Markland in the context of "Helluland"

Vinland, Vineland, or Winland (Old Norse: Vínland hit góða, lit. 'Vinland the Good') was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. The name appears in the Vinland Sagas and describes a land beyond Greenland, Helluland, and Markland. Much of the geographical content of the sagas corresponds to present-day knowledge of transatlantic travel and North America.

In 1960, archaeological evidence of the only known Norse site in North America, L'Anse aux Meadows, was found on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland. Before the discovery of archaeological evidence, Vinland was known only from the sagas and medieval historiography. The 1960 discovery further proved the pre-Columbian Norse exploration of mainland North America. Archaeologists found butternuts at L'Anse aux Meadows, which indicates voyages into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence as far as northeastern New Brunswick. L'Anse aux Meadows has been hypothesized to be the camp Straumfjörð mentioned in the Saga of Erik the Red.

Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries after the dwindling of sporadic Viking trade with Markland, a regular and lasting transatlantic trade route was established in 1566 with the Spanish West Indies fleets, following the voyages of Christopher Columbus.

The Saga of Erik the Red, in Old Norse: Eiríks saga rauða (listen), is an Icelandic saga on the Norse exploration of North America. The original saga is thought to have been written in the 13th century. It is preserved in somewhat different versions in two manuscripts: Hauksbók (14th century) and Skálholtsbók (15th century).

Despite its title, the saga mainly chronicles the life and expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his wife Gudrid, also recounted in the Saga of the Greenlanders. For this reason it was formerly also called Þorfinns saga karlsefnis; Árni Magnússon wrote that title in the blank space at the top of the saga in Hauksbók. It also details the events that led to the banishment of Erik the Red to Greenland and the preaching of Christianity by his son Leif Erikson as well as his discovery of Vinland after his longship was blown off course.

Grœnlendinga saga (Old Norse pronunciation: [ˈgrøːnˌlendingɑ ˈsɑɣɑ]; Modern Icelandic: Grænlendinga saga, Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈkrainˌlɛntinka ˈsaːɣa] , literally Saga of the Greenlanders), is one of the sagas of Icelanders. Like the Saga of Erik the Red, it is one of the two main sources on the Norse colonization of North America. The saga recounts events that purportedly happened around 1000 and is preserved only in the late 14th century Flateyjarbók manuscript.

The Saga of the Greenlanders starts with Erik the Red, who leaves Norway and colonizes Greenland. It then relates six expeditions to North America, led respectively by Bjarni Herjolfsson, Leif Erikson, Thorvald Eriksson, Thorstein Eriksson and his wife Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, Thorfinn Karlsefni, and Freydís Eiríksdóttir. Bjarni and his crew discover three lands by chance during their voyage to Greenland, but they never set foot on the lands themselves. Leif learns about Bjarni's encounters and, after buying Bjarni's ship, sails to the lands to explore them. During his adventures, Leif names the three lands Helluland, Markland, and Vinland. Later, Thorvald, Leif's brother, sets sail to Vinland and lives there until he gets killed by the natives in a combat. Thorstein and Gudrid attempt to travel to Vinland but eventually fail, and thereafter Thorstein dies of an illness. Karlsefni, who then marries Gudrid, journeys to Vinland and stays there until the following spring. The final expedition is made by Freydís, who sails to Vinland with the brothers Helgi and Finnbogi but eventually slaughters their crew and returns to Greenland.