Thorfinn Karlsefni

Thorfinn Karlsefni Þórðarson (Old Norse: Þorfinnr karlsefni Þórðarson, Icelandic: Þorfinnur karlsefni Þórðarson) was an Icelandic explorer. Around the year 1010 AD, he followed Leif Eriksson's route to Vinland, in a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there with his wife Guðríður Víðförla Þorbjarnardóttir and their followers.

The byname Karlsefni means "makings of a man" according to the preface of Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson, although the Cleasby-Vigfusson dictionary glosses it as "a thorough man", elaborated elsewhere as a "real man", a "sterling man".

Thorfinn Karlsefni's father was Thord Horsehead (Þórðr hesthöfði Snorrason), and his mother was named Thorunn (Þórunn). Thord Horsehead was son of Snorri, son of Thord of Hofdi ().

Thorfinn was presumably raised at his father's estate called Stad (Stað) in Reyniness (Reynistaður ()). This estate was located in the Skagafjord bay area, which is also where Thorfinn's great-grandfather established roots (at his farm of Hofdi () in Hofdastrand ()). Thorfinn himself also retired in the area in his later years; while Eir. says "he went (back) to his farm in Reyniness,"Gir. states he bought new lands at Glaumby ().

A more detailed genealogy (under Eiríks saga rauða, ch. 7) is interpolated in the H or Hauksbók text of Haukr Erlendsson. Haukr had particular interest since he himself claimed descent from Thorfinn. However, his ancestral trace before Karlsefni's great-grandfather Thord of Hofdi deviates from other sources, and the Landnámabók version is deemed more reliably accurate. Though not shown in the #Family tree below, Thorfinn also claims descent from the matriarch Aud the Deep-Minded through Thord Gellir.

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