Dictionary.net

The vikings of Norway and Iceland are represented in the Icelandic sagas as having voyaged to America about the year 1000. The most famous of these accounts is that respecting Leif Ericsson (see art.). The sagas speak of settlements made on this coast, which maintained their connection with Greenland and the other Norse countries for several centuries. Attempts have been made to locate these settlements at given points on the American coast, as in Rhode Island, but with little success, it is believed by the most scientific authorities. The name of their chief settlement was Vinland. Columbus is supposed by many to have obtained knowledge of their voyages. The idea of connecting the Old Mill at Newport with the Norsemen is now abandoned.