Leif the Lucky

There is no statue of Eric the Red, his father, in Iceland. Maybe because he was borne in Norway, came to Iceland, had his son, Leif, broke the law and fled to Greenland. People new about some land in the west, but Eric was the first one to go there. He came back after he had done his time as an outlaw and tricked a lot of people to go with him back to Greenland. He had 35 ships (really a lot) but only 14 made it to Greenland. So if there were 24 to 35 people on each ship or between 840 to 1225 total, only 336 to 490 made it all the way.

Leif was called Lucky because he saved seamen from a skerry which they had broken their ship on. He had heard of Vinland (North America) from Bjarni Herjolfsson who vent there but didn't land so Leif bought his ship, found the land and stayed there for three years. He had to fight the American Indians among other things... a short version here and of cause in The saga of the Greenlanders (Grænlendingasaga). Icelanders had the good sense to loose Vinland again.

This statue is in front of Hallgrimskirkja - which is strange as he was not a Christian. AND A FEW words why there are so little bird shit dropping on the statues in Reykjavik - they got rid of all the doves.