Leif Eriksson: BACKGROUND
Leif Eriksson was actually born in Iceland, not Scandinavia, during approximately 980AD to1025AD. His father was the Viking Erik the Red who was the first person to settle in Greenland. Eriksson was the middle of three children and he had numerous ways of spelling his name including Ericson and Ericsson.
Because Vikings weren't allowed to grow up with their family until they were classed as a 'man', which was when they turned 12 years old, at the age of 8 Eriksson was sent to live with a German man named Thyrker who had a massive influence on his life. Throughout four years, Thyrker taught Eriksson how to read and write, until he was mature enough to return to his family.
Because Vikings weren't allowed to grow up with their family until they were classed as a 'man', which was when they turned 12 years old, at the age of 8 Eriksson was sent to live with a German man named Thyrker who had a massive influence on his life. Throughout four years, Thyrker taught Eriksson how to read and write, until he was mature enough to return to his family.
INTERESTING FACT: The Vikings government was called a 'Thing!'
When Eriksson's father; Erik the Red, took him to the Thing close to the age of 12, Erik got into a terrible fight that lead to him actually killing the man. For this, Erik the Red got banished from Iceland for 4 years, so he took his family, including Leif Eriksson, to Greenland where Leif grew up for the majority of his life.
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