Erik Thorvaldsson[a] (c. 950 – c. 1003), known asErik the Red, was aNorseexplorer, described inmedieval and Icelandicsaga sources as having founded the first Europeansettlement inGreenland. Erik most likely earned theepithet "the Red" due to thecolor of his hair and beard.[1][2] According toIcelandic sagas, Erik was born in theJæren district ofRogaland, Norway, as the son ofThorvald Asvaldsson; to which Thorvald would later be banished from Norway, and would sail west toIceland with Erik and his family.[3] During Erik's life in Iceland, he married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and would have four children, with one of Erik's sons being the well-known Icelandic explorerLeif Erikson.[4][5] Around the year of 982, Erik was exiled from Iceland for three years, during which time he explored Greenland, eventually culminating in his founding of the first successful European settlement on the island. Erik would later die there around 1003CE during a winter epidemic.[6]
Erik Thorvaldsson was born inRogaland, Norway in 950 CE, and was the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson (also spelled Osvaldsson).[3] Thorvald would later be banished from Norway for committing acts of manslaughter.[7] Thorvald would then proceed to sail west from Norway with his family, including a 10-year-old Erik. Thorvald and his family would eventually settle inHornstrandir in northwesternIceland, where Thorvald would eventually die sometime before 970 CE.[3][8][9]
After his father's death, Erik married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and moved to Haukadalr (Hawksdale) where he built a farm calledEiríksstaðir; Þjódhild was the daughter of Jorundur Ulfsson and Þorbjorg Gilsdottir.[7] Medieval Icelandic tradition relates that Erik and his wife Þjódhild had four children: a daughter,Freydís, and three sons, theexplorerLeif Erikson,Thorvald andThorstein.[4] Unlike his son Leif and Leif's wife, who became Christians, Erik remained a follower ofNorse paganism. While Erik's wife took heartily to Christianity, even commissioning Greenland's first church, Erik greatly disliked it and stuck to his Norse gods—which, the sagas relate, led Þjódhild to withhold intercourse from her husband.[10][11]
Similar to his father before him, Erik also found himself exiled for a time. The initial confrontation occurred when Erik'sthralls (slaves) caused a landslide on a neighboring farm belonging to a man named Valthjof, and Valthjof's friend, Eyjolf the Foul,[b] killed the thralls. In retaliation, Erik killed Eyjolf as well as Hrafn the Dueller (Holmgang-Hrafn).[c] Kinsmen of Eyjolf sought legal prosecution and Erik was later banished from Haukadale for killing Eyjolf the Foul around the year 982.[7][12]
Erik then moved to Brokey and Öxney (Eyxney) island in Iceland.[13] Erik asked a man named Thorgest to keep hissetstokkr—inherited ornamented pillars of significant mystical value—which his father had brought from Norway.[14] When Erik had finished building his new home, he went back to retrieve his pillars from Thorgest; however, Thorgest refused to return them to Erik, and so Erik then went to Breidabolstadr and took the pillars back. As a result, Thorgest and his men gave chase, and in the ensuing fight Erik slew both of Thorgest's sons as well as "some other men".[7] After this conflict both Erik and Thorgest kept close a large number of allies.
Styr gave assistance to Eirik, as also did Eyjolf, of Sviney, Thorbjorn Vifilsson, and the sons of Thorbrand, of Alptafjordr (Swanfirth). But the sons of Thord Gellir, as also Thorgeir, of Hitardalr (Hotdale), Aslak, of Langadalr (Longdale), and Illugi, his son, gave assistance to Thorgest.[7]
The dispute between Erik and Thorgest was later resolved at the ThorsnesThing, where Erik and the men that sided with him were outlawed from Iceland for three years; many of these men would then join Erik on his expedition to Greenland.[7]
Erik's sonLeif Erikson became the first Norseman to explore the land ofVinland–part of North America, presumably near modern-dayNewfoundland–and invited his father on the voyage. However, according to the sagas, Erik fell off his horse on the way to the ship and took this as a bad sign, leaving his son to continue without him.[10] Erik later died in an epidemic that killed many of the colonists in the winter after his son's departure.[6]
Map of the northern region (including some fantasy islands) byAbraham Ortelius,c. 1570.Summer in the Greenland coast circa the year 1000 byCarl Rasmussen (1874).
It has been a common mistake for popular history to occasionally credit Erik as being the first European to discover Greenland, however, the Icelandic sagas suggest that earlier Norsemen discovered and attempted to settle it before him.[15] Tradition creditsGunnbjörn Ulfsson (also known as Gunnbjörn Ulf-Krakuson) with the first sighting of the land-mass. Nearly a century before Erik, strong winds had driven Gunnbjörn towards a set of islands between Iceland and Greenland, later namedGunnbjörn's skerries in his honor.[16] However, the accidental nature of Gunnbjörn's discovery has led to his neglect in the history of Greenland. After Gunnbjörn, roughly eighty years later the outlawSnæbjörn galti had also visited Greenland and attempted to settle there.[16][17] According to a saga that has now been lost to time, Galti headed the first Norse attempt to colonize Greenland, of which ended in failure for Galti and his party due to the many unforgiving hardships that they faced during the winter on the island.[16] As a result of Galti's failed expedition, Erik the Red is widely credited to be the first known, and successful, permanent settler of Greenland.[3]
During his exile, around 982, Erik sailed to a somewhat mysterious and little-known land thatSnæbjörn galti Hólmsteinsson had unsuccessfully attempted to settle a few years before. Erik rounded the southern tip of the island, later known asCape Farewell, and sailed up the western coast. Eventually, Erik reached a part of the coast that, for the most part, seemed ice-free and consequently had conditions—similar to those of Iceland—that promised growth and future prosperity.[18] According to theSaga of Erik the Red, Erik spent his three years of exile exploring this land. The first winter Erik spent on the island of Eiriksey, the second winter he passed in Eiriksholmar (close to Hvarfsgnipa). In the final summer Erik explored as far north as Snaefell and into Hrafnsfjord.[3][7]
When Erik returned to Iceland after his exile had expired, he is said to have brought with him stories of "Greenland". Erik purposefully gave the land a more appealing name than "Iceland" as "people would be attracted to go there if it had a favorable name", per Erik's own words.[19][20] Erik knew that the success of any settlement in Greenland would need the support of as many people as possible.
Erik's salesmanship of Greenland proved successful as after spending the winter in Iceland, Erik returned to Greenland in the summer of 985 with a large number of colonists. However, out of 25 ships that left for Greenland, 11 were lost at sea; only 14 arrived.[20][21] The Icelanders established two colonies on the southwest coast: theEastern Settlement or Eystribyggð, in what is nowQaqortoq, and theWestern Settlement, close to present-dayNuuk. Eventually, aMiddle Settlement grew, but many suggest it formed part of the Western Settlement. The Eastern and Western Settlements, both established on the southwest coast, proved the only two areas suitable for farming. During the summers, when the weather was more favorable to travel, each settlement would send an army of men to hunt inDisko Bay above theArctic Circle for food and other valuable commodities such as seals (used for rope),ivory fromwalrus tusks, andbeached whales.[22]
21st-century reproduction of Þjódhild's church, withEriksfjord in the background. Located inQassiarsuk, Greenland.
The settlement flourished, growing to 5,000 inhabitants spread over a considerable area alongEriksfjord and neighboringfjords. Groups ofimmigrants escaping overcrowding in Iceland joined the original party. However, one group of immigrants which arrived in 1002 brought with it anepidemic that ravaged the colony, killing many of its leading citizens, including Erik himself.[24] Nevertheless, the colony rebounded and survived until theLittle Ice Age made the land marginal for European life-styles in the 15th century–shortly beforeChristopher Columbus's firstvoyage to the Americas in 1492.Pirate raids, conflict withInuit moving into the Norse territories, and the colony's abandonment by Norway became other factors in its decline.[25]
First page of theSaga of Erik the Red, written by an Icelandic Cleric, 13th century.
There are numerous parallels between the Saga of Erik the Red and the Greenland saga, including recurring characters and recountings of the same expeditions, though with a few notable differences. The saga of Erik the Red portrays a number of the expeditions in the Greenland saga as just one expedition led byThorfinn Karlsefni, although Erik's son Thorvald, his daughter Freydís and Karlsefni's wife Gudrid play key roles in the retelling.[26] Another notable difference is the location of their settlements. According to the Grœnlendinga saga, Karlsefni and the others settled in a place that is referred to only as Vinland, while in Erik the Red's saga they formed two base settlements: Straumfjǫrðr where they spent the winter and the following spring, and Hop where they later settled but ran into problems with the natives they calledSkrælings, as depicted in the Greenland saga.[citation needed] The two accounts are largely similar otherwise, both with heavy emphasis on the exploits ofThorfinn Karlsefni and his wife Gudrid.[citation needed]
^"The Saga of Eric the Red, in the Icelandic Sagas", p. 17. Olson, Julius E. and Edward G. Bourne (editors).The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985–1503: The voyages of the Northmen; The Voyages of Columbus and of John Cabot. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1906). pp. 14–44.Online facsimile editionArchived 20 February 2009 at theWayback Machine. Accessed 8 February 2008
^ab"Grænlendinga saga" [Saga of the Greenlanders].Icelandic Saga Database (in Icelandic). Chapter 1. Retrieved22 November 2023.
