Leif Erikson (/m/012r36)

Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson was an Icelandic explorer, known as the first Norse explorer to reach America, in c. 1000, According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement in Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada. Leif was the son of Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse settlement in Greenland and of Þjóðhildur. He was likely born in Iceland, and grew up in the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement. Leif had two known sons: Thorgils, born to noblewoman Thorgunna in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement.