Biographies of the New World

Biographies of the New World — page 7 — 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

Biographies of the New World — page 8 — LEIF ERIKSSON An engraved portrait of Leif Eriksson Hulton Archive Getty Images 13

Biographies of the New World — page 9 — BIOGRAPHIES OF THE NEW WORL LEIF ERIKSSON HENRY Hudson CHARLES America The Saga of the Greenlanders which many modern scholars believe to be more reli able offers a different account It tells that Leif learned of a land far to the west from an Icelander named Bjarni Herjulfsson who had sighted it but had not gone ashore In about 1000 Leif gathered a crew of about 35 and set off from Greenland for the unknown land They put ashore at a place described as a bar ren tableland of flat rocks backed by great ice mountains Going to sea again they traveled south ward dropping anchor off a level wooded land with broad stretches of white sand They called it Markland Wood Land Once again they sailed to the south This time they went ashore where the land was green with fields of self sown wheat trees and sweet wild grapes They named it Vinland Wine Land and built shelters and spent the winter there After exploring the area they returned home to Greenland Leif earned his nickname Leif the Lucky on this trip when he rescued a shipwrecked party of 15 It is not known for certain where in North America Leif's expedition landed but it was probably somewhere along the Atlantic coastline of what is now eastern or 14

Biographies of the New World — page 10 — LEIF ERIKSSON northeastern Canada He may have landed on the coast of Newfoundland In 1963 archae ologists uncovered the remains of a Viking settlement at EAnse aux Meadows at the northernmost tip of the island Radiocarbon dating of charcoal found in hearths shows that the site was used in about AD 1000 In about 1003 Leif s brother Thorvald led an expedition to Vinland Thorfinn Karlscfni an Icelander later established a colony of about 130 people in Vinland His son Snorri was the first child of European descent born in North America After living in Vinland for three years however the settlers abandoned their colony because of conflicts with local Indians First Nations In about 1013 Leif's half sister Freydis led an unsuccessful expedi tion to Vinland it was the last known Viking attempt at colonizing North America 15

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