Vinland is the name early Scandinavian explorers gave to a region on the east coast of North America. Many historians believe that Norwegian Vikings visited this coastal area almost 500 years before the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus sailed to America in 1492. Some historians believe Vinland was probably in the region of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Other historians believe it was on the Canadian island of Newfoundland. In 1961, archaeologists found the remains of a Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows, near St. Lunaire, at the northern tip of the island.
Early Norse sagas (stories of heroic deeds) tell of the explorers’ voyages. Many historians do not consider these stories as completely reliable. These tales describe a fertile land with a mild climate. The Norse called the region Vinland (also spelled Vineland or Wineland) because of the grapes that grew there or because it was a fine land of meadows. The sagas tell that Leif Eriksson, (also spelled Ericson, Ericsson, or Eiriksson), son of Erik the Red, wintered in Vinland about A.D. 1000. Historians believe the Norsemen had to abandon Vinland because they could not defend their settlements against hostile American Indians.
