Leif Eriksson

Leif Eriksson made amazing discoveries and was the first European to reach North America - nearly 500 years before Columbus.

In Brattahlid, which today is known by the Greenlandic name of Qassiarsuk, a bronze statue of Leif Eriksson has been erected as a memorial to his fantastic discoveries in the year 1000 AD.

The statue has been erected at the site in Southern Greenland from where the legendary son of Erik the Red set course towards the uncharted west from his childhood home.

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Tasermiut Expeditions: Leif Eriksson Marathon

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Leif Eriksson Marathon

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FIRST EUROPEANS IN NORTH AMERICA

The voyage made Leif Eriksson – whose byname was ‘the Fortunate’ – the first ever European to set foot on the North American continent.

The areas that Leif Eriksson discovered and explored where christened by him Helluland, Markland and finally Vinland. The areas are thought to be Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland respectively.

The statue of Leif Erikson - son of Erik the Red - on a hill in Qassiarsuk in South Greenland. By Mads Pihl

Sheep in a field near Igaliku in South Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl

Hvalsey Church Ruin - Greenland's first Christian church

Tjodhilde's church - a reconstruction of church from the norse presence in Greenland 1,000 years ago. By Mads Pihl

Northern lights over the Leif Ericson statue in Qassiarsuk in South Greenland. By Mads Pihl

Inside the reconstructed viking longhouse in Qassiarsuk in South Greenland. By Camilla Hey

The Qingua valley and the river running into the almost fjord-like Tasersuaq lake near Nanortalik in South Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl.

Cast iron figures inspired by norse runes in Qassiarsuk in South Greenland

VIKING SETTLERS IN CANADA

It is indeed in north-western Newfoundland in Canada, more specifically at L’Anse-aux-Meadows, that the oldest known European settlement in the New World has been discovered.

More than 2400 Viking objects have been excavated from the area conclusive proof that the Viking settlers discovered North America long before Columbus.

THE STATUE OF LEIF ERIKSSON

The statue of Leif the Fortunate was erected in the year 2000 in conjunction with the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the heroic voyage.

It is a copy of similar statues originally erected in Seattle on the American west coast and subsequently in Trondheim in the north of Norway. The museum in Narsaq houses an exciting permanent exhibition of the early Viking settlers and their way of life.

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