19 Facts About Leif Erikson

Leif Erikson had two known sons: Thorgils, born in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as Greenland's chieftain.

Leif Erikson was the son of Erik the Red and his wife Thjodhild, and, through his paternal line, the grandson of Thorvald Asvaldsson.

Leif Erikson was a distant relative of Naddodd, who discovered Iceland.

Leif Erikson had two brothers, whose names were Thorstein and Thorvald, and a sister, Freydis.

When Leif Erikson encountered the storm that forced him off course, he had been on his way to introduce Christianity to the Greenlanders.

Leif Erikson did not return to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did, including Thorfinn Karlsefni.

Roughly 15 years later, Leif Erikson approached Bjarni, purchased his ship, gathered a crew of thirty-five men, and mounted an expedition towards the land Bjarni had described.

Leif Erikson followed Bjarni's route in reverse and landed first in a rocky and desolate place he named Helluland.

Leif Erikson never returned to Vinland, but others from Greenland and Iceland did.

Leif Erikson has been described in the Vinland sagas as a wise, considerate and strong man of striking appearance.

When he was of a proper age, Leif Erikson went to Norway, likely to serve as a retainer to its king, Olaf Tryggvason.

Thorgunna remained in the Hebrides when Leif Erikson left, as he refused to take her along without permission from her family.

Some versions of Olaf Tryggvason's Saga indicate that to help with the conversion, Leif Erikson brought a priest and clerics with him to Greenland.

Leif Erikson is last mentioned alive in 1018 in the Saga of St Olaf.

Leif Erikson is, in all likelihood, a historical figure who remains the first known European to set foot in continental North America, but other details of his life vary and are a subject of debate.

Leif Erikson 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.

The first statue of Leif Erikson 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; not long after, another casting of Whitney's statue was erected in Milwaukee.

The Leif Erikson Awards, established 2015, are awarded annually by the Exploration Museum in Husavik, Iceland.

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 Restaurationen having arrived in New York Harbor on 9 October 1825 from Stavanger with the first organized party of Norwegian immigrants.