Johan Igesund

Johan Igesund (c. 1300- 1360) was a Norse admiral and explorer who was the first to rediscover the continent of Johannia that today bears his name. As an historical figure, therefore, he ranks as one of the most important in history.

EARLY LIFE

The details of Igesund's life are today mostly lost- as evidence we generally have to rely on the Annals of the Monastery of St. Hallvard, which tend to present a picture of Igesund's life that is so lionised that it can be untrustworthy. In all probability, Igesund lived his early life as a pirate, flirting between legitimacy and illegality on the outer fringes of the Kingdom of Norgei. With the German invasion of Norgei in 1344, Igesund fought against the invaders, but proved unable to turn the tide of the war, which had been effectively won by the Germans in a single campaigning season. Igesund's family were killed defending the settlement of Stavangar from German assault.

DISCOVERY OF VINLAND

The Annals claim that Igesund and a band of perhaps thirty refugees arrived at Reykjavik in the middle of the winter of 1344/45, but it seems more probable that Igesund actually left Norgei in the early spring of 1345. At Reyjavik, he attempted to seek shelter for his crew, but they were rejected by the influential noble Sindre , who feared Igesund would make a bid for power in Issland. After a few weeks, Igesund and his followers fled yet further west, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Eric the Red, and claiming divine support. Unexpectedly, they made landfall on a forested continent in midsummer, as is tersely recorded in the short scholarly work Four Hundred Years of Jensby and founded a settlement there, named Jensby in honour of Igesund's cousin and royal admiral Jens Birst.