Leif Ericson
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The Norse mariner and adventurer Leif Ericson was the first Norseman to seek out the coast of North America. He introduced Christianity into Greenland.
 

Leif Ericson was born in Iceland, the son of Eric the Red. He moved with his parents to Greenland in 986. In that same year Bjarni Herjolfson, following his father to Greenland, missed that island and sailed in a south-westerly direction and sighted both the Labrador coast and Newfoundland.

Leif, 15 at the time, listened carefully to tales of Bjarni's adventures, probably from Bjarni himself, who was more interested in trade than in discovering new lands. On reaching his majority, and chafing under the patriarchal rule of his father, Leif determined to visit Bjarni's southernmost land. He undoubtedly was motivated by Bjarni's account of large timber stands sighted along the coast, for timber was scarce in Greenland. Bjarni not only furnished the idea for the voyage but also supplied Leif with the very ship that he had used on his own inadvertent exploration.

Leif's voyage was planned and had a forceful, brave, shrewd leader who was careful in all things. His discovery, then, was not an accident, as those who give too little credence to Viking navigational skills intimate. He set sail probably in 995, passed Markland (Labrador), and reached Newfoundland, where his thirsty crewmen drank dew from the grass. Here, in what probably was Leif's Vinland, the men decided to winter, noticing that the days were more equitable in length than at home.

In addition to building lodgings, the men cut timber and hunted. Their tasks were eased by the fact that there were no natives in the vicinity. On one hunting and exploratory expedition, one Tyrker, who had lived in warmer climates, returned with grapes. Consequently the men began to cut vines and harvest grapes in addition to gathering timber. Because of the new find, Leif named the area Vinland, which subsequently became known as Vinland the Good. Where in Newfoundland Leif wintered is still a matter of controversy, but most leading scholars are firmly convinced that it was on that island. Grapes grew wild in quantity in Newfoundland until as late as the middle of the 17th century, because the climate then was much more benign than it is today. On the trip home with timber and other goods of value, Leif rescued a ship of Thorer and from it obtained assorted Norwegian trade goods. Because of this highly prosperous voyage, Leif received the name "Lucky."

Blocked from further ambitions by a father who did not intend to lose political influence to his son, Leif in 997 sailed for Norway, hoping to curry favour with the king, Olaf Tryggvason. En route he visited the Hebrides and left behind a pregnant mistress, Thorgunna, who subsequently followed him with his son. He spent the winter of 997 in Norway, where, to increase his power and prestige as a buttress to his wealth, he became one of Olaf's liege men and a Christian.

The next year Leif returned home bringing priests and the new faith with him. His mother was an early convert, but Eric clung stubbornly to the old ways. When the aged chieftain along with another son, Thorstein, decided to make a trip to Newfoundland, Leif refused him the use of his ship. At this point in the sages Leif gives place to other members of his family.
 

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Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson) (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse explorer who was probably the first European to land in North America (excluding Greenland). According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which has been tentatively identified with the L'Anse aux Meadows Norse site on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.


Early life in Greenland

It is believed that Leif was born about AD 970 in Iceland, the son of Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eiríkr inn rauði), a Norse explorer and outlaw and himself the son of an outlaw, Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson. Leif's mother was Thjodhild (Þjóðhildr). Erik the Red had founded two Norse colonies in Greenland, the Western Settlement and the Eastern Settlement, as he named them.

Leif Erikson had two brothers, Thorvald and Thorsteinn, and one sister, Freydís. Leif married a woman named Thorgunna, and they had one son, Thorkell Leifsson.


Exploring west of Greenland

During a stay in Norway, Leif Ericson converted to Christianity, like many Norse of that time, at the behest of the King of Norway, Olaf I. When he returned to Greenland, he bought Bjarni Herjólfsson's boat and set out to explore the land that Bjarni had seen (located west of Greenland), which likely was Newfoundland, Canada.

The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that Leif set out in the year 1003 or 1002 to follow Bjarni's route with 35 crew members, but going north.

The first land he went to was covered with flat rocks (Old Norse hella). He therefore called it Helluland ("Land of the Flat Stones"). This was possibly Baffin Island. Next he came to a land that was flat and wooded, with white sandy beaches. He called this Markland ("Wood-land"), which is possibly Labrador.


Settlement in Vinland

Leif and his crew left Markland and again found land, which they named Vinland. They landed and built a small settlement. They found the area pleasant as there were wild grapes and plenty of salmon in the river. The climate was mild, with little frost in the winter and green grass year-round. They remained in the region over the winter.

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 1960s by explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, identified a Norse settlement located at the northern tip of Newfoundland, known as L'Anse aux Meadows, which many have connected to Leif's settlement.


United States commemoration

In 1964, the United States Congress authorized and requested the president to proclaim October 9 of each year as "Leif Ericson Day". That date was chosen for its connection to the first organized immigration from Norway to the United States, not for any event in the life of the explorer. The day is also an official observance of several U.S. states.

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