Leif Eriksson
Leif Eriksson: (c980 - c1020)
The above birth - death date is preceded by the letter c because these dates are unknown. All of the information about Eriksson was past down by word of mouth known as sagas.
Leif Erikssons father was Eric The Red. He was from Norway. Eriksson came from a group of people known as Vikings.
It was thought that when Leif was young (about 8) his father gave him to another person to raise. He was taught everything that he would need to know by this person. He learn many important lessons through sagas.
When Leif went back to his family at about twelve, his father took the family to Iceland and Norway. There his father got into a fight with a man and was band from the country because he killed the man.
His father then took his family and slaves and sailed west. A few days later he landed on a land he called Greenland. Here Leif would learn many things from his father.
Finally Leif went back to Norway and told of their discoveries. People were willing to travel back with Leif because there had been a famine in their land.
When Leif was about 24 he made is first voyage and went back to Norway. Here he stayed for a time. The king of Norway told him about Christianity and Leif was converted.
After working at the court of the king of Norway for a while, Leif went back to Greenland. Here he purchased a ship fromIcelandic trader Bjarni Herjulfsson. Leif wanted to locate some of the discoveries that Bjarni Herjulfsson had talked about.
Leif sailed west and landed on several places but none of them were suitable for settlement.
He then landed on a land that was full of pastures and forests. They built a shelter and stayed there for the winter. Erikson named this land Vinland because there were grapes on the land. Vinland is now known to be Newfoundland.
It is thought that Leif never returned to this land of Vinland but his explorations were widely talked about for many years in Viking sagas.
The reason that the explorations of the Vikings were not known during Columbus' time was the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.
Do you think that all of the sagas or stories past down by mouth were completely true?
Why / Why Not?
Leif Eriksson map of voyages