Leif Erikson: How He Discovered America

3062 Words7 Pages

Many people think that Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot in America, but this conventional belief is wrong; Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer set foot in Newfoundland almost 500 years before Columbus was even born. This paper will cover everything about Leif Erikson’s life including his grandfather’s banishment from Norway, and Leif’s father’s exile from Iceland. Leif Erikson’s early life, his family, and his visit to Norway to serve under the king. The first recorded European to see North America, Bjarni Herjólfsson, and Leif Erikson’s voyage to America. This paper is also going to talk about Leif Erikson’s brother, Thorvald Erikson’s voyage to Vinland because his tale is interesting. Near the end of this research paper, it will have a paragraph on Leif Erikson’s later life. Finally at the end of this paper it is going to talk about the unknown reason why no other Europeans sailed to Vinland, and Leif’s impact on modern day North America. Leif Erikson’s grandfather, Thorvald Asvaldsson slaughtered a man in Jæren, Norway in 960 CE. This was the age of the Vikings, but Thorvald was still banished from the land (Mandia, n.d.). So he brought his ten year old son Erik, later to be named as Erik the Red because of his scarlet hair, to Drangar in northwestern Iceland on a farm with rather appalling soil (Where is Vinland?, n.d.). Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, and grandson of Thorvald Asvaldsson, was born around 970 CE, in Iceland (Where is Vinland?). It was a convention of norse culture that children did not grow up with their families, instead Leif grew up with a man named Thyrker, practically a foster father to Leif. Thyrker was born in Germany, but he was brought to Iceland because Erik the Red captured h... ... middle of paper ... ... http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/lia/vikings_during_mwp.html Ryne, L. (n.d.). Leif Erikson. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from Great Norwegians website: http://www.mnc.net/norway/Erikson.htm Skråmm, Y. (2004, August 14). Leif Ericsson. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from The Viking Network website: http://viking.no/e/people/leif/e-leiv.htm Soniak, M. (2013, January 23). He Could Have Discovered America, but He Wanted to See His Parents. mental_floss, Retrieved from http://mentalfloss.com/article/33584/he-could-have-discovered-amErika-he-want d-see-his-parents Weitemier, K. A. (n.d.). Leif Erikson. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from Great Norwegians website: http://www.mnc.net/norway/LeifErikson.htm Where is Vinland? (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2014, from Canadian Mysteries website: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/home/indexen.html

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