How did the Vikings reach North America?

The Norse reached North America by island-hopping west across the North Atlantic. They settled Iceland in the late ninth century and Greenland in the tenth, then sailed from Greenland to the coast of what is now Canada. The only confirmed Norse site in the Americas is L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, which tree-ring evidence dates to AD 1021, about 500 years before Columbus. [1] [2] [3]

According to the [rom.on.ca](https://www.rom.on.ca/magazine/vikings-canada) account, the arrival in Canada was the end of decades of western expansion driven by a thirst for land and profit. Settlement of Iceland began in the late ninth century and of Greenland in the tenth. From Greenland, expeditions often sailed up the west coast, across the Labrador Current to Baffin Island, and then south along Labrador. [1]

The sagas name three lands along this route. Helluland, probably Baffin Island, was a country of flat stones. Markland, probably Labrador, was forested. Vinland, the land of wild vines, came next. [nationalgeographic.com](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/vikings-saga-first-nations-canada-north-america) notes that Vinland's location is never entirely clear, and that it more likely lay farther west or south than Newfoundland. [4]

Two Icelandic texts, the Saga of the Greenlanders and the Saga of Erik the Red, contain the whole narrative of the voyages. They were written down hundreds of years after the events, mostly in the 13th century. Scholars still disagree on whether they preserve genuine memories or are closer to historical fiction. They also disagree on the date of the Saga of the Greenlanders, with some arguing for the early 1200s and others for the 14th century. [4]

The two sagas contradict each other on who first sighted land, who first sailed there, and how many voyages took place. In the Greenlanders' version, Bjarni Herjolfsson sights the land but does not go ashore. Leif Eriksson then follows and founds a settlement called Leif's houses. Later voyages include those of Thorvald, Thorfinn Karlsefni and Freydis. The ROM account says Bjarni's landfall was accidental, when he was sailing from Iceland to Greenland. [4] [1]

Helge Ingstad announced L'Anse aux Meadows in 1961, and Anne Stine Ingstad's excavations showed Norse occupation just over 1,000 years ago. The site has the footprints of eight main structures. A 2021 study in Nature used a cosmic-ray radiocarbon spike in AD 993 to date cut wood from three trees to AD 1021. It called this the only secure calendar date for Europeans across the Atlantic before Columbus. [1] [2]

Most scholars think the site was a base camp for resting, resupplying and preparing for winter, with expeditions setting out in spring and summer to look for timber and trade goods. It was not a self-sustaining colony. National Geographic suggests the Norse may have used more than one place. One humanities-center source describes a seasonal camp kept for about three years. [4] [1] [5]