BIOGRAPHIES OF THE NEW WORLD LEIF ERIKsson same time Alexander von Humboldt traveled extensively in Central and South America returning home with valuable information on the weather geology and plants and animals of those regions Another scientist whose work was inspired by a New World expedi tion was Charles Darwin His observations of the natural world during his voyage around South America in the 1830s were pivotal to his formulation of the theory of evolution Before the 15th century the New World was a place of great unknowns The explor ers profiled in this book though motivated by different goals all played a role in filling those gaps in knowledge They opened the eyes of the Old World to new lands peoples cultures and plants and animals and a bet ter understanding of the world in general 10
CHAPTER 1 LEIFERIKSSON he first European to land on the North American continent was a Viking sea man named Leif Eriksson or Ericson He was the second son of the explorer Erik the Red who was originally from Norway but later settled in Iceland where Leif was born In about AD 982 Erik took his family on an expedition to an unknown land Greenland Leif grew up in Brattahild now Qassiarsuk on Greenland's southwest coast Different accounts of Leif's voyages appear in two Icelandic sagas histories about kings and other heroes associated with Iceland According to the Saga of Erik in 1000 Leif voyaged to Norway where he spent a winter at the court of Norway s Christian king Olaf I Tryggvason When Leif returned home he converted his mother to Christianity She built the first Christian church in Greenland its foundations and those of other Viking buildings may be seen in Qassiarsuk According to the Saga of Erik Leif s ship was blown off course on his return from Norway and was carried westward to North 12
LEIF ERIKSSON An engraved portrait of Leif Eriksson Hulton Archive Getty Images 13
