Leifur Heppni Eiríksson (abt. 940 - abt. 1020)

Born about 0940 in Eiríksstöðum í Haukadal, ísland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died about 1020 at about age 80 in Brattahlíð við Eiríksfjörð, Grænlands [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Early Scandinavia Project WikiTree [send private message] and Maggie Andersson [send private message]

Leifur Eiríksson was part of early Scandinavian history. Join: Early Scandinavia Project Discuss: EARLY_SCANDINAVIA

Ævisaga

Íslendingabók: Leifur „heppni“ Eiríksson Fæddur (940) á Eiríksstöðum í Haukadal Látinn um 1020 Fór til Grænlands 986, bjó í Brattahlíð við Eiríksfjörð. Fann Ameríku fyrstur norrænna manna.

Biografi

Leif Eriksson (Leifr Eiríksson), även kallad Leif den lyckosamme. Han är känd för att han sannolikt var den förste europé som faktiskt steg iland i Nordamerika (omkring år 1000).

Förmodligen född mellan 970-980 på Island. Han skall ha varit son till Erik Röde och hans hustru Tjodhild/Torhild.

De levde på den grönländska gården Brattalid, där de också lät bygga en egen kyrka. Fadern dömdes till tre års landsförvisning från Island när Leif Eriksson var elva år gammal.

Hans död uppskattas till omkring 1020.

Biography

Leifur Eiríksson is Notable.

Leif Erikson was a Norse explorer regarded as the first European to land in North America (excluding Greenland), nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

Leifur and his crew sailed from Norway to Greenland in the year 999. They were blown off course and sighted land west of Greenland. Leif purchased a ship, gathered a crew and mounted an expedition to this land. They arrived and wintered in this "new land" (possibly Newfoundland) and returned to Greenland the next spring. On the return voyage, he rescued an Icelandic castaway and his crew, earning him the nickname 'Leif the Lucky'.^[1]

Name(s)

Old Norse/Icelandic: Leifr Eiríksson
also known with the byname heppni; Leifr inn heppni or Leifur heppni
(heppni meaning lucky).
Norwegian: Leiv Eiriksson
Swedish: Leif Eriksson
English: Leif Erikson

Birth & Parents

Leifur heppni Eiríksson was the son of Erik Thorvaldsson (also known as Erik the Red) and Þjóðhildur Jörundardóttir.

The birth of Leifur/Leif is most often given as 970 or 980. His birthplace is never mentioned in the sources, but his parents met in/on Iceland and lived at Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur.

Leif moved with his parents to Greenland in 986. They lived at Brattahlíð at Eiríksfjörður, Greenland.

Spouse(s) and children

Þórgunna/Torgunna was mother of at least one of Leifurs sons, possibly Torgils.

Þórgunna was born abt. 950 (estimated) and died abt. 1000 at Fróðá á Snæfellsnesi, Iceland. She is said to been an Irish woman from the southern islands. Came to Iceland around the year 1000 and stayed at Fróðá at Snæfellsnes. She had a big family and was wise.^[2]

Depending on different translations she could also be from Súðreyjar (which would be the Hebrides) and she was of both noble and common descent and she knew sorcery.

It is also said that Leifur/Leif had a son named Thorkell who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement

Death and burial

Leifur/Leif passed away in 1020 in/on Greenland. No burial place is known.

Research Notes

If his father was outlawed from Iceland when Leifur was 11 years old and they sailed to Greenland in the year 986, then Leif must have be born around 975. (Andersson-4409 17:44, 17 March 2020 (UTC))

• Birthyear is an estimated date from Íslendingabók. (Thorisdottir-4 11:21, 15 October 2022 (UTC))

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia
2. ↑ Íslendingabók

• Guðni Jónsson bjó til prentunar: Eiríks saga rauða; Útg. Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, Reykjavík 1946-1949
• Guðni Jónsson bjó til prentunar: Eyrbyggja saga; Útg. Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, Reykjavík 1946-1949
• Guðni Jónsson bjó til prentunar: Landnámabók; Útg. Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, Reykjavík 1946-1949
• Höf. Guðni Jónsson bjó til prentunar: Þórarins þáttr Nefjólfssonar inn fyrri; Útg. Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, Reykjavík 1946-1949
• Páll Eggert Ólason: Íslenskar æviskrár frá landnámstímum til ársloka 1940; Útg. Hið íslenzka bókmenntafélag, Reykjavík 1948-1976
• Literature source: Landnáma, Þórarins þáttur Nefjólfssonar (fyrri), ÍÆ.V.431(viðb.), Eiríks saga rauða
• Heimildir: Landnáma, Þórarins þáttur Nefjólfssonar (fyrri), ÍÆ.V.431(viðb.), Eiríks saga rauða

See also;

• Leif Erikson at Wikipedia
• Svenska Wikipedia, Leif Eriksson
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Anse_aux_Meadows