Archeologists excavating relics found at L'Anse Aux Meadows on the northern Newfoundland peninsula in 1968 proved beyond question that the first Europeans on North America had been Norwegian Vikings. The mighty Viking, Eirik the Red,discovered Greenland in 982 A.D.. In 1000 A.D., his son, Leiv Eiriksson led a crew of 35 viking warriors from Brattalid, Greenland down the eastern coast of Baffin Island and Labrador to Newfoundland. Leiv would name this land Vinland (Newfoundland). He named the settlement built at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Leifsbudfir.
There were four recorded expeditions to Vinland following Leiv's return to Greenland. Members of each expedition kept their weapons close at hand especially when outside Leifsbudfir. The Sraelings (the Viking's name given to the Eskimos and native Indians) resembled men, but acted in a strange and suspicious way, often with deadly force. The Skraelings outnumbered the Vikings which eventually caused the Vikings withdrawal from Vinland.
The primary source of material for this concise book came from the Groenlendinga Saga, written 200 years after the events and later translated from the old Norse language.
