in North America. [38]

Research done in the early 1960s by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, identified a Norse site [39] located at the northern tip of Newfoundland. It has been suggested that this site, known as L'Anse aux Meadows (carbon dating estimates 990–1050 CE [40] [41] [42] and tree-ring analysis dating to the year 1021 [43] ) could be Leifsbudir. The Ingstads demonstrated that Norsemen had reached North America about 500 years before Christopher Columbus. [44] [45] Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vinland may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station and waypoint for voyages there. That does not necessarily contradict the identification of L'Anse aux Meadows as Leifsbudir [45] [46] since the two sagas appear to describe Vinland as a wider region which included several settlements. The Saga of Erik the Red mentions two other settlements in Vinland: one called Straumfjǫrðr, which lay beyond Kjalarnes promontory and the Wonderstrands, and one called Hóp, which was located even farther south. [47]

Personal life

Leif has been described in the Vinland sagas as a wise, considerate and strong man of striking appearance. [48] When he was of a proper age, Leif went to Norway, likely to serve as a retainer to its king, Olaf Tryggvason. [49] It was on this journey to Norway that the Saga of Erik the Red states that Leif's ship was driven to the Hebrides, where he and his crew were forced to remain for much of the summer, awaiting favorable winds. [50] During his stay there, Leif fell in love with a noblewoman, Thorgunna, who gave birth to their son Thorgils. [19] Thorgunna remained in the Hebrides when Leif left, as he refused to take her along without permission from her family. [51] Thorgils was later sent to Leif in Greenland, but he did not become popular. [52]

After arriving at the court of Norway's King Olaf Tryggvason, Leif was converted to Christianity. According to both the Saga of Erik the Red, and Olaf Tryggvason's Saga as found in Heimskringla , after Leif's conversion, the king then commissioned him to return to Greenland to convert the settlers there. During the journey, he was blown off course and discovered Vinland before finding his way to Greenland. [27] Leif's father Erik reacted coldly to the suggestion that he should abandon his religion, while his mother Thjóðhildr became a Christian and built a church called Thjóðhild's Church. [53] A different version of Olaf Tryggvason's Saga, found in Flateyjarbók , makes no reference to Leif being blown off course and discovering Vinland during his return from Norway, but indicates that after arriving in Greenland, all of that country was converted, including Leif's father Erik. [54] Some versions of Olaf Tryggvason's Saga also indicate that to help with the conversion, Leif brought a priest and clerics with him to Greenland. [55]

Chieftaincy and death

The winter following Leif's return from Vinland, his father died (shortly after 1000 CE), [1] making Leif paramount chief in Greenland. [31] Leif is last mentioned alive in 1018 in the Saga of St. Olaf. [1] According to The Saga of the Sworn Brothers, by 1025 the chieftaincy of Eiríksfjǫrðr had passed to his son Thorkel. [56] [1] Nothing is mentioned about his death in the sagas—he probably died in Greenland some time between these dates. [57] Nothing further is known about his family beyond the succession of Thorkell as chieftain. [1]

Historicity

Leif is, in all likelihood, a historical figure who remains the first known European to set foot in continental North America, [58] but other details of his life vary and are a subject of debate. It has been suggested by several scholars that both Leif's sister, Freydís, and his foster father, Tyrker, are works of fiction, as are their roles in the Vinland sagas. [59] Leif's commission as a missionary to Greenland may also be fictional, as that aspect of his story is often attributed to Gunnlaugr Leifsson's version of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (which likely served as a source for some of the other sagas which mention Leif). [60] [31]

Legacy

Norse and medieval Europe

Discovery of America, a postage stamp from the Faroe Islands which commemorates both Leif Erikson and Christopher Columbus Faroe stamps 225-226 Discovery of America.jpg
Discovery of America, a postage stamp from the Faroe Islands which commemorates both Leif Erikson and Christopher Columbus

Leif's successful expedition in Vinland encouraged other Norsemen to also make the journey, and the Norse became the first Europeans to colonize the area. In the end there were no permanent Norse settlements, although sporadic voyages at least to Markland for forages, timber and trade possibly lasted for centuries. [61] [62] The casual tone of references to these areas may suggest that their discovery was not seen as particularly significant by contemporaries, or that it was assumed to be public knowledge, or both. [24] Knowledge of the Vinland journeys spread around medieval Europe, although to what extent is unclear; writers made mention of remote lands to the west, and notably the medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen directly mentions Vinland (c. 1075) based upon reports from the Danes. [note 2] It has been suggested that the knowledge of Vinland might have been maintained in European seaports in the 15th century, and that Christopher Columbus, who claimed in a letter to have visited Iceland in 1477, could have heard stories of it. [63]

Norse encounters with the Indigenous peoples

While Leif had no contact with the Indigenous peoples of Vinland, [64] [65] later Norse explorers did, referring to them as skrælingi , an archaic term for "wretches". [66]

According to the Saga of Erik the Red, the first encounter was made during a colonizing expedition led by Thorfinn Karlsefni, which also included Leif's brother Thorvald. At first this group traded with the natives, but weeks later the new Norse settlement at Hóp was attacked and Karlsefni decided to abandon it. The Norse retreated to their other settlement at Straumfjǫrðr, where they remained and continued to explore the general area. One morning they encountered a one-legged native, who shot an arrow that killed Thorvald. [64] He is famously known for pulling the arrow out, and poetically reciting the phrase, "This is a rich country we have found; there is plenty of fat around my entrails", upon which he dies. [66] On their return to Greenland, Karlsefni's crew captured two native boys, taking them to Greenland. [64]

According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Leif's brother Thorvald made first contact with the natives. [63] The encounter happened while Thorvald and his crew were exploring the coast, likely in the Markland area, and found nine natives asleep under boats. They attacked the natives, killing eight of them, while one escaped. Shortly after, in an apparent reprisal, Thorvald was killed by a native's arrow. Later, Thorfinn Karlsefni led a group to colonize Vinland and encountered natives, who they initially traded with, but relations soured when a native was killed attempting to steal weapons from the Norse. In retaliation, the natives attacked and Karlsefni decided to abandon the colony. [64]

Travels and commemoration

Erikson commemorative stamp, issued 9 October 1968, Leif Erikson Day Leif Erikson 6c 1968 issue.JPG
Erikson commemorative stamp, issued 9 October 1968, Leif Erikson Day

Stories of Leif's journey to North America had a profound effect on the identity and self-perception of later Nordic Americans and Nordic immigrants to the United States. [18] The first statue of Erikson (by Anne Whitney) [67] was erected in Boston in 1887 at the instigation of Eben Norton Horsford, who was among those who believed that Vinland could have been located on the Charles River or Cape Cod; [18] not long after, another casting of Whitney's statue was erected in Milwaukee. [68] A statue was also erected in Chicago in 1901, having been originally commissioned for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition to coincide with the arrival of the reconstructed Viking ship from Bergen, Norway. [18] Another work of art made for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the painting Leiv Eirikson Discovering America by Christian Krohg, was in the possession of a Leif Erikson Memorial Association in Chicago before being given back to the National Gallery of Norway in 1900. [69]

For the centenary of the first official immigration of Norwegians to America, President Calvin Coolidge stated at the 1925 Minnesota State Fair, to a crowd of 100,000 people, that Leif had indeed been the first European to discover America. [18] Additional statues of him were erected at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul in 1949, near Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1956, and in downtown Seattle. [18]

In 1924, a party of four consisting of a Swede, an Englishman, and two Americans attempted to emulate Leif's voyage in an eponymous 40-foot vessel but were lost after reaching the west coast of Greenland. [70] : 267 

In 1930, a statue of Leif was erected in the city center of Reykjavík, Iceland – currently situated in front of Hallgrímskirkja – as a gift from the United States to Iceland to commemorate the 1,000 year anniversary of Alþingi, the parliament of Iceland. [71]

The Leif Erikson Awards, established 2015, are awarded annually by the Exploration Museum in Húsavík, Iceland. They are awarded for achievements in exploration and in the study of the history of exploration. [72]

Several ships are named after Leif – a Viking ship replica, a commercial passenger/vehicle ferry, [73] [74] and a large dredger. [75]

Erikson is recalled as Leif the Lucky in the Robert Frost poem Wild Grapes. [76]

Leif Erikson Day

In 1929, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill to make 9 October "Leif Erikson Day" in the state, and in the years following, several other states adopted laws to observe the day. [77] In 1935, legislation was introduced to the United States Congress requesting federal observance of the day. Before the legislation was passed, it was amended so that the observance would only occur in 1935 [78] (which it was, following a proclamation that year by President President Franklin D. Roosevelt). [79] In the subsequent decades, a number of unsuccessful attempts were made to pass legislation requesting Leif Erikson Day be proclaimed annually by the president. [80] Proponents eventually succeeded, when, in 1964, the Congress authorized and requested the president to proclaim 9 October of each year as "Leif Erikson Day". [18] In the years since, each president has issued an annual proclamation calling for observance of the day. [81]

The Sagas do not give the exact date of Leif's landfall in America, but state only that it was in the fall of the year. At the suggestion of Christian A. Hoen of Edgerton, Wisconsin, 9 October was settled upon for Leif Erikson Day, as that already was a historic date for Norwegians in America, the ship Restaurationen having arrived in New York Harbor on 9 October 1825 [77] [82] from Stavanger with the first organized party of Norwegian immigrants. [83]

In fiction

The character 'Leif Ericson' features in this Japanese manga adaptation of the Vinland sagas. Vinland Saga simplified logo.svg
The character 'Leif Ericson' features in this Japanese manga adaptation of the Vinland sagas.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The patronym is Anglicized in various ways in the United States; according to one source, Leif Ericson is the most common rendering on the East Coast, while Leif Erikson is the most common rendering on the West Coast. [2] Erikson is the spelling widely used and recognized by many others. [3] [4] [5] [6] Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson [ˈlɛivz̠ˈɛiˌriːksˌson] ; Icelandic: Leifur Eiríksson [ˈleiːvʏrˈeiːˌriksˌsɔːn] ; Norwegian: Leiv Eiriksson; Swedish: Leif Eriksson; Danish: Leif Eriksen
  2. ↑ Adam mentions Vinland (Winland) in Chapter 39 of Book IV of his Gesta: 'In addition, he [i.e., Sweyn Estridsson, king of Denmark (reigned 1047–1076)] named one more island in this ocean, discovered by many, which is called "Vinland", because vines grow wild there, making the best wine. For [that] crops [that are] not sown, abound there, we learn not from fanciful opinion but from the true account of the Danes.' Adam von Bremen (1917). Schmeidler, Bernhard (ed.). Hamburgische Kirchengeschichte [Hamburg's Church History] (in Latin and German). Hannover and Leipzig, Germany: Hahnsche. pp. 275–276.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinland</span> Area of coastal Canada explored by Norse Vikings

Vinland, Vineland, or Winland was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Eriksson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. The name appears in the Vinland Sagas, and describes Newfoundland and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence as far as northeastern New Brunswick. Much of the geographical content of the sagas corresponds to present-day knowledge of transatlantic travel and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik the Red</span> Norse explorer

Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first European settlement in Greenland. Erik most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color of his hair and beard. According to Icelandic sagas, Erik was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson; to which Thorvald would later be banished from Norway, and would sail west to Iceland with Erik and his family. During Erik's life in Iceland, he married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and would have four children, with one of Erik's sons being the well-known Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson. Around the year of 982, Erik was exiled from Iceland for three years, during which time he explored Greenland, eventually culminating in his founding of the first successful European settlement on the island. Erik would later die there around 1003 CE during a winter epidemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bjarni Herjólfsson</span> Norse explorer who saw America in 986

Bjarni Herjólfsson was a Norse-Icelandic explorer who is believed to be the first known European discoverer of the mainland of the Americas, which he sighted in 986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helge Ingstad</span> Norwegian explorer (1899–2001)

Helge Marcus Ingstad was a Norwegian explorer. In 1960, after mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in the province of Newfoundland in Canada. They were thus the first to prove conclusively that the Icelandic/Greenlandic Norsemen such as Leif Erickson had found a way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America, roughly 500 years before Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. He also thought that the mysterious disappearance of the Greenland Norse Settlements in the 14th and 15th centuries could be explained by their emigration to North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freydís Eiríksdóttir</span> 10th century Norsewoman, explorer and Vinland colonist

Freydís Eiríksdóttir was an Icelandic woman said to be the daughter of Erik the Red, who figured prominently in the Norse exploration of North America as an early colonist of Vinland, while her brother, Leif Erikson, is credited in early histories of the region with the first European contact. The medieval and primary sources that mention Freydís are the two Vinland sagas: the Saga of the Greenlanders and the Saga of Erik the Red. The two sagas offer differing accounts, though Freydís is portrayed in both as a strong woman.

Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir was an Icelandic explorer, born at Laugarbrekka in Snæfellsnes, Iceland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norse colonization of North America</span>

The Norse exploration of North America began in the late 10th century, when Norsemen explored areas of the North Atlantic colonizing Greenland and creating a short term settlement near the northern tip of Newfoundland. This is known now as L'Anse aux Meadows where the remains of buildings were found in 1960 dating to approximately 1,000 years ago. This discovery helped reignite archaeological exploration for the Norse in the North Atlantic. This single settlement, located on the island of Newfoundland and not on the North American mainland, was abruptly abandoned.

<i>Saga of Erik the Red</i> Icelandic saga about the Norse exploration of North America

The Saga of Erik the Red, in Old Norse: Eiríks saga rauða, is an Icelandic saga on the Norse exploration of North America. The original saga is thought to have been written in the 13th century. It is preserved in somewhat different versions in two manuscripts: Hauksbók and Skálholtsbók.

<span title="Old Norse-language text"><i lang="non">Skræling</i></span> Peoples the Norse Greenlanders encountered in North America

Skræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the peoples they encountered in North America. In surviving sources, it is first applied to the Thule people, the proto-Inuit group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century. In the sagas, it is also used for the peoples of the region known as Vinland whom the Norse encountered and fought during their expeditions there in the early 11th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helluland</span> Norse discovery in North America

Helluland is the name given to one of the three lands, the others being Vinland and Markland, seen by Bjarni Herjólfsson, encountered by Leif Erikson and further explored by Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson around AD 1000 on the North Atlantic coast of North America. As some writers refer to all land beyond Greenland as Vinland; Helluland is sometimes considered a part of Vinland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorvald Eiriksson</span> Icelandic explorer

Thorvald Eiriksson was the son of Erik the Red and brother of Leif Erikson. The only Medieval Period source material available regarding Thorvald Eiriksson are the two Vinland sagas; the Greenland Saga and the Saga of Erik the Red. Although differing in various detail, according to both sagas Thorvald was part of an expedition for the exploration of Vinland and became the first European to die in North America outside of Greenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorfinn Karlsefni</span> 11th century Icelandic explorer

Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson was an Icelandic explorer. Around the year 1010, he followed Leif Eriksson's route to Vinland in a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there with his wife Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir and their followers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leif Erikson Day</span> Annual observance on October 9

Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that occurs on October 9. It honors Leif Erikson, the Norse explorer who, in approximately 1000, led the first Europeans believed to have set foot on the continent of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinland sagas</span> 13th century Icelandic texts

The Vinland Sagas are two Icelandic texts written independently of each other in the early 13th century—The Saga of the Greenlanders and The Saga of Erik the Red. The sagas were written down between 1220 and 1280 and describe events occurring around 970–1030.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knarr</span> Type of Norse merchant ship used by the Vikings

A knarr is a type of Norse merchant ship used by the Vikings for long sea voyages and during the Viking expansion. The knarr was a cargo ship; the hull was wider, deeper and shorter than a longship, and could take more cargo and be operated by smaller crews. It was primarily used to transport trading goods like walrus ivory, wool, timber, wheat, furs and pelts, armour, slaves, honey, and weapons. It was also used to supply food, drink, weapons and armour to warriors and traders along their journeys across the Baltic, the Mediterranean and other seas. Knarrs routinely crossed the North Atlantic carrying livestock such as sheep and horses, and stores to Norse settlements in Iceland, Greenland and Vinland as well as trading goods to trading posts in the British Isles, Continental Europe and possibly the Middle East. The knarr was constructed using the same clinker-built method as longships, karves, and faerings.

<i>Saga of the Greenlanders</i> Icelandic saga about the Norse exploration of North America

Grœnlendinga saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. Like the Saga of Erik the Red, it is one of the two main sources on the Norse colonization of North America. The saga recounts events that purportedly happened around 1000 and is preserved only in the late 14th century Flateyjarbók manuscript.

Thorstein Eiriksson was the third and youngest son of Erik the Red.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L'Anse aux Meadows</span> Norse archaeological site in Newfoundland, Canada

L'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site, first excavated in the 1960s, of a Norse settlement dating to approximately 1,000 years ago. The site is located on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador near St. Anthony.

Leifsbudir was a settlement, mentioned in the Greenland Saga, founded by Leif Eriksson in 1000 or 1001 in Vinland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straumfjörð</span> Fjord in Vinland in the Sagas of Icelanders

Straumfjörður (Icelandic), or Straumfjǫrðr, sometimes anglicised to Straumsfjordr, Straumfjordr, Straumsfjord or Straumfjord, is according to the Sagas of Icelanders a fjord in Vinland where Thorfinn Karlsefni set up a temporary settlement. It is described in the Saga of Erik the Red, but not in the Greenland saga. Its name translates to "Current-fjord", "Stream-fjord" or "Tide-fjord".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Leif Eriksson". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 12 October 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. ↑ Leander, Kristine (2008). Norwegian Seattle. Arcadia Publishing. p. 63. ISBN   978-0-7385-5960-5. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Turning over a new Leif". Leif Erikson International Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Leif Erikson Issue. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "History". Sons of Norway. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Norwegian-American Studies, Volumes 1–3. Norwegian-American Historical Association. 1926. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Leif Erikson (11th century)". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Why Do We Celebrate Columbus Day and Not Leif Erikson Day?". National Geographic . 11 October 2015. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Leiv Eriksson Archived 5 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine , Norsk biografisk leksikon
  10. 1 2 3 Sverrir Jakobsson (14 July 2001). "Shouldn't Leifr Eiríksson ('Leif the Lucky') really be viewed as a Greenlander with family roots in Iceland and Norway?". Translated by Nicholas Jones, 25 November 2005. The Icelandic Web of Science. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  11. ↑ Leif Eriksson Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine – Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "Congressional Record, V. 145, Pt. 21, November 17, 1999 to December 3, 1999". Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2020– via Google Books.
  13. ↑ "Thorvald Asvaldsson | Mediander | Connects". Mediander. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Discovery of Iceland". www.viking.no. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Regal, B. (2022). The Battle over America's Origin Story: Legends, Amateurs, and Professional Historiographers. Springer International Publishing. p. 107. ISBN   978-3-030-99538-6. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Leiv Eiriksson". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  17. ↑ Sanderson, Jeanette. (2002) Explorers, Teaching Resources/Scholastic. p. 14. ISBN   0-439-25181-8.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dregni, Eric (2011). Vikings in the attic: in search of Nordic America. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN   978-0-8166-6744-4. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  19. 1 2 Ingstad, Helge; Ingstad, Anne Stine (2000). The Viking discovery of America: the excavation of a Norse settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Breakwater Books. p. 74. ISBN   978-1-55081-158-2. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  20. ↑ Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E.; Wheeler, William Bruce; Doeringer, Frankli n; Curtis, Kenneth R. (2011). Discovering the Global Past. Cengage Learning. p. 158. ISBN   978-1-111-34142-8. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Lindkvist, Thomas (2003). "Early political organisation". In Helle, Knut (ed.). The Cambridge History of Scandinavia: Prehistory to 1520. Cambridge University Press. p. 212. ISBN   978-0-521-47299-9.
  22. ↑ Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 350.
  23. ↑ Short, 2010, p. 203.
  24. 1 2 "Vinland History". National Museum of Natural History . Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  25. ↑ Somerville & McDonald, 2010, pp. 419–420.
  26. ↑ Ingstad, 1985, pp. 171–178.
  27. 1 2 Campbell, 2021, pp. 37–39.
  28. ↑ Ingstad, 1985, pp. 101–106.
  29. ↑ Campbell, 2021, pp. 35–37.
  30. 1 2 Short, 2010, pp. 203–204.
  31. 1 2 3 Wallace, 2006, p. 19
  32. ↑ Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 352.
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 Wernick, Robert (1979). The Vikings . Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books. pp.  149–151. ISBN   0-8094-2709-5.
  34. ↑ Kudeba, N. (19 April 2014). Chapter 5 – Norse Explorers from Erik the Red to Leif Erikson – Canadian Explorers. Retrieved from The History of Canada: "Chapter 5 – Norse Explorers from Erik the Red to Leif Erikson – Canadian Explorers | the History of Canada". Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  35. ↑ Somerville & McDonald, 2010, pp. 352–354.
  36. ↑ Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 354.
  37. ↑ Handwerk, Brian. "New Dating Method Shows Vikings Occupied Newfoundland in 1021 C.E." Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  38. ↑ Cassidy, Cody (2020). Who Ate the First Oyster?: The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History. New York: Penguin Books. p. 84. ISBN   978-0-14-313275-2.
  39. ↑ "L'Anse aux Meadows". L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada. Parks Canada. 2018. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2018. Here [L'Anse aux Meadows] Norse expeditions sailed from Greenland, building a small encampment of timber-and-sod buildings ...
  40. ↑ Nydal, Reidar (1989). "A Critical Review of Radiocarbon Dating of a Norse Settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland Canada". Radiocarbon . 31 (3): 976–985. Bibcode:1989Radcb..31..976N. doi: 10.1017/S0033822200012613 . eISSN   1945-5755. ISSN   0033-8222. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021. With an assumed total systematic error of 30 ± 20 years, as a mean for various tree rings, the calibrated age range of L'Anse aux Meadows is AD 975–1020. This agrees well with the assumed historical age of ca AD 1000, a result which has also been recently corroborated by high-precision accelerator dating at the University of Toronto.
  41. ↑ Cordell, Linda S.; Lightfoot, Kent; McManamon, Francis; Milner, George (2009). "L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site". Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 82. ISBN   978-0-313-02189-3. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2021. This is a substantial base for analysis, which yields an entirely credible range of dates between 990 and 1050 and a mean date of 1014 CE, which is popularly rounded off at 1000 CE .
  42. ↑ Ledger, Paul M.; Girdland-Flink, Linus; Forbes, Véronique (15 July 2019). "New horizons at L'Anse aux Meadows". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (31): 15341–15343. Bibcode:2019PNAS..11615341L. doi:10.1073/PNAS.1907986116. eISSN   1091-6490. ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   6681721 . PMID   31308231. Modeling results were remarkably consistent, and model A suggests Norse occupation began Cal AD 910–1030..... A weighted mean of twig dates—notwithstanding issues associated with combination of 14C ages from multiple individuals—provided a result of AD 986–1022
  43. ↑ Kuitems, Margot; Wallace, Birgitta L.; Lindsay, Charles; Scifo, Andrea; Doeve, Petra; Jenkins, Kevin; Lindauer, Susanne; Erdil, Pınar; Ledger, Paul M.; Forbes, Véronique; Vermeeren, Caroline (20 October 2021). "Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021". Nature. 601 (7893): 388–391. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03972-8. ISSN   1476-4687. PMC   8770119 . PMID   34671168. S2CID   239051036. Our result of AD 1021 for the cutting year constitutes the only secure calendar date for the presence of Europeans across the Atlantic before the voyages of Columbus. Moreover, the fact that our results, on three different trees, converge on the same year is notable and unexpected. This coincidence strongly suggests Norse activity at L'Anse aux Meadows in AD 1021. In addition, our research demonstrates the potential of the AD 993 anomaly in atmospheric 14C concentrations for pinpointing the ages of past migrations and cultural interactions.
  44. ↑ "Helge Ingstad" . The Telegraph . 30 March 2001. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  45. 1 2 Short, 2010, p. 207.
  46. ↑ "Vinland Archeology". National Museum of Natural History . Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 9 December 2003. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  47. ↑ "Vinland Sagas". National Museum of Natural History . Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  48. ↑ "Leif Eriksson | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  49. ↑ Wallace, 2006, pp. 17,19.
  50. ↑ Saga of Eric the Red in Reeves, 1890, p. 35.
  51. ↑ Saga of Eric the Red in Reeves, 1890, pp. 35–36.
  52. ↑ "Leif Eiriksson, "Leif the Lucky" (Leifr Eiríksson, nicknamed, Leifr hin heppni)". Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History: Where is Vinland?. Archived from the original on 9 December 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  53. ↑ Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 420.
  54. ↑ Reeves, 1890, p. 57.
  55. ↑ Hermannsson, Halldór (June 1954). "Tyrkir, Leif Erikson's Foster-Father". Modern Language Notes. 69 (6). Johns Hopkins University Press: 388–389. doi:10.2307/3039733. ISSN   0149-6611. JSTOR   3039733. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  56. ↑ Seaver, Kirsten A. (1997). The frozen echo: Greenland and the exploration of North America, ca. A.D. 1000–1500. Stanford University Press. p. 62. ISBN   978-0-8047-3161-4. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  57. ↑ Hermannsson, Halldór (1936). The problem of Wineland, Volume 1; Volume 25. Cornell University Press. ISBN   978-0527003555. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  58. ↑ Wallace, 2006, p. 17.
  59. ↑ Perkins, Richard (2004). "Medieval Norse visits to America: Millennial Stocktaking" (PDF). Saga-Book. XXVIII: 47–48, 53. ISSN   0305-9219. JSTOR   48612649. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  60. ↑ Grønlie, Siân (2006). Íslendingabók; Kristni saga: The Book of Icelanders; The Story of the Conversion (PDF). Text Series. Vol. XVIII. London: Viking Society for Northern Research. pp. xxxiv, 68. ISBN   0-903521-71-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  61. ↑ Schledermann, Peter. (1996). Voices in Stone. A Personal Journey into the Arctic Past. Komatik Series no. 5. Calgary: The Arctic Institute of North America and the University of Calgary.
  62. ↑ Sutherland, Patricia. (2000). "The Norse and Native Norse Americans". In William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward, eds., Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, pp. 238–247. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution.
  63. 1 2 Short, 2010, pp. 203–206.
  64. 1 2 3 4 McGhee, Robert (January 1984). "Contact between Native North Americans and the Medieval Norse: A Review of the Evidence". American Antiquity. 49 (1): 4–26. doi:10.2307/280509. ISSN   0002-7316. JSTOR   280509. S2CID   163333983.
  65. ↑ Warden, Donald E. (August 2016). "The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus". Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research. 6 (1). Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021. p. 7: Leif did not encounter any Indigenous people over the entire voyage
  66. 1 2 Weaver, Jace (2011). The red atlantic. American Indian Quarterly. pp. 418–463, 477.
  67. ↑ Forbes, Alan and Ralph M. Eastman, "Some Statues of Boston: Reproductions of some of the statues for which Boston is famous, with information concerning the personalities and events memorialized", State Street Trust Company, Boston MA 1946 and Forbes, Alan and Ralph M. Eastman, "Other Statues of Boston", State Street Trust Company, Boston MA 1947.
  68. ↑ Buck, Diane M; Palmer, Virginia A (1995). Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook. Madison: The State Historical Society of Wisconsin. pp. 9–12. ISBN   978-0-87020-276-6.
  69. ↑ "Leiv Eiriksson oppdager Amerika". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  70. ↑ Thomas, Lowell (1925). The First World Flight . Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
  71. ↑ Helgason, Magnús Sveinn; Eliason, Matt; McMahon, Sara; Sigurþórsdóttir, Sunna Karen (2 November 2015). "Ten fascinating facts about the statue of Leifur Eiríksson". Icelandmag. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  72. ↑ "The Exploration Awards – The Exploration Museum". Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  73. ↑ "MV Leif Ericson Ferry – Vessel Information | Marine Atlantic". www.marineatlantic.ca. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  74. ↑ "Leif Ericsson (Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship) Registered in Canada – Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information – IMO 8917388, MMSI 316001216, Call Sign VOCJ". www.marinetraffic.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  75. ↑ "The world's largest dredger in the Gulf of Gdansk". Poland at Sea – maritime economy portal. 11 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  76. ↑ "Wild Grapes Robert Frost 1874 – 1963". Poets.org. Grapes, I knew grapes from having seen them last year.
    One bunch of them, and there began to be
    Bunches all round me growing in white birches,
    The way they grew round Leif the Lucky's German;
  77. 1 2 Hansen, Carl Gustav Otto (1956). "Leif Erikson Comes to the Front". My Minneapolis. Minneapolis. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  78. ↑ "Leif Erikson Day Oct. 9 Proclaimed". The Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, WI. 16 September 1935. p. 5.
  79. ↑ Roosevelt, Franklin D. "The Statutes at Large of the United States of America from January 1935 to June 1936. Vol 49, part 1, pages 3468–3469". Government Printing Office.
  80. ↑ Tollefson, Thor C. (4 March 1964). Leif Erikson Day: Hearings before Subcommittee No. 4 of the Committee on the Judiciary. House of Representatives (Report). Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 5. Retrieved 30 July 2023. For quite a few years, and even prior to the time that I first came to Congress, similar resolutions had been introduced, seeking to have October 9 declared Leif Erikson Day. All of the previous efforts have been unsuccessful.
  81. ↑ Guttormsen, Torgim Sneve (2018). "Valuing Immigrant Memories as Common Heritage: The Leif Erikson Monument in Boston". History & Memory . 30 (2). Indiana University Press: 99. doi:10.2979/histmemo.30.2.04. S2CID   166186978.
  82. ↑ Obama, Barack (7 October 2009). "Leif Erikson Day, 2009" (Press release). White House Office of the Press Secretary. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  83. ↑ Aarek, Hans Eirik (2000). "A Short History of the Troms Quakers And their Emigration to America". Norwegian-American Studies . 35. University of Minnesota Press: 92. doi:10.1353/nor.2000.a799212. S2CID   258610849. Conflict with the Norwegian authorities was one of the main motivations for emigrating to America. Quakers were not allowed to live everywhere in Norway...This led to the first organized emigration in 1825.
  84. ↑ "Leif Erikson statue". alamy. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  85. ↑ Hall, Mordaunt (29 November 1928). "A Picture in Colors" . The New York Times . New York City. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  86. ↑ "Leif the Lucky". Adlibris (in Swedish). 15 October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  87. ↑ Harris, Will (31 July 2019). "Amazon's Vinland Saga Anime Is a Classic Anime in the Making". IGN Southeast Asia. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  88. ↑ William Stobbs, Henry Treece. "Vinland the Good". childrensbookshop.com. Puffin. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  89. ↑ Shute, Nevil. "An Old Captivity". fadedpage.com. William Morrow & Company. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  90. ↑ "Sam Corlett Gets Spiritual as Leif Eriksson in 'Vikings: Valhalla'". Netflix Tudum. 1 March 2022. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.