EXPLORERS from Iceland

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Icelander Explorers of all time. This list of famous Icelander Explorers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Leif Erikson (970 - 1020)

With an HPI of 74.54, Leif Erikson is the most famous Icelander Explorer.  His biography has been translated into 96 different languages on wikipedia.

Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (c. 970s – c. 1018 to 1025), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According to the sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which is usually interpreted as being coastal North America. There is ongoing speculation that the settlement made by Leif and his crew corresponds to the remains of a Norse settlement found in Newfoundland, Canada, called L'Anse aux Meadows, which was occupied approximately 1,000 years ago. Leif's place of birth is unknown, although it is assumed to have been in Iceland. His father, Erik the Red, founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland, where Leif was later raised. Following his voyage to Vinland and the subsequent death of his father, Leif became chief of the Greenland settlement. He had two known sons: Thorgils, born in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as Greenland’s chieftain.

2. Bjarni Herjólfsson (966 - 1000)

With an HPI of 61.73, Bjarni Herjólfsson is the 2nd most famous Icelander Explorer.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Bjarni Herjólfsson (fl. 10th century) was a Norse-Icelandic explorer who is believed to be the first known European discoverer of the mainland of the Americas, which he sighted in 986.

3. Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir (1000 - 1100)

With an HPI of 58.00, Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir is the 3rd most famous Icelander Explorer.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir (Old Norse: Guðríðr víðfǫrla Þorbjarnardóttir [ˈɡuðˌfriːðr ˈwiːðˌfɔrlɑ ˈθorˌbjɑrnɑrˌdoːtːer]; Modern Icelandic: Guðríður víðförla Þorbjarnardóttir [ˈkvʏðˌriːðʏr ˈviðˌfœ(r)tla ˈθɔrˌpja(r)tnarˌtouhtɪr̥]; born possibly around 980–1019) was an Icelandic explorer, born at Laugarbrekka in Snæfellsnes, Iceland. She appears in the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, known collectively as the Vinland sagas. She and her husband Þorfinnur Karlsefni led an expedition to Vinland where their son Snorri Þorfinnsson was born, the first known European birth in the Americas (outside of Greenland). In Iceland, Gudrid is known by her byname víðförla (lit. wide-fared or far-travelled).

4. Thorvald Eiriksson (972 - 1006)

With an HPI of 52.60, Thorvald Eiriksson is the 4th most famous Icelander Explorer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Thorvald Eiriksson (Old Norse: Þórvaldr Eiríksson [ˈθoːrˌwɑldr ˈɛiˌriːksˌson]; Modern Icelandic: Þorvaldur Eiríksson [ˈθɔrˌvaltʏr ˈeiːˌriksˌsɔːn]) was the son of Erik the Red and brother of Leif Erikson. The only Medieval Period source material available regarding Thorvald Eiriksson are the two Vinland sagas; the Greenland Saga and the Saga of Erik the Red. Although differing in various detail, according to both sagas Thorvald was part of an expedition for the exploration of Vinland and became the first European to die in North America outside of Greenland. The Greenland Saga describes a voyage made by Bjarni Herjolfsson, and the subsequent voyages of Leif Eriksson, his brother Thorvald Eiriksson, his sister Freydís Eiríksdóttir, and the Icelandic merchant Thorfinn Karlsefni. The Saga describes hostilities with Skrælings, the Norse term for the native peoples they met in the lands visited south and west of Greenland which they called Vinland and Markland. The Saga of Erik the Red tells the story as a single expedition led by Thorfinn Karlsefni. The voyage of Thorvald Eriksson is told here as part of the Karlsefni expedition.