A Comparison Of Norse's Exploration To Greenland And North America

1000 when he was blown off course, and instead found a rocky land barren land in which is now known as present-day Canada, then found with grapevines and named it Vinland. Eriksson gave the land a name Helluland which is Norwegian for “Stone Slab Land.” Researchers believe that this location could possibly have been Baffin Island. Eriksson then voyaged south to a location they called Markland (Forestland), which was most likely present-day Labrador, before they finally set up a base camp most likely on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland. They made their way back soon after and brought back much needed timber, and grapes. Other Vikings continued to sail west to Vinland for at least the ensuing decade. In spite of North America’s bountiful resources, the Viking settlers stayed in desolate Greenland. This was most likely due to the violent happenings—including the slaying of Eriksson’s brother Thorwald–they encountered with the indigenous population of North America.

Man has always traveled. Some travel for the adventure, others to achieve a long term goal. The Vikings for example traveled in long boats able to travel the earths most treacherous waters. They came from Scandinavia and already stormed through Europe making new cities by doing this. Now they decide to head west across the Atlantic unsure of what dangers may unfold. The Vikings land in America. Their leader, Thorvald Erikson was a brave explorer and wanted to make America their home. The vikings thought that they were first people to set foot here. Little did they know that a tribe known as the Innu had been here long before the vikings. The Innu were descendants of the first pioneers who came to America 19,000 years before. America was caught

Norwegians are credited with being the first Europeans to discover North America. Live Eriksson cam to America in A.D. 1000, which was nearly five centuries before Columbus. The Norwegian immigration to America began in 1825 in which several dozen Norwegians left Stavanger headed for America on the sloop Restauration,

The word Viking in the Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language says that the word Viking means the following. “Vi•king 1. any of the Scandinavian pirates who plunder the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries. 2. a sea-roving bandit: pirate. 3. a Scandinavian. 4. U.S. Aerospace. One of a series of space probes that obtained scientific information about Mars.” (1)

Leif Erikson was thought to be born all the way back in 970 A.D. His father, known as Erik the Red actually discovered Greenland, where they were currently living. Granted, it was because he was kicked out of Iceland for murdering his neighbor, but it seems exploration seems runs in the family. Leif spent most of his life on Greenland until he was in his 30s, when he sailed to Norway where the vikings originated. It was there when Leif was converted to Christianity by King Olaf I Tryggvason. This event, which doesn’t seem all that relevant, is actually the catalyst for Leif’s voyage to discovering North

In the same year of 982 C.E, Erik the Red landed upon Greenland. They sailed around the southern tip of this newly discovered land before settling on an island at the mouth of Eriksfjord, which he named after himself. His small group of men explored the new country from north to west for two years, and chose Eriksfjord for his manor, which he named Brattahlid, translated to “steep slope”. He then named this new land “Greenland”, in the hope of attracting settlers. In 985 C.E Erik the Red led another expedition to Greenland, this time with a large fleet of 25 ships and with around 500 men and women, with livestock and enough materials to found a new colony. In the year 1000 C.E, Erik the Red’s son, Leif Eriksson, although Erik didn’t convert

The Vikings discovered Iceland in 883 and was discovered by Flóki Vilgerðarson. Flóki Vilgerðarson named Iceland because it was winter and all he could see was ice. Some people tried to change it but it stayed.(William R. Short)

I initially thought that the only ancient cultures in North America were the Native Americans in the Mesa Verde area, or the Aztecs and Mayans in Mexico. I was completely unaware of the thought of Canada having ancient cultures. I don’t know why, I just haven’t thought about. So, once I was searching the Internet for an artifact, when I found this one from Canada, I knew it was the one I wanted to research. I didn’t realize that the Norse were the first Europeans to actually set up a settlement on the North American continent. I always thought it was Columbus, but according to Vinland Archaeology, the Norse came over from Greenland and Iceland roughly 500 years prior to

Moving on to the third factor, the author explains that the Norse were definitely faced with hostile neighbors in Greenland. He states that “Inuit attacks and threats may have played a direct role in the Vikings’ extinction” (Diamond, 255). The Norse had a bad attitude towards the Inuit, and probably attacked and killed the first ones they say. The Inuit had

Leif Erickson was the son of Eric the Red, Eric the Red was an explorer that became a leader of a colony in Greenland, the colony that Eric the Red owned was later handed over to his son Leif. Leif Erickson was born in Iceland in the year 980, after Leif was born he was moved to Greenland with his father Eric the Red and some of his brothers. Later in his life around 1000 A.D., about 500 years before Christopher's voyage, Leif set out to discover new lands. Trying to follow Bjarnes tracks Leif Erickson led his Vikings over the Atlantic Ocean to the new land. Leif Erickson had drifted by the wind way out of course and spotted a flat wooded coastline far westward, this was the new world. When Leif got to this new land he founded a place named Vinland, he called it that because of all the grape vines the Vikings found there. It was later named America, after an Italian named Amerigo Vespucci. After a few years the colony in Vinland was abandoned after hostile attack by the native people along with the fact that it got too cold. The settlers moved across the land until their population numbered 3,000. But in the 1400s the climate changed dramatically for the worse and the settlement had disappeared within a few decades. Leif Erickson had opened a new land rich with resources for the Vikings to explore, but for some reason, the Vikings only

The Vikings were people of Nordic origin, whose expansion led to the conquering of much of Europe, and the colonization of Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland. Three main reasons for their expansion include: Escaping emerging Christian rule in their homeland; expansionism fueled by raiding and resources in the homeland becoming scarce, and in Leif Erikson’s journey to make a name for himself.

From the 8th century to the 11th century, the Vikings, used their stronghold in the Scandinavian Peninsula, to exploit westward to Iceland and Greenland, even Canada, southward to mainland Western Europe and southwestward to Britain and Ireland. Tyranny and poor living conditions might be the main reasons for their invasions (Owen 1999 10). There were two invader sources, one was from Norway called ‘Norse’, the other was from Denmark called ‘Danelaw’. At the beginning of the Vikings’ expansion, piracy and trade were the dominant elements, however, after a period of time, they began to settle down in their colonies, such as Britain, France, Ireland and Russia.

Erik the Red is a Viking explorer, that was born in Norway and grew up to discover Greenland (Encyclopaedia of World Biography, 2007). was know for many things but the most significant reason Erik is in history is for his discovery of a new land (Hall, 2007). Erik was a Norwegian Explorer who discovered Greenland in 982 (Jones, 1968). He was known as Erik the Red because of his red hair, beard and his aggressive personality (Elements, 2005). Erik had 3 sons called Leif, Thorvald, Thorstein and 1 daughter with the name of Freydis (Encyclopaedia of World Biography, 2004).Leif Erickson, Erik's son, made the family name shine brighter when he discovered Northern America (Elements, 2005). Erik the Red has made his mark in history by his exploring

The tales of Viking lore never cease to captivate historical onlookers or passerby. In fact, for centuries as seen in the enumerated volumes of fiction, film, theater, popular culture has demonstrated a steady fixation for the feats, practices and legend of Norseman. Accordingly, the search was on to better understand this tribe of land and Sea, never expecting that in the process, we would unravel mysteries to the earliest inhabitants of North America. In Newfoundland, Canada, at the tip of the Great Pacific Peninsula, evidence of 11th Century Viking settlement was discovered when the excavated remains of wood-framed peat-turf buildings (similar to those found in Greenland and Iceland) and a smithy were uncovered on a shoreline-hillside, marking the oldest settlement in North America occupied by Europeans.

Johannes Brondsted was a professor of Nordic Archaeology and European Prehistory at the University of Copenhagen. He received his doctor's degree for his research into the relation between Anglo-Saxon and Nordic Art in Viking Times. In addition, he was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and received a gold medal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries. He analyzes the motive of Viking raiders and voyages, and investigates the reasons why they were able to reach all the coast of Western Europe and penetrate Eastern Europe to Instanbul and Baghdad but could not pass into Central Europe.