The Norse Discovery of America

Like most Scandinavian sagas the question regarding their accuracy centers on an examination of what part of the saga is based on historical fact and what part is a fanciful retelling. A thorough examination of the Vinland Sagas by scholars seems to support the claim that Norse explorers discovered the New World hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus. The so-called Vinland Sagas consist of two independently written sagas, The Saga of Erik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders. Preserved in several 14th and 15th century manuscripts, believed to be copies of manuscripts originally penned sometime in the 13th century, the Vinland Sagas, describe the voyages of Erik the Red and his son Leif Erikson from Norway to Greenland sometime near the end of the 10th century or beginning of the 11th century. This claim is additional supported by contemporary Papal records and the recent archeological discovery of an early 11th century Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada. The Norse Discovery of America includes a compilation of both these sagas and other important related documents along with extensive scholarly analysis. Students of the history of the discovery of the New World will find this work an invaluable resource on the subject. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.