Who was Leif Erikson? Why is Leif Erikson Day celebrated?

Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that happens on October 9 to honor a Viking Norse explorer known as Leif Erikson, the praised person who led the first Europeans thought to have gone to continental North America (other than Greenland).

Who was Leif Erikson?

Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson or Leif Ericson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson, Icelandic: Leifur Eiríksson, Norwegian: Leiv Eiriksson) was a Norse explorer from Iceland. He is thought to have been the first realized European to have gone to continental North America (excluding Greenland), about half a millennium before Christopher Columbus.

As indicated by the sagas of Icelanders, he set up a Norse settlement at Vinland, which is normally deciphered as being coastal North America. There is continuous speculation that the settlement made by Leif and his team compares to the remaining parts of a Norse settlement found in Newfoundland, Canada, called L’Anse aux Meadows and which was involved c. 1000. Later archeological proof recommends that Vinland may have been the territories around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L’Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station.

He is believed to be the first recorded Nordic individual to have visited North America. It is believed that he visited places, for example, Baffin Island and Labrador around 1000 CE.

Leif Erikson was born of Norwegian descent around 970 CE in Iceland. It is believed that his dad and grandfather were criminals and travelers around Scandinavia and Greenland. His dad established two settlements in Greenland. Leif had two brothers and one sister. He married a lady named Thorgunna and they had one son, called Thorkell Leifsson.

Leif Erikson went to Norway to work for King Olaf I of Norway. During his stay, he changed over to Christianity. At the point when he got back to Island, he purchased a boat and, in 1003, set out to explore the land west of Greenland that had been found by Bjarni Herjolfsson, and older explorer. The land that he had found was really Newfoundland, which is presently part of Canada. The ‘Saga of the Greenlanders’ describes his adventures.

It is imagined that he visited Baffin Island and Labrador and settled on the Northern part of the island of Newfoundland, presently all part of Canada. There are theories that Leif Erikson or later voyagers may have gone into the region that is presently Minnesota in the United States. Some dubious archeological finds, for example, the Kensington Runestone and the Maine Penny, support this hypothesis, however, it isn’t viewed as demonstrated.

For quite a while, Christopher Columbus had been believed to be the first European to have arrived at the New World. In any case, in 1874 Rasmus B. Anderson published his book “America Not Discovered by Columbus”. It popularized the thought it was Vikings who were the first individuals from Europe to have arrived in North America. Exploration by Norwegian-American researchers, for example, Ludvig Hektoen and Knut Gjerset affirmed this thought.

In 1925, U. S. President Calving Coolidge perceived Leif Erikson as the discoverer of America. After five years, Wisconsin formally received Leif Erikson Day as a state holiday. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson made the national observance through his announcement. From that point forward, every President has gone with the same pattern.

This observance day was first established in Wisconsin in 1930, incompletely because of the expanded notoriety in the conviction that the Vikings were the first explorers to find North America and not Christopher Columbus. This was followed the next year by Minnesota. Before the finish of the 1950s, seven U.S states had made observances perceiving this day. These states were Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, Colorado, Washington, and California.

October 9 has no reference to a specific event in the life of Leif Erikson. This date remembers the anniversary of the appearance of the ship Restauration in New York Harbor from Stavanger, Norway on October 9, 1825. This ship brought one of the first groups of immigrants from Norway to the United States. This was the beginning of organized immigration from Scandinavia to the USA.

Observances of Leif Erikson Day typically celebrate Viking history while recognizing Erikson’s strength, determination, and soul of exploration. The cultures of Iceland and Norway are displayed as Erikson is honored as a “brave son of Iceland and grandson of Norway.” Celebrations are held predominantly in parts of the U.S. and Canada that have solid connections to Nordic and Scandinavian heritage. In Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, Erikson is generally viewed as a significant historical figure, and the day might be seen as a celebration of the Nordic pioneering soul.