Leif Ericson was born about AD 970 in Iceland, the son of Erik Thorvaldsson known as Erik the Red, a Norse explorer from Western Norway, an outlaw and himself the son of an outlaw, Thorvald Asvaldsson.

Leif's mother was Thjodhild. Erik the Red founded two Norse colonies in Greenland, the Western Settlement and the Eastern Settlement, as he named them.

Biography and Career

Leif Ericson was a Norse explorer who is regarded as the first European to land in North America, nearly five hundred years before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which has been tentatively identified with the L'Anse aux Meadows Norse site on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Cana da.

It is believed that Leif In both Eiríks saga rauða and Landnáma, Leif's father is said to have met and married Leif's mother Thjodhild in Iceland; the site of Leif's birth is not known.

Leif Ericson had two brothers, Thorvald and Thorsteinn, and one half sister, Freydís. He married a woman named Thorgunna, and they had one son, Thorkell Leifsson.

During a stay in Norway, Leif converted to Christianity, like many Norse of that time, at the behest of the King of Norway, Olaf I. When he returned to Greenland, he bought Bjarni Herjólfsson's boat and set out with 35 men to explore the land that Bjarni had seen to the west of Greenland, which was likely coastal Canada.

The Saga of the Greenlanders tells that Leif set out in the year 1002 or 1003 to follow Bjarni's route with 35 crew members, but going north.

The first land he went to was covered with flat rocks. He therefore called it Helluland, "Land of the Flat Stones". This was possibly Baffin Island. Next he came to a land that was flat and wooded, with white sandy beaches.

After contacting Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, Leif became a Christian, and was later sent back to Greenland to spread Christianity, with the help of a priest and a teacher. When Leif returned to Greenland, he stayed at Brattahlid with his father Eric. Upon hearing the nickname, Eric told him it was controversial, because although Leif saved the castaway, he had brought a priest to Greenland.

Why do we like Leif Ericson?

We like Leif Ericson because of his Leif Ericson

Why is Leif Ericson famous?

Leif Ericson was famous a 'Norse explorer

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Category: NHL Players  - ( NHL Players Archive)

Date Added: 07 December '10

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