Gunnbjorn Ulfsson

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Gunnbjorn Ulfsson

fl. c. 920

Icelandic voyager who was the first European to report sighting a land to the west of Iceland, which turned out to be Greenland. In about 920 Gunnbjorn's ship was blown off course during a voyage from Norway to Iceland, and he saw what appeared to be an island. More than 60 years later, in 982, Erik the Red (c. 950-1004) sailed westward in search of the land that had been described by Gunnbjorn, and soon found it.