<Tr> <Th> Children </Th> <Td> Thorgils, Thorkell </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Relatives </Th> <Td> Erik the Red (father), Þjóðhildur (mother), Thorvald, Thorstein and Freydís (siblings) </Td> </Tr> <P> Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson (c. 970--c. 1020) was a Norse explorer from Iceland . He was the first known European to have set foot on continental North America (excluding Greenland), before Christopher Columbus . According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern - day Canada . Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vinland may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station . </P> <P> Leif was the son of Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse settlement in Greenland and of Thjodhild (Þjóðhildur), both of Norwegian origin . His place of birth is not known, but he is assumed to have been born in Iceland, which had recently been colonized by Norsemen mainly from Norway . He grew up in the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement in Greenland . Leif had two known sons: Thorgils, born to noblewoman Thorgunna in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement . </P>

Who was the first european to set foot on north america