Vinland
The Norse name for a part of coastal North America, explored around AD 1000.
Last updated
The name first appears in written records around 1075 in Adam of Bremen's work, which states grapevines grew wild there.[1][2] Archaeological evidence of Norse settlement was confirmed in 1960 with the discovery of buildings at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland.[3] Around AD 1000, Leif Erikson reached a coastal area of North America that was called Vinland, and this landing occurred almost five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot.[4][5]
Last updated 2026-10-05 from the source article.
Quick Facts
- Also known as
- Vineland, Winland
- Explored by
- Leif Erikson (c. AD 1000)
- Field
- Historical region
- Known for
- Pre-Columbian Norse exploration of North America
Facts from the source article.
What happened
Leif Erikson landed in Vinland around AD 1000, according to the Vinland sagas.[5][6] In 1121, Icelandic bishop Eric Gnupsson "went to seek Wineland," as recorded in multiple Icelandic annals.[7][8] The Saga of Erik the Red states that Thorfinn Karlsefni's expedition included either 140 or 160 individuals.[9]
What the cited sources add
The "Historia Norwegiae" does not directly name Vinland but describes Greenland extending almost to African islands.[10] Icelandic texts from around the same time placed Helluland, Markland, and Vinland in correct geographical sequence west of Greenland.[11] The earliest map of Vinland was drawn by Sigurd Stefansson around 1570, placing it at Chesapeake Bay, St. Lawrence, or Cape Cod Bay.[12]
References
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Where is Vinland?", www.canadianmysteries.ca (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Where is Vinland?", www.canadianmysteries.ca. facts only, no text reused. canadianmysteries.ca
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "L'Anse aux Meadows", L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada, 2018; Ingstad, Helge; Ingstad, Anne Stine (2001). The Viking Discovery of America: The Excavation of a Norse Settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Checkmark (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Laurence Marcellus Larson in Canute the Great: 995 (circ.)-1035 and the Rise of Danish Imperialism During the Viking Age, New York: Putnam, 1912 p. 17; Elizabeth Janeway in The Vikings, New York, Random House, 1951 throughout; Danver, "Popular Controversies in World History: Investigating History's Intriguing Questions", ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 2 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: William C. Wonders, "Canada's Changing North", McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2003, p. 28–29 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Danver, "Popular Controversies in World History: Investigating History's Intriguing Questions", ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 2 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: chronicle entries translated in A.M. Reeves et al. The Norse Discovery of America (1906) via sacred-texts.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- chronicle entries translated in A.M. Reeves et al. The Norse Discovery of America (1906) via sacred-texts.com. facts only, no text reused. sacred-texts.com
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vinland and Ultima Thule. John Th. Honti. Modern Language Notes Vol. 54, No. 3 (Mar., 1939), pp. 159-172 Jstor.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Historia Norwegiae" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: translations in: B.F. de Costa, Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen , Albany NY, Munsell, 1890 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vinland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Merrill, William Stetson. "The Vinland Problem through Four Centuries." The Catholic Historical Review 21, no. 1 (April 1935):26.JSTOR. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Vinland (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in The Viking Age
Related in The Viking Age
Links follow this subject's own source article.
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Vinland (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced