Instead, when he was eight he moved in with a man named Thyrker. Thyrker was from Germany where Eric the Red had captured him, had taken him to Iceland, but had not enslaved him. Thyrker taught Leif everything he needed to know, including reading and writing runes, the Celtic and Russian tongue, and the ways of trade. Leif was also taught the old sagas, plant studies, and the use of weapons. When Leif was not learning he and his friends would watch the ships come into the harbor; then he would listen to the tales of the sailors.
At 12, Leif was considered a man and traveled back to his father's house. Eric's house had grown since Leif had left. The herds had multiplied and there were new houses and more slaves.
The spring after Leif arrived, Eric was summoned to a Thingvellir or lawmaking assembly. Eric took Leif along with him to the Thing. The next day, among the crowds, Eric met a man with whom he was feuding. They started to fight and Eric killed the other man. Because of this, the Thing council banished Eric from Iceland for three years. Eric, not being able to go to Norway he had previously banished from there too decided to investigate rumors of lands to the west.
So, Eric took his wife and kids, some slaves, and ample supplies and traveled west. A few days later they landed on a new land, which he named Greenland and started to build a camp. It was on this voyage that Leif is believed to have learned how to be a good deep-sea sailor. Discovery of Greenland. For the years Eric spent on Greenland during his banishment, he explored the new land and taught Leif many things. After three years, Eric traveled back to Iceland and told the people about Greenland.
Many people decided to return to Greenland with Eric and his family because times had not been good in Iceland. There had been a famine, the lands were overgrazed, and there were almost no trees left. Leif was probably 15 to 17 when he was out and saw a young polar bear on an ice flow. He decided to capture the bear but there was a strong current between the ice flow and land.
So using his knowledge of the sea, he went "upstream" from the polar bear and let the current carry his boat into the ice flow.
After capturing the bear he used the same tactic to get back to land, impressing the people on shore. One day, when Leif was watching the boats, he saw an old tattered ship rowing very slowly. Leif became very exited because he recognized this ship as belonging to Bjarni Hergelfson, who had been gone over a year. After the ship landed, Leif followed Bjarni into a hall where Bjarni told the story of how mist had covered the North Star so they couldn't navigate.
They sailed for many days and finally spotted land, but it wasn't Greenland, where they had been heading. Glaciers did not cover the coast they had seen, but instead it was green with trees.
They did not go ashore though, because they wanted to get to Greenland. They kept sailing and found another land. This one was flat and forest covered, but they did not land there either. They had to get back to Greenland. First Voyage. At the age of 24, Leif was asked to captain his first voyage. This was to bring gifts to King Olaf in Norway. Many preparations were made and Leif was very excited. Leif took along a crew of 14 and Thyrker.
It is unclear, however, whether Leif was present during any of these encounters, in part because the stories have been conflated and woven into each other. The change in the story was intentional.
This version was written to boost the reputation of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his wife, Gudrid, for the glory of their descendants. See also Norse Voyages. On his return to Greenland from Vinland, he spotted 15 men shipwrecked on a reef well before his crew could see them. He showed the shipwrecked men hospitality befitting a leader, organizing lodgings for the group and inviting their leader and his family to spend the winter with him.
After this, Leif was called Leif the Lucky Leifr hinn heppni. He became paramount chieftain of the colony Erik had founded. Leif never revisited Vinland as chieftain, but he authorized members of his family to seek it out. Leif was still alive in when, according to The Saga of St. A statue of Leif Eriksson in Reykjavik, Iceland. Photo taken in The Norse in the North Atlantic. Search The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Remember me. He may also have sought out Vinland based on stories of an earlier voyage by an Icelandic trader. After spending the winter in Vinland, Leif sailed back to Greenland, and never returned to North American shores.
He is generally believed to be the first European to reach the North American continent, nearly four centuries before Christopher Columbus arrived in On the way, he was believed to have stopped in the Hebrides, where he had a son, Thorgils, with Thorgunna, daughter of a local chief.
In Norway, King Olaf I Tryggvason converted Erikson to Christianity , and a year later sent him back to Greenland with a commission to spread the faith among the settlers there. Historical accounts differ on the subsequent events. According to the Eiriks saga, Erikson sailed off course on his return to Greenland and landed in North America. He called the region where he landed Vinland after the wild grapes that grew in abundance there and the general fertility of the land.
The Groenlendinga saga claims he made three landfalls at Helluland possibly Labrador , Markland possibly Newfoundland and Vinland. The location of Vinland has been debated over the centuries, and has been identified as a variety of spots along the northern Atlantic coast. After his time in Vinland, Erikson returned to Greenland, and he would never return to North American shores. His son Thorgils was sent by his mother whom Leif never married to live in Greenland, but was apparently unpopular.
In , in honor of the th anniversary of the arrival of the first official group of Norwegian immigrants in the United States, President Calvin Coolidge announced to a Minnesota crowd that Erikson had been the first European to discover America.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. From around A. John Cabot or Giovanni Caboto, as he was known in Italian was an Italian explorer and navigator who may have developed the idea of sailing westward to reach the riches of Asia while working for a Venetian merchant.
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