The term Viking comes from the Old Norse word vikingr which means pirate or raider. It could also have come from the word vika which means "to go off." Of all the Vikings Leif Ericson is the most famous as he was the explorer credited with discovering North America and establishing a land base four hundred years before Christopher Columbus. The world knows this site as L'Anse aux Meadows. In 1976 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scenic and Cultural Organization) declared the site of Ericson's landfall a world historic site to be preserved and protected for all time.

Leif Ericson was the son of Eric the Red who settled Greenland. Leif became an explorer like his father and, according to Icelandic Sagas, he landed at places called Helluland, Markland and Vinland one-thousand years ago. Today these places are named Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland. Leif Ericson, also spelled Ericsson, Eiriksson or Erikson, was born in the vear 975 and died in 1020.

Leif Ericson did not settle in North America at Vinland. He only wintered there. It was Thorfinn Karlsefni, another Icelandic explorer who was the first to settle a colony at Vinland. The colony consisted of 160 men and only five women. Karlsefni's son, Snorri, was the first European born in North America. It is widely accepted among anthropologists that the remains at L' Anse aux Meadows is that of Karlsefni~s colony and family.

On the one-thousandth anniversary of Ericson's famous landfall the ocean voyage is being retraced. A Viking longship called Julslendingur will travel from Iceland to Labrador and down the coast of Newfoundland. It will stop along the way at several port of calls where the crew, locals and tourists will take part in celebrations and festivals. This ship, crewed with modem-day Vikings and captained by a direct descendant of Leif Ericson, will arrive at L'Anse aux Meadows on July 28, 2000 and will stay in Newfoundland for 25 days.

Enjoy the Summer!