Editing Leif Erikson (section)

== Discovering Vinland ==
[[File:Leif Erikson Discovers America Hans Dahl.jpg|thumb|265px|''Leif Eriksson Discovers America'' by [[Hans Dahl]] (1849–1937)]]

The ''[[Saga of Erik the Red]]'' and the ''[[Saga of the Greenlanders]]'', both thought to have been written around 1200,<ref>{{cite book|first=Thomas|last=Lindkvist|page=212|editor-first=Knut|editor-last=Helle|chapter=Early political organisation|title=The Cambridge History of Scandinavia: Prehistory to 1520|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-47299-9}}</ref> contain different accounts of the voyages to [[Vinland]] (usually interpreted as coastal North America).<ref name="sm350">Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 350.</ref><ref>Short, 2010, p. 203.</ref> The only two known strictly historical mentions of Vinland are found in the work of [[Adam of Bremen]] {{c.|lk=no|1075}} and in the ''[[Íslendingabók|Book of Icelanders]]'', compiled {{c.|lk=no|1122}} by [[Ari Þorgilsson|Ari the Wise]].<ref name="vinhis">{{cite web |url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/history.html |title=Vinland History |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |work=[[National Museum of Natural History]] |access-date=23 November 2011 |archive-date=26 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126054945/http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/history.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Account in the ''Saga of Erik the Red'' ===
[[File:Leifr hinn heppni.jpg|thumb|265px|The words ''Leifr hinn heppni'', "Leif the Lucky", written out in the early 14th century [[Hauksbók]], the oldest manuscript of the ''[[Saga of Erik the Red]]'']]
According to this saga, Leif discovered Vinland after being [[blown off course]] on his way from Norway to Greenland.<ref name="sm419">Somerville & McDonald, 2010, pp. 419–420.</ref> Before this voyage, Leif had spent time at the court of Norwegian King [[Olaf Tryggvesson]], where he had converted to Christianity. When Leif encountered the storm that forced him off course, he had been on his way to [[Christianization|introduce Christianity]] to the Greenlanders. After they had arrived at an unknown shore, the crew disembarked and explored the area. They found wild grapes, self-sown wheat, and maple trees. Afterwards, they loaded their ship with samples of these newly-found goods and sailed east to Greenland, rescuing a group of shipwrecked sailors along the way. For this act, and for converting [[Norse Greenland]] to Christianity, Leif earned the nickname "Leif the Lucky".<ref>Ingstad, 1985, pp. 171–178.</ref> Leif did not return to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did, including [[Thorfinn Karlsefni]].<ref name="Campbell_Erik-the-Red-Saga">Campbell, 2021, pp. 37–39.</ref>

=== Account in the ''Saga of the Greenlanders'' ===
According to this saga, Leif was not the first European to discover Vinland. Instead [[Bjarni Herjólfsson]] and his crew—on a voyage from Iceland to Greenland—were overtaken by wind and fog, missed the southern tip of Greenland, and encountered an unknown coast. Believing it to be somewhere other than Greenland, they did not disembark but rather continued to sail and found two additional coasts that did not correspond with their understanding of Greenland.<ref>Ingstad, 1985, pp. 101–106.</ref> After sailing back east, they eventually made it to their original destination, and then told of their discoveries.<ref name="Campbell_Greenlanders-Saga">Campbell, 2021, pp. 35–37.</ref>

Roughly 15 years later, Leif approached Bjarni, purchased his ship, gathered a crew of thirty-five men, and mounted an expedition towards the land Bjarni had described.<ref name="short34">Short, 2010, pp. 203–204.</ref><ref name="Wallace, 2006, p. 19">Wallace, 2006, p. 19</ref> His father Erik was set to join him but dropped out after he fell from his horse on his way to the ship, an incident he interpreted as a bad omen.<ref>Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 352.</ref> Leif followed Bjarni's route in reverse and landed first in a rocky and desolate place he named [[Helluland]] (Flat-Rock Land; possibly [[Baffin Island]] or northern parts of Labrador).<ref name=Wernick>{{cite book |last1=Wernick |first1=Robert |title=The Vikings |url=https://archive.org/details/vikings00robe |url-access=registration |date=1979 |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=Alexandria, VA |isbn=0-8094-2709-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/vikings00robe/page/149 149]–151}}</ref> After venturing further by sea, he landed the second time in a forested place he named [[Markland]] (Forest Land; possibly near [[Cape Porcupine, Labrador]]).<ref name="Wernick" /> After two more days at sea, he landed on an island to the north (possibly [[Belle Isle (Newfoundland and Labrador)|Belle Isle]]), and then returned to the mainland, going past a cape on the north side (perhaps [[Cape Bauld]]).<ref name="Wernick" /> They sailed to the west of this and landed in a verdant area with a mild climate and plentiful supplies of salmon. As winter approached, he decided to encamp there and sent out parties to explore the country.<ref name="Wernick" /> During one of these explorations, Tyrker discovered that the land was full of vines and grapes. Leif therefore named the land Vinland ('Wineland').<ref name="Wernick" /><ref>Kudeba, N. (19 April 2014). ''Chapter 5 – Norse Explorers from Erik the Red to Leif Erikson – Canadian Explorers.'' Retrieved from The History of Canada: {{cite web|url=http://www.thehistoryofcanadapodcast.com/norse-explorers/ |title=Chapter 5 – Norse Explorers from Erik the Red to Leif Erikson – Canadian Explorers &#124; the History of Canada |access-date=22 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508030929/http://www.thehistoryofcanadapodcast.com/norse-explorers/ |archive-date= 8 May 2014 }}</ref> There, he and his crew built a small settlement, which was called [[Leifsbudir]] (Leif's Booths) by later visitors from Greenland.

After having wintered over in Vinland, Leif returned to Greenland in the spring with a cargo of grapes and timber.<ref name="short34"/><ref>Somerville & McDonald, 2010, pp. 352–354.</ref> On the return voyage, he rescued an Icelandic castaway and his crew, earning him the nickname "Leif the Lucky".<ref>Somerville & McDonald, 2010, p. 354.</ref> Leif never returned to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did.

=== Archeological evidence of Vinland ===
[[File:Authentic Viking recreation.jpg|thumb|265px|Modern recreation of the Norse site at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]]. The site was originally occupied c. 1021<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Handwerk |first1=Brian |title=New Dating Method Shows Vikings Occupied Newfoundland in 1021 C.E. |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-dating-method-shows-vikings-occupied-newfoundland-in-1021-ce-180978903/ |access-date=10 April 2022 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |language=en |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407134244/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-dating-method-shows-vikings-occupied-newfoundland-in-1021-ce-180978903/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and listed by [[UNESCO]] as a World Heritage Site in 1968]]
Most researchers and scholars agree that Vinland was a region in North America.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cassidy |first=Cody |title=Who Ate the First Oyster?: The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-14-313275-2 |location=New York |pages=84 |author-link=Cody Cassidy}}</ref>

Research done in the early 1960s by Norwegian explorer [[Helge Ingstad]] and his wife, archaeologist [[Anne Stine Ingstad]], identified a Norse site<ref>{{cite web|title=L'Anse aux Meadows|work=L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada|publisher=Parks Canada|year=2018|url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows|access-date=21 December 2018|quote=Here [L'Anse aux Meadows] Norse expeditions sailed from Greenland, building a small encampment of timber-and-sod buildings ...|archive-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209172532/https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows|url-status=live}}</ref> located at the northern tip of Newfoundland. It has been suggested that this site, known as [[L'Anse aux Meadows]] (carbon dating estimates 990–1050 CE<ref name="Nydal1989">{{cite journal | last1 = Nydal | first1 = Reidar | title = A Critical Review of Radiocarbon Dating of a Norse Settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland Canada | journal = [[Radiocarbon (journal)|Radiocarbon]] | date = 1989 | volume = 31 | issue = 3 | pages = 976–985 | issn = 0033-8222 | eissn = 1945-5755 | doi = 10.1017/S0033822200012613 | bibcode = 1989Radcb..31..976N | doi-access = free | url = https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/652904 | quote = With an assumed total systematic error of 30 ± 20 years, as a mean for various tree rings, the calibrated age range of L'Anse aux Meadows is AD 975–1020. This agrees well with the assumed historical age of ca AD 1000, a result which has also been recently corroborated by high-precision accelerator dating at the University of Toronto. | access-date = 2 December 2021 | archive-date = 22 November 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211122050650/https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/652904 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="CordellLightfoot2008">{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Linda S. |last1=Cordell |author1-link=Linda S. Cordell |first2=Kent |last2=Lightfoot |first3=Francis |last3=McManamon |first4=George |last4=Milner |title=L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site |encyclopedia=Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arfWRW5OFVgC&pg=PA82 |date=2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-02189-3 |page=82 |quote=This is a substantial base for analysis, which yields an entirely credible range of dates between 990 and 1050 and a mean date of 1014 CE, which is popularly rounded off at 1000 CE . |access-date=24 February 2021 |archive-date=30 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230134928/https://books.google.com/books?id=arfWRW5OFVgC&pg=PA82 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="LedgerGirdland-FlinkForbes2019">{{cite journal | last1 = Ledger | first1 = Paul M. | last2 = Girdland-Flink | first2 = Linus | last3 = Forbes | first3 = Véronique | title = New horizons at L'Anse aux Meadows | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | date = 15 July 2019 | volume = 116 | issue = 31 | pages = 15341–15343 | issn = 0027-8424 | eissn = 1091-6490 | doi = 10.1073/PNAS.1907986116 | pmid = 31308231 | pmc = 6681721 | bibcode = 2019PNAS..11615341L | quote =  Modeling results were remarkably consistent, and model A suggests Norse occupation began Cal AD 910–1030..... A weighted mean of twig dates—notwithstanding issues associated with combination of 14C ages from multiple individuals—provided a result of AD 986–1022}}</ref> and [[Dendrochronology|tree-ring analysis]]  dating to the year 1021<ref name="KuitemsEtAl">{{Cite journal|last1=Kuitems|first1=Margot|last2=Wallace|first2=Birgitta L.|last3=Lindsay|first3=Charles|last4=Scifo|first4=Andrea|last5=Doeve|first5=Petra|last6=Jenkins|first6=Kevin|last7=Lindauer|first7=Susanne|last8=Erdil|first8=Pınar|last9=Ledger|first9=Paul M.|last10=Forbes|first10=Véronique|last11=Vermeeren|first11=Caroline|date=20 October 2021|title=Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021|journal=Nature|volume=601 |issue=7893 |language=en|pages=388–391|doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03972-8|pmid=34671168|pmc=8770119 |s2cid=239051036|issn=1476-4687|quote=Our result of AD 1021 for the cutting year constitutes the only secure calendar date for the presence of Europeans across the Atlantic before the voyages of Columbus. Moreover, the fact that our results, on three different trees, converge on the same year is notable and unexpected. This coincidence strongly suggests Norse activity at L'Anse aux Meadows in AD 1021.  In addition, our research demonstrates the potential of the AD 993 anomaly in atmospheric 14C concentrations for pinpointing the ages of past migrations and cultural interactions. }}</ref>) could be Leifsbudir. The Ingstads demonstrated that Norsemen had reached North America about 500 years before [[Christopher Columbus]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1328355/Helge-Ingstad.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1328355/Helge-Ingstad.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|title=Helge Ingstad|date=30 March 2001|access-date=20 November 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="s207">Short, 2010, p. 207.</ref> Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vinland may have been the areas around the [[Gulf of St. Lawrence]] and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station and waypoint for voyages there. That does not necessarily contradict the identification of L'Anse aux Meadows as Leifsbudir<ref name="s207"/><ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/archeo.html|title=Vinland Archeology|publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]|work=[[National Museum of Natural History]]|access-date=21 November 2011|archive-date=9 December 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031209093906/http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/archeo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> since the two sagas appear to describe Vinland as a wider region which included several settlements. The ''Saga of Erik the Red'' mentions two other settlements in Vinland: one called [[Straumfjörð|Straumfjǫrðr]], which lay beyond Kjalarnes promontory and the [[Wonderstrands]], and one called Hóp, which was located even farther south.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/sagas.html|title=Vinland Sagas|publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]|work=[[National Museum of Natural History]]|access-date=21 November 2011|archive-date=23 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223074433/http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/sagas.html|url-status=live}}</ref>