"Vinland" was the name given to part of North America by the Icelandic Norseman Leif Eríksson, about AD 1000. It was also spelled "Winland", as early as Adam of Bremen's "Descriptio insularum Aquilonis" ("Description of the Northern Islands", ch. 39, in the 4th part of Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum), written circa 1075. Adam's main source regarding "Winland" appears to have been king Svend Estridson, who had knowledge of the "northern islands". The etymology of the Old Norse root, "vin-" is disputed; while it has usually been assumed to be "wine", some scholars give credence to the homophone "vin", meaning "pasture" or "meadow".