Leif Eriksson - Exploration - HISTORY.com Leif Eriksson A+E Networks Introduction Leif Eriksson was the son of Erik the Red, founder of the first European settlement on what is now called Greenland. Around A.D. 1000, Eriksson sailed to Norway, where King Olaf I converted him to Christianity. According to one school of thought, Eriksson sailed off course on his way back to Greenland and landed on the North American continent, where he explored a region he called Vinland. He may also have sought out Vinland based on stories of an earlier voyage by an Icelandic trader. After spending the winter in Vinland, Leif sailed back to Greenland, and never returned to North American shores. He is generally believed to be the first European to reach the North American continent, nearly four centuries years before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. Google Leif Eriksson’s Early Life and Conversion to Christianity Leif Eriksson (spelling variations include Eiriksson, Erikson or Ericson), known as “Leif the Lucky,” was the second of three sons of the famed Norse explorer Erik the Red, who established a settlement in Greenland after being expelled from Iceland around A.D. 980.

The date of Leif Eriksson’s birth is uncertain, but he is believed to have grown up in Greenland. According to the 13th-century Icelandic Eiriks saga (or “Saga of Erik the Red”), Eriksson sailed from Greenland to Norway around 1000. On the way, he was believed to have stopped in the Hebrides, where he had a son, Thorgils, with Thorgunna, daughter of a local chief. In Norway, King Olaf I Tryggvason converted Eriksson to Christianity, and a year later sent him back to Greenland with a commission to spread the faith among the settlers there. Did You Know? After Leif Eriksson returned to Greenland, his brother Thorvald led another Viking expedition to Vinland, but all future efforts to settle in the region failed due to bitter clashes between the Norsemen and the local Native American population. Thorvald himself died in a skirmish somewhere north of the Viking base. Eriksson’s Voyage to Vinland Historical accounts differ on the subsequent events. According to the Eiriks saga, Eriksson sailed off course on his return to Greenland and landed on the North American continent.

He called the region where he landed Vinland after the wild grapes that grew in abundance there and the general fertility of the land. Another Icelandic saga, the Groenlendinga saga (or “Saga of the Greenlanders”), which scholars consider more reliable that the Eiriks saga, holds that Leif Eriksson heard about Vinland from the Icelandic trader Bjarni Herjulfsson, who had sighted the North American continent from his ship 14 years before Leif’s voyage but not set foot on land. In addition to uncertainty about the context of Eriksson’s arrival in North America, the exact location of his landing is also in doubt. The Groenlendinga saga claims he made three landfalls at Helluland (possibly Labrador), Markland (possibly Newfoundland) and Vinland. The location of Vinland has been debated over the centuries, and has been identified as a variety of spots along the northern Atlantic coast.

In the early 1960s, excavations at L’Anse aux Meadows, on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland, turned up evidence of what is generally believed to be the base camp of the 11th-century Viking exploration, though others believe that the region is too far north to correspond to the Vinland described in the Icelandic sagas. Eriksson’s Later Life in Greenland and Legacy After his time in Vinland, Eriksson returned to Greenland, and he would never return to North American shores. Though his father proved unreceptive to the Christian faith, Leif was able to convert his mother, Thjodhild, who had Greenland’s first Christian church built at Brattahild. When Erik the Red died, Leif Eriksson took over as chief of the Greenland settlement. His son Thorgils was sent by his mother (whom Leif never married) to live in Greenland, but was apparently unpopular. Another (presumably legitimate) son, Thorkel Leifsson, became chief by 1025, after his father’s death. Nothing further is known about Leif’s descendants.

Beginning in the late 19th century, many Nordic Americans celebrated Leif Eriksson as the first European explorer of the New World. In 1925, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first official group of Norwegian immigrants in the United States, President Calvin Coolidge announced to a Minnesota crowd that Eriksson had been the first European to discover America. And in September 1964, Congress approved a public resolution that authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to declare October 9 as “Leif Eriksson Day.” Tags The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America - History in the Headlines The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America October 8, 2013 By Christopher Klein Share Did a Viking explorer travel from Greenland to modern day Canada in the 11th century, beating Christopher Columbus by nearly 400 years? Share this: The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America Author The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America URL Google As Leif Erikssson Day approaches, the United States commemorates the explorer credited with the first European expedition to North America.

Nearly 500 years before the birth of Christopher Columbus, a band of European sailors left their homeland behind in search of a new world. Their high-prowed Viking ship sliced through the cobalt waters of the Atlantic Ocean as winds billowed the boat’s enormous single sail. After traversing unfamiliar waters, the Norsemen aboard the wooden ship spied a new land, dropped anchor and went ashore. Half a millennium before Columbus “discovered” America, those Viking feet may have been the first European ones to ever have touched North American soil. Exploration was a family business for the expedition’s leader, Leif Eriksson (variations of his last name include Erickson, Ericson, Erikson, Ericsson and Eiriksson). His father, Erik the Red, founded the first European settlement of Greenland after being expelled from Iceland around A.D. 985 for killing a neighbor. (Erik the Red’s father, himself, had been banished from Norway for committing manslaughter.) Eriksson, who is believed to have been born in Iceland around A.D. 970, spent his formative years in desolate Greenland. Around A.D. 1000, Eriksson sailed east to his ancestral homeland of Norway.

There, King Olaf I Tryggvason converted him to Christianity and charged him with proselytizing the religion to the pagan settlers of Greenland. Eriksson converted his mother, who built Greenland’s first Christian church, but not his outlaw father. Icelandic legends called sagas recounted Eriksson’s exploits in the New World around A.D. 1000. These Norse stories were spread by word of mouth before becoming recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries. Two sagas give differing accounts as to how Eriksson arrived in North America. According to the “Saga of Erik the Red,” Eriksson crossed the Atlantic by accident after sailing off course on his return voyage from Norway after his conversion to Christianity. The “Saga of the Greenlanders,” however, recounts that Eriksson’s voyage to North America was no fluke. Instead, the Viking explorer had heard of a strange land to the west from Icelandic trader Bjarni Herjolfsson, who more than a decade earlier had overshot Greenland and sailed by the shores of North America without setting foot upon it. Eriksson bought the trader’s ship, raised a crew of 35 men and retraced the route in reverse.

After crossing the Atlantic, the Vikings encountered a rocky, barren land in present-day Canada. Eriksson bestowed upon the land a name as boring as the surroundings—Helluland, Norwegian for “Stone Slab Land.” Researchers believe this location could possibly have been Baffin Island. The Norsemen then voyaged south to a timber-rich location they called Markland (Forestland), most likely in present-day Labrador, before finally setting up a base camp likely on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland. The Vikings spent an entire winter there and benefitted from the milder weather compared to their homeland. They explored the surrounding region abounding with lush meadows, rivers teeming with salmon, and wild grapes so suitable for wine that Eriksson called the region Vinland (Wineland). After spending the winter in Vinland, Eriksson and his crew sailed home to windswept Greenland with badly needed timber and plentiful portions of grapes. Eriksson, who would succeed Erik the Red as chief of the Greenland settlement after his father’s death, never returned to North America, but other Vikings continued to sail west to Vinland for at least the ensuing decade. In spite of North America’s more bountiful resources, the Viking settlers remained in desolate Greenland.

This was perhaps due to the violent encounters—including the slaying of Eriksson’s brother Thorwald–they had with the indigenous population of North America. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that supports the sagas’ stories of the Norse expeditions to America. In 1960, Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad scoured the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland for signs of a possible settlement, and he found it on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland at L’Anse aux Meadows. An international team of archaeologists that included Ingstad’s wife, Anne, excavated artifacts of Viking origin dating from around A.D. 1000, and the remains of the Norse village are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. While Columbus is honored with a federal holiday, the man considered to be the leader of the first European expedition to North America has not been totally forgotten on the calendar. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation that declared October 9 to be Leif Eriksson Day in honor of the Viking explorer, his crew and the country’s Nordic-American heritage. The proximity of the days honoring Eriksson and Columbus is coincidence.

October 9 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the 1825 arrival in New York of the ship Restaruation, which carried the first organized band of Norwegian immigrants to the United States. Tags Leif Erikson - Discoverer of America | … | Flickr Leif Erikson - Discoverer of America The first European to arrive in America It is commonly believed that Christopher Columbus was the first European to arrive in the New World in 1492. Indeed, Columbus marks the starting point of the mass migration of Europeans to America. However, he was not the first European to set foot in the New World. That happened during the Viking age, 500 years earlier, when Leif Ericson explored new lands west of Greenland in the year 1000 AD. Leif Ericson, first European to arrive in America Leif "the lucky" Ericson (*) was the second son of Eric "the Red" Thorvaldson, a Norwegian exiled in Iceland who was the first European to colonize Greenland. Leif was born in Iceland, but moved to Greenland with his family after his father created a settlement there.

From Greenland, Leif sailed to the west looking for new land and reached the eastern coast of Canada. Some families followed Leif's route and settled in America temporarily. However, Greenland was at the time a very remote, isolated, scarcely populated colony of Icelanders. Interest on further exploration to the west was eventually lost and Leif's discovery of a far away land remained unknown in most of Europe. The colonization of Greenland and the exploration of America are described in the "Saga of Eric the Red" and the "Saga of the Greenlanders", both written around the year 1200. Leif Ericson was officially recognized to be the first European to set foot in America when, almost 1000 years after his death, the Icelandic Sagas were re-discovered and a Norse settlement was found in L'Anse aux Meadows, Canada. In 1964, United States president Lyndon B. Johnson declared the 9th of October to be "Leif Ericson Day" in commemoration of the first arrival of a European to North America.

In the year 2000, celebrations were organized in North America, Greenland and Europe to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Leif Ericson's exploration of the New World. Leif's life in Iceland and settlement in Greenland Little is known of Leif Ericson's early years. He was the second of the three sons of Eric "the Red", a violent man who had been exiled from Norway to Iceland. Leif was probably born in Eiríksstadir, Iceland, between 960-980 AD. He was raised and educated by Tyrkir, a German that his father Eric had captured during a Viking trip. When Leif was a young boy, his father Eric was banished three years from Iceland for killing a man during a dispute. Unable to return to Norway and now banished from Iceland, Erik took his family and sailed westward following reports of a new land off the coast of Iceland. The reports were true and Eric the Red reached a cold, rough land of glaciers and icebergs. He purposely called it "Greenland", hoping that this motivating name would attract other colonists. Eric became the first European to settle permanently in Greenland.

Leif and his family lived entirely isolated in Greenland for three years. After the end of his three years banishment, Eric the Red returned to Iceland looking for people to settle in his "Green Land". In the summer of 985, Eric set out with 25 ships loaded with Icelandic colonists, but the weather was treacherous and only 14 ships and about 350 settlers managed to make the crossing. This was the beginning of the first European settlement of Greenland, which would last for over 400 years. Leif Ericson had acquired great experience as a seaman and explorer during all this time, and at the age of 20 he set off with a crew of fourteen men to Norway, where his family was originally from. According to the Saga of Eric the Red, his ship first stopped in the Hebrides Isles, Scotland, where he was a guest of the lord of the island and married his daughter, Thorgunna. In Norway, Leif Ericson was invited to stay for the winter as a guest of King Olaf Tryggvasson.

King Olaf, a converted Christian himself, convinced Leif to become a Christian, and he further commissioned him to bring a priest back to Greenland to spread Christianity there. Leif Ericson's arrival to North America The discovery of new lands on the eastern coast of North America is recorded in the Saga of Eric the Red and in the Saga of the Greenlanders, written in Iceland around the year 1200. The Sagas relate how Bjarni Herjolfsson was the first to report new land west of Greenland, and how Leif Ericson explored them and stayed there for the winter. The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that on his return to Greenland, Leif Ericson met a sailor called Bjarni Herjolfsson. Herjolfsson told Leif how his ship got lost in the ocean after been driven far off course by a storm, and affirmed sighting a green, forested land which was not Greenland because it had no glaciers or fjords. Herjolfsson is considered to be the first European to have spotted North America, possibly the coast of Nova Scotia.

Ericson got very interested in Bjarni's story and he decided set off on an expedition with a crew of 35 men in the year 1000 AD. Leif soon found a new land that he called Helluland, the flat and stony land, thought to have been Baffin Island or Labrador. From there, Leif's expedition continued sailing south along the coast and stopped in a second land he called Markland, the wood land, believed to have been Newfoundland. The expedition sailed further to the south, possibly as far as Cape Cod, and stopped in a land that the Sagas describe as rich, fertile, and forested, where grapes grow... Leif called it Vinland, the wine land. He and his men spent the winter in Vinland, filled his ship with the riches of the new land, and returned to Greenland in the spring. The first European settlement in North America On his arrival to Greenland, Leif became known as "Leif the Lucky" because he had found great wealth and no troubles during his expedition to Vinland. Eric the Red died one year after his son's return from Vinland, so Leif took over his father's farm of Brattahlid and never travelled again.

Leif's brother, Thorvald Ericson, organized a second expedition to Vinland two years after Leif's journey. While exploring the new land, Thorvald was killed in a violent clash with a group of native North Americans. Thorvald Ericson became the first European to die and to be buried in America. Leif's reports of fertile Vinland reached as far as Iceland, and a colonist expedition composed by sixty men and five women was organized by Thorfinn Karlsefni. The group led by Thorfinn settled in Vinland for about three years. It is thought that they were probably driven away by violent encounters with the Skraelings, a Norse word for the native North Americans. During their time in Vinland, Thorfinn and his wife Gudrid had a son, Snorri, who was first European child to be born in America. Eventually, the Norse colony in Vinland was abandoned and Thorfinn, Gudrid and Snorri returned to Iceland. It is believed that the Greenlanders returned to Vinland on many occasions before the Greenland colony disappeared in the 14th-15th century. Very little is known about Leif Ericson's later life.

The Saga of Eric the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders tell that after his journey to Vinland, Leif became the most prominent person in Greenland. He was well respected and lived and died at Brattahlid. The Viking World Heritage Site in L'Anse aux Meadows, Canada Almost one thousand years after the Norse explored Vinland, scholars and historians re-discovered the Sagas and learn about the expeditions of Leif Ericson and other Norse to America. Archaeologists started looking for proof of Norse presence on the Eastern coast of North America and in 1960 Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad unveiled the remains of a European settlement in L' Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada. Helge and a group of Scandinavian and American archaeologists discovered a Norse settlement with eight buildings and important archaeological remains. The excavations of the settlement have helped us to known that L'Anse aux Meadows was used as a base between Greenland and Vinland, which according to the descriptions in the Sagas would be situated south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In 1976 the Norse settlement at L' Anse aux Meadows was declared an Historic Site in Canada and in 1978 it was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO, the United Nations. Since then, thousands of tourists and historians have visited the Viking World Heritage Site, which shows the reconstructions of three Norse buildings and various exhibits highlighting the lifestyle in the earliest European settlement in the New World. Spelling note: (*) There are several different spellings for the name of Leif Ericson - Leiv, Erikson, Eriksson or Ericsson. In Icelandic, his name is written as Leifur Eiríksson. His father's name, Eric Thorvaldson, is also spelled as Erik, Eirík Thorvaldsson and Eiríkur Þorvaldsson in Icelandic. Done Leif Ericson: Facts About The Viking Explorer | Primary Facts Leif Ericson: Facts About The Viking Explorer Posted on by James • 1 Comment Here are some facts about Leif Ericson. Leif Ericson was born in Iceland in about 970 and died around 1020. He is widely believed to have landed in North America several centuries before Christopher Columbus .

Ericson supposedly founded a Viking settlement at Vinland on what is now the Canadian island of Newfoundland. In 1960, archaeologists discovered evidence of a Viking settlement there. Vinland may have been named after the grapes that were found growing there. Although Vinland may have been in Newfoundland, other places in the eastern US and Canada have been suggested as a possible location of the Viking settlement. Some historians claim that Ericson sailed as far south as what is now Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Others say that early Norse explorers made it to Minnesota and the Midwest. There are several statues of Leif Ericson, including one in Iceland, and one in Norway. In the US, there are statues of the explorer in Seattle, Boston, Cleveland and Minnesota. Leif Ericson was the son of a Norse chief Erik the Red, named for his red beard. Erik the Red discovered Greenland, naming it so in an effort to attract settlers. Many of the details of Ericson’s voyages are known from the books called the Norse Sagas. Some of the information suggests he found North America accidentally when his ship was blown off course. Very little is known of Ericson’s personal life.

He is known to have had two sons, one of whom was banished from Norway for manslaughter. At one point, Leif Ericson was given the nickname ‘Lucky’ as he rescued a ship on one of his trips, and obtained various valuables and items that could be traded. In 1930, Wisconsin was the first US state to celebrate Leif Ericson Day, on October 9th. In 1964, Congress decided the day would be a nationwide US holiday. His name is sometimes written as Leif Erikson. What next? Find out more about the Vikings . Leif Eriksson - Explorer - Biography.com Leif Eriksson Norse explorer Leif Eriksson is credited with being the first European to reach North America. IN THESE GROUPS 1020 Synopsis Born in the 10th century, Norse explorer Leif Eriksson was the second son of Erik the Red, who is credited with settling Greenland. For his part, Eriksson is considered by many to be the first European to reach North America, centuries ahead of Christopher Columbus.

However, the details of his voyage are a matter of historical debate, with one version claiming his landing accidental and another that he had sailed there intentionally after learning of the region from earlier explorers. In either case, Eriksson eventually returned to Greenland, where he had been commissioned by Norwegian king Olaf I Tryggvason to spread Christianity and is believed to have died circa 1020. In the early 1960s, the discovery of the ruins of a Viking settlement in Newfoundland lent further weight to accounts of Eriksson’s voyage, and in 1964 the United States Congress authorized the president to proclaim each October 9 as Leif Eriksson Day. Leif the Mysterious Although various accounts exist, the differences in their details often make it difficult to separate fact and legend when discussing the life or Norse explorer Leif Eriksson. He is believed to have been born circa 960–970 A.D., the second of three sons of Erik the Red , who founded the first European settlement on what is now Greenland. As Erik the Red’s father had been banished from Norway and settled in Iceland, it is likely that Leif was born there and raised in Greenland.

However, from here the facts become as diverse as the spelling of his name. Vinland By most accounts, around the year 1000, Eriksson sailed from Greenland to Norway where he served in the court of King Olaf I Tryggvason, who converted him from Norse paganism to Christianity. Soon thereafter, Olaf commissioned Eriksson to proselytize across Greenland and spread Christianity to the settlers there as well. Although Eriksson would eventually make it back to Greenland, it is the details and motives of his return route that are the subject of most debate. In the 13th-century Icelandic account The Saga of Erik the Red, Eriksson’s ships are said to have drifted off course on the return voyage home, finding dry ground at last on the North American continent. They are most likely to have disembarked in what is now Nova Scotia, which Eriksson named Vinland, perhaps in reference to the wild grapes that his landing party saw there.

However, The Saga of the Greenlanders, which dates to the same era, suggests that Eriksson had heard already learned of “Vinland” from another seamen, Bjarni Herjólfsson, who had already been there more than a decade earlier, and that Eriksson sailed there on purpose, landing first in an icy region he named “Helluland” (believed now to be Baffin Island) and the heavily forested “Markland” (thought to be Labrador) before eventually making his way eventually to the more hospitable Vinland. Whatever his motives, or the lack thereof, Eriksson is generally credited as the first European to set foot on the shores of North America, nearly five centuries before Christopher Columbus would arrive in 1492. But all suggest that Eriksson was most likely a member of an early Viking voyage to North America, if not, in fact, the leader of that first expedition. Return Despite his exploration, Eriksson would never colonize the region, nor did his brothers Thorvald Eriksson and Freydis Eiríksdóttir or Icelander Thorfinn Karlsefni, who visited Vinland after Eriksson.

Returning to Greenland, Eriksson spent his efforts spreading Christianity. His mother, Thjodhild, became an early convert and built Greenland’s first Christian church, at Brattahlid, Erik the Red’s home in the east of the settlement. As for Eriksson, he is believed to have lived out his life in Greenland, dying somewhere around the year 1020. The exact location of Vinland is not known, but in 1963 ruins of an 11th-century Viking settlement were discovered at L’Anse-aux-Meadows in northern Newfoundland. Now labeled a UNESCO National Historic Site, it is the oldest European settlement to have been found in North America, and more than 2,000 Viking objects have been recovered from it, supporting accounts that Eriksson and his men wintered there before setting sail for home. Legacy In recognition of Eriksson’s pioneering voyage, in September 1964 the United States Congress authorized the president of the United States to declare each October 9 as Leif Eriksson Day, a national day of observance.

Over the years, various groups have attempted to elevate the celebration, but due in part to the fact that Christopher Columbus’s later voyage resulted more directly in European migration to North America, its status has remained unchanged. Despite this, Leif Eriksson’s voyage is commemorated by statues throughout the United States, and in Newfoundland, Norway, Iceland and Greenland, and Iceland’s Exploration Museum annually presents its Leif Eriksson Awards for achievements in the field of exploration. Leif Ericson Discovers America Saga Of Eric The Red, c. 1000 Besides the Northmen or Norsemen, those ancient Scandinavians celebrated in history for their adventurous exploits at sea, the Chinese and the Welsh have laid claim to the discovery of North America at periods much earlier than that of Columbus and the Cabots. But to the Norse sailors alone is it generally agreed that credit for that achievement is probably due. Associated with their supposed arrival and sojourn on the coast of what is now New England, about A.D. 1000, the "Round Tower" or "Old Stone Mill" at Newport, R.

I., the mysterious inscription on the "Dighton Rock" in Massachusetts, and the "Skeleton in Armor" dug up at Fall River, Mass., and made the subject of a ballad by Longfellow, have figured prominently in the discussion of this pre-Columbian discovery. But these conjectural evidences are no longer regarded as having any connection with historical probability or as dating back to the time of the Northmen. It is considered, however, to be pretty certain that at the end of the tenth century or at the beginning of the eleventh the Northmen reached the shores of North America. About that time, it is known, they settled Iceland, and from there a colony went to Greenland, where they long remained. From there, either by design or by accident, some of them, it is supposed, may have reached the coast of Labrador, and thence sailed down until they came to the region which they named Vinland. From there they sent home glowing accounts to their countrymen in the northern lands, who came in larger numbers to join them in the New World. About the middle of the nineteenth century great interest among students of this subject was aroused by a work written by Prof. C. C.

Rafn, of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen. In this work - Antiquitates Americanae - the proofs of this visit of the Northmen to the shores of North America were convincingly set forth. In the same work the Icelandic sagas, written in the fourteenth century, and containing the original accounts of the Northmen's voyages to Vinland, were first brought prominently before modern scholars. Although many other writings on the voyages have since appeared, the great work of Rafn still holds its place of authority, very little in the way of new material having been brought to light. This portion of his narrative which follows covers the main facts of the history, and the translation from the saga furnishes an excellent example of its quaint and simple narration. Eric the red, in the spring of 986, emigrated from Iceland to Greenland, formed a settlement there, and fixed his residence at Brattalid in Ericsfiord. Among others who accompanied him was Heriulf Bardson, who established himself at Heriulfsnes.

Biarne, the son of the latter, was at that time absent on a trading voyage to Norway; but in the course of the summer returning to Eyrar, in Iceland, and finding that his father had taken his departure, this bold navigator resolved "still to spend the following winter, like all the preceding ones, with his father," although neither he nor any of his people had ever navigated the Greenland sea. They set sail, but met with northerly winds and fogs, and, after many days' sailing, knew not whither they had been carried. At length when the weather again cleared up, they saw a land which was without mountains, overgrown with wood, and having many gentle elevations. As this land did not correspond to the descriptions of Greenland, they left it on the larboard hand, and continued sailing two days, when they saw another land, which was flat and overgrown with wood. From thence they stood out to sea, and sailed three days with a southwest wind, when they saw a third land, which was high and mountainous and covered with icebergs (glaciers). They coasted along the shore and saw that it was an island.

They did not go on shore, as Biarne did not find the country to be inviting. Bearing away from this island, they stood out to sea with the same wind, and, after four days' sailing with fresh gales, they reached Heriulfsnes, in Greenland. Some time after this, probably in the year 994, Biarne paid a visit to Eric, Earl of Norway, and told him of his voyage and of the unknown lands he had discovered. He was blamed by many for not having examined these countries more accurately. On his return to Greenland there was much talk about undertaking a voyage of discovery. Leif, a son of Eric the Red, bought Biarne's ship, and equipped it with a crew of thirty-five men, among whom was a German, of the name of Tyrker, who had long resided with his father, and who had been very fond of Leif in his childhood. In the year 1000 they commenced the projected voyage, and came first to the land which Biarne had seen last. They cast anchor and went on shore.

No grass was seen; but everywhere in this country were vast ice mountains (glaciers), and the intermediate space between these and the shore was, as it were, one uniform plain of slate (hella). The country appearing to them destitute of good qualities, they called it Hellu-Land. They put out to sea, and came to another land, where they also went on shore. The country was very level and covered with woods; and wheresoever they went there were cliffs of white sand (sand-ar hvitir), and a low coast (o-soe-bratt). They called the country Mark Land (woodland). From thence they again stood out to sea, with a northeast wind, and continued sailing for two days before they made land again. They then came to an island which lay to the eastward of the mainland. They sailed westward in waters where there was much ground left dry at ebb tide. Afterward they went on shore at a place where a river, issuing from a lake, fell into the sea. They brought their ship into the river, and from thence into the lake, where they cast anchor.

Here they constructed some temporary log huts; but later, when they had made up their mind to winter there, they built large houses, afterward called Leifs-Budir (Leif's-booths). When the buildings were completed Leif divided his people into two companies, who were by turns employed in keeping watch at the houses, and in making small excursions for the purpose of exploring the country in the vicinity. His instructions to them were that they should not go to a greater distance than that they might return in the course of the same evening, and that they should not separate from one another. Leif took his turn also, joining the exploring party the one day, and remaining at the houses the other. It so happened that one day the German, Tyrker, was missing. Leif accordingly went out with twelve men in search of him, but they had not gone far from their houses when they met him coming toward them. When Leif inquired why he had been so long absent, he at first answered in German, but they did not understand what he said.

He then said to them in the Norse tongue: "I did not go much farther, yet I have a discovery to acquaint you with: I have found vines and grapes." He added by way of confirmation that he had been born in a country where there were plenty of vines. They had now two occupations: namely, to hew timber for loading the ship, and collect grapes; with these last they filled the ship's long-boat. Leif gave a name to the country, and called it Vinland (Vineland). In the spring they sailed again from thence, and returned to Greenland. Leif's Vineland voyage was now a subject of frequent conversation in Greenland, and his brother Thorwald was of opinion that the country had not been sufficiently explored. He, accordingly, borrowed Leif's ship, and, aided by his brother's counsel and directions, commenced a voyage in the year 1002. He arrived at Leif's-booths, in Vineland, where they spent the winter, he and his crew employing themselves in fishing. In the spring of 1003 Thorwald sent a party in the ship's long-boat on a voyage of discovery southward.

They found the country beautiful and well wooded, with but little space between the woods and the sea; there were likewise extensive ranges of white sand, and many islands and shallows. They found no traces of men having been there before them, excepting on an island lying to westward, where they found a wooden shed. They did not return to Leif's-booths until the fall. In the following summer, 1004, Thorwald sailed eastward with the large ship, and then northward past a remarkable headland enclosing a bay, and which was opposite to another headland. They called it Kial-Ar-Nes (Keel Cape). From thence they sailed along the eastern coast of the land, into the nearest firths, to a promontory which there projected, and which was everywhere overgrown with wood. There Thorwald went ashore with all his companions. He was so pleased with this place that he exclaimed: "This is beautiful!

and here I should like well to fix my dwelling!" Afterward, when they were preparing to go on board, they observed on the sandy beach, within the promontory, three hillocks, and repairing hither they found three canoes, under each of which were three Skrellings (Esquimaux). They came to blows with the latter and killed eight, but the ninth escaped with his canoe. Afterward a countless number issued forth against them from the interior of the bay. They endeavored to protect themselves by raising battlescreens on the ship's side. The Skrellings continued shooting at them for a while and then retired.

Thorwald was wounded by an arrow under the arm, and finding that the wound was mortal he said: "I now advise you to prepare for your departure as soon as possible, but me ye shall bring to the promontory, where I thought it good to dwell; it may be that it was a prophetic word that fell from my mouth about my abiding there for a season; there shall ye bury me, and plant a cross at my head, and another at my feet, and call the place Kross-a-Ness (Crossness) in all time coming." He died, and they did as he had ordered. Afterward they returned to their companions at Leif's-booths, and spent the winter there; but in the spring of 1005 they sailed again to Greenland, having important intelligence to communicate to Leif. Thorstein, Eric's third son, had resolved to proceed to Vineland to fetch his brother's body. He fitted out the same ship, and selected twenty-five strong and able-bodied men for his crew; his wife, Gudrida, also went along with him.

They were tossed about the ocean during the whole summer, and knew not whither they were driven; but at the close of the first week of winter they landed at Lysufiord, in the western settlement of Greenland. There Thorstein died during the winter; and in the spring Gudrida returned again to Ericsfiord. There was a man named Thorwald; he was a son of Asvald, Ulf's son, Eyxna-Thori's son. His son's name was Eric. He and his father went from Jaederen to Iceland, on account of manslaughter, and settled on Hornstrandir, and dwelt at Draugar. There Thorwald died, and Eric then married Thorheld, a daughter of Jorund, Atli's son, and Thorbiorg the sheep-chested, who had been married before to Thorbiorn of the Haukadal family. Eric then removed from the north, and cleared land in Haukadal, and dwelt at Ericsstadir, by Vatnshorn. Then Eric's thralls caused a landslide on Valthiof's farm, Valthiofsstadir.

Eyiolf the Foul, Valthiof's kinsman, slew the thralls near Skeidsbrekkur, above Vatnshorn. For this Eric killed Eyiolf the Foul, and he also killed Duelling-Hrafn, at Leikskalar. Geirstein and Odd of Jorva, Eyiolf's kinsmen, conducted the prosecution for the slaying of their kinsmen, and Eric was in consequence banished from Haukadal. He then took possession of Brokey and Eyxney, and dwelt at Tradir on Sudrey the first winter. It was at this time that he loaned Thorgest his outer dais-boards. Eric afterward went to Eyxney, and dwelt at Ericsstad. He then demanded his outer dais-boards, but did not obtain them. Eric then carried the outer dais-boards away from Breidabolstad, and Thorgest gave chase. They came to blows a short distance from the farm of Drangar. There two of Thorgest's sons were killed, and certain other men besides. After this each of them retained a considerable body of men with him at his home.

Styr gave Eric his support, as did also Eyiolf of Sviney, Thorbiorn, Vifil's son, and the sons of Thorbrand of Alptafirth; while Thorgest was backed by the sons of Thord the Yeller, and Thorgeir of Hitardal, Aslak of Langadal, and his son, Illugi. Eric and his people were condemned to outlawry at Thorsness-thing. He equipped his ship for a voyage in Ericsvag; while Eyiolf concealed him in Dimunarvag, when Thorgest and his people were searching for him among the islands. He said to them that it was his intention to go in search of that land which Gunnbiorn, son of Ulf the Crow, saw when he was driven out of his course, westward across the main, and discovered Gunnviorns-skerries. He told them that he would return again to his friends if he should succeed in finding that country. Thorbiorn and Eyiolf and Styr accompanied Eric out beyond the islands, and they parted with the greatest friendliness.

Eric said to them that he would render them similar aid, so far as it might be within his power, if they should ever stand in need of his help. Eric sailed out to sea, from Snaefells-iokul, and arrived at that ice mountain which is called Blacksark. Thence he sailed to the southward that he might ascertain whether there was habitable country in that direction. He passed the first winter at Ericsey, near the middle of the western settlement. In the following spring he proceeded to Ericsfirth, and selected a site there for his homestead. That summer he explored the western uninhabited region, remaining there for a long time, and assigning many local names there. The second winter he spent at Ericsholms, beyond Hvarfsgnipa. But the third summer he sailed northward to Snaefell, and into Hrafnsfirth. He believed then that he had reached the head of Ericsfirth; he turned back then, and remained the third winter at Ericsey, at the mouth of Ericsfirth. The following summer he sailed to Iceland and landed in Breidafirth. He remained that winter with Ingolf at Holmlatr.

In the spring he and Thorgest fought together, and Eric was defeated; after this a reconciliation was effected between them. That summer Eric set out to colonize the land which he had discovered, and which he called Greenland, because, he said, men would be the more readily persuaded thither if the land had a good name. Eric was married to a woman named Thorhild, and had two sons; one of these was named Thorstein, and the other Leif. They were both promising men. Thorstein lived at home with his father, and there was not at that time a man in Greenland who was accounted of so great promise as he. Leif had sailed to Norway, where he was at the court of King Olaf Tryggvason. When Leif sailed from Greenland, in the summer, they were driven out of their course to the Hebrides. It was late before they got fair winds thence, and they remained there far into the summer. Leif became enamoured of a certain woman, whose name was Thorgunna. She was a woman of fine family, and Leif observed that she was possessed of rare intelligence.

When Leif was preparing for his departure, Thorgunna asked to be permitted to accompany him. Leif inquired whether she had in this the approval of her kinsmen. She replied that she did not care for it. Leif responded that he did not deem it the part of wisdom to abduct so high-born a woman in a strange country, "and we so few in number." "It is by no means certain that thou shalt find this to be the better decision," said Thorgunna. "I shall put it to the proof, notwithstanding," said Leif. "Then I tell thee," said Thorgunna, "that I foresee that I shall give birth to a male child; and though thou give this no heed, yet will I rear the boy, and send him to thee in Greenland when he shall be fit to take his place with other men. And I foresee that thou wilt get as much profit of this son as is thy due from this our parting; moreover, I mean to come to Greenland myself before the end comes." Leif gave her a gold finger-ring, a Greenland Wadmal mantle, and a belt of walrus tusk. This boy came to Greenland, and was called Thorgils.

Leif acknowledged his paternity, and some men will have it that this Thorgils came to Iceland in the summer before the Frodawonder. However, this Thorgils was afterward in Greenland, and there seemed to be something not altogether natural about him before the end came. Leif and his companions sailed away from the Hebrides, and arrived in Norway in the autumn. Leif went to the court of King Olaf Tryggvason. He was well received by the King, who felt that he could see that Leif was a man of great accomplishments. Upon one occasion the King came to speech with Leif, and asked him, "Is it thy purpose to sail to Greenland in the summer?" "It is my purpose," said Leif, "if it be your will." "I believe it will be well," answered the King, "and thither thou shalt go upon my errand, to proclaim Christianity there." Leif replied that the King should decide, but gave it as his belief that it would be difficult to carry this mission to a successful issue in Greenland.

The King replied that he knew of no man who would be better fitted for this undertaking; "and in thy hands the cause will surely prosper." "This can only be," said Leif, "if I enjoy the grace of your protection." Leif put to sea when his ship was ready for the voyage. For a long time he was tossed about upon the ocean, and came upon lands of which he had previously had no knowledge. There were self-sown wheat-fields and vines growing there. There were also those trees there which are called "mansur," and of all these they took specimens. Some of the timbers were so large that they were used in building. Leif found men upon a wreck, and took them home with him, and procured quarters for them all during the winter. In this wise he showed his nobleness and goodness, since he introduced Christianity into the country, and saved the men from the wreck; and he was called Leif "the Lucky" ever after. Leif landed in Ericsfirth, and then went home to Brattahlid; he was well received by everyone.

He soon proclaimed Christianity throughout the land, and the Catholic faith, and announced King Olaf Tryggvason's messages to the people, telling them how much excellence and how great glory accompanied this faith. Eric was slow in forming the determination to forsake his old belief, but Thiodhild embraced the faith promptly, and caused a church to be built at some distance from the house. This building was called Thiodhild's church, and there she and those persons who had accepted Christianity - and there were many - were wont to offer their prayers. At this time there began to be much talk about a voyage of exploration to that country which Leif had discovered. The leader of this expedition was Thorstein Ericsson, who was a good man and an intelligent, and blessed with many friends. Eric was likewise invited to join them, for the men believed that his luck and foresight would be of great furtherance. He was slow in deciding, but did not say nay when his friends besought him to go. They thereupon equipped that ship in which Thorbiorn had come out, and twenty men were selected for the expedition. They took little cargo with them, naught else save their weapons and provisions.

On that morning when Eric set out from his home he took with him a little chest containing gold and silver; he hid this treasure and then went his way. He had proceeded but a short distance, however, when he fell from his horse and broke his ribs and dislocated his shoulder, whereat he cried, "Ai, ai!" By reason of this accident he sent his wife word that she should procure the treasure which he had concealed - for to the hiding of the treasure he attributed his misfortune. Thereafter they sailed cheerily out of Ericsfirth, in high spirits over their plan. They were long tossed about upon the ocean, and could not lay the course they wished. They came in sight of Iceland, and likewise saw birds from the Irish coast. Their ship was, in sooth, driven hither and thither over the sea. In autumn they turned back, worn out by toil and exposure to the elements, and exhausted by their labors, and arrived at Ericsfirth at the very beginning of winter.

Then said Eric: "More cheerful were we in the summer, when we put out of the firth, but we still live, and it might have been much worse." Thorstein answers: "It will be a princely deed to endeavor to look well after the wants of all these men who are now in need, and to make provision for them during the winter." Eric answers: "It is ever true, as it is said, that 'It is never clear ere the winter comes,' and so it must be here. We will act now upon thy counsel in this matter." All of the men who were not otherwise provided for accompanied the father and son. They landed thereupon, and went home to Brattahlid, where they remained throughout the winter.

Question: In about 1,000 AD, it is believed that explorer Leif Ericson discovered North America and named it what?
Answer: Vinland