Thorstein Eríksson
Encyclopedia
Thorstein Eiriksson was the youngest son of Eiríkr the Red
.
Leif Ericson
's voyage is discussed extensively in Brattahlíð
and Thorvald, Leif's brother, thinks that Vínland
was not explored enough. Leif offers him his ship for a new voyage there and he accepts. Setting sail with a crew of 30, Thorvald arrives in Vinland where Leif had previously made camp. They stay there for the winter and live off fishing.
Thorstein Eiriksson was the son of Erik the Red and played a part in many voyages in Scandinavia.
In the spring Thorvald goes exploring and sails to the west. They find no signs of human habitation except for one corn-shed. They return to their camp for the winter.
The next summer Thorvald explores to the east and north of their camp. At one point the explorers disembark in a pleasant forested area.
Thorvald then said: "Here it is beautiful, and here would I like to raise my dwelling." Then went they to the ship, and saw upon the sands within the promontory three elevations, and went thither, and saw there three skin boats (canoes), and three men under each. Then divided they their people, and caught them all, except one, who got away with his boat. They killed the other eight, and then went back to the cape, and looked round them, and saw some heights inside of the firth, and supposed that these were dwellings.
The natives, called Skraelings
(Old Norse
: Skrælingar) by the Norse
, return with a larger force and attack Thorvald and his men. The Skraelings fire missiles at them for a while and then retreat. Thorvald receives a fatal wound and is buried in Vinland. His crew returns to Greenland.
Thorsteinn Eiríksson resolves to go to Vinland for the body of his brother. The same ship is prepared yet again and Thorsteinn sets sail with a crew of 25 and his wife Guthrith.
The expedition never reaches Vinland and after driving about the whole summer the ship ends up back at the coast of Greenland. During the winter, Thorsteinn falls ill and dies but speaks out of his dead body and tells the fortune of his wife Guthrith, predicting a long and prosperous life for her.
Erik the Red
Erik Thorvaldsson , known as Erik the Red , is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, he therefore...
.
Leif Ericson
Leif Ericson
Leif Ericson was a Norse explorer who is regarded as the first European to land in North America , nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus...
's voyage is discussed extensively in Brattahlíð
Brattahlíð
Brattahlíð was Erik the Red's estate in the Eastern Settlement Viking colony he established in south-western Greenland toward the end of the 10th century. The present settlement of Qassiarsuk, approximately southwest from the Narsarsuaq settlement, is now located in its place...
and Thorvald, Leif's brother, thinks that Vínland
Vinland
Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
was not explored enough. Leif offers him his ship for a new voyage there and he accepts. Setting sail with a crew of 30, Thorvald arrives in Vinland where Leif had previously made camp. They stay there for the winter and live off fishing.
Thorstein Eiriksson was the son of Erik the Red and played a part in many voyages in Scandinavia.
In the spring Thorvald goes exploring and sails to the west. They find no signs of human habitation except for one corn-shed. They return to their camp for the winter.
The next summer Thorvald explores to the east and north of their camp. At one point the explorers disembark in a pleasant forested area.
Thorvald then said: "Here it is beautiful, and here would I like to raise my dwelling." Then went they to the ship, and saw upon the sands within the promontory three elevations, and went thither, and saw there three skin boats (canoes), and three men under each. Then divided they their people, and caught them all, except one, who got away with his boat. They killed the other eight, and then went back to the cape, and looked round them, and saw some heights inside of the firth, and supposed that these were dwellings.
The natives, called Skraelings
Skræling
Skræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century...
(Old Norse
Greenlandic Norse
Greenlandic Norse is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in the Norse settlements of Greenland until their demise in the late 15th century...
: Skrælingar) by the Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
, return with a larger force and attack Thorvald and his men. The Skraelings fire missiles at them for a while and then retreat. Thorvald receives a fatal wound and is buried in Vinland. His crew returns to Greenland.
Thorsteinn Eiríksson resolves to go to Vinland for the body of his brother. The same ship is prepared yet again and Thorsteinn sets sail with a crew of 25 and his wife Guthrith.
The expedition never reaches Vinland and after driving about the whole summer the ship ends up back at the coast of Greenland. During the winter, Thorsteinn falls ill and dies but speaks out of his dead body and tells the fortune of his wife Guthrith, predicting a long and prosperous life for her.