Leif the Lucky (Leifr inn heppni Eiriksson). Born tenth century; died 11th century. Icelandic Viking, son of Eric the Red.

According to the Icelandic Tale of the Greenlanders, Leif Ericson crossed the Atlantic Ocean about the year 1000 and discovered the territories of Helluland, Markland, and Vinland, where he spent the winter. Historians identify Helluland with Baffin Island, Markland with Labrador or Newfoundland, and Vinland with Newfoundland, the Nova Scotia peninsula, or the coast of the Gulf of Maine.