Leif Erikson
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Leif Erikson,Template:Notetag also known as Leif the Lucky (Template:C.),<ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018"/> was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to the sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which is usually interpreted as being coastal North America. There is ongoing speculation that the settlement made by Leif and his crew corresponds to the remains of a Norse settlement found in Newfoundland, Canada, called L'Anse aux Meadows, which was occupied approximately 1,000 years ago.
Leif's place of birth is unknown,<ref>Leiv Eriksson Template:Webarchive, Norsk biografisk leksikon</ref> although it is assumed to have been in Iceland.<ref name="vis1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Leif Eriksson">Leif Eriksson Template:Webarchive – Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His father, Erik the Red, founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland, where Leif was later raised. Following his voyage to Vinland and the subsequent death of his father, Leif became chief of the Greenland settlement. He had two known sons: Thorgils, born in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as Greenland's chieftain.
Early lifeEdit
Leif was the son of Erik the Red and his wife Thjodhild (Old Norse: Þjóðhildur), and, through his paternal line, the grandson of Thorvald Ásvaldsson. When Erik the Red was young, his father was banished from Norway for manslaughter, and the family went into exile in Iceland (which, during the century preceding Leif's birth, had been colonized by Norsemen, mainly from Norway). Leif was also a distant relative of Naddodd,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Reliable source who discovered Iceland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Leif's year of birth is often estimated in the Template:C.s.<ref name="Regal 2022 p. 107">Template:Cite book</ref> Though his birthplace is not accounted for in the sagas,<ref name="snl">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it is likely he was born in Iceland,<ref name="vis1"/> where his parents met<ref name="sand14">Sanderson, Jeanette. (2002) Explorers, Teaching Resources/Scholastic. p. 14. Template:ISBN.</ref>—probably somewhere on the edge of Breiðafjörður, and possibly at the farm Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur, where his mother's family was based.<ref name="vis1"/>
Erik was later banished from Iceland and sailed west to a place he named Greenland. He then briefly returned to Iceland to bring his family and other colonists back with him to Greenland, establishing its first permanent settlement in 986.<ref name="snl"/><ref name="dregni">Template:Cite book</ref> Leif grew up on the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland. He had two brothers, whose names were Thorstein and Thorvald, and a sister, Freydís.<ref name="ingstad">Template:Cite book</ref> Tyrker, one of Erik's thralls, had been specially trusted to keep charge of Erik's children, as Leif later referred to him as his "foster father."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Discovering VinlandEdit
The Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, both thought to have been written around 1200,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> contain different accounts of the voyages to Vinland (usually interpreted as coastal North America).<ref name="sm350">Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 350.</ref><ref>Short, 2010, p. 203.</ref> The only two known strictly historical mentions of Vinland are found in the work of Adam of Bremen Template:C. and in the Book of Icelanders, compiled Template:C. by Ari the Wise.<ref name="vinhis">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Account in the Saga of Erik the RedEdit
According to this saga, Leif discovered Vinland after being blown off course on his way from Norway to Greenland.<ref name="sm419">Somerville & McDonald, 2010, pp. 419–420.</ref> Before this voyage, Leif had spent time at the court of Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvesson, where he had converted to Christianity. When Leif encountered the storm that forced him off course, he had been on his way to introduce Christianity to the Greenlanders. After they had arrived at an unknown shore, the crew disembarked and explored the area. They found wild grapes, self-sown wheat, and maple trees. Afterwards, they loaded their ship with samples of these newly-found goods and sailed east to Greenland, rescuing a group of shipwrecked sailors along the way. For this act, and for converting Norse Greenland to Christianity, Leif earned the nickname "Leif the Lucky".<ref>Ingstad, 1985, pp. 171–178.</ref> Leif did not return to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did, including Thorfinn Karlsefni.<ref name="Campbell_Erik-the-Red-Saga">Campbell, 2021, pp. 37–39.</ref>
Account in the Saga of the GreenlandersEdit
According to this saga, Leif was not the first European to discover Vinland. Instead Bjarni Herjólfsson and his crew—on a voyage from Iceland to Greenland—were overtaken by wind and fog, missed the southern tip of Greenland, and encountered an unknown coast. Believing it to be somewhere other than Greenland, they did not disembark but rather continued to sail and found two additional coasts that did not correspond with their understanding of Greenland.<ref>Ingstad, 1985, pp. 101–106.</ref> After sailing back east, they eventually made it to their original destination, and then told of their discoveries.<ref name="Campbell_Greenlanders-Saga">Campbell, 2021, pp. 35–37.</ref>
Roughly 15 years later, Leif approached Bjarni, purchased his ship, gathered a crew of thirty-five men, and mounted an expedition towards the land Bjarni had described.<ref name="short34">Short, 2010, pp. 203–204.</ref><ref name="Wallace, 2006, p. 19">Wallace, 2006, p. 19</ref> His father Erik was set to join him but dropped out after he fell from his horse on his way to the ship, an incident he interpreted as a bad omen.<ref>Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 352.</ref> Leif followed Bjarni's route in reverse and landed first in a rocky and desolate place he named Helluland (Flat-Rock Land; possibly Baffin Island or northern parts of Labrador).<ref name=Wernick>Template:Cite book</ref> After venturing further by sea, he landed the second time in a forested place he named Markland (Forest Land; possibly near Cape Porcupine, Labrador).<ref name="Wernick" /> After two more days at sea, he landed on an island to the north (possibly Belle Isle), and then returned to the mainland, going past a cape on the north side (perhaps Cape Bauld).<ref name="Wernick" /> They sailed to the west of this and landed in a verdant area with a mild climate and plentiful supplies of salmon. As winter approached, he decided to encamp there and sent out parties to explore the country.<ref name="Wernick" /> During one of these explorations, Tyrker discovered that the land was full of vines and grapes. Leif therefore named the land Vinland ('Wineland').<ref name="Wernick" /><ref>Kudeba, N. (19 April 2014). Chapter 5 – Norse Explorers from Erik the Red to Leif Erikson – Canadian Explorers. Retrieved from The History of Canada: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There, he and his crew built a small settlement, which was called Leifsbudir (Leif's Booths) by later visitors from Greenland.
After having wintered over in Vinland, Leif returned to Greenland in the spring with a cargo of grapes and timber.<ref name="short34"/><ref>Somerville & McDonald, 2010, pp. 352–354.</ref> On the return voyage, he rescued an Icelandic castaway and his crew, earning him the nickname "Leif the Lucky".<ref>Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 354.</ref> Leif never returned to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did.
Archeological evidence of VinlandEdit
Most researchers and scholars agree that Vinland was a region in North America.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Research done in the early 1960s by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, identified a Norse site<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> located at the northern tip of Newfoundland. It has been suggested that this site, known as L'Anse aux Meadows (carbon dating estimates 990–1050 CE<ref name="Nydal1989">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="CordellLightfoot2008">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="LedgerGirdland-FlinkForbes2019">Template:Cite journal</ref> and tree-ring analysis dating to the year 1021<ref name="KuitemsEtAl">Template:Cite journal</ref>) could be Leifsbudir. The Ingstads demonstrated that Norsemen had reached North America about 500 years before Christopher Columbus.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name="s207">Short, 2010, p. 207.</ref> Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vinland may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station and waypoint for voyages there. That does not necessarily contradict the identification of L'Anse aux Meadows as Leifsbudir<ref name="s207"/><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> since the two sagas appear to describe Vinland as a wider region which included several settlements. The Saga of Erik the Red mentions two other settlements in Vinland: one called Straumfjǫrðr, which lay beyond Kjalarnes promontory and the Wonderstrands, and one called Hóp, which was located even farther south.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Leif has been described in the Vinland sagas as a wise, considerate and strong man of striking appearance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When he was of a proper age, Leif went to Norway, likely to serve as a retainer to its king, Olaf Tryggvason.<ref>Wallace, 2006, pp. 17,19.</ref> It was on this journey to Norway that the Saga of Erik the Red states that Leif's ship was driven to the Hebrides, where he and his crew were forced to remain for much of the summer, awaiting favorable winds.<ref>Saga of Eric the Red in Reeves, 1890, p. 35.</ref> During his stay there, Leif fell in love with a noblewoman, Thorgunna, who gave birth to their son Thorgils.<ref name="ingstad"/> Thorgunna remained in the Hebrides when Leif left, as he refused to take her along without permission from her family.<ref>Saga of Eric the Red in Reeves, 1890, pp. 35–36.</ref> Thorgils was later sent to Leif in Greenland, but he did not become popular.<ref name="michels">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
After arriving at the court of Norway's King Olaf Tryggvason, Leif was converted to Christianity. According to both the Saga of Erik the Red, and Olaf Tryggvason's Saga as found in Heimskringla, after Leif's conversion, the king then commissioned him to return to Greenland to convert the settlers there. During the journey, he was blown off course and discovered Vinland before finding his way to Greenland.<ref name="Campbell_Erik-the-Red-Saga" /> Leif's father Erik reacted coldly to the suggestion that he should abandon his religion, while his mother Thjóðhildr became a Christian and built a church called Thjóðhild's Church.<ref>Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 420.</ref> A different version of Olaf Tryggvason's Saga, found in Flateyjarbók, makes no reference to Leif being blown off course and discovering Vinland during his return from Norway, but indicates that after arriving in Greenland, all of that country was converted, including Leif's father Erik.<ref>Reeves, 1890, p. 57.</ref> Some versions of Olaf Tryggvason's Saga also indicate that to help with the conversion, Leif brought a priest and clerics with him to Greenland.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Chieftaincy and deathEdit
The winter following Leif's return from Vinland, his father died (shortly after 1000 CE),<ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018"/> making Leif paramount chief in Greenland.<ref name="Wallace, 2006, p. 19" /> Template:Anchor Leif is last mentioned alive in 1018 in the Saga of St. Olaf.<ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018"/> According to The Saga of the Sworn Brothers, by 1025 the chieftaincy of Eiríksfjǫrðr had passed to his son Thorkel.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018"/> Nothing is mentioned about his death in the sagas—he probably died in Greenland some time between these dates.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Nothing further is known about his family beyond the succession of Thorkell as chieftain.<ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018"/>
HistoricityEdit
Leif is, in all likelihood, a historical figure who remains the first known European to set foot in continental North America,<ref>Wallace, 2006, p. 17.</ref> but other details of his life vary and are a subject of debate. It has been suggested by several scholars that both Leif's sister, Freydís, and his foster father, Tyrker, are works of fiction, as are their roles in the Vinland sagas.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Leif's commission as a missionary to Greenland may also be fictional, as that aspect of his story is often attributed to Gunnlaugr Leifsson's version of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (which likely served as a source for some of the other sagas which mention Leif).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Wallace, 2006, p. 19"/>
LegacyEdit
Norse and medieval EuropeEdit
Leif's successful expedition in Vinland encouraged other Norsemen to also make the journey, and the Norse became the first Europeans to colonize the area. In the end there were no permanent Norse settlements, although sporadic voyages at least to Markland for forages, timber and trade possibly lasted for centuries.<ref>Schledermann, Peter. (1996). Voices in Stone. A Personal Journey into the Arctic Past. Komatik Series no. 5. Calgary: The Arctic Institute of North America and the University of Calgary.</ref><ref>Sutherland, Patricia. (2000). "The Norse and Native Norse Americans". In William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward, eds., Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, pp. 238–247. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution.</ref> The casual tone of references to these areas may suggest that their discovery was not seen as particularly significant by contemporaries, or that it was assumed to be public knowledge, or both.<ref name="vinhis"/> Knowledge of the Vinland journeys spread around medieval Europe, although to what extent is unclear; writers made mention of remote lands to the west, and notably the medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen directly mentions Vinland (c. 1075) based upon reports from the Danes.<ref group=note>Adam mentions Vinland (Winland) in Chapter 39 of Book IV of his Gesta: 'In addition, he [i.e., Sweyn Estridsson, king of Denmark (reigned 1047–1076)] named one more island in this ocean, discovered by many, which is called "Vinland", because vines grow wild there, making the best wine. For [that] crops [that are] not sown, abound there, we learn not from fanciful opinion but from the true account of the Danes.' Template:Cite book</ref> It has been suggested that the knowledge of Vinland might have been maintained in European seaports in the 15th century, and that Christopher Columbus, who claimed in a letter to have visited Iceland in 1477, could have heard stories of it.<ref name="s2036" />
Norse encounters with the Indigenous peoplesEdit
While Leif had no contact with the Indigenous peoples of Vinland,<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> later Norse explorers did, referring to them as skrælingi, an archaic term for "wretches".<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref>
According to the Saga of Erik the Red, the first encounter was made during a colonizing expedition led by Thorfinn Karlsefni, which also included Leif's brother Thorvald. At first this group traded with the natives, but weeks later the new Norse settlement at Hóp was attacked and Karlsefni decided to abandon it. The Norse retreated to their other settlement at Straumfjǫrðr, where they remained and continued to explore the general area. One morning they encountered a one-legged native, who shot an arrow that killed Thorvald.<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse"/> He is famously known for pulling the arrow out, and poetically reciting the phrase, "This is a rich country we have found; there is plenty of fat around my entrails", upon which he dies.<ref name=":2" /> On their return to Greenland, Karlsefni's crew captured two native boys, taking them to Greenland.<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse"/>
According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Leif's brother Thorvald made first contact with the natives.<ref name="s2036">Short, 2010, pp. 203–206.</ref> The encounter happened while Thorvald and his crew were exploring the coast, likely in the Markland area, and found nine natives asleep under boats. They attacked the natives, killing eight of them, while one escaped. Shortly after, in an apparent reprisal, Thorvald was killed by a native's arrow. Later, Thorfinn Karlsefni led a group to colonize Vinland and encountered natives, who they initially traded with, but relations soured when a native was killed attempting to steal weapons from the Norse. In retaliation, the natives attacked and Karlsefni decided to abandon the colony.<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse" />
Travels and commemorationEdit
Stories of Leif's journey to North America had a profound effect on the identity and self-perception of later Nordic Americans and Nordic immigrants to the United States.<ref name="dregni"/> The first statue of Erikson (by Anne Whitney)<ref>Forbes, Alan and Ralph M. Eastman, "Some Statues of Boston: Reproductions of some of the statues for which Boston is famous, with information concerning the personalities and events memorialized", State Street Trust Company, Boston MA 1946 and Forbes, Alan and Ralph M. Eastman, "Other Statues of Boston", State Street Trust Company, Boston MA 1947.</ref> was erected in Boston in 1887 at the instigation of Eben Norton Horsford, who was among those who believed that Vinland could have been located on the Charles River or Cape Cod;<ref name="dregni"/> not long after, another casting of Whitney's statue was erected in Milwaukee.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A statue was also erected in Chicago in 1901, having been originally commissioned for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition to coincide with the arrival of the reconstructed Viking ship from Bergen, Norway.<ref name="dregni"/> Another work of art made for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the painting Leiv Eirikson Discovering America by Christian Krohg, was in the possession of a Leif Erikson Memorial Association in Chicago before being given back to the National Gallery of Norway in 1900.<ref name=snl2>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
For the centenary of the first official immigration of Norwegians to America, President Calvin Coolidge stated at the 1925 Minnesota State Fair, to a crowd of 100,000 people, that Leif had indeed been the first European to discover America.<ref name="dregni"/> Additional statues of him were erected at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul in 1949, near Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1956, and in downtown Seattle.<ref name="dregni"/>
In 1924, a party of four consisting of a Swede, an Englishman, and two Americans attempted to emulate Leif's voyage in an eponymous 40-foot vessel but were lost after reaching the west coast of Greenland.<ref name=LThomas>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
In 1930, a statue of Leif was erected in the city center of Reykjavík, Iceland – currently situated in front of Hallgrímskirkja – as a gift from the United States to Iceland to commemorate the 1,000 year anniversary of Alþingi, the parliament of Iceland.<ref name="Helgason Eliason McMahon Sigurþórsdóttir 2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Leif Erikson Awards, established 2015, are awarded annually by the Exploration Museum in Húsavík, Iceland. They are awarded for achievements in exploration and in the study of the history of exploration.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Several ships are named after Leif – a Viking ship replica, a commercial passenger/vehicle ferry,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and a large dredger.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Erikson is recalled as Leif the Lucky in the Robert Frost poem Wild Grapes.<ref name="ref5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Leif Erikson DayEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In 1929, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill to make 9 October "Leif Erikson Day" in the state, and in the years following, several other states adopted laws to observe the day.<ref name="Hansen">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1935, legislation was introduced to the United States Congress requesting federal observance of the day. Before the legislation was passed, it was amended so that the observance would only occur in 1935<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (which it was, following a proclamation that year by President President Franklin D. Roosevelt).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the subsequent decades, a number of unsuccessful attempts were made to pass legislation requesting Leif Erikson Day be proclaimed annually by the president.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> Proponents eventually succeeded, when, in 1964, the Congress authorized and requested the president to proclaim 9 October of each year as "Leif Erikson Day".<ref name="dregni"/> In the years since, each president has issued an annual proclamation calling for observance of the day.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The Sagas do not give the exact date of Leif's landfall in America, but state only that it was in the fall of the year. At the suggestion of Christian A. Hoen of Edgerton, Wisconsin, 9 October was settled upon for Leif Erikson Day, as that already was a historic date for Norwegians in America, the ship Restaurationen having arrived in New York Harbor on 9 October 1825<ref name=Hansen/><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> from Stavanger with the first organized party of Norwegian immigrants.<ref>Template:Cite journal</reF>
Gallery of art and sculpturesEdit
- Christian Krohg - Leiv Eirikson discovering America - Google Art Project.jpg
- Seattle's Leif Erikson statue.jpg
Leif Erikson memorial statue at Shilshole Bay Marina, Port of Seattle
- Leifur heppni (603381304).jpg
CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Viking at MN Capitol.jpg
Leif Erikson by John K. Daniels, 1948–49, near the Minnesota State Capitol.
- LeifErikssonBoston.jpg
The oldest public statue of Leif Erikson, by Anne Whitney, placed in Boston in 1887.
- 2000 Leif Ericson Proof Dollar.jpg
A 'Leif Ericson' proof dollar from the United States, minted in 2000. It reads 'Founder of the New World'
In fictionEdit
- Leif is the main character in the 1928 film The Viking.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- In children's literature, Leif the Lucky written and illustrated by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. Published by Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1941.<ref name="Adlibris 2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Leif is one of the main characters in Makoto Yukimura's manga Vinland Saga.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Leif is the main character in the juvenile historical novel Vinland the Good. The author is Henry Treece, and it is illustrated by William Stobbs. It is an account of Viking Era explorations, based mainly on the Greenland saga.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- An Old Captivity is a novel which involves a dream sequence featuring a character called Leif Ericson. Notably, it also features an attempt to uncover historical Viking settlements using air surveys. It was written by Nevil Shute and published in 1940.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Leif is a main character in the Netflix historical drama series Vikings: Valhalla played by Sam Corlett.<ref name="Netflix Tudum 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Leif Erikson Awards
- Leif Ericson Millennium commemorative coins
- Alonso Sánchez, a Spanish navigator who purportedly visited the Americas before Columbus
- Saint Brendan, a legendary Irish navigator
- Jean Cousin, a French navigator with a similar claim
- Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, 1602 Chinese world map purportedly transcribed with Chinese data from 1430
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
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External linksEdit
Template:Norse exploration of the Americas Template:Viking Template:Authority control