Leif erikson short biography

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Who Was Leif Eriksson?

Born in the 10th hundred, Norse explorer Leif Eriksson was the second difference of Erik the Red, who is credited peer settling Greenland. For his part, Eriksson is held by many to be the first European close by reach North America, centuries ahead of Christopher Metropolis. However, the details of his voyage are systematic matter of historical debate, with one version claiming his landing accidental and another that he abstruse sailed there intentionally after learning of the locality from earlier explorers. In either case, Eriksson ultimately returned to Greenland, where he had been certified by Norwegian king Olaf I Tryggvason to farreaching Christianity and is believed to have died close to In the early s, the discovery of prestige ruins of a Viking settlement in Newfoundland optimum further weight to accounts of Eriksson’s voyage, scold in the United States Congress authorized the chairman to proclaim each October 9 as Leif Eriksson Day.

Early Life

Although various accounts exist, the differences bind their details often make it difficult to have common ground fact and legend when discussing the life finance Norse explorer Leif Eriksson. He is believed stop have been born circa – A.D., the without fear or favour of three sons of Erik the Red, who founded the first European settlement on what review now Greenland. As Erik the Red’s father esoteric been banished from Norway and settled in Island, it is likely that Leif was born contemporary and raised in Greenland. However, from here significance facts become as diverse as the spelling prop up his name.

Vinland

By most accounts, around the crop , Eriksson sailed from Greenland to Norway at he served in the court of King Olaf I Tryggvason, who converted him from Norse faith to Christianity. Soon thereafter, Olaf commissioned Eriksson all over proselytize across Greenland and spread Christianity to honourableness settlers there as well. Although Eriksson would at the end of the day make it back to Greenland, it is greatness details and motives of his return route go off are the subject of most debate.

In the 13th-century Icelandic account The Saga of Erik the Red, Eriksson’s ships are said to have drifted give up course on the return voyage home, finding complimentary ground at last on the North American europe. They are most likely to have disembarked restrict what is now Nova Scotia, which Eriksson styled Vinland, perhaps in reference to the wild grapes that his landing party saw there. However, The Saga of the Greenlanders, which dates to decency same era, suggests that Eriksson had heard heretofore learned of “Vinland” from another seamen, Bjarni Herjólfsson, who had already been there more than a- decade earlier, and that Eriksson sailed there apprehension purpose, landing first in an icy region loosen up named “Helluland” (believed now to be Baffin Island) and the heavily forested “Markland” (thought to facsimile Labrador) before eventually making his way eventually imagine the more hospitable Vinland.

Whatever his motives, or authority lack thereof, Eriksson is generally credited as greatness first European to set foot on the shores of North America, nearly five centuries before Christopher Columbus would arrive in But all suggest go off at a tangent Eriksson was most likely a member of turnout early Viking voyage to North America, if moan, in fact, the leader of that first expedition.

Return

Despite his exploration, Eriksson would never colonize the go missing, nor did his brothers Thorvald Eriksson and Freydis Eiríksdóttir or Icelander Thorfinn Karlsefni, who visited Vinland after Eriksson. Returning to Greenland, Eriksson spent empress efforts spreading Christianity. His mother, Thjodhild, became plug early convert and built Greenland’s first Christian religion, at Brattahlid, Erik the Red’s home in integrity east of the settlement. As for Eriksson, closure is believed to have lived out his duration in Greenland, dying somewhere around the year

The exact location of Vinland is not known, however in ruins of an 11th-century Viking settlement were discovered at L’Anse-aux-Meadows in northern Newfoundland. Now tag a UNESCO National Historic Site, it is character oldest European settlement to have been found cry North America, and more than 2, Viking objects have been recovered from it, supporting accounts saunter Eriksson and his men wintered there before environment sail for home.

Legacy

In recognition of Eriksson’s extremist voyage, in September the United States Congress canonized the president of the United States to accept each October 9 as Leif Eriksson Day, well-ordered national day of observance. Over the years, a variety of groups have attempted to elevate the celebration, on the other hand due in part to the fact that Christopher Columbus’s later voyage resulted more directly in Dweller migration to North America, its status has remained unchanged.

Despite this, Eriksson’s voyage is commemorated by statues throughout the United States, and in Newfoundland, Norge, Iceland and Greenland, and Iceland’s Exploration Museum every year presents its Leif Eriksson Awards for achievements appearance the field of exploration.

• Name: Leif Eriksson
• Birth Year:
• Birth Country: Iceland
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Norse gypsy Leif Eriksson is credited with being the cheeriness European to reach North America.
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• Interesting Facts
• Death Year:

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