Leif Had A Murderous Half-Sister
Leif Erikson's deadly half-sister is one of the interesting facts about Leif Erikson that many people are unaware of. We are given a horrific narrative of Freydis, Erik the Red's daughter, in The Saga of the Greenlanders (who The Saga of Erik the Red tells us was illegitimate). She and her husband Thorvard set sail for the New World with two brothers named Helgi and Finnbogi while Leif served as the chief of Greenland. The couple spent a few months living in Vinland, and it wasn't a fun experience. One day, Freydis asked that Thorvard kill Helgi and Finnbogi after accusing them of beating her (a claim that the saga claims to be false).
Helgi and Finnbogi, along with several other Vikings, were residing at a different campground. The camp, where all the men there had been killed, was visited by Thorvard, Freydis, and several of their neighbors. Freydis, however, was unsatisfied and he seized an ax before slaughtering the camp's unarmed women. Leif learned of this heinous act after she had returned to Greenland, but he was unable to bring himself to punish his half-sibling.
The Saga of Erik the Red oddly never refers to Freydis as a murderer and instead portrays her as a hero for fending off a Native American invasion. Which saga is more accurate is uncertain.
