Explorers Podcast

A podcast examining the lives, explorations and discoveries of history's greatest explorers

Erik the Red and Leif Erikson

The podcast covers the lives and explorations of the father and son team of Erik the Red and Leif Erikson, who represent the most famous Viking explorers.

Episodes

Erik the Red and Leif Erikson
Fleeing legal issues in Iceland, Erik the Red would found the Greenland colony in the 980s. His son, Leif would become the first European to set foot on the North American continent – as well as establish a settlement.

Download this episode or listen online.

Maps

This map gives an idea of the locations of various places in the Viking world – and the routes taken by Erik the Red and Leif Erikson. Map and images source: Wikipedia.

Select Resources

I used many sources, but some of the more recent books included Neil Oliver’s The Vikings: A New History as well as Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, edited by William F. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth Ward.

For the Icelandic Sagas, the Icelandic Saga Database was awesome. It’s all free – so enjoy the fun.

Wikipedia has a lot of great information about our podcast: