Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson; modern Icelandic: Leifur Eiríksson; modern Norwegian: Leiv Eiriksson) was an Icelandic-Norwegian explorer and the first European to discover North America—more specifically, the region that would become Newfoundland and, by later extension, Canada.
It is believed that Leif was born around 980 and was the second son of Eric the Red (Eiríkur Rauði), a Norwegian-Icelandic outlaw, himself the son of another Norwegian outlaw, Þorvaldur Ásvaldsson. Leif's mother was Þjoðhildur. His father Eric had started two Norse colonies, the Western Settlement and the Eastern Settlement, in Greenland, which he had named. As far as it is known, Leif Ericson had two brothers, Þorvald and Þorsteinn, and one sister, Freydís. Leif married a woman by the name of Þórgunnur and they had one son, Þorkell Leifsson.
During a stay in Norway, Leif was converted to Christianity (like many Norse around that time). He also went to Norway to serve King 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 which today we know as North America.
One of the sagas, The saga of the Greenlanders, tells that Leif set out about 1000 to follow Bjarni's route in the opposite direction.[1] The first land he met was covered with flat rock slabs (Old Norse: hellr). He therefore called it Helluland ("Land of the Flat Stones"), which is probably the present day Baffin Island. Next he came to a land that was flat and wooded, with white sandy beaches, which he called Markland (woodland), which is assumed to have been Labrador.
When Leif and his men found land again after leaving Markland, they landed and built some houses. They found the land 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 the place over the winter. The sagas mention that one of Leif's men, Tyrkir, a German warrior, found grapes, and Leif named the country Vínland after it. In reality the name "Vínland" has nothing whatsoever to do with grapes or wine of any kind; the word "vinja" in Old Norse means "meadow" or "grazing area".
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).
Research done in the 1950s and 60s by explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife and archaeologist Anne Stine suggests that the settlement of Leif Ericson and his party in Vínland was actually the tip of Newfoundland later known as L'Anse aux Meadows.
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared 9 October Leif Erikson Day in the United States.
Fictional namesakes
- The Leif Ericson submarine in the Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson is named for the above explorer. It is owned and captained by Hagbard Celine who himself is named for viking legend Hagbard.
- The Leif Eriksson is one of the three space ships carrying the Council of Humanity from Earth in Building Harlequin's Moon by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper.
Notes
- ^ Another saga, The Saga of Eric the Red, tells that it was actually Leif who discovered the American mainland while returning from Norway to Greenland in 1000 or thereabouts, but the saga does not state an attempt of his to settle there. However, the saga of the Greenlanders is nowadays considered to be the more reliable of the two.
External links
- A reconstructed portrait of Leif Ericsson – Based on historical sources, in a contemporary style; from Reportret: gallery of reconstructed portraits
- Leifr 'heppni' Eiriksson biography – At the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online; bio written by prof. T. J. Oleson, Dept. of History, U. of Manitoba
- Leif Ericson Homepage – From the Great Norwegians webpages, hosted by Metropolitan News Company's website MNC Online