Erik the Red
Norse explorer who founded Greenland's first European settlement.
Last updated
Carl Rasmussen · Public domain
The nickname "the Red" was most likely applied to him because of his red hair and beard.[1] According to the saga of Erik the Red, his birthplace was Rogaland, Norway, around 950 CE.[2]
What happened
After his father's death, Erik married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and moved to Haukadalr, where he built a farm called Eiríksstaðir.[3] Around 982 CE, Erik's thralls caused a landslide on a neighbor's farm, and after the neighbor killed the thralls, Erik killed the neighbor in retaliation.[4][2] Erik was banished from Haukadalr for these killings.[5] After his exile ended, Erik returned to Iceland and named the land "Greenland," saying men would desire to go there if it had a good name.[6][5]
In the summer of 985 CE, Erik led a fleet of colonists to Greenland, though only 14 of 25 ships arrived.[7] Erik built the estate of Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement and became the paramount chieftain of Greenland.[8]
What the cited sources add
The "Ages of Exploration" account states that Erik's voyage began in the spring of 982 and that he sailed over six thousand miles in only four sailing seasons.[2] The same source notes that Erik named the land Greenland because of the green meadows he found.[2] That same text states that Erik died before Christianity was introduced to Greenland.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Erik the Red" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300–1850, Basic Books, 2002, p. 10. .; Cooper Edens: Sea Stories: A Classic Illustrated Edition, 2007, , p. 53 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Erik the Red – Ages of Exploration", exploration.marinersmuseum.org. facts only, no text reused. exploration.marinersmuseum.org
- Wikipedia, "Erik the Red" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sephton, "Eiríks saga rauða", Icelandic Saga Database, 1880 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Erik the Red" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sephton, "Eiríks saga rauða", Icelandic Saga Database, 1880; "Eric the Red", Encyclopedia of World Bibliography, 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Sephton, "Eiríks saga rauða", Icelandic Saga Database, 1880. facts only, no text reused. sagadb.org
- Wikipedia, "Erik the Red" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "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 voya; "Grænlendinga saga", Icelandic Saga Database (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Erik the Red" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Grænlendinga saga", Icelandic Saga Database; Farley Mowat, Westviking: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America (1965) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Erik the Red" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Topas, "Erik the Red's Land - The Norse in South Greenland", www.greenlandbytopas.com, 2 October 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Full text of "The discovery of America by the Northmen", archive.org. facts only, no text reused. archive.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Erik the Red (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Erik the Red (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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