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Leif Ericson

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geographers and explorers

   A statue of Leif near the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul dedicated
   on October 9, 1949.
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   A statue of Leif near the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul dedicated
   on October 9, 1949.

   Leif Ericson ( Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson) ( c. 980 – c. 1020) was an
   Icelandic/Norwegian explorer and the first European thought to have
   landed in North America—more specifically, the region that would become
   Newfoundland and, by later extension, Canada. His exploration resulted
   in several settlements, with some evidence suggesting that later
   Norsemen may eventually have penetrated as far as Minnesota, either
   coming down from Hudson Bay or going west through the Great Lakes.

The Saga of Leif Ericson the Viking

Early life in Iceland

   It is believed that Leif was born about 980 in Iceland, the second son
   of Erik the Red ( Old Norse: Eiríkr rauði), a Norwegian-Icelandic
   explorer and outlaw and himself the son of another Norwegian outlaw,
   Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson. Leif's mother was Thorhild (Þjóðhildr). Erik the
   Red had founded two Norse colonies in Greenland, the Western Settlement
   and the Eastern Settlement, as he had named them. Apparently, Leif
   Ericson had two brothers, Þorvaldr and Þorsteinn, and one half-sister,
   Freydís. Leif married a woman named Þórgunnr, and they had one son,
   Þorkell Leifsson.

Exploration west of Greenland

   During a stay in Norway, Leif converted to Christianity, like many
   Norse of that time. He also went to Norway to serve the King of Norway,
   Olaf Tryggvason. When he returned to Greenland, he bought the boat of
   Bjarni Herjólfsson and set out to explore the land that Bjarni had
   found (located west of Greenland), which was, in fact, the mainland of
   North America.

   The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that Leif set out about 1000 to
   follow Bjarni's route with 35 crew members, but in the opposite
   direction.

Helluland and Markland

   The first land he encountered was covered with flat rocks (Old Norse:
   hellur). He therefore called it Helluland ("Land of the Flat Stones").
   Probably it was the present day Baffin Island. Next he came to a land
   that was flat and wooded, with white sandy beaches. He called Markland
   ("Wood-land"), and it is usually assumed to have been Labrador.

Settlement in Vinland

   When Leif and his crew left Markland and found land again, they landed
   and built some houses. They found the area pleasant: there were plenty
   of salmon in the river and the climate was mild, with little frost in
   the winter and green grass year-round. They remained at this place over
   the winter. The sagas mention that one of Leif's men, Tyrkir, possibly
   a German, found wild grapes, and that Leif accordingly named the
   country Vínland after them.

   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).

The L'Anse aux Meadows discovery

   Research done in the 1950s and 1960s by explorer Helge Ingstad and his
   wife, archaeologist Anne Stine, strongly suggests that the settlement
   of Leif Ericson and his party in Vínland was actually at the tip of
   Newfoundland, later known as L'Anse aux Meadows.

Leif Erikson Day

   In 1964, President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson declared
   October 9 to be " Leif Erikson Day" in the United States.
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