Snorri Þorfinnsson
Encyclopedia
Snorri Thorfinnsson was the son of the explorer Þorfinnr Karlsefni and Guðríðr Eiríksdóttir. He is considered to be the first ethnic European born in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, and one of the most important figures regarding the Christianization of Iceland
Christianization of Iceland
Iceland converted to the Christian religion in 1000 AD. In Icelandic, this event is known as the kristnitaka .- Earliest observance :...
.
Name
Snorri is an Old Norse name derived from the word snerra, meaning "a fight." Þorfinnsson is a patronymicPatronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
, meaning "son of Þorfinnr", (see Icelandic naming conventions). Snorri was named for his great-grandfather, Snorri Þórðarson (sometimes mentioned as Þorbrandsson).
Family
There is speculation about the birthdate of Snorri Thorfinnsson. Birth years such as 1005, 1009, and 1012 have been postulated, but all agree that he was born between 1005 and 1013. According to the Vinland sagasVinland sagas
The Vinland Sagas are two Icelandic documents, The Saga of the Greenlanders and The Saga of Eric the Red, ....
, when Snorri was 3 years old, his family left Vinland
Vinland
Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
because of hostilities with Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s (called by the settlers Skræling
Skræling
Skræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century...
s, which is the old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
equivalent of the English term "wretches"). The family returned to the Glaumbær farm in Seyluhreppur.
Snorri Thorfinnsson had two children; a daughter named Hallfrid, and a son named Thorgeir. Hallfrid was the mother of Thorlak Runolfsson, bishop of Skalholt
Skálholt
Skálholt is an historical site situated in the south of Iceland at the river Hvítá.-History:Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. From 1056 until 1785, it was one of Iceland's two episcopal sees, along with Hólar, making it a cultural and political...
in the south of Iceland. One of the descendants of Snorri's brother Thorbjorn, Bjorn Gilsson, was also a bishop of Hólar
Hólar
Hólar is a small community located in the Skagafjörður district and situated in northern Iceland.-Location:Hólar is located in the Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital at Reykjavík. Hólar has a population of around 100...
. Thorgeir was the father of Yngvild who was the mother of Brand Sæmundarsson, bishop of Hólar. The sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen was a Danish-Icelandic sculptor of international fame, who spent most of his life in Italy . Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen into a Danish/Icelandic family of humble means, and was accepted to the Royal Academy of Arts when he was eleven years old...
claimed descent from Snorri Thorfinnsson in the 19th century.
Christianization of Iceland
In the 13th century texts Snorri Thorfinnsson and Snorri Thorrgrimsson are considered the two main figures responsible for the early Christianisation of Iceland. Consequently they were portrayed by various writers of the 13th and 14th century as "Christian chieftain models". According to Grœnlendinga sagaGrœnlendinga saga
The Grœnlendinga saga is an Icelandic saga. Along with Eiríks saga rauða it is one of the two main literary sources of information for the Norse exploration of North America. It relates the colonization of Greenland by Erik the Red and his followers...
, Snorri had built the first church of Glaumbaer, which would later increase Christian influence in the area. His descendants became the first bishops of Iceland, and published the first Christian Code of Iceland.
Legacy
- Snorri Thorfinnsson was purported to be born in VinlandVinlandVinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
,(Newfoundland), making him the first European to be born in North America. About 560 years would pass until the next birth of a child of European descent in America, Martín de ArgüellesMartin de ArguellesMartín de Argüelles, Jr. was the first known child of European descent born in what is now the continental United States. His birthplace in St. Augustine, Florida marks the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city anywhere in the continental United States.-Birth:Martín was born in 1566...
, who was born in the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine, FloridaSt. Augustine, FloridaSt. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. - In 2002 American archaeologistsArchaeologyArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
discovered the remains of a thousand-year-old longhouseLong houseA longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America....
located on Iceland's northern coast. It is believed that it was Snorri Thorfinnsson's farmhouse. The longhouse was found near the Glaumbaer Folk Museum, outside the coastal village of SaudarkrokurSauðárkrókurSauðárkrókur is a town in Skagafjörður in northern Iceland and a part of the municipality of Skagafjörður.Sauðárkrókur is the largest town in Northwest Iceland and the second-largest town on the north coast of Iceland, with a population of 2,635. It is the centre for commerce and services in the...
. The museum was once thought to have been built on the site of Snorri's farmhouse. According to archaeologists it was "a classic German fortress longhouse like the Great Hall of BeowulfBeowulfBeowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
".