Erik the Red

Viking chieftain who settled Greenland after being exiled.

Life

Exile

Erik was born in Norway; when his father was exiled for killing a man, he moved with his family to Iceland. Later he too was sentenced in Iceland to three years of exile for killing.

Green land

During his exile he sailed west and explored a huge island. To attract settlers he gave it an appealing name, "Greenland" (green land). In c. 985 he led settlers there in twenty-five ships; fourteen ships arrived, and they founded settlements on the southwest coast.

Settlement

He became chieftain of Greenland and died in c. 1003. Norse people lived in Greenland for nearly five hundred years before the settlements mysteriously vanished in the 15th century.

Legacy

Greenland, settled by Erik the Red, was the Norse springboard toward the Americas.

Did you know? The name "Greenland" is considered one of the earliest "real estate advertisements" in history.

Key dates

• 982Exiled from Iceland; explored Greenland
• 985Led settlers to Greenland
• 1003Died (approx.)