The Viking History of Greenland: Leifur Eriksson: Losing and Finding America

The Reykjavík Grapevine's Almost Completely True History of Iceland

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Icelanders discovered America, and lost it again. Or did they? How long did the Viking voyages to the new continent last? How did the first longship vs. canoe battle go? And where - and what- was the legendary Vinland that the Sagas speak of?
Hosted by historians and Grapevine founders Valur Gunnarsson and Jón Trausti Sigurðarson this episode features an interview on the subject with History Professor Sverrir Jakobsson.
The likeness of Leifur Eriksson in front of Hallgrímskirkja is probably the most photographed statue in the most photographed spot in all of Iceland. And yet Leifur’s appearance in the Sagas is somewhat underwhelming.
In the Saga of the Greenlanders, he’s not even the man who discovers North America for the Vikings. Instead, the story goes that one Bjarni Herjólfsson accidentally stumbled across the continent upon getting lost en route to visiting Erik the Red (Leifur’s dad) in Greenland.
Valur Gunnarsson and Jón Trausti Sigurðarson — a historian and a history nerd, respectively — delve into the saga and the reality of how Icelanders found North America and then lost it. Did that actually happen? How long did Viking voyages to the new world continue? How about that longship v. canoe battle? And where even is the legendary Vinland that the Sagas speak of?

Hosted by historians and The Reykjavík Grapevine founders Valur Gunnarsson and Jón Trausti Sigurðarson

Chapter

1. 1. Finding America and Losing it Again (00:00:00)

2. 2. First Contact Between Vikings and Natives (00:09:03)

3. 3. Was Vinland Actually Real (00:16:18)

4. 4. Enter Thórfinnur the Handsome and the Lovely Guðrún (00:25:57)

5. 5. For How Long Did the Vikings Go to America? (00:34:07)