
TOP 7 Viking Explorers: Discover the Most Famous
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The 7 Most Famous Explorers of the North
In addition to being terrifying conquerors, the Vikings were fabulous adventurers and explorers: their discoveries bear witness to this.
1. Erik the Red
Portrait of Erik the Red - Illustration: Gronlandia, by Arngrímur Jónsson (1688)
- Name: Eirikr Thorvaldson
- Nickname: Erik the Red (Eiríkr Rauði in Norse). [This nickname would have been given to him because of the red color of his hair and beard].
- Date and place of birth: 940 or 950 in Jæren, Norway
- Date and place of death: 1003 or 1010, Greenland
- Sons of: Thorvald Ásvaldsson & Åsvald Åsvaldson
- Children: Leif Erikson, Þorvald (Thorvald) and Þorsteinn (Thorsteinn) and a daughter, Freydís
Founder and leader until his death of the first Viking settlement in Greenland, where Thjodhild, his wife, built a church.
Father of the future explorers of the New World.
2. Aud the Deep-Minded
Krosshólaborg, monument erected on the holy place where Aude the deep-minded One came to pray, near the remains of her farm in Iceland.
- Name: Unnur Ketilsdottir or Aud Ketilsdatter
- Nickname: Aude the Wise One (Auður djúpúðga in Old Norse)
- Date and place of birth: 834, Hebrides Archipelago
- Date and place of death: 900
- Daughter of: Flat Nose Ketill & Yngvid Ketilsdóttir
- Children: Thorstein the Red, Oistin mac Amlaíb
Viking Queen, wife of the ruler of the kingdom of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithsson (or Olaf the White) who repudiated her.
Founder of an establishment composed of the family clan, in the surroundings of Laxárdal, in the west of Iceland.
3. Leif Erikson
Statue of Leif Eriksson, in Qassiarsuk, Greenland, by August Werner
- Name: Leif Erikson ( Leifr Eiríksson in Norwegian, Leifur Eiríksson in Icelandic)
- Nickname: -
- Date and place of birth: ~ 970, Iceland?
- Date and place of death: between 1019 and 1025, Greenland?
- Son of: Erik the Red & Thjodhild
- Child: Thorkell
First European to dock in North America.
Converted to Christianity, he brought this religion to Greenland, and led the colony after the death of his father.
4. Freydis Eiriksdottir
Freydís Eiríksdóttir at the Saga Museum of Reykjavik
- Name: Freydis Eiriksdottir (Freydís Eiríksdóttir in Icelandic)
- Nickname: -
- Date and place of birth: 970, Iceland?
- Date and place of death: unknown, Greenland?
- Daughter of: Erik the Red & Thjodhild
- Child: -
Explorer of the new world and fearless warrior. In front of the Amerindians, she tore off her clothing, exposing her chest, which she struck with her sword while screaming. The natives, frightened by this vision of a bare-breasted pregnant warrior, immediately fled, which put an end to the battle.
She is also a murderer, but her death sentence was commuted by her brother Leif to banishment.
5. Thorvald Erikson
Representation of the death of Thorvald Eriksson
- Name: Thorvald Erikson (Þorvaldr Eiríksson in Icelandic)
- Nickname: -
- Date and place of birth: 975, Iceland
- Date and place of death: 1006, Vinland
- Sons of: Erik the Red & Thjodhild
- Children: -
Discoverer, alongside his brother Leif, of the New World.
He lost his life during a confrontation with the natives and was buried on the spot, in Vinland.
6. Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir
Statue of Gudrid and his son Snorri Thorfinnsson, in Glaumbær, Iceland - Sculpture: Ásmundur Sveinsson, 1994
- Name: Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir (Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir in Icelandic)
- Nickname: -
- Date and place of birth: ~ 990, Norway / Iceland?
- Date and place of death: ~ 1080, Iceland
- Daughter of: -
- Child: Snorri Thorfinnsson
Among the first European women to colonize the New World.
Mother of Snorri, the first European born in North America.
Converted to Christianity, she went on a pilgrimage to Rome and entered the orders on her return to Iceland.
7. Thorfinn Karlsefni
Statue of Thorfinn Karlsefni in Philadelphia (USA)
- Name: Thorfinn Thordarson (Þorfinnr Þórðarson in Old Norse, Þorfinnur Þórðarson in Icelandic)
- Nickname: Thorfinn Karlsefni means "who has the makings of a man", "the real man".
- Date and place of birth: unknown, Iceland?
- Date and place of death: unknown, Greenland?
- Son of: Erik the Red & Thjodhild
- Child: Snorri Thorfinnsson
Founder of the first Viking colony in North America, which lasted 3 years.
Father of the first European born in North America