VIDEO: The Last Viking Mystery: How Leifur Eriksson Found and Lost America

Icelanders discovered America, and lost it again. Or did they? How long did the Viking voyages to the new continent last? How did the first longship vs. canoe battle go? And where — and what — was the legendary Vinland that the Sagas speak of?

Hosted by historians and Grapevine founders Valur Gunnarsson and Jón Trausti Sigurðarson.

The likeness of Leifur Eriksson in front of Hallgrímskirkja is probably the most photographed statue in the most photographed spot in all of Iceland. And yet Leifur’s appearance in the Sagas is somewhat underwhelming. In the Saga of the Greenlanders, he’s not even the man who discovers North America for the Vikings. Instead, the story goes that one Bjarni Herjólfsson accidentally stumbled across the continent upon getting lost en route to visiting Erik the Red (Leifur’s dad) in Greenland.

Valur Gunnarsson and Jón Trausti Sigurðarson delve into the saga and the reality of how Icelanders found North America and then lost it. Did that actually happen? How long did Viking voyages to the new world continue? How about that longship vs. canoe battle? And where even is the legendary Vinland that the Sagas speak of? This is Episode 2 in The Reykjavík Grapevine’s series “The Last Viking Mystery”. Be sure to watch Episode 1, in which Valur and Jón Trausti explore the travels and bloody exploits of Erik The Red.

The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Almost Completely True History of Iceland podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify  and other podcast platforms.