Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson was an Icelandic explorer. Around the year 1010, he followed Leif Eriksson's route to Vinland in a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there with his wife Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir and their followers.
Nickname
The byname Karlsefni means "makings of a man" according to the preface of Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson, although the Cleasby-Vigfusson dictionary glosses it as "a thorough man", elaborated elsewhere as a "real man", a "sterling man".
History
Thorfinn's expeditions are documented in the Grœnlendinga saga ("Saga of the Greenlanders" henceforth Grl.) and Eiríks saga rauða ("Saga of Eirik the Red" Henceforth Eir.), which together are referred to as "The Vinland Sagas." The two sources differ significantly in their details (see Saga sources below).
Greenland
In Greenland, Thorfinn met and married Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, widow of Thorstein Eiriksson.
Vinland
According to Grl., Thorfinn decided to go to Vínland at the insistence of his wife Gudrid. Leif agreed to lend the houses he built in Vinland, but was unwilling to make a free gift of it.
In Vinland, Gudrid bore Thorfinn a boy, Snorri, who was the first child of European descent known to have been born in the New World. Many Icelanders trace their roots to Snorri. The exact location of Thorfinn's colony is unknown, though it may have been the Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Excavations of Thorfinn's home in Greenland in 1930 revealed a deposit of anthracite coal identified as having originated in the vicinity of Rhode Island.
The relatively few women among so many men caused internal tension within the settlement, and inability to cooperate caused abandonment of the settlement in the summer of 1006. Thorfinn reached Greenland safely, but many of the settlers drowned when their ship was wrecked in the Irish Sea.
Saga sources
It has been pointed out that Eiríks saga rauða (Eir.) distorts the facts by giving undue credit to Thorfinn.
For instance, it denies that Thorvald Eiriksson ever led his own voyage to reach Vinland (as Grl. records), even before Thorfinn. Although Thorvald had met his death by Native American arrows in Vinland before Karlsefni embarked, Eir. postponed Thorvald's death so he can be made to accompany Karlsefni to Vinland, ultimately to suffer a more fantastical death from a shot fired by a Uniped. Eir. shifts over to Karlsefni the credit for naming numerous geographic features, from Helluland and Markland to Kjalarnes "Keel Ness"<!-- to Furdustrandir "Marvel Strands"-->, though "this flatly contradicts the Grœnlendinga saga and is assuredly wrong". Helluland (Baffin Island) and Markland were named by Leif; Kjalarness was where Thorvald had wrecked his ship, and the keel was left to stand as a monument, and not an anonymous shipwreck as Eir. puts it.
Saga of the Greenlanders
According to the Grœnlendinga saga, Thorfinn Karlsefni's expedition commenced after his marriage to Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir<!--Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir-->. This marriage to Gudrid was predicted earlier in the saga by Gudrid's first husband Thorstein Eriksson, upon his death. The expedition brought women and livestock, signifying that they planned on being settled in the area for a while. Along the voyage, they ate a beached whale. They also cut timber, harvested grapes, and caught fish and game. A bull they brought frightened the native people (Skraelings). They tried to appease the natives by offering milk, but the natives took ill and battles commenced. Gudrid gave birth to Thorfinn's son Snorri before they headed back to Greenland.
Eirik the Red's Saga
Eirik the Red's Saga depicts Thorfinn Karlsefni as a successful merchant from Reynines, Skagafjord, in the north of Iceland. Karlsefni embarks on a trading expedition with 40 men, and arrive at Brattahlid, Greenland where they are hosted by Eirik the Red. Karlsefni marries Gudrid that winter. Karlsefni departs with three ships and 140 men in search of Vinland. Karlsefni's expedition winter on a piece of land, where two scouting slaves found grapes and wild grain. Eating a beached whale causes illness, as well as a rift. Thorhall's group declared the whale to be a boon from Thor, offending the Christian members and they part ways.
Karlsefni's expedition discovers further south a bountiful area full of wheat, fish, and game. They attempt contact with the natives who travel in hide-covered boats. The natives leave and the Greenlanders winter there, where their livestock flourish. The following spring, the expedition reencounters the natives and engages in trade with them, until a bull breaks free and frightens away the natives. The natives return after three weeks with hostile intent, a skirmish ensues, and the Greenlanders attempt as best they can to flee into the forest. Karlsefni and his men are saved by Freydis, who scares the natives off by slapping her bare breast with a sword taken from one of the fallen Greenlanders.
The expedition heads back north, and Karlsefni searches for Thorhall in vain. Karlsefni's men encounter the one-legged creature that shoots Thorvald Eiriksson dead with an arrow. Karlsefni's son Snorri is born in the New World. The group eventually decides to return home, and as they pass Markland, they encounter five Skraelings (three adults and two children). The adult Skraelings disappear into the earth, while the children are taken by Karlsefni to Greenland, where they are taught to speak Norse and are baptized. After spending time in Greenland, Karlsefni and Gudrid return <!--for good--> to Karlsefni's farm at Reynines, in Iceland.