The Viking Discovery of America
Christopher Columbus is generally regarded as the first discoverer of America. However, he was not the first man who set foot on the shore of the New World. The Vikings had already explored the northern part of America 500 years before Columbus got there. Actually, America was the last step of their...
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| Dokumentumtípus: | Szakdolgozat |
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1999
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| Online Access: | http://diploma.bibl.u-szeged.hu/76976 |
| Tartalmi kivonat: | Christopher Columbus is generally regarded as the first discoverer of America. However, he was not the first man who set foot on the shore of the New World. The Vikings had already explored the northern part of America 500 years before Columbus got there. Actually, America was the last step of their colonial expedition which involved the settling in Iceland and Greenland. The first sighting of the American coasts is claimed to a merchant, Bjarni Herjólfsson who found a new and unknown land accidentally but he was not interested in his discovery. A few years spent until another Norse, Leif Eiriksson aimed the land on purpose and explored the coasts of North America. Although, the first permanent Viking settlement is connected to Thorfinn Karlsefni, who had to give up his colony because of the natives' hostile behavior. There were further trials to establish settlements on the newly found world but all of them were failures. Towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of this century a great interest awoke towards the Norse discovery of America. Many people started to search for Viking relics which often proved to be forgeries. The first real evidences came to light after the excavations of Helge Ingstad, who discovered a Norse site in L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland and proved that the Vikings visited America around AD 1000. Nowadays, Leif Eiriksson and his Vikings are vital parts of the American history. In addition, 9th October was proclaimed as Leif Eiriksson's day in America when everybody remembers the first European discoverer of America. |
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