History - Leif Erikson: A Captivating Guide to the Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America and Established a Norse Settlement at Vinland

Over the centuries, much has been written about Leif Erikson and his remarkable voyage across the Atlantic, but unfortunately, no historical records exist from his lifetime, and most accounts of the discovery of Vinland are based on two Icelandic sagas written centuries later. His story has been embellished, diminished. and altered depending on the motivations of the writer. As a result, the man, the myth, and the legend have become inseparable, making it difficult to establish where the facts end and the fiction begins. But even if one cannot entirely separate fact from fiction, there is no denying that Leif Erikson made a significant impact on the world. This incredible Norse explorer not only changed the face of his world by discovering and exploring new territories, he also changed the land he lived in by converting the Greenlanders to Christianity.

No great events in history happen in isolation, and to understand Leif Erikson and his discovery of the North American continent, one needs to understand the world he grew up in. To do this effectively, it is necessary to take a closer look at what was happening in and around Europe during Leifs formative years. Leif Erikson was, without a doubt, a product of his time and upbringing. The legacy of his ancestry would have had a profound effect on the development of his character. His family, environment, culture, and the events taking place around him in his formative years would all have shaped the man he was to become.

Weve all heard stories of mighty Viking warriors sailing their longboats far and wide to conquer new territories. Children around the world grow up being told about these formidable Norsemen who were famous for plundering, raiding, and looting settlements across Europe and Britain. We know the legends of Odin, the god of war, and his even more famous son, Thor, the god of thunder, and his mighty war hammer, Mjolnir. But the impact of the Vikings on world history goes far deeper than legends, war, and destruction.

The Viking Age (approximately 793-1066 AD) was not an age of war and destruction; it was an age of exploration, colonization, and settlement. It was a time when young, courageous Norsemen from across Scandinavia ventured forth from their homelands to make their mark on the world. During this time, Scandinavians could be found throughout most of the known world, from the Middle East to the distant shores of North America. Still today, the Norse legacy is seen throughout Europe.

The Swedes predominantly went east to Russia and the surrounding areas, while the Danes explored the North Sea coastline, England, and France. But it is the Norwegian voyages that are central to Leif Eriksons story. Some Norwegians went south like the Danes, but mostly they crossed the North Sea to conquer and rule Britain or sailed west across the Norwegian Sea and northern stretches of the Atlantic Ocean. The Norsemen plundered and pillaged their way through Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, Scotland, Ireland. and the Faroe Islands as they ventured further and further from Norway until, toward the end of the ninth century, they reached the cold and distant shores of Iceland.

The first Vikings arrived on the shores of Iceland in approximately 860 as part of an exploratory party, and they did not settle there at the time. The island was named Iceland by Floki Vilgeroarson who was disappointed by the harshness of the environment. But despite this unfavorable first impression, the settlement of Iceland went ahead and the first Vikings settlers arrived sometime around 870. More than half the initial wave of settlers appear to have come from around Bergen in Norway.