Editing Leif Erikson (section)

==Legacy==

=== Norse and medieval Europe ===
[[File:Faroe stamps 225-226 Discovery of America.jpg|thumb|265px|''Discovery of America'', a postage stamp from the [[Faroe Islands]] which commemorates both Leif Erikson and Christopher Columbus]]
Leif's successful expedition in Vinland encouraged [[Norse colonization of North America|other Norsemen to also make the journey]], and the Norse became the first Europeans to colonize the area. In the end there were no permanent Norse settlements, although sporadic voyages at least to Markland for forages, timber and trade possibly lasted for centuries.<ref>Schledermann, Peter. (1996). Voices in Stone. ''A Personal Journey into the Arctic Past''. Komatik Series no. 5. Calgary: The Arctic Institute of North America and the University of Calgary.</ref><ref>Sutherland, Patricia. (2000). "The Norse and Native Norse Americans". In William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward, eds., ''Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga'', pp.&nbsp;238–247. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution.</ref> The casual tone of references to these areas may suggest that their discovery was not seen as particularly significant by contemporaries, or that it was assumed to be public knowledge, or both.<ref name="vinhis"/> Knowledge of the Vinland journeys spread around medieval Europe, although to what extent is unclear; writers made mention of remote lands to the west, and notably the medieval chronicler [[Adam of Bremen]] directly mentions Vinland (c. 1075) based upon reports from the [[Danes]].<ref group=note>Adam mentions Vinland (''Winland'') in Chapter 39 of Book IV of his ''Gesta'': 'In addition, he [i.e., [[Sweyn II of Denmark|Sweyn Estridsson]], king of Denmark (reigned 1047–1076)] named one more island in this ocean, discovered by many, which is called "Vinland", because vines grow wild there, making the best wine.  For [that] crops [that are] not sown, abound there, we learn not from fanciful opinion but from the true account of the Danes.' {{cite book |last1=Adam von Bremen |editor1-last=Schmeidler |editor1-first=Bernhard |title=Hamburgische Kirchengeschichte |trans-title=Hamburg's Church History |date=1917 |publisher=Hahnsche |location=Hannover and Leipzig, Germany |pages=275–276 |url=https://archive.org/stream/adamvonbremenham00adam#page/274/mode/2up |language=la, de}}</ref> It has been suggested that the knowledge of Vinland might have been maintained in European seaports in the 15th century, and that Christopher Columbus, who claimed in a letter to have visited Iceland in 1477, could have heard stories of it.<ref name="s2036" />

=== Norse encounters with the Indigenous peoples ===
While Leif had no contact with the Indigenous peoples of Vinland,<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse">{{cite journal |last1=McGhee |first1=Robert |date=January 1984 |title=Contact between Native North Americans and the Medieval Norse: A Review of the Evidence |journal=American Antiquity |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=4–26|doi=10.2307/280509 |jstor=280509 |s2cid=163333983 |issn=0002-7316 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Warden |first1=Donald E. |date=August 2016 |title=The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus |url=https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=ojur |journal=Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research |volume=6 |issue=1 |quote=Leif did not encounter any Indigenous people over the entire voyage |quote-page=7 |access-date=18 December 2021 |archive-date=18 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218201643/https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=ojur |url-status=live }}</ref> later Norse explorers did, referring to them as ''[[skræling]]i'', an archaic term for "wretches".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Weaver|first=Jace|title=The red atlantic.|publisher=American Indian Quarterly|year=2011|pages=418–463, 477}}</ref>

According to the ''Saga of Erik the Red'', the first encounter was made during a colonizing expedition led by Thorfinn Karlsefni, which also included Leif's brother Thorvald. At first this group traded with the natives, but weeks later the new Norse settlement at Hóp was attacked and Karlsefni decided to abandon it. The Norse retreated to their other settlement at Straumfjǫrðr, where they remained and continued to explore the general area. One morning they encountered a [[Unipedalism|one-legged]] native, who shot an arrow that killed Thorvald.<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse"/> He is famously known for pulling the arrow out, and poetically reciting the phrase, "This is a rich country we have found; there is plenty of fat around my entrails", upon which he dies.<ref name=":2" /> On their return to Greenland, Karlsefni's crew captured two native boys, taking them to Greenland.<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse"/>

According to the ''Saga of the Greenlanders'', Leif's brother Thorvald made first contact with the natives.<ref name="s2036">Short, 2010, pp.&nbsp;203–206.</ref> The encounter happened while Thorvald and his crew were exploring the coast, likely in the Markland area, and found nine natives asleep under boats. They attacked the natives, killing eight of them, while one escaped. Shortly after, in an apparent reprisal, Thorvald was killed by a native's arrow. Later, Thorfinn Karlsefni led a group to colonize Vinland and encountered natives, who they initially traded with, but relations soured when a native was killed attempting to steal weapons from the Norse. In retaliation, the natives attacked and Karlsefni decided to abandon the colony.<ref name="McGhee_Natives and Norse" />

=== Travels and commemoration ===

[[File:Leif Erikson 6c 1968 issue.JPG|thumb|upright|Erikson [[commemorative stamp]], issued 9 October 1968, Leif Erikson Day]]
Stories of Leif's journey to North America had a profound effect on the identity and self-perception of later [[Scandinavian American|Nordic Americans]] and Nordic immigrants to the United States.<ref name="dregni"/> The first [[Statue of Leif Erikson (Boston)|statue of Erikson]] (by [[Anne Whitney]])<ref>[[Alan Forbes|Forbes, Alan]] and Ralph M. Eastman, "Some Statues of Boston: Reproductions of some of the statues for which Boston is famous, with information concerning the personalities and events memorialized", State Street Trust Company, Boston MA 1946 and Forbes, Alan and Ralph M. Eastman, "Other Statues of Boston", State Street Trust Company, Boston MA 1947.</ref> was erected in [[Boston]] in 1887 at the instigation of [[Eben Norton Horsford]], who was among those who believed that Vinland could have been located on the [[Charles River]] or [[Cape Cod]];<ref name="dregni"/> not long after, [[Leif, the Discoverer (Whitney)|another casting of Whitney's statue]] was erected in [[Milwaukee]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buck |first1=Diane M |last2=Palmer |first2=Virginia A |title=Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook |publisher=The State Historical Society of Wisconsin |location=Madison |year=1995 |pages=9–12 |isbn=978-0-87020-276-6}}</ref> A statue was also erected in [[Chicago]] in 1901, having been originally commissioned for the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]] to coincide with the arrival of the reconstructed [[Viking (replica Viking longship)|Viking ship]] from [[Bergen]], Norway.<ref name="dregni"/> Another work of art made for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the painting ''[[Leiv Eirikson Discovering America]]'' by [[Christian Krohg]], was in the possession of a Leif Erikson Memorial Association in Chicago before being given back to the [[National Gallery of Norway]] in 1900.<ref name=snl2>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Leiv Eiriksson oppdager Amerika|encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]]|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/Leiv_Eiriksson_oppdager_Amerika|language=no|access-date=2 December 2011|archive-date=4 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220049/http://snl.no/Leiv_Eiriksson_oppdager_Amerika|url-status=live}}</ref>

For the centenary of the first official immigration of Norwegians to America, President [[Calvin Coolidge]] stated at the 1925 [[Minnesota State Fair]], to a crowd of 100,000 people, that Leif had indeed been the first European to discover America.<ref name="dregni"/> Additional statues of him were erected at the [[Minnesota State Capitol]] in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]] in 1949, near [[Lake Superior]] in [[Duluth, Minnesota]], in 1956, and in downtown [[Seattle]].<ref name="dregni"/>

In 1924, a party of four consisting of a Swede, an Englishman, and two Americans attempted to emulate Leif's voyage in an eponymous 40-foot vessel but were lost after reaching the west coast of Greenland.<ref name=LThomas>{{cite book|title=The First World Flight|url=https://archive.org/details/firstworldflight0000thom |url-access=registration|last=Thomas|first=Lowell |author-link=Lowell Thomas |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|date=1925|place=Boston & New York}}</ref>{{rp|267}}

In 1930, a [[Statue of Leif Erikson (Reykjavík)|statue of Leif]] was erected in the city center of Reykjavík, Iceland – currently situated in front of [[Hallgrímskirkja]] – as a gift from the United States to Iceland to commemorate the 1,000 year anniversary of [[Alþingi]], the parliament of Iceland.<ref name="Helgason Eliason McMahon Sigurþórsdóttir 2015">{{cite web | last1=Helgason | first1=Magnús Sveinn | last2=Eliason | first2=Matt | last3=McMahon | first3=Sara | last4=Sigurþórsdóttir | first4=Sunna Karen | title=Ten fascinating facts about the statue of Leifur Eiríksson | website=Icelandmag | date=2 November 2015 | url=https://icelandmag.is/article/ten-fascinating-facts-about-statue-leifur-eiriksson | access-date=16 June 2020 | archive-date=8 March 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308151317/https://icelandmag.is/article/ten-fascinating-facts-about-statue-leifur-eiriksson | url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Leif Erikson Awards]], established 2015, are awarded annually by the [[The Exploration Museum|Exploration Museum]] in [[Húsavík]], Iceland. They are awarded for achievements in exploration and in the study of the history of exploration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Exploration Awards – The Exploration Museum |url=https://www.explorationmuseum.com/awards/ |access-date=30 March 2022 |language=en-US |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331074241/https://www.explorationmuseum.com/awards/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several ships are named after Leif – [[Leif Erikson (ship)|a Viking ship replica]], [[MV Leif Ericson|a commercial passenger/vehicle ferry]],<ref>{{cite web |title=MV Leif Ericson Ferry – Vessel Information {{!}} Marine Atlantic |url=https://www.marineatlantic.ca/onboard-experience/our-fleet/mv-leif-ericson |website=www.marineatlantic.ca |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=19 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319205847/https://www.marineatlantic.ca/onboard-experience/our-fleet/mv-leif-ericson |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Leif Ericsson (Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship) Registered in Canada – Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information – IMO 8917388, MMSI 316001216, Call Sign VOCJ |url=https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:379831/mmsi:316001216/imo:8917388/vessel:LEIF_ERICSON |website=www.marinetraffic.com |language=en |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415122358/https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:379831/mmsi:316001216/imo:8917388/vessel:LEIF_ERICSON |url-status=live }}</ref> and a large [[dredging|dredger]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The world's largest dredger in the Gulf of Gdansk |url=http://www.polandatsea.com/leiv-eiriksson-the-worlds-largest-dredger-in-the-gulf-of-gdansk/ |website=Poland at Sea – maritime economy portal |date=11 June 2019 |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=25 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225143106/http://www.polandatsea.com/leiv-eiriksson-the-worlds-largest-dredger-in-the-gulf-of-gdansk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Erikson is recalled as ''Leif the Lucky'' in the [[Robert Frost]] poem ''Wild Grapes.''<ref name="ref5">{{cite web
 |title        = Wild Grapes Robert Frost 1874 – 1963
 |publisher    = Poets.org
 |author       =
 |date         =
 |quote        = Grapes, I knew grapes from having seen them last year.<br>One bunch of them, and there began to be<br>Bunches all round me growing in white birches,<br>The way they grew round Leif the Lucky's German;
 |url          = https://poets.org/poem/wild-grapes}}</ref>

==== Leif Erikson Day ====
{{main|Leif Erikson Day}}
In 1929, the [[Wisconsin Legislature]] passed a bill to make 9 October "Leif Erikson Day" in the state, and in the years following, several other states adopted laws to observe the day.<ref name="Hansen">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.nb.no/leiveriksson/leiv_carl.html |chapter=Leif Erikson Comes to the Front |title=My Minneapolis |first=Carl Gustav Otto |last=Hansen |author-link=Carl G. O. Hansen |location=Minneapolis |year=1956 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207042512/https://www.nb.no/leiveriksson/leiv_carl.html |archive-date=7 December 2009}}</ref> In 1935, legislation was introduced to the [[United States Congress]] requesting federal observance of the day. Before the legislation was passed, it was amended so that the observance would only occur in 1935<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=16 September 1935 |title=Leif Erikson Day Oct. 9 Proclaimed |work=The Green Bay Press-Gazette |location=Green Bay, WI |page=5 }}</ref> (which it was, following a proclamation that year by President President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/llsalvol.llsal_049/?sp=3718 |last=Roosevelt |first=Franklin D. |author-link=Franklin D. Roosevelt |title=The Statutes at Large of the United States of America from January 1935 to June 1936. Vol 49, part 1, pages 3468–3469 |publisher=Government Printing Office}}</ref> In the subsequent decades, a number of unsuccessful attempts were made to pass legislation requesting Leif Erikson Day be proclaimed annually by the president.<ref>{{cite report |last=Tollefson |first=Thor C. |author-link=Thor C. Tollefson |date=4 March 1964 |title=Leif Erikson Day: Hearings before Subcommittee No. 4 of the Committee on the Judiciary. House of Representatives. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ID0vAAAAMAAJ |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington |page=5 |access-date=30 July 2023 |quote=For quite a few years, and even prior to the time that I first came to Congress, similar resolutions had been introduced, seeking to have October 9 declared Leif Erikson Day. All of the previous efforts have been unsuccessful.}}</ref> Proponents eventually succeeded, when, in 1964, the Congress authorized and requested the president to proclaim 9 October of each year as "Leif Erikson Day".<ref name="dregni"/> In the years since, each president has issued an annual proclamation calling for observance of the day.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guttormsen |first1=Torgim Sneve |date=2018 |title=Valuing Immigrant Memories as Common Heritage: The Leif Erikson Monument in Boston |journal=[[History & Memory]] |publisher=Indiana University Press |volume=30 |issue=2 |page=99 |doi=10.2979/histmemo.30.2.04|s2cid=166186978 }}</ref>

The Sagas do not give the exact date of Leif's landfall in America, but state only that it was in the fall of the year. At the suggestion of Christian A. Hoen of [[Edgerton, Wisconsin]], 9 October was settled upon for Leif Erikson Day, as that already was a historic date for Norwegians in America, the ship ''[[Restauration (ship)|Restaurationen]]'' having arrived in [[New York Harbor]] on 9 October 1825<ref name=Hansen/><ref>{{cite press release|title=Leif Erikson Day, 2009|publisher=[[White House Office of the Press Secretary]]|date=7 October 2009|first=Barack|last=Obama |author-link=Barack Obama|access-date=20 November 2011|url= https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-leif-erikson-day |url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170214182413/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-leif-erikson-day |archive-date=14 February 2017}}</ref> from [[Stavanger]] with the first organized party of Norwegian immigrants.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Aarek |first=Hans Eirik |date=2000 |title=A Short History of the Troms Quakers And their Emigration to America |journal=[[Norwegian-American Studies]] |volume=35 |page=92 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |doi=10.1353/nor.2000.a799212 |s2cid=258610849 |quote=Conflict with the Norwegian authorities was one of the main motivations for emigrating to America. Quakers were not allowed to live everywhere in Norway...This led to the first organized emigration in 1825.}}</reF>

===Gallery of art and sculptures===
<gallery caption="" |gallery="" widths="200px" heights="200px">
Christian Krohg - Leiv Eirikson discovering America - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Leiv Eirikson Discovering America]]'' by [[Christian Krohg]] (1893)
File:Seattle's Leif Erikson statue.jpg|[[Statue of Leif Erikson (Seattle)|Leif Erikson memorial statue]] at Shilshole Bay Marina, [[Port of Seattle]]
File:Leifur heppni (603381304).jpg|''[[Statue of Leif Erikson (Reykjavík)|Leif Eriksson Memorial]]'' (1929–1932), [[Reykjavík, Iceland]]. This statue is at the front of the [[Hallgrímskirkja]]. There is a copy of this statue in [[Newport News, Virginia]], USA.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leif Erikson statue|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-leif-erikson-statue-mariners-museum-in-newport-news-virginia-88495642.html|website=alamy|access-date=13 July 2020|archive-date=13 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713171538/https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-leif-erikson-statue-mariners-museum-in-newport-news-virginia-88495642.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
File:Viking at MN Capitol.jpg|Leif Erikson by [[John Karl Daniels|John K. Daniels]], 1948–49, near the [[Minnesota State Capitol]].
File:LeifErikssonBoston.jpg|The [[Statue of Leif Erikson (Boston)|oldest public statue of Leif Erikson]], by [[Anne Whitney]], placed in [[Boston]] in 1887.
File:2000 Leif Ericson Proof Dollar.jpg|A 'Leif Ericson' [[Proof coinage|proof dollar]] from the United States, minted in 2000. It reads 'Founder of the New World'
</gallery>

===In fiction===
[[File:Vinland Saga simplified logo.svg|thumb|The character '[[List of Vinland Saga characters#Leif|Leif Ericson]]' features in this Japanese [[manga]] adaptation of the Vinland sagas.]]
* Leif is the main character in the 1928 film ''[[The Viking (1928 film)|The Viking]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Mordaunt|last=Hall|author-link=Mordaunt Hall|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/29/archives/the-screen-a-picture-in-colors.html|title=A Picture in Colors|work=[[The New York Times]]|location=[[New York City]]|date=29 November 1928|access-date=30 November 2019|url-access=subscription|archive-date=12 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712015014/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/29/archives/the-screen-a-picture-in-colors.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In children's literature, Leif the Lucky written and illustrated by [[Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire]]. Published by Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1941.<ref name="Adlibris 2014">{{cite web | title=Leif the Lucky | website=Adlibris | date=15 October 2014 | url=https://www.adlibris.com/se/bok/leif-the-lucky-9780816695454 | language=sv | access-date=20 April 2022 | archive-date=22 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922053849/https://www.adlibris.com/se/bok/leif-the-lucky-9780816695454 | url-status=live }}</ref>
* Leif is one of the main characters in [[Makoto Yukimura|Makoto Yukimura's]] manga ''[[Vinland Saga (manga)|Vinland Saga]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Will |title=Amazon's Vinland Saga Anime Is a Classic Anime in the Making |url=https://sea.ign.com/vinland-saga/152219/feature/amazons-vinland-saga-anime-is-a-classic-anime-in-the-making |website=IGN Southeast Asia |date=31 July 2019 |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109084010/https://sea.ign.com/vinland-saga/152219/feature/amazons-vinland-saga-anime-is-a-classic-anime-in-the-making |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Leif is the main character in the juvenile historical novel ''[[Vinland the Good]]''. The author is [[Henry Treece]], and it is illustrated by William Stobbs. It is an account of Viking Era explorations, based mainly on the Greenland saga.<ref>{{cite web |last1=William Stobbs |first1=Henry Treece |title=Vinland the Good |url=https://childrensbookshop.com/book-97803.html |website=childrensbookshop.com |publisher=Puffin |access-date=23 August 2020 |archive-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307083950/https://childrensbookshop.com/book-97803.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''[[An Old Captivity]]'' is a novel which involves a dream sequence featuring a character called Leif Ericson. Notably, it also features an attempt to uncover historical Viking settlements using air surveys. It was written by [[Nevil Shute]] and published in 1940.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shute |first1=Nevil |author-link=Nevil Shute |title=An Old Captivity |url=https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20140427 |website=fadedpage.com |publisher=William Morrow & Company |access-date=23 August 2020 |archive-date=13 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813023923/https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20140427 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Leif is a main character in the [[Netflix]] [[historical drama]] series ''[[Vikings: Valhalla]]'' played by [[Sam Corlett]].<ref name="Netflix Tudum 2022">{{cite web | title=Sam Corlett Gets Spiritual as Leif Eriksson in 'Vikings: Valhalla' | website=Netflix Tudum | date=1 March 2022 | url=https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/vikings-valhalla-sam-corlett-interview-leif-eriksson-sabrina | access-date=31 March 2022 | archive-date=31 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331172102/https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/vikings-valhalla-sam-corlett-interview-leif-eriksson-sabrina | url-status=live }}</ref>