He had spent time in Norway before heading for Greenland and now he wished for another thrilling voyage into the unknown. He heard of Bjarni’s epic voyage and bought his ship off him, determined to find out more about the unexplored lands in the west. It was on Bjarni’s return that Leif Eriksson enters the story. As far as we know, Bjarni never set eyes on North America – for it is now generally thought this is what he caught a glimpse of – again. Rather than putting ashore to find out more, he ordered the ship to turn around and head for Greenland – or where they thought Greenland to be. We think of them of being spurred on by a spirit of adventure, an everlasting quest for the unknown. To some Vikings this might have been exactly the kind of excitement that they were searching for. Unlike Greenland, it was carpeted in thick forests and there were no glaciers in sight. Any euphoria they felt was short-lived, for it quickly became apparent that this was a land no one from Europe had ever seen before. They lost track of time, meandering around aimlessly in the mist without a clue where they were.Īt last the fog lifted and they caught sight of land. Then the curse of all mariners, fog, descended on them. The first issue was that there was insufficient wind for the ship to make good speed. Carl Rasmussen’s painting depicting the Viking voyages to Greenland.
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