As you may know, Leifur Eiriksson or Leif Erikson was the first European to discover America. The website www.islendingabok.is (Book of Icelanders) allows me to look up my relation to all Icelanders – living and dead. So I found out how we are related. Our common ancestors Úlfur and Björg where obviously born in Norway, since they were born around 850 and Iceland was found in 874 and settled in the years after.
For many, Leif Erikson is almost a mystical legend than a real person! But here he is and I have followed his line as his great nephew around 25 generations back! Yeah – it’s amazing how close to these times a family tree like this makes us feel 
Erik the Red was a Norwegian who fled high taxes and came to Iceland. Erik The Red’s real Icelandic name was Eiríkur “rauði” Þorvaldsson. Living from around 920 – 1006. He moved to Greenland in 986 and built his farm “Brattahlíð”. This was written in the book “Landnáma” (Book of Settlers).
Everyone in Iceland knows that his son Leif was the first man from Europe to go to America. There has been some controversy about the nationality of Leif the lucky. Leif was born in Iceland and therefor Icelandic.
Check out these blogs about the legendary Leif Ericson:
Thee Mighty Saga of Explorer Learning
Are You Smarter Than a 6th Grader?
Sagas of the Greenlanders