We all like exploring new places, and the excitement escalates even more if it’s a place no one has ever seen or been to. The same was for the people born 1000 years ago when half of the world was still undiscovered, that is when the brave Vikings emerged hailing from the Nordic countries in search of all the untrodden lands. One such brave soul was Thorfinn Thordarson.
Thorfinn Thordarson, of Icelandic descent, was the Norse expedition head of early North American colonisation. The novels, Saga of Erik the Red and Tale of the Greenlanders both contain accounts of his journeys. Karlsefni, Thorfinn's nickname, must have been given to him at a young age because it means "promising boy." His grandfather had led a large group of Norwegians to Iceland in 900 A.D., and by 986 A.D., his successors had found it difficult to find land for raising livestock there. As a result, they followed Erik the Red's example and travelled to Greenland. Successful trader and sea captain Thorfinn led a party of colonists to what was known as the eastern colony of Greenland in 1003 A.D. There, he wed Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir, the widow of Thorstein, one of Erik the Red's sons.
Erik the Red convinced Thorfinn and Gudrid to conduct an expedition to Vinland, a region discovered three years earlier by another of Erik's sons, Leif Eriksson. Around 1004 A.D., the couple went west in 3 ships with roughly 130 people on board, and they may have made Baffin Island as their first North American touchdown. After following the shoreline southward, they moved to a thickly forested area in order to participate in haymaking, hunting, and fishing. The first European to be born in North America was Snorri Thorfinnsson, the son of Thorfinn Thordarson and Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir, who was born in Vinland in 1005 A.D.
The Scandinavian colonists encountered no individuals during the first winter, but the hospitable natives, likely the Eskimos, visited them the following summer. The next summer, they were visited by numerous hostile natives, perhaps the Algonquins, which sparked a conflict that the Scandanavians ultimately won, but at the expense of some lives. Thorfinn and the other colonists left Vinland and went back to Greenland three years after the landing, later they eventually travelled back to Iceland.
Bibliography:
n.a. “Karlsefni” The Canadian Encyclopedia. n.d. Web. 30 Jun, 2022. <https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/karlsefni>
n.a. “Definition of Thorfinn Karlsefni” Dictionary.com. n.d. Web. 30 Jun, 2022. <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/thorfinn-karlsefni>
n.a. “Thorfinn Karlsefni Thordarson” Encyclopedia.com. n.d. Web. 30 Jun, 2022. <https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/thorfinn-karlsefni-thordarson>
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