In 1001, When Leif Ericsson Sailed the Ocean Blue

By Earl Hunsinger

Who discovered America? The answer depends on your perspective, and perhaps on which account you believe. The accepted answer in elementary schools in the United States is Christopher Columbus, in 1492. Of course, this is obviously a very Eurocentric view, since there were people waiting for him when he arrived. However, even from the standpoint of Europeans, many accept that Columbus "missed the boat" by about 500 years.

According to the best selling book The Discoverers, by Daniel J. Boorstin, when the learned men of Europe were content that they had reached Ultima Thule, or the most distant goal of human endeavor, the unlettered Vikings continued to move from one Ultima Thule to another. As an example, when the Viking Eric the Red was outlawed and banished from one land after another for killings, he moved further and further west, in search of new land to settle. This was how Greenland was discovered. At the end of the tenth century, after hearing about a land reportedly sighted by a storm-driven Norwegian sailor several decades before, he set sail westward. About 500 miles from Iceland he found that the rumor was true. In the hope of encouraging more settlers, he named the new island Greenland.

Among the settlers that Eric the Red convinced to accompany him to Greenland was a Viking named Heriulf. What happened next is truly amazing. According to the "Greenland Saga," as related in Boorstin's book and on the Great Norwegians website, Heriulf's son, Bjarni Herjolfsson, after bringing a ship full of cargo to Iceland, was dismayed to find that his father had sold his property and left for the new western land with Eric the Red. Although it was winter and they had neither chart nor compass, he and his crew immediately set sail. Sailing by dead reckoning in the direction of Greenland, they became lost in a fog. When they finally spotted land, it was "flat and covered with woods." From the description he had been given, he knew that this could not be Greenland. Apparently without curiosity or patience, he refused to let his crew go ashore, ordering the ship turned around and the sails set once more. After four days of sailing, he landed in Greenland, at the exact place he had been seeking.

Over the next fifteen years, there is no record of anyone from Greenland trying to repeat Herjolfsson's voyage. Finally, in 1001, Leif Ericsson, Eric the Red's son, bought Herjolfsson's ship and with a crew of 35 set sail for this new land. He landed first in an area he called Helluland, or Flat Stone Land. Some feel that this was Baffin Island, or possibly Labrador. They later stopped in an area that has been identified as either Newfoundland or Labrador, finally settling in a land that they called Vinland, or Wine Land. Again, there is some disagreement as to where along the coast this was, with some saying that it could have been as far south as Cape Cod.

Although later expeditions of Vikings visited Vinland, staying for various lengths of time, no permanent settlement took place. In addition, while these voyages were remarkable testimonies to the courage and navigational ability of the Viking explorers, they had very little impact on history or the society of their day.

So, who really discovered America? This depends a great deal on your perspective and your definition of the word discover. This is the point made by Boorstin in his book. The word discover can be defined as either "to make known or visible" or "to obtain sight or knowledge of for the first time." In relation to the Leif Ericsson, while he and his men may have been the first Europeans to set foot on the continent, they seem to have kept the knowledge to themselves. Can it be said then that they discovered it? In contrast, in what is certainly one of the most famous mistakes in history, Columbus proclaimed his discovery of "India" to all who would listen, thus securing his place in history and changing the world.