Leif Ericson
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Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson)[1] (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse explorer and thought to be the first European to have landed in North America (in Newfoundland, Canada).
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[edit] Early life in Iceland
It is believed that Leif was born about 970 in Iceland, 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. Ericson's mother was Thjodhild (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 Erikson had two brothers, Þorvaldr and Þorsteinn, and one half-sister, Freydís. Leif married a woman named Thorgunna, and they had one son, Þorkell Leifsson.
[edit] 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 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, Newfoundland, in Canada.
The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that Leif set out about 1001 to follow Bjarni's route with 15 crew members, but going north.[3]
[edit] Helluland and Markland
The first land he went to was covered with flat and shiny 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 it Markland ("Wood-land"), and it is usually assumed to have been Labrador.
[edit] 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[4]), or a German, found wild grapes, and that Leif accordingly named the country Vínland after them. This story is almost certainly not true, though, because "vin" means "meadow; pasture" in Old Norse, and is also used in Norway today as part of names on places (e.g. Bjørgvin, Granvin, Sandvin to mention a few). See the article on Vinland for more on the naming debate.
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).
[edit] 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.
[edit] Leif Ericson Day
In 1964, President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson declared October 9 to be "Leif Ericson Day" in the United States.[5]
[edit] 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 view that was once popular but is not accepted by the bulk of scholarship today.[6]
- 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.[7]
- 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.[8]
- Although there have been numerous attempts over the decades to show Viking presence in United States, such as fanciful translations of mysterious stone carvings, there has been no evidence accepted by the professional archaeological community.[9]
[edit] 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
[edit] External links
- ^ In modern Icelandic the first name is Leifur and in modern Norwegian Leiv. The patronym is Anglicized in various ways, such as Ericson, Eriksson, Ericsson, Erickson, Erikson and Eiriksson.
- ^ Sanderson, Jeanette. (2002) Explorers, Teaching Resources/Scholastic. p. 14. ISBN 0-439-25181-8.
- ^ Another saga, The Saga of Eric the Red, relates that Leif discovered the American mainland while returning from Norway to Greenland in 1001 or thereabouts, but does not mention any attempts to settle there. However, the Saga of the Greenlanders is considered to be the more reliable of the two.
- ^ Erdődy János: Küzdelem a tengerekért - A nagy felfedező utazások kora (the title in English: Fight for the Seas - Age of the Great Geographical Discoveries); Móra Ferenc Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 1981., pp. 10-11.
- ^ Lief Ericson Day
- ^ Mystery of the Mandan by Charles Moore, 1998.
- ^ Vikings on the Charles
- ^ Archaeologist Buries Viking Theory
- ^ Archaeologist Buries Viking Theory
- 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.
