Family Background: The Bloodline of Exploration
Freydís was born into one of the most famous families in Norse history. Her father, Erik the Red, was the founder of the first Norse settlements in Greenland, and her brother, Leif Erikson, is credited with discovering North America, particularly the area he named Vinland, which corresponds to present-day Newfoundland. The family’s legacy was one of exploration, conquest, and unyielding bravery.
Erik the Red’s voyages to Greenland earned him the nickname "Erik the Red" because of his fiery temper and his red hair, but also due to the landscapes he encountered on his journeys. Freydís, born into this environment of exploration and colonization, grew up in a world where voyages to uncharted lands were part of everyday life.
The Vinland Expedition: Freydís’s Role in the New World
One of the most significant episodes in Freydís’s life comes from the saga of The Vinland Saga, which describes her journey to Vinland. Vinland, as recorded in the sagas, was a land to the west of Greenland and North America that Leif Erikson and his crew discovered in the early 11th century. Leif’s discovery of Vinland, however, did not mark the end of the Viking exploration of the New World.
In the saga The Saga of the Greenlanders, Freydís is presented as a powerful and audacious figure. She accompanied her brother Leif on an expedition to Vinland, but she is perhaps best known for her later role in another voyage, in which she led an expedition to Vinland alongside her husband, Thorvard. This voyage was more contentious and disastrous than Leif’s initial discovery.
During the expedition, Freydís and her crew encountered hostility from the indigenous peoples of Vinland, whom they described as "skraelings" in the sagas. Tensions between the Norse settlers and the native population led to violence. Freydís’s actions during this conflict are what make her one of the most formidable figures in Viking history. According to the saga, she took up arms and fought fiercely against the indigenous warriors, even when her companions fled in fear. Freydís's bravery during the battle earned her the respect of her fellow Vikings, but the saga also paints her in a darker light, with her acts of cruelty towards the other Norse settlers. shutdown123