Page 57 - All About History - Issue 70-18

Vikings in America

T he famed longships of the Norse were Thorvald died, while Erik the Red married the West. his friends he promised that he would return if
the rough
he succeeded in
Thjodhildr, and raised their sons, Leif, Thorvald and
perfectly designed
land below the
discovering this
to
skim
board
of the North Atlantic. On
seas
horizon. He left it unspoken as to what fate would
Thorstein, and his daughter, Freydís, who would all
the Norse voyages into
befall his crew on the ocean if he failed to locate it.
crucial roles in
on
play
bent
could be band of warriors
a
violent past was not left
Erik’s
behind in
From Iceland, Erik struck land quickly and he
Norway.
conquest or a community ready to
settle some newly discovered land. Having colonised After killing Eyiulf the Foul and the famed dueller named the spot Midiokul. A vast wilderness of rock
Iceland in the 9th century it was only a matter of Hrafn, Erik and his family had to move on again. A and towering mountains of ice seemed to loom over
time before the Norse ships strayed even further change of scenery did not end the quarrels. A fight this new country. Glaciers spilled down into the
westward. In the Grœnlendinga saga, we have the over loaned set of wooden beams erupted between churning ocean. In the summers Erik led his crew
a
Norse account of expeditions into North America. Erik and a man named Thorgest. Others took sides on expeditions to locate sites for settlements. In the
in the dispute and battles and bloodshed resulted. A winters, they dug in to survive the biting cold. After
Erik the Red and Greenland meeting of the people in the area declared Erik an three years, Erik sailed once more for Iceland to tell
When charges of manslaughter were brought against outlaw. Clearly, Erik needed a new home again. people of his discoveries. When he told the tales
Erik the Red and his father, Thorvald, the pair fled Word had reached Erik of a land beyond the of his voyage he named his newfound land of ice
a
their home in Norway. Crossing the sea, they joined western sea so he equipped and stone Greenland – saying that country with
those Norse who had a ship for a voyage and a good name would be more attractive. The
already settled in the gathered a crew for next summer Erik returned to his Greenland,
aptly, if uninvitingly, this chancy trip. To trailed by another 25 ships. Only 14 made it
named Iceland. Here
Leif Eriksson
discovering America:
his story was
recounted in the
Grœnlendinga saga

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