Leif Erikson

In the 14th episode of 200 Norwegian, we tell the story of Leif Erikson—the first European to reach North America—and how his place in U.S. history was revived a thousand years later. We trace Helge Ingstad’s 1960 search to L’Anse aux Meadows, where turf-house ruins and later carbon dating confirmed a Viking-age settlement, bringing the sagas of Vinland out of myth and into evidence. Along the way, we ask why Columbus became a household name while Leif lingered in the footnotes, and what the sagas (and their contradictions) really say about Helluland, Markland, and Vinland. Our guest is Norwegian journalist and author Knut Lindh—who met Ingstad—and helps unpack how discovery, memory, and identity shape the Leif Erikson story.