A fantastic myth has been propagated throughout Bigfoot circles that claims the legendary Viking explorer Leif Erikson wrote about encountering Bigfoot on his journeys and used the word “Skrælingar” to describe these “beasts”. (Here is one such ---> accounting <--- )
“The oldest account of Bigfoot was recorded in 986 AD by Leif Ericson and his men. During their first landing in the New World, the Norsemen wrote about manlike beasts that were 'horribly ugly, hairy, swarthy, and with great black eyes.'" *
* At the time of writing this I've been unable to find the source of the above quote, but it has been attributed to - "The Search for Bigfoot" by Peter Byrne
While this is a fascinating tale that many Bigfoot enthusiast accept as "fact", I have never been able to find a reliable historical document to support this claim. Nor has anyone else. Here are some of the reasons:
Leif Erikson would have only been 15-16 years old, probably too young to lead an exploration.
Vikings carved runes into stone and sticks. Hauling boulders around as a ship log is impractical, and no rune sticks have survived from this time. Instead Leif’s travels to North America circa 990AD passed down orally then written down long after his journey in the “The Saga of Erik the Red” thought to be written in the 13th century.
In “The Saga of Erik the Red” the description of the Skrælingar is the exact opposite of anything resembling a Sasquatch.
Does the Word "Skrælingar" = "Sasquatch"
In the world of Bigfoot enthusiasts the term "Skrælingar" has come to be understood as the name given to "Sasquatch" or "Bigfoot" by Lief Erikson. However, according to ChatGPT the term "Skrælingar" is Old Norse used by Norse settlers to refer to indigenous peoples encountered during their explorations of North America. The exact meaning of the term is somewhat uncertain, but it is generally translated to mean "barbarians" or "foreigners" in Old Norse. It carries a connotation of otherness or foreignness, as viewed from the perspective of the Norse settlers.
Not content to put too much trust in ChatGPT I decided to seek the source of word itself. I found a free online English translation of “THE SAGA OF ERIK THE RED” and excitedly dug in looking forward to learning exactly what Leif had to say about Bigfoot. If you go directly to this source you’ll find absolutely zero mention of anything remotely matching the description of Sasquatch.
If you read “THE SAGA OF ERIK THE RED” here’s what you will find:
The “Skrælingar” are mentioned in chapters 10-14 and are described as “short men, ill-looking, with their hair in disorderly fashion on their heads; they were large-eyed and had broad cheeks”. (THE SAGA OF ERIK THE RED; Chapter 10)
[Notice the very clear use of the words “men” and “short”; Sasquatch are typically described as tall, 6-10+ feet tall, sometimes over 14ft tall!]
[Also, notice the use of the words “ill-looking”. I’ve heard many descriptions of Sasquatch, but not ONCE have I ever read or heard them described as “ill-looking”.]
SPEAR WIELDING SASQUATCH WARRIORS IN CANOES?
According to “THE SAGA OF ERIK THE RED” the Skrælingar initially retreat from the Vikings. Later the Skrælingar return to trade with the Vikings, then return again en masse in many canoes to attack the Vikings. During the attack, they are howling loudly, and they proceed to engage the Vikings with spears, arrows, war-slings, and launch noise-making items at the Vikings that instill fear, causing some to retreat. I don't know about you... but this seems much more likely to fit the description of Native American behavior rather than any description of Sasquatch I've ever heard of.
A PREGANT VIKING WOMAN REPELLED A SASQUATCH ATTACK?
In the face of the Skrælingar attack one of the Viking women, Leif Erikson's pregnant half-sister, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, scolds the men for retreating, brandishes a sword herself, bares her breast, cuts herself, confronts and deters the attackers.
In the final mention of the Skrælingar, the Vikings encounter and pursue a small group or family of Skrælingar, resulting in the kidnapping of two of the Skrælingar children who tell them more about how Skrælingar live in holes and caves below ground. The Skrælingar children are then baptized and taken back with the Vikings to Greenland. It seems unlikely that the Vikings spoke with, and baptized Sasquatch younglings.
To Summarize
In the book “The search for Bigfoot" Peter Byrne portrays the Skrælingar as
manlike beasts
that were 'horribly ugly,
hairy,
swarthy,
and with great black eyes.'
Over time this portrayal of the Skrælingar has somehow evolved into "proof" that Lief Erikson encountered Sasquatch. Of course if that's true, then they were also attacked en masse by horde of canoe-paddling spear-wielding sasquatch warriors, who were then single-handedly beaten back by Lief's preganant half-sister. If that sounds incredulous... well, that's because it is.
Contrast Peter Byrne's description of the Skrælingar versus that found in “The Saga of Erik the Red” describes the Skrælingar as
short men
ill-looking
with their hair in disorderly fashion on their heads
they were large-eyed and had broad cheeks
the initially retreat from the Vikings
they return to trade with the Vikings
they return again “en masse” in many canoes to attack the Vikings with spears and noise making devices
Lief Erikson’s pregnant half-sister Freydis thrwarts the Skrælingar attach and forces their retreat.
The Vikings kidnapped and later Baptized two Skrælingar children.
Bottom line, I am no linguist, nor am I a historian, but I am unable to find any English translation of THE SAGA OF ERIK THE RED that describes Skrælingar as anything other than small, wide-cheekboned, ill-looking, native men and women.
I cannot see any way that anyone with at least a 3rd-grade reading level could possibly misinterpret the description of Skrælingar as anything remotely resembling Bigfoot… unless they did so to intentionally misrepresent the Skrælingar for the purpose.
At the moment, I’m left to conclude the origin of this myth is, at best it's a mistranslation, possibly a cool work of historical fiction… or at worst, it’s an unethical embellishment. What say you?
***************************************************************************
You can read the English translation of “THE SAGA OF ERIK THE RED” here:
THE SAGA OF ERIK THE RED 1880 translation into English by J. Sephton from the original Icelandic 'Eiríks saga rauða'.
***************************************************************************
Does this post look familiar?
This blog post is a rewrite of a facebook post I made in February of 2024 that was somehow deleted.
Your Feedback Is Welcome!
As previously mentioned, I am by no means an expert on this topic. If I've made a mistake or missed anything important PLEASE feel free to drop me a note and I'll happily make any necessary updates or share any information and links that are relevant