Groenlendinga saga

Icelandic saga

Also known as: “Grænlendinga saga”

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June 17, 2026

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The Grænlendinga Saga (Saga of the Greenlanders) is a medieval Icelandic text that recounts the Norse exploration and settlement of Greenland. It details the voyages and experiences of figures like Erik the Red, who founded the first European settlement in Greenland around 985 CE, and his son, Leif Erikson, who is credited with reaching North America. The saga provides insights into the challenges and daily life of these early settlers, as well as their interactions with the land and its indigenous peoples. It is a key source for understanding the Viking Age expansion into the North Atlantic.1

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Leif Erikson
According to the Grænlendinga saga (“Saga of the Greenlanders”) in the Flateyjarbók (“Book of the Flat Islands”), considered by many scholars to be more reliable in some aspects than Eiríks saga rauða, Leif learned of the new land to the west from the Icelander Bjarni Herjólfsson, who had…
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According to the Grænlendinga saga (“Saga of the Greenlanders”) in the Flateyjarbók (“Book of the Flat Islands”), considered by many scholars to be more reliable in some aspects than Eiríks saga rauða, Leif learned of the new land to the west from the Icelander Bjarni Herjólfsson, who had…
Read More

Viking
The western seas, Vinland, and Ireland
Two Norse sagas—Grænlendinga saga (“Saga of the Greenlanders”) and Eiríks saga rauða (“Erik the Red’s Saga”)—offer somewhat different accounts of the first Viking visits to North America, which they called Vinland (land of wild grapes). According to the Grænlendinga saga, the first European to sight mainland North…
Read More
Two Norse sagas—Grænlendinga saga (“Saga of the Greenlanders”) and Eiríks saga rauða (“Erik the Red’s Saga”)—offer somewhat different accounts of the first Viking visits to North America, which they called Vinland (land of wild grapes). According to the Grænlendinga saga, the first European to sight mainland North…
Read More