From Greenland to Vinland: Leif Erikson & Viking Voyages to the New World

It’s been more than a thousand years since medieval Scandinavians left their homelands in search of plunder and glory, becoming the scourge of Christian monasteries and coastal cities—raiding and trading far and wide, from Anglo-Saxon England to modern-day Russia, Constantinople, and the Islamic Emirate of Cordoba in Spain. The Vikings traversed so much of the world, exploring and settling Iceland, Greenland, and, for the topic of this episode, North America. Medieval Icelandic sagas claim the Vikings reached North America around the year 1000. But what is the story of the Norse in this ‘’new world’’? What are our sources? Were there interactions with indigenous peoples? Who we...