Leif Eriksson (Biography from Ancient Civilizations)

Leif Eriksson is arguably the best known of all those fierce, seafaring adventurers known as Vikings. His renown eclipses even that of his father, Erik the Red, the founder of Greenland. In 1000 CE, Leif seized fame and an enduring place in history as the first European to land in North America almost 500 years before Columbus discovered the New World. On his historic voyage, Erik s son backtracked on a course followed by another Viking fifteen years earlier. In a frail, all-purpose merchant vessel known as a knörr, Leif sailed northward along Greenland s west coast, crossed the frigid waters of present-day Baffin Bay, and turned southward to what is generally believed to be Newfoundland. There, Leif established the first European colony on the North American continent. Find out about his family s murderous history, and what it took to brave the icy waters and stormy lands of the North Atlantic during the Viking Age.