Years Before Columbus: Leif Erikson, His Life and His Voyage of Adventure to the New World

Many people still believe that the person who “discovered” America was Christopher Columbus, forgetting the fact that there were already indigenous people living there. An additional fact that is often overlooked is that the new world was visited, and temporarily colonized, about 492 years before Columbus by another European – a man known as Leif Erikson.

A Family History of Banishment and Adventure-Seeking

Leif Erikson was born circa 970 AD in Iceland. He was a son of Erik the Red and his wife Thjodhild. Leif had a sister Freydis and two brothers: Thorsteinn and Thorvald. Together, they were the children of the man who colonized Greenland.

According to the Sagas of Icelanders, Leif was the first European who landed in the territory of modern-day Canada. But before that, Leif grew up in Greenland, where the family of Erik the Red moved after they colonized the land. Leif’s wife was Thorgunna who gave him at least two sons: Thorgils and Thorkell. Leif Erikson is remembered as a considerate, strong, and wise man.

The history of exploration in Leif’s family started from the day when Thorvald Asvaldsson (his grandfather) was banished from Norway for manslaughter. Asvaldsson began the family’s first adventure in the company of his son Erik (the Red). The family lived in Iceland until Erik was banished from his new home and started traveling west, landing at the place now called Greenland. He arrived there in 986 AD.