viking explorers - January 14, 2021

Top #7 Viking Explorers

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)

Portrait of Erik the Red

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.

Krosshólaborg

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

Statue of Leif Eriksson

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

Statue of Gudrid

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)

Statue of Thorfinn Karlsefni in Philadelphia

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.