Mon, 20 Apr 2026 22:54:55 +0000

Shocking Secrets of Thorfinn Karlsefni Unveiled: Did He Discover America First? For centuries, history books have claimed Leif Erikson as the first European to reach North America around the year 1000—long before Columbus set sail in 1492. But what about one of Leif’s lesser-known companions, Thorfinn Karlsefni? A growing body of scholarship and recent archaeological findings are raising shocking secrets that challenge the traditional narrative: Was Thorfinn Karlsefni really the first European to cross the Atlantic? ### Who Was Thorfinn Karlsefni? Thorfinn Karlsefni—often spelled Karlsefni—was a Norse explorer and trader from Iceland who led one of the most ambitious attempts to establish a permanent settlement in Vinland (a Norse term for parts of North America’s Atlantic coast). His journey, recorded primarily in the Icelandic sagas The Saga of the Greenlanders and Erik the Red’s Saga, reveals a dramatic tale of discovery, conflict, and cultural exchange.