Erik the Red

A Captivating Guide to the Viking Who Founded the First Norse Settlement in Greenland

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Table of Contents

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Introduction

Chapter 1 – Erik the Red’s Early Life in Norway

Chapter 2 – The Settlement of Iceland and the Viking Age

Chapter 3 – Erik’s Early Years in Iceland

Chapter 4 – Murder Most Foul

Chapter 5 – Erik the Explorer

Chapter 6 – Settling in Greenland

Chapter 7 – Greenland to Vinland

Chapter 8 – Erik’s Offspring and their voyages to Vinland

Chapter 9 – Decline of Vinland

Chapter 10 – Erik the Pagan and Christianity in Greenland

Chapter 11 – The Decline of the Greenland Colony

Chapter 12 – Modern Greenland

Conclusion – Erik’s Legacy

Timeline of Erik the Red’s life

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References

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Introduction

A formidable figure with flaming red hair, a wild beard, and a temper to match is not the type of person most people would choose to cross swords with. And that, by all accounts, is a fitting description of Erik the Red. This was not a man to be taken lightly or challenged in battle. He was courageous on the battlefield, an accomplished seafarer, indomitable warrior, and unstoppable adventurer. In short, Erik the Red was everything we imagine a Viking to be.

He perfectly fits the familiar image of the fearsome Scandinavian warriors who spent their days attacking, raiding, and plundering vulnerable coastal and riverside settlements, and their nights feasting, drinking, and telling tales of their daring exploits. And no doubt Erik did his fair share of raiding, looting, and killing.  He was a large, strong Norseman, who could wield a double-edged sword or axe with skill and did not shy away from confrontation. Erik the Red was no doubt a violent man who was not averse to killing, in battle or in the heat of an argument. He would have joined his fellow Norsemen as they ruthlessly preyed on weaker communities, small settlements, churches, and monasteries. He most likely stood at the helm of a light, shallow-hulled dragon boat as it traveled upriver to swiftly attack an unsuspecting community and then sail away with a boatload of loot before any effective defense or counter-attack could be launched. But that is only part of the picture. There was so much more to Erik the Red and his fellow Vikings than the popular image of ruthless men who showed their victims no mercy.

Vikings were, for the most part, farmers and traders who for various reasons, mostly commercial, took to raiding towns, churches, and monasteries, as a part-time activity. They usually returned to their farms in time for the harvest, and Erik the Red was no different. He was a typical Norse farmer who took part in raiding expeditions when he wasn’t needed on the farm and later became a famous Viking explorer who established the first European settlement on the island of Greenland.

Chapter 1 – Erik the Red’s Early Life in Norway

Erik Thorvaldsson, better known by his nickname Erik the Red, was the son of a Norwegian farmer, Thorvald Asvaldsson. Not much is known about Thorvald Asvaldsson or Erik’s early life in Norway. It was probably the typical life of a Norwegian farmer, working the land and caring for the livestock. There is no information about Erik’s siblings or other family members; not even his mother’s name is recorded in the Nordic sagas.

What is known is that Erik was born sometime around 950 CE in Rogaland on the southwestern coast of Norway, and at the age of about ten, he traveled with his family to Iceland. This was not a voluntary relocation. Thorvald moved with his family to Iceland out of necessity rather than desire. He may have been the father of one of the greatest Norse explorers, but he does not appear to have been an adventurous man himself. He wasn’t seeking to carve out a niche for himself in the colonies, nor was he a man with strong political ambitions who was seeking fame and fortune; Thorvald was a man on the run. He was forced to flee Rogaland after he was banished or outlawed1 from Norway for killing another Viking.

At the time when Erik the Red was born, the Vikings had a reputation for ruthlessness and lawlessness, but Norse society was actually highly regulated, and they had well-established laws and governance. Vikings may not have been averse to violence and killing, but they lived within a structured society2 in their own settlements and criminal behavior did not go unpunished.

When Thorvald Asvaldsson murdered a fellow Norseman, he was tried at the Thing and found guilty by his fellow Norsemen. As a result, he was banished from Norway. Under Norse law this was the ultimate punishment for Thorvald Asvaldsson and, by extension, his family. He had to forfeit all his property and was forced to flee, not only from his village, but from Norway itself. Fortunately for Thorvald Asvaldsson, he lived during the Viking Age, a time of Scandinavian exploration and expansion which meant that he had options. The most obvious answer to his predicament was to take his family and flee to the newly established settlement on Iceland.

1Viking law was well established and was the root of their government. The Vikings did not have a central government, but the rule of law, fairness, and justice was important to them. They lived in an ordered and structured society made up of small settlements, and each settlement had a chief. Decisions regarding village life were made at the “Thing.” The Thing can be compared to a legislative assembly. The chief of the settlement ran the Thing, but he and his council could only guide the Thing, and all free men had the right to take part in the decision-making process. At a Thing, the members of a settlement voted on day to day issues, including who owned a piece of land or what punishment a person would receive if they were found guilty of breaking the law.

A Thing was a public gathering that could be held at any time, and gave all free men in a settlement the opportunity to settle disputes and express their views on certain matters. Once a year the clan gathered for the Althing. This was an annual event where new laws were made and the Vikings could vote on important decisions like taxes, peace treaties, and the election of a new chief.

The Vikings had no law books and the laws were not written down, but one person in every village was assigned the duty of law-speaker, a very important position in a settlement. Some laws applied to all Vikings, but others were specific to the settlement and the law-speaker had to know them all. He had to memorize the laws of the settlement and the broader Viking laws. If there was any confusion about a law during the Thing, the law-speaker would explain the law. After new laws were passed at the Thing, the law-speaker had to go to the law rock and recite all the laws so that the women, children, and slaves who were not present at the Thing would also know the laws.

The Thing was not only a time to make new laws but also to enforce the law and try men accused of committing crimes. During the Thing, the accused could defend themselves and call witnesses. The rule of law was important to maintain order in the harsh and often violent Viking settlements so punishments could be severe. The ultimate punishment for violent crimes was usually to outlaw or banish the guilty. Outlaws that were banished were forced to flee their villages and hide in the wilderness because anyone was allowed to hunt down and kill an outlaw. Outlaws also lost all their worldly possessions and property. Depending on the crime, the banishment could be permanent or for a set number of years. If a Viking was only outlawed for a certain time, they were usually allowed to keep their possessions and return to their homes when they had served their time. Lesser crimes could be settled by a duel, known as a holmgang. This did not always end well for the victim and justice was not necessarily on the right side, but since the Vikings believed the gods favored the righteous, the outcome was seen to be fair justice. Land could also be confiscated from the guilty and given to the victim, or the guilty might had to pay compensation to the victim’s family. The money paid to the family of the victim was known as wergild.

2Norse society basically had three tiers. Jarls were the nobility and kings were drawn from this stratum of society. In Norse society, the position of king was not always guaranteed through succession. A weak or unpopular king could be unseated by the jarls, if they united behind a rival claimant. If a king was not strong enough to ensure the loyalty of the jarls, then he could be replaced by a rebellion. In peacetime the jarls oversaw the running of their lands, and during war and raids they commanded the longboat crews. The jarls venerated the god Odin for his wisdom and knowledge. The karls or Norse middle class were farmers, fishermen, and craftsmen. On raids or during wars, they crewed the longboats and were the rank and file of the Viking army. The kuskarls (house karls) served a jarl or king on his personal staff or as bodyguards. Thor was a principle deity of this class and was venerated for his honor and bravery as a warrior. The third strata of Norse society were the thralls, who were little more than slaves, convicted criminals, or captives from raids. Thralls had no rights and the killing of a thrall was considered destruction of property rather than murder. Viking raiders bought and sold slaves and captives from parts of Europe, Britain, and the Middle East so the thralls were not one ethnic or cultural group and could come from anywhere.

Chapter 2 – The Settlement of Iceland and the Viking Age

The settlement of Iceland took place during the Viking Age (793-1066 AD). This was a time of great exploration and expansion for the Scandinavian countries. The Vikings crossed the treacherous oceans and high seas in all directions to conquer, colonize, and spread their influence throughout Europe and the Middle East. These fearsome warriors raided, plundered, terrorized, and attacked settlements up and down the coast of the British Isles, France, Italy, and Russia, and due to their well-designed longboats, they were also able to travel up rivers and attack communities farther inland. There are no simple explanations for what gave rise to this extraordinary age of exploration and conquest, but what we do know is that by the early 790s the Vikings were no longer content to remain in their homelands as farmers and craftsmen, and many left the shores of their homelands.

During this time, they began raiding settlements throughout Europe, often targeting Christian institutions. As pagans, the Vikings had no qualms about attacking wealthy, but vulnerable, Christian churches and monasteries. When the Vikings realized how lucrative plundering could be, they began to venture farther and farther away from home, and in the process, they explored and colonized new lands and expanded their territory. The Vikings were not just opportunistic attackers who launch blitz attacks on unsuspecting communities and then disappeared into the mist; they also integrated into European and Middle Eastern communities and spread their culture far and wide.

The Swedes mostly traveled east to Russia, the Danes went to England and France, and the Norwegians crossed the North Sea to the British Isles and the Norwegian Sea eventually ending up on the shores of Iceland. The first Norsemen reached Iceland around 860, and a man called Floki Vilgeroarson was so dismayed by the harshness of the climate that he named the frozen, snow-covered island Iceland. But prospective settlers were not deterred by the name, and the first wave of Norsemen began moving to Iceland during the 870s.

The first Viking settlers in Iceland came predominantly from the area around Bergen in Norway. Their main reason for leaving Bergen was most likely to escape the draconian rule of King Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway. Harald may have managed to unify Norway, but he was not a popular king among all his subjects. He instituted widespread administrative and land reform and ordered the payment of land taxes. This did not endear him to the predominately farming population and he was labeled a tyrant. During Harald’s reign, many Norwegians fled Norway to seek new opportunities in places like the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetlands, and Iceland.  Other settlers also moved to Iceland from various parts of Scandinavia and even from the British Isles (a number of Celts probably came with the Vikings as spouses and slaves). By the middle of the tenth century, Iceland had thousands of inhabitants.

Tyrannical rule was one reason why many Norsemen were no longer happy to remain in their homelands.  Another reason for Norse migrations during this time could have been the practice of primogeniture. This meant that the oldest son inherited everything and there was no land for younger sons, so they had to look elsewhere for places to settle and make their fortune. But, of course, there were many other reasons why the Vikings were prepared to take their families away from their well-established villages and start new colonies in cold and often inhospitable environments. Some were undoubtedly seeking fame and fortune. Others perhaps were running away from a life that no longer satisfied them or trying to escape justice.

New territories offered the Norsemen more resources and greater political freedom. In new settlements and more remote territories, there were fewer laws, taxes, and social constraints. Parts of Scandinavia were also becoming overpopulated and new territories offered the more adventurous Vikings access to a better life. Uninhabited territories, such as Iceland and Greenland, which lay across the North Sea offered an abundance of natural resources, farmland, and grazing for livestock, as well as the opportunity for settlers to increase their wealth and power. As in most cases of mass migration, it was probably a combination of factors that drove the Vikings across the ocean, including necessity and advancing technology.

Technology definitely played a part in the Viking Age of expansion. During this time, the Scandinavians were the most advanced shipbuilders and navigators in Europe, and they were able to cross many nautical miles of open seas in their longboats. Although no written historical records about the settlement of Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland (a brief Viking settlement on the North American continent) exist from the time, the sagas that were written some two hundred years later do give us some insight into how the Vikings were able to traverse the treacherous ocean to reach these remote areas.

The Vikings may not have had any of the navigational tools, such as computers and GPS technology, that are available to modern sailors, but they had a rich maritime tradition and an outstanding knowledge of the sea. They didn’t even have access to a basic compass, but their knowledge of coastlines, currents, navigational markers, whales, and seabirds all played a role in their navigational techniques and enabled them to form mental maps of their journeys. These skills were passed on from one generation to the next, and each generation would have improved their navigational techniques and built on the knowledge acquired from their fathers and grandfathers. Erik the Red was no exception. He would have learned many of the skills he needed to make the crossing between Iceland and Greenland from his father, who most likely learned from his father. During the Asvaldsson family’s initial voyage from Norway to Iceland, Erik (who was only a ten-year-old boy at the time) would have been exposed to his first major sea voyage. They no doubt would have encountered some rough seas and bad weather and Erik would have seen how to handle adverse conditions; he would also have learned some basic navigational skills.

Norsemen used their five senses, practical experience, and to some degree intuition to aid navigation on the open waters. Along coastlines and in sight of land they would use navigational markers, such as hills or unusually shaped rock formations, to ascertain their position and the direction in which they wished to sail. They also used nature and the abundance of sea life to aid navigation. The sailors would observe whales swimming or feeding in certain areas or currents. They knew that at certain times of year whales would be found in particular parts of the ocean so they could use whale pods to orientate themselves. The Vikings had to be able to find their way to shore even through dense fog and many Vikings would identify different bird calls, the sounds of waves breaking on the shore, or smell land long before they saw the actual coastline. In this way they could guide their longboats safely home and avoid dangerous, rocky shorelines.

They may also have used simple tools such as a plumb bob (a weight on the end of a line) to measure ocean depth and a basic latitude finder that floated in a bucket of water. This comprised of a circle of wood with a perpendicular stick of wood (or gnomen) stuck into it. The sun cast the gnomen’s shadow on the circle of wood and helped the Vikings determine latitude. But the Vikings also had to be able to find their way in cloudy weather and one possible navigational tool that they could have used to do this was a crystal known as a “sunstone.” These sunstones are mentioned in the Saga of King Olaf and were apparently key to navigating in poor weather.  Sunstones split a beam of light, separating polarized light from the main beam. By looking at the sky through these crystals, it is possible to see the rings of polarized light that surround the sun even on cloudy days. Being able to identify the sun’s location would have given the Vikings a point of reference during long ocean crossings.

Master shipbuilders were another tool in the Viking arsenal. The typical Norse vessel was clinker built. This meant that the planks of the hull were not laid edge to edge but rather overlapped each other. The seams between the planks were caulked over with tar-soaked animal hair. This design made the longboats both strong and flexible. The shipbuilders predominately used oak as it was very durable but other types of timber were also used. These vessels, rigged with large square sails made of rough cloth and fitted with between 6 and 30 rowing benches, were able to cross the treacherous waters of the open ocean where ice floes, icebergs, and frozen rigging were a constant danger. The longboats were an integral part of Viking life and the Norsemen took pride in their vessels; they gave them names, decorated them with carvings, and adorned them with dragon heads.

The Vikings used their vessels to great effect to raid, plunder and spread their influence throughout the known world. Russia, Europe, the British Isles, and the Middle East all fell victim to Viking raiding parties. The long, narrow, light boats with their shallow hulls could not only cross oceans but could also sail upriver to attack inland settlements. The longboats were fast and easy to maneuver and could glide easily through deep or shallow waters, making quick getaways after surprise attacks on vulnerable settlements. The longboats, with their dragon heads and drawings of wild animals on the sails, were also frightening to behold, and the Vikings utilized them to help conquer everything in their path. They captured Limoges, Toulouse, and Bordeaux. They sailed a fleet of warships up the Seine and took Paris, Beauvais, and Meaux.

While the Vikings reputation as fearsome warriors preceded them, they did not spend their entire lives raiding and plundering, and their longboats were not only tools of war. The Vikings also built boats that could be used to trade, explore, and settle new territories. Most Norsemen were not warriors, and robbing and plundering was not their main source of income. Most Norsemen were farmers and craftsmen who during times of war would be called upon to crew the longboats. During the Viking Age, they also took to plundering to increase their wealth, but for the most part they spent their time with their families, trading, working the land, raising livestock, and practicing their crafts.

Erik the Red was a true Viking, and this meant that he was an accomplished seafarer who knew how to command a crew and handle a longboat. By the time that he sailed to Greenland, he would have had much practice navigating and he would have used all the navigational tools at his disposal to make his way from Iceland to Greenland and back again. Like his father before him, Erik no doubt taught his children to be expert seafarers and navigators. He would have passed on the skills, not only to his son, Leif Erikson, who became a famous explorer, but to all his children, including his daughter, Freydis. Following in Leif’s footsteps, all three his siblings attempted to make the Atlantic crossing from Greenland to Vinland and return with cargos of grapes and timber.

Chapter 3 – Erik’s Early Years in Iceland

Erik the Red may have spent the first ten years of his life in Norway but for all intents and purposes he grew up in Iceland. The Viking community on Iceland was relatively new when Thorvald settled with his family on those icy shores, but all the best land was already occupied. They found a place to settle at Hornstrandir in the more remote and newly colonized northwestern part of the island. This is where Erik became a man. It was in this harsh and unforgiving land that he learned the skills that he would need later in life when he and his followers settled in Greenland. Growing up in a newly colonized territory, combined with the hunting, fishing, and farming techniques that he learned from his father, was undoubtedly a great asset for Erik when it came time for him to establish a settlement in Greenland. He would have worked tirelessly alongside his father to build a new homestead for their family in Iceland. He would have prepared the land, planted seeds, and harvested crops. These were skills every Norseman learned from a young age. Being a successful Viking meant not only knowing how to wield a sword but also how to support your family.

Life was good in Iceland for the Asvaldsson family in the beginning. Thorvald became well established in Hornstrandir and the family adjusted to life in the new settlement. They lived like typical Vikings and continued with most of their Norse traditions. Thorvald and his family would have lived in a typical Scandinavian-style house, which would have been a long, low dwelling. In Iceland, the houses were mostly built of timber and lined with clay or turf. The slanted roofs, supported by two rows of internal posts, were usually made of reeds or in some instances wood. The interior of the house would have been basic with minimal furnishings and a rectangular fireplace in the middle of a communal family space.

The fireplace was used for cooking food, heating water, and warming the house. A basic house, the type that Erik most likely would have lived in when his family initially settled in Iceland, had only one room and there would have been wooden benches along the wall where the family would sit and sleep. A bigger house, belonging to a wealthier landowner and that Erik most certainly built in Greenland, would have had separate sleeping quarters. In the cold northern climate, animals could not spend the entire winter outdoors, and if the farm had no stables or barn, then there would be stalls for the livestock at one end of the longhouse. Because of the harsh winters in the Scandinavian countries, Viking houses needed constant repair and the damp was a perpetual problem, making the houses cold and causing the timber walls to rot.

Viking dwellings may have provided shelter from the elements, but they were far from luxurious and the average Norse family did not live in comfort. Besides the smell from the animals living at one end of the dwelling, the houses were smoky. There were no windows and what little ventilation there was provided by small openings in the walls and a hole in the roof.

Norse farmers lived in small villages or settlements that consisted of six or seven farms clustered together around a common area. The dwelling and outbuildings usually formed the center of the farm. Outbuildings on Norse farms were spaces for various farm-related activities, such as barns for storing grain, stables for the livestock and basic workshops for making and repairing tools. Wealthier farmers would have more outbuildings, but poor farmers might only have had one building on their farm and they would have had to use this as living quarters, stables and a workshop.

Erik grew up on a typical Icelandic farm, and by the time he was twelve, he was considered a man and would have been expected to do his fair share of the hard, physical work that was required to run the farm and feed the family. The farm had to produce enough produce and crops to sustain the entire household and feed the livestock. Because the winters were so harsh in Iceland, farmers had to produce enough hay to feed their cattle through the winter. The Vikings grew many crops, including barley, rye, oats, and a variety of vegetables. Cows, sheep, and goats all provided milk for the family and the women would have made cheese and butter from it.

Every member of the family, from toddler to grandparent, worked. Boys were expected to work alongside their fathers and girls helped their mothers. Viking society was patriarchal, so when the men were at home, they took care of the farming and the women did the domestic chores. But Viking women were just as capable as their menfolk and they were valued members of society. Their contributions were just as important as the men’s. When the men were away hunting, fishing, trading, or raiding, the women were left in charge of the farms and the households. It then became solely their responsibility to care for the family and oversee all the farm work. They had to ensure that when the men returned the farm was running smoothly. Women also traveled with and worked alongside their husbands to establish new colonies in Iceland and Greenland. Viking women certainly had more power than most European women at the time. They could divorce their husbands, own property, and participate in trade. This enabled some of them to become wealthy in their own right.

All the men and boys in the settlements would have taken part in the typical Viking pursuits. Erik’s father and other male members of the community would have taught Erik how to fish, hunt, and fight. When Vikings weren’t farming or plundering other settlements, they occupied their time with sports and games. The games provided much-needed respite from daily life, but they were also designed to allow the men to demonstrate their masculinity and hone their battle skills and fighting techniques. As a result, the games were usually rough and highly competitive, and it wasn’t unheard of for men to sustain serious injury or even be killed. Erik the Red is described as a large, formidable man and he no doubt excelled at physical games, like stone lifting competitions, wrestling, tug of war, swordplay, and knattleikr, a game that involved a ball, a stick, and full-body contact. Women did not partake in these sports, but they were welcome as spectators to cheer on the men.

The one competition that men and women took part in together was drinking. The Vikings enjoyed drinking games where men and women would form teams and each team would drink, boast, and insult the opposing team. The aim of the game was to see which team could drink the most and still remain articulate enough to come up with witty insults.

Board games were also a popular pastime, especially during the long, cold winters when families were forced to spend long hours indoors. A common game was Hnefatafl. This was a game of strategic skill that involved two players. One player had to corner the king while the other had to defend the castle. Another favorite was Kvatrutafl, a game similar to backgammon. These games helped pass the time, but they also taught young Vikings valuable strategic lessons that they could apply in battle.

Farming, fishing, and battle skills were not the only things that Erik learned from his father. Thorvald Asvaldsson was a man who was not opposed to violence and this undoubtedly made an impression on the young Erik. He experienced how his father used violence to settle his differences in Norway. But this was not unusual behavior for the time. Viking society in general was harsh and violent, and ruthless warriors took what they wanted at the point of a sword. Growing up in this type of culture would have had a lasting effect on the development of Erik the Red’s character. By all accounts he grew up to have a volatile nature and a fiery temper. This, along with his father’s propensity for violence, did not bode well for Erik in the long term. Here was a boy with a short temper who was growing up in a hard, violent environment.  Ultimately, like his father, Erik was not opposed to killing, and once he was a grown man, it didn’t take long before he followed in his father’s murderous footsteps.

Chapter 4 – Murder Most Foul

By all accounts, life was good for Erik in Iceland until the 980s. After the death of his father, Erik married Thjodhild Jorundsdottir and together they moved to Haukadal. Thjodhild came from a wealthy family, and it is believed that the property where they settled after their marriage may have been part of the marriage dowry or an inheritance from her family.

Most Vikings married young. Brides could be as young as twelve, and by the age of twenty, most Viking men and women were already married. Marriages were usually arranged by the parents and a marriage was seen not only as a union between husband and wife, but as a contract between two families. When the parents agreed on a marriage, the groom’s family paid a bride price, and when the marriage took place, the bride’s father paid a dowry. This meant that both families had a financial interest in the marriage.

Erik had made a good marriage for himself and at Haukadal, with Thjodhild by his side, he prospered. He owned a number of thralls, built a farm called Eiriksstadir, and started a family. Erik and Thjodhild had four children who survived to adulthood: three sons, Thorvald, Leif, and Thorstein, and a daughter, Freydis. For a while the family was doing well and life was good, but unfortunately things were not destined to stay that way for long.

Erik was known to have a fiery temperament and he did not always get along well with his neighbors so it didn’t take long for an argument to develop between Erik the Red and one of his fellow settlers. By this time, Erik had become a prosperous man and he owned a number of thralls who worked for him on his farm. One day several of his thralls were working the land when they accidentally triggered a landslide that crushed his neighbor Valthjof’s house. One of Valthjof’s clansmen, Eyiolf the Foul, then killed Erik’s thralls. This is when Erik’s fiery temper got the better of him and in retaliation, Erik killed Eyiolf the Foul and another man named Holmgang-Hrafn. Eyiolf’s family demanded that Erik be outlawed from Haukadal. The Thing was held and a decision was made to banish Erik from Haukadal. Erik had to leave his prosperous farm and move his family farther north to the Icelandic island of Oxney.

But this altercation with Eyiolf the Foul and his kinsmen was only the beginning of Erik’s troubles in Iceland. Sometime around 982, Erik entrusted his setstokkr,3 that his father had bought from Norway and Erik had inherited from him, to his friend and fellow settler, Thorgest, for safekeeping while he built his new home. As the story goes, when Erik’s house was complete, he returned to claim his setstokkr but Thorgest refused to give them back. Erik then took the setstokkr by force (it is unclear whether the setstokkr he took were his own or ones that belonged to Thorgest) and set off back to his own farm. However, Erik was a savvy man and an experienced warrior who was not going to be caught off guard by retaliation from Thorgest. Instead of returning directly to his farm, Erik set up an ambush and laid in wait to see if Thorgest and his men would pursue him. They did and during the ensuing fight, two of Thorgest’s sons were killed, apparently by Erik. This act could not go unpunished, and once again Erik’s fate was decided by the village men at the Thing. Erik was found guilty of murder and this time he was outlawed not just from Oxney but from the entirety of Iceland. This meant that he could not merely move his family to another part of the island.

This was the second recorded time that Erik was found guilty of murdering a fellow Icelander and the Thing could easily have decided to banish him for life. He was, by all accounts, a difficult man, known to have a fiery temper and altercations with his neighbors, so there certainly would have been cause to completely outlaw him. Being outlawed was a terrible punishment for any Viking as it left them not only at the mercy of the elements but also at the mercy of other Vikings and outlaws. Fortunately, Erik was able to persuade the Thing to only banish him from Iceland for three years and to allow his family to keep his land and possessions while he was outlawed. Here one gets a glimpse of the powers of persuasion that Erik later employed so effectively to get people to follow him to Greenland a few years later.

3Wood carving was one of the key artistic expressions of Viking Age art and craftsmanship. They were master carpenters who carved mighty dragon heads for their longboats and toys for their children. Their mastery of wood can also clearly be seen in the carving of setstokkr. Setstokkr were large beams with Viking symbols carved on them and they held mystical value for the Vikings as part of their pagan religion. These carved beams held great personal and spiritual value for their owners.

Chapter 5 – Erik the Explorer

Erik the Red would have been a fearsome sight at the head of any Viking raiding party, striking fear into the hearts of vulnerable coastal settlements. But his biggest contribution to world history was not as a Viking warrior but rather as an explorer and the founder of the first European settlement in Greenland.

Here it is important to give credit where credit is due and mention that Erik the Red was actually not the first European to discover the landmass he named Greenland. That honor should most likely go to an Icelandic settler named Gunnbjorn Ulfsson. While sailing to Iceland, Ulfsson was blown off course during a storm and saw the shores of Greenland. However, he did not make landfall on the island but instead continued on his voyage. Erik may not have discovered Greenland, but he was most certainly the first European to create a permanent settlement on this remote island. This was definitely no small accomplishment, as Greenland was certainly not a green and pleasant land, but rather a cold and snowy place with ice floes, glaciers, and only a relatively small amount of arable land.

After Erik was found guilty of killing his fellow Norsemen for the second time, he decided it was best for him not to remain in Iceland while he was outlawed. Had he stayed on the island he would have lived a life on the run for three years. This clearly was not something Erik was prepared to do. It appears that he was an ambitious man with a strong character, and he wasn’t just going to disappear quietly into obscurity or risk being killed by another Icelander. He decided he would rather take his chances at sea and use his time in exile to his advantage, exploring the ocean surrounding Iceland.

In 982 Erik and his crew set sail from Sneefellsjokull, planning to locate and explore the landmass that was rumored to lie to the west of Iceland.4 He braved the icy waters of the rough Atlantic and traveled the approximately 180 miles to the shores of Greenland. His first sight of Greenland would most likely have been the towering outline of the east Greenland coast, but he would not have been able to land there because of the great masses of ice along the shoreline. For many people this would have been a daunting sight and maybe even enough to make them rethink their goals, but not Erik. Erik was not deterred by his first sight of this icy landscape. Besides, he had three years to fill before he could return to Iceland, so there really was no turning back for him.

This landmass that Erik encountered, explored, and colonized during his three years of exile is in fact the largest island in the world (Australia and Antarctica are considered continents). Greenland is the twelfth largest country on Earth but has always been sparsely inhabited because more than 75% of its total area is covered by an ice sheet and settlement is only possible along the ice-free coast that is mainly found on the west side of the island. Located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, Greenland is a giant landmass that covers a total area of 836,109 square miles, has a coastline of 27,394 miles, and is physiographically part of the North American continent. (Therefore, by strict definition one could argue that Erik the Red established the first settlement on the North American continent but that is an argument best left to historical scholars.)

When Erik first arrived in Greenland, his main concern would have been finding a place to spend the winter. When they couldn’t make landfall on the eastern side of the island, Erik and his crew continued their voyage, rounded Cape Farewell, and sailed until they found a place to go ashore on the west coast of the island. Erik is a good example of turning adversity into triumph. Once he reached the shores of Greenland, he made the most of his forced exile and spent the next three years thoroughly exploring the island and determining whether it would be a good place to settle, not just temporarily but permanently. The Norsemen spent the summers exploring the uninhabited land and the winters in more sheltered areas.

According to the Saga of Erik the Red,5 the Norsemen spent the first winter at a place they named Eiriksey (Erik’s Island). When the spring came and the ground thawed slightly, they set about exploring the vast landmass. They traveled up the fjords and moved farther inland to a place that Erik named Eriksfjord. Here they found arable land and lush grazing. The second winter they spent in another area, this time Erik used the name Eiriksholmar. Later they explored as far north as Snaefell and Hrafnsfjord. Erik named many places, mostly after himself. This gives one some idea of Erik’s character and his belief in his own importance. It might also explain why he didn’t always see eye to eye with his neighbors and why starting a new life in a place where he could make the rules would have appealed to a man like Erik the Red.

To modern-day people, Greenland may seem like an odd choice as a place to settle. The climate is harsh and inhospitable and these days there is very little arable land to farm or grazing for livestock. It is estimated that Erik sailed over 6,000 miles during the four sailing seasons that he spent exploring Greenland. The new land that he and his crew found had a similar climate to what they were accustomed to in Iceland. The fjords froze in the winter and snow covered most of the ground, but when spring came and the snow melted, it exposed the lush grazing and arable land that lay beneath the icy layer. Another factor that added to Greenland’s appeal was that it was uninhabited. There were no indigenous people or other settlers living around the fjords or along the coast of the southern part of the island. When the Norse established their settlements, they found the remains of earlier Inuit settlements or camps in the area, but they had long since moved on. Many years would pass before the Vikings and the Inuit encountered each other in Greenland but that did not mean that the Norse were not aware of their existence elsewhere. There was definitely contact between the Greenlanders and the Inuit in other areas, and when Leif and other parties traveled to Labrador and the Newfoundland coast, they encountered many indigenous people.

While Erik was exploring Greenland, his family was far from idle. The farm had to be maintained so that the family could sustain themselves and there would be somewhere for Erik to return to once he was no longer outlawed. But when he finally returned, things did not go back to the way they were. By the time Erik came back to Iceland, he had decided that he was going to take his family and start a new settlement in Greenland. But this was too big a task for one family, so Erik had to persuade others to go with him. He may have had a fiery temper and a proclivity for fighting, but he was also clearly a persuasive man and respected leader. Erik managed to convince around three hundred people to accompany him to Greenland and start a new colony. Historians will probably never know exactly how Erik was able to persuade so many people to accompany him on this dangerous and daunting voyage into the unknown. He most likely pointed out the benefits of being the first settlers in a new area; being able to choose the best land, build homesteads in areas of their choice, and having more power and freedom. Some scholars also suggest that he called the island Greenland to make it more appealing to potential settlers.

For Erik, the move to Greenland was most likely an opportunity to increase his wealth and enjoy greater freedom. He had twice been found guilty of killings in Iceland and he may have been seeking a fresh start. His followers’ reasons for leaving Iceland were probably as many and varied as the men themselves. Most were probably seeking a better life.

Good, arable land and grazing are always a drawcard for settlers. In an agrarian society, having the best land enables men to increase their wealth and power. The early settlers in Iceland had taken all the best land and those who came later did not have much access to good grazing or vast tracts of land to farm. This meant the latecomers to Iceland may have seen Greenland as a more attractive option. The settlement in Iceland was also relatively new so many of the families there were probably not yet very well established.  Greenland would have given them the opportunity to be the first settlers in a new territory and a chance to lay claim to the best land. Another reason for leaving Iceland could have been famine. In 976 Iceland experienced the first great famine recorded in Icelandic history, so many of the people who chose to go with Erik and start again in Greenland would have had nothing to lose.

4 The Hillingar Effect

Under the right weather conditions, Greenland, even though it is below the geometric horizon, is actually visible from the mountains of northwestern Iceland. Since Erik grew up in Hornstrandir, which is in the remote northwestern part of the island, it is quite possible that he had on occasion seen the landmass that lay to the west of Iceland.

The weather phenomena that makes Greenland visible from Iceland at times is known as an artic mirage or, in Icelandic, the hillingar effect. There are two types of mirages, the inferior mirage and the superior mirage (hillingar effect). The names do not refer to the size of the mirage but rather to the deceptive position of the image relative to an object’s actual position. The hillingar effect is an optical illusion or displacement of an observed image in an upward direction and enables a person to see beyond the horizon.

Mirages are caused when light passes through layers of air of differing densities and the air refracts or bends the light. Superior mirages are most common in the Polar Regions and form when the ground or water surface is significantly colder than the air above it and the temperature inversion refracts the light towards the colder air, making objects visible above their geographic position.

Mirages trick the brain into thinking it is seeing something that isn’t in fact really there or is different from what the brain is interpreting. This phenomenon has given rise to incredible seafaring legends and wild tales of boats that appear to float in the clouds, lands that mysteriously appear and disappear in the mist, and objects that seem to be upside down.

5The Sagas

Much of what is known about the history of Greenland and the discovery of Vinland come from two Icelandic sagas, namely the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders. Both sagas are based on stories persevered for generations by oral traditions and were written in Iceland approximately 250 years after the events they describe. While both sagas make reference to Leif Erikson and his voyage to the North American continent and contain similar elements, they also differ greatly. Here is a brief summary of the two sagas.

The Saga of the Greenlanders (Groenlendinga Saga)

The Saga of the Greenlanders not only describes Leif’s voyage to Vinland but also subsequent voyages to the new land. According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Leif’s voyage to Vinland was planned and deliberate. The Saga of the Greenlanders describes haw Bjarni Herjolfsson accidentally discovers a new land to the west of Greenland in about 986 and how fifteen years later five expeditions are made to Vinland, although one voyage, led by Leif’s brother Thorstein, fails to reach its goal. In this version of the discovery of Vinland, Bjarni does not go ashore. He only sees the landmass from his boat but when he realizes it cannot possibly be Greenland because there are no glaciers and ice floes, he sails on without making landfall. When Bjarni finally reaches Greenland, he settles on his father’s farm and there he remains. He never attempts to mount an expedition to return to the mysterious land that he had seen. He does, however, tell his story to other settlers on Greenland and this ultimately inspires Leif Erikson, some fifteen years later, to organize an expedition to explore this land. In the Saga of the Greenlanders, Leif is the main explorer of Vinland and he establishes a base camp at Leifsbudir. This serves as a boat repair station, storage area for timber and grapes before they are shipped to Greenland, and a base for subsequent expeditions.

Leif retraces Bjarni’s route in reverse, past Helluland (land of flat stone) and Markland (land of forests) before sailing across the open sea for another two days until he finds a headland with an island just offshore and a pool accessible to ships at high tide. Leif and his crew make landfall in the area and establish a base. They name the area Vinland, and the winter is described as mild rather than freezing. It is here that they are reputed to have found an abundance of wild grapes. In the spring Leif returns to Greenland with a boatload of timber and grapes. Leif never returns to Vinland. The second expedition to Vinland is led by Leif’s older brother, Thorvald, with a crew of about 40 men. This group spends three winters at the base that Leif had established, Leifsbudir. They explore the west coast of the new land in the first summer and the east coast in the second summer. During their exploration of Vinland they make contact with the local inhabitants that they called Skraelings, and violence breaks out. After killing some Skraelings, the Norse explorers are attacked by a large force and an arrow fatally wounds Thorvald. The following spring the remaining Greenlanders decide to return home. Leif’s younger brother, Thorstein, leads a third expedition to Vinland to recover Thorvald’s body, but he is driven off course and spends the summer wandering aimlessly in the Atlantic before returning to Greenland, having failed in his mission. The following winter Thorstein dies from illness and his widow, Gudrid, marries Thorfinn Karlsefni, an Icelander. Thorfinn agrees to lead another expedition to Vinland. This is a larger expedition and Gudrid accompanies her husband; they even take livestock with them. Gudrid gives birth to a son, Snorri, in Vinland, but shortly after his birth, the group is attacked by the local inhabitants. They manage to retreat to a defensive position and are able to survive the attack. The following summer they return to Greenland with a cargo of grapes, timber, and hides. Shortly after this, Leif’s sister, Freydis, persuades the captain of an Icelandic ship to mount an expedition to Vinland. They set sail in the autumn and spend the winter at Leif’s camp but a disagreement between Freydis and the Icelandic captain’s leads to the killing of the captains and their Icelandic crews. The Greenlanders then return home with their cargo. This is the last Vinland expedition recorded in the Saga of the Greenlanders.

The Saga of Erik the Red (Erik’s Saga)

In this version of the story, Leif accidentally discovers the North American continent on his return to Greenland following a visit to King Olaf Tryggvason in Norway. Leif spends a winter in the household of King Olaf where he is converted to Christianity. King Olaf then commissions Leif to spread Christianity to Greenland and convert the Greenlanders to the faith. On his return voyage he is blown off course during a storm and makes landfall on a mysterious land where he spends the winter. On his return to Greenland, he brings with him not only the Christian religion but also a cargo of grapes, wheat, and timber. He also rescues survivors from a wrecked ship and this earns him the nickname, Leif the Lucky. The Saga of Erik the Red, like the Saga of the Greenlanders, states that this was the only voyage that Leif made to Vinland. In the spring after Leif returned, his younger brother, Thorstein, leads the next expedition to the new land but is driven off course by a storm and spends the entire summer wandering aimlessly in the Atlantic. He returns to Greenland without ever making it to Vinland. On his return Thorstein marries Gudrid, but he dies of illness in the winter. The following winter Gudrid marries a visiting Icelander named Thorfinn Karlsefni. He agrees to undertake the largest expedition to Vinland. His wife accompanies him on this voyage, and they also take livestock with them. They are accompanied by another pair of Icelanders, Bjarni Grimolfsson and Thorhall Gamlason, as well as Leif’s older brother, Thorvald, his sister, Freydis, and her husband, Thorvard. They sail past Helluland and Markland and continue past some extraordinarily long beaches before landing along the coast and sending out two scouts to explore the land. After three days, the scouts return with grapes and wheat. The expedition sails on until they come to an inlet with an island just offshore and there they make camp. This camp is called Straumfjord. The winter is apparently harsh and food is scarce. When spring comes, Thorhall Gamlason wants to sail north to find Vinland but Thorfinn Karlsefni wants to sail southwards. Thorhall takes nine men and sails north, but his vessel is swept out to sea and never seen again. Thorfinn and the rest sail down the east coast with approximately 40 men and establish a camp on the shore of a lagoon. The settlement was known as Hop and there they found an abundance of wild grapes and wheat. How long they stay there is unclear. They have contact with the local people, Skraelings. The first encounter is peaceful, and later they return and trade with the Norse. One day the local people become frightened by the Greenlander’s bull and they attack the explorers. The Greenlanders manage to survive the attack by retreating to a more defensive position. After that the explorers abandon their southern camp and sail north again. Karlsefni and Thorvald Eriksson take a crew and sail in search of Thorhall. They once again have a hostile encounter with the local people and Thorvald is shot with an arrow and dies from his wound. The explorers remain on the continent for one more winter, but the situation is tense and there are disagreements amongst them. The following summer they abandon their venture and start the return voyage to Greenland. This is the last Vinland expedition recorded in the Saga of Erik the Red.

A notable difference between the two sagas is that in the Saga of Erik the Red, Leif’s role has been reduced to that of the accidental discoverer of Vinland and Thorfinn Karlsefni is the main explorer of Vinland. Bjarni Herjolfsson’s voyage fifteen years earlier is not mentioned. In the Saga of the Greenlanders there are five attempted expeditions to Vinland over the course of a number of years, but in Erik’s saga there is only one huge expedition after Leif discovers Vinland. The name Leifsbudir does not appear in the Saga of Erik the Red, and instead there are two camps, Straumfjord (Fjord of Currents) and Hop (Tidal Lagoon). Straumfjord is the main base where the explorers spend the winter. Hop is the summer camp where timber is cut and grapes are collected and then shipped to Straumfjord before being taken to Greenland. The reasons for the differences in the two sagas is unclear. Both were based on oral histories and written long after the actual events so it could be as simple as two different interpretations with different authors placing different emphasis on different events. Bearing in mind that both versions were written by Icelanders that might have had different agendas and the writer of the Saga of Erik the Red may have wanted to make the Icelanders’ contribution to the discovery of Vinland the significant part of the story; therefore, Thorfinn Karlsefni’s role is greatly embellished and Leif Erikson is only mentioned briefly. The details of the two sagas may differ greatly, but the fundamental premise that Leif Erikson was the first European to land on the North American continent is common to both.

Chapter 6 – Settling in Greenland

Erik spent the winter in Iceland recruiting followers and preparing to return to Greenland, not as an explorer with a crew of hardened men, but as a colonizer with a party of men, women, and children. When Erik persuaded three hundred people to go with him to Greenland, it was not to explore, trade, or gather resources; it was to settle. These people were giving up their entire lives in Iceland to venture into the unknown and start again. That meant that it wasn’t just the men that made the voyage; it was entire families and households. Women, children, and thralls all accompanied the men to Greenland. They took with them their household belongings, tools, seeds to grow crops, livestock, and everything they would need to start a new life in a harsh and unsettled territory. This was a major undertaking.

By the summer of 985, Erik and his party were ready to leave the relatively safe haven of Iceland and set sail for the icy and unwelcoming shores of Greenland. Thirty-five ships, loaded with settlers and cargo, left Iceland to start a new life in Greenland.  The decision to go to Greenland was one thing; the voyage was quite another, as this was no easy crossing. The settlers had to deal with rough seas, inclement weather, and large icebergs. Ultimately only fourteen vessels made it safely to Greenland. The others were either blown off course and were wrecked or returned to Iceland.

The hardened Norsemen may have been used to treacherous sea crossings and dangerous raiding expeditions, but they were probably all highly relieved to make landfall on the shores of Greenland. They had after all brought their families and all their worldly possessions with them on this voyage and staked their futures on this venture. They certainly had no intention of returning to their old lives in Iceland.

Setting foot on dry land would have been a relief but making the ocean crossing to Greenland was only the beginning for Erik and his followers. Taming the harsh landscape was no mean feat. It took courage, determination, and hard work to survive, and ultimately thrive, in this environment. It also took strong leadership and here Erik the Red excelled. Two settlements were quickly established, about 400 miles apart, on the southwestern part of the island. These settlements were known as the Eastern Settlement or Eystribyggð (present-day Qaqortoq) and the Western Settlement or Vestribyggð (close to the present-day capital of Nuuk). These settlements were not along the coast but farther inland where the land was protected from the icy waters of the Arctic Sea and the cold foggy coastal weather. No doubt Erik had scouted these locations during his exile and already earmarked the best land for himself.

Soon after the settlers arrived in Greenland, Erik was elected paramount chief of the Eastern Settlement. He was a strong leader and he organized his followers to build homesteads and shelters before the onset of winter. Most built typical low, rectangular single-room Viking houses that they would have shared with their livestock, at least for the first winter. The only difference between the houses found in Greenland and those in other Scandinavian countries was that instead of using timber, the Greenlanders used stone as their primary building material. This would not have been by choice but rather through necessity. There were no great forests on Greenland and stone was far more plentiful than timber.

Erik built a home for his family at a place he named Brattahlid, at the head of Eriksfjord approximately 96 km (approximately 60 miles) from the coast. But this was no single-room dwelling. As the paramount chief Erik would have made sure he displayed his wealth and status. His home would certainly have had more than one room and Greenland his family lived liked jarls. Erik used his leadership skills to become a wealthy and powerful man. There are no further recorded incidents of him being accused of murder or fighting with his neighbors. But whether this was because he had matured, the incidents were never recorded, or because he was now chief and no one dared accuse him, we will never know. But what we do know is that Erik and his family continued to prosper in Greenland and the establishment of this new colony appears to have been the right move for him.

From the start of the colony, Greenland’s economy was based on farming, fishing, hunting, and trade. The sea around the island was teeming with life, and during the summer each settlement sent men to hunt in Disko Bay above the Arctic Circle. They returned with meat that could be dried and eaten during the long winter months when fresh food was scarce and brought other valuable commodities such as seal pelts and walrus tusks that could be traded and sold to Icelandic traders or when the Greenlanders made trading voyages to Norway. It was primarily this trade between Greenland and Norway that enabled the colony to survive and the settlers to buy the much-needed resources, such as timber for homesteads and shipbuilding, which were not readily available on the island.

Scandinavians wore clothes made of skins, homespun wool, and furs so there was always a market for the polar bear furs, seal pelts, wool, arctic fox furs, and caribou skins that the Greenlanders had almost unlimited access to. The Greenlanders also exported luxuries, such as walrus tusks and unicorn horns, to the royal courts of Europe. Obviously, there were no actual unicorns in Greenland, but the Vikings appeared to have been clever marketers and knew how to sell their products. The so-called “unicorn horn” was actually the tusk of the narwhal. The narwhal is a whale found only in the icy waters of the northernmost oceans. Narwhals are relatively small, and the males have a left canine that twists in a spiral and can grow up to ten feet long. The Europeans highly valued these tusks. They crushed the horns for medicinal purposes, and in the French court, the king’s food was served in unicorn horns.

Chapter 7 – Greenland to Vinland

There were never any great forests on Greenland, but when Erik and his followers first settled on the island, the driftwood was piled high on some of the beaches. Once the Greenlanders started building homesteads, these supplies were, however, soon depleted, and as the population grew, so did the need for timber.

Initially, there might only have been around three hundred settlers in Greenland, but more soon followed and most historians agree that the population could have peaked at as many as five thousand. There would never have been enough natural timber on the island to support a population that size. The few trees that grew naturally on Greenland were mostly birch, and while this made fine firewood, it was good for little else and could certainly not be used to build houses, or more importantly, ships. Homesteads could be constructed with stone and turf, but timber was essential for shipbuilding and ships were the lifeblood of Norse settlements like those on Greenland. Greenlanders were forced to import timber, or in some cases they bought complete ships, directly from Norway. This need for timber was one of the contributing factors for Leif Erikson’s iconic voyage to Vinland.

Leif Erikson was Erik the Red’s second son, and he became a world-renowned explorer who is most famous for being the first European to set foot on the North American continent. He beat Christopher Columbus by almost half a century.

Leif is a formidable and interesting character in his own right, but he was also Erik the Red’s son and the two men were clearly cut from the same cloth. It is probably fair to say that without the influence and guidance of Erik the Red, Leif would never have become the man he did, and he might never have made one of the greatest voyages of discovery in Viking Age history.

Leif, like Erik, was a product of his time and upbringing. He was raised by a formidable father, who not only taught him how to survive in a harsh environment but also gave him the confidence and skills he needed to make the voyage to Vinland and return with a boatload of timber and grapes.

It is uncertain how long it took Leif and his crew to sail across the Atlantic, but The Saga of the Greenlanders claims that they made landfall at three different sites. The first place that they are believed to have landed was an icy and inhospitable region Erikson named “Helluland”. This was a place of flat stone and ice. From there they sailed on until they came to a heavily forested stretch of coastline that they called “Markland”. They did not however choose to establish any sort of settlement there and sailed further south along the coast, quite possibly looking for a more suitable place to build a base camp. Approximately two days later, they came to a headland with an island just offshore. This appeared to be a more hospitable area than Helluland and Markland and Leif decided to build his camp there and named the area Vinland, most likely due to the abundance of wild grapes they found there.

There is much debate as to exactly where Helluland, Markland, and Vinland were. Helluland means “Land of the Stones” or “Flat-Stone Land” and many historians now believe that this was most likely Baffin Island. The second place Leif and his crew made landfall they named Markland which means “Wood Land,” and there were large forests and this is quite possibly Labrador. The exact location of the third landing place, Vinland, remains controversial and it could have been as far north as Newfoundland or as far south as Cape Cod

The discovery and brief attempt to settle Vinland is clearly Leif’s story and legacy, but Erik played a significant role. He not only ensured that his son could fight, hunt, and fish, but he also taught Leif how to navigate when there was no land in sight; an essential skill for anyone hoping to cross the open ocean. Leif’s voyage to Vinland was not his first sea crossing. After Erik had settled in Greenland, he frequently sailed to Iceland to trade, and Leif often accompanied his father on these trips. At his father’s side, Leif learned about ocean crossings and navigation. By all accounts, he had a natural aptitude for sailing and developed a reputation as an outstanding seafarer. Erik’s lessons and the time Leif spent sailing with his father undoubtedly honed the skills that enabled him to make the treacherous voyage across the Atlantic to the shores of Vinland.

But it was not just skills that Erik gave Leif; he also gave him the strength and determination that he needed to strike out on his own and go in search of a mysterious land that a man named Bjarni Herjolfsson claimed lay to the west of Greenland. Leif, like his father before him, had great courage and was prepared to gamble his life on finding a new territory that could be of value to himself and his family. He also clearly had an adventurous spirit and the desire to make his own mark on the world.

Erik also provided the physical starting point for Leif’s voyage. Greenland was the launch pad for Leif’s incredible voyage. Without the settlement of Greenland, Leif’s epic voyage would not have been possible. Once the Vikings had settled in Greenland, it was only a matter of time before they reached the shores of North America. The shortest distance between Greenland and Canada is the Davis Straight and here the two landmasses are only separated by 250 nautical miles. For seafarers accustomed to making the 1,500 nautical mile crossing between Norway and Greenland, this relatively short distance would not have presented much of a challenge. Viking explorers were already used to living in freezing conditions and dealing with rough waters, frozen seas, ice floes, and the various other challenges of sailing in the open ocean, so they would naturally have attempted the Atlantic crossing.

If Leif had lived anywhere else in the world at the time, he probably never would have been the first European to visit North America, and for this reason, Erik the Red is integral to the story of the discovery of the continent. In fact, according to the sagas, Erik was originally supposed to sail with Leif when he went in search of the land that the Greenlanders had heard lay to the west. Legend has it that a short while before they were due to set sail, Erik fell off his horse and injured himself. But it was not his injuries that prevented him from joining the expedition but rather his superstitions. Erik saw the fall as a bad omen and decided not to accompany Leif. This might have been bad news for Erik, but it was perhaps not so bad for Leif.  If Erik had been on the expedition and they had made it to the shores of North America, his name may well have been recorded in the sagas and history books as the first known European to have set foot on North American soil instead of Leif’s. Erik the Red was obviously an ambitious man and as the chief of the Eastern Settlement would probably have taken credit for discovering Vinland. So, but for a simple twist of fate, Erik the Red may have gone down in history, not only as the man to establish the first European settlement on Greenland but also as the first European to set foot on the North American continent.

Chapter 8 – Erik’s Offspring and their voyages to Vinland

Erik was the patriarch of an adventurous and courageous clan. Even though he never made it to the shores of North America, he could probably be called the father of Vinland. It was not only through Leif that Erik influenced the discovery and exploration of Vinland but through all his children. At one time or another, each of Erik’s other children followed in Leif’s footsteps and attempted to make the Atlantic crossing. It appears that Erik passed his courage, lust for adventure, and pioneering spirit on to not only Leif, but also Thorvald, Thorstein, and even his daughter, Freydis. In fact, Freydis was known for her bravery and ruthlessness. Whether Erik’s children were driven by a desire to impress their father, emulate his success, or merely escape from his domineering presence, we will never know, but in their own way, each one attempted to make their mark on the Viking world.

According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Thorvald, Thorstein, and Freydis were all part of different expeditions that attempted to reach Vinland, but not all were successful.  Erik’s Saga, on the other hand, lumps all the expeditions into one. Interestingly Leif only ever made one voyage to Vinland, and after his initial discovery and exploration, he never returned to the North American continent. The buildings he built, however, remained and were used by subsequent Norse explorers, and there was even a brief, albeit unsuccessful, attempt to establish a more permanent settlement in Vinland.

The second of Erik’s sons to make the voyage to Vinland was his oldest child, Thorvald. He followed Leif’s directions and even used his longboat to make the voyage. Once he reached the shores of Vinland, he spent about two years exploring and sailing up and down the coast. He also harvested timber and grapes to take back to Greenland. Unfortunately for Thorvald and his crew, North America, unlike Greenland, was not uninhabited. The more time the Greenlanders spent on the North American continent, the more contact they had with the Native Americans called Skraelings by the Norsemen. Initially, they most likely traded with each other, but the more contact the groups had the more conflict developed, and inevitably skirmishes broke out between the Norsemen and the local tribes. During one of these skirmishes, Thorvald was shot by an arrow and died of his wounds. He became the first European to die on the North American continent and his crew buried him at a place they named Crossness. Not long after Thorvald’s death, his crew returned to Greenland with their cargo of timber and grapes

The second of Erik’s children to attempt the voyage to Vinland was his youngest son, Thorstein. He tried to sail to Vinland to retrieve Thorvald’s body and bring it back to Greenland, but unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful. Fierce storms and rough seas hampered the voyage, and Thorstein was forced to return to Greenland empty-handed.

Erik’s daughter, Freydis led the last recorded expedition to Vinland. Freydis was by all accounts a formidable woman, who had inherited both her father’s pioneering spirit and his violent ways. According to the Greenland Saga, Freydis persuaded two Icelandic traders and their crew to make the voyage to Vinland with her, and her crew of Greenlanders. Unfortunately, from the beginning, the voyage was fraught with disagreements, and eventually Freydis ordered her men to kill the Icelanders before she returned to Greenland with the usual cargo of timber and grapes. No explanation is given for her actions, and this is the last recorded expedition to Vinland during the Viking Age.

Chapter 9 – Decline of Vinland

For modern Americans, it may seem strange that the Greenlanders decided so quickly to abandon any attempts at a permanent settlement in Vinland. On the surface, the continent appeared to offer the Greenlanders everything they were looking for. It was certainly a far more hospitable environment than Greenland, the climate was moderate, grazing was plentiful, and the land was fertile. And, of course, there were large forests and plenty of wood for building homesteads and ships. So why didn’t the Vikings settle in Vinland?

The main reason appears to be that it was just not economically viable. During the Viking Age, Vinland actually had very little to offer the Greenlanders in comparison to Europe. The resources available in Vinland, mostly grapes and timber, were not enough to make the treacherous voyage worthwhile.  The distance between Greenland and Vinland was almost 3,500 km (2100 miles), and the same commodities were available in Norway whose voyage was shorter and far less dangerous. Europe was also a source of luxuries like spices from the East, salt, textiles, glass, and other commodities that the Greenlanders could not find in Vinland or produce for themselves.

Regular voyages between Greenland, Iceland, and Norway were also essential to ensure the political and cultural survival of the island. The settlers viewed themselves as Norse and followed their Norse traditions. With such strong ties to Norway, many would have retained their contacts and political connections in their old homeland. When they moved to the colonies, they were not looking to establish new independent homelands or break ties with Norway. If they had established a settlement in Vinland, it would have been a satellite colony and this was actually not really viable. Unfortunately, Vinland was just too far away to be an efficient and cost-effective Viking settlement.

The size of the colony on Greenland also made the settlement of Vinland impractical. The small and newly established colony of Greenland could not afford to send 30 or 40 of their most able-bodied men to Vinland for three or four years at a time. They needed those men to help establish and maintain farms and homesteads on the island. When Erik decided to leave Iceland and start a settlement on Greenland, there were many reasons for others to follow him. But at the time of Leif’s voyage to Vinland, Greenland was still a relatively new settlement and there were still plenty of resources for all the settlers.

Another disadvantage of colonizing Vinland was that, unlike Greenland, the North American continent was already inhabited by a large indigenous population. There was some trade between the Vikings and the local tribes, but there were also hostile encounters. The number of settlers was relatively small and they were always vulnerable to attack. A combination of all these factors meant that from the time of Leif’s voyage to Vinland and the eventual abandonment of any kind of settlement on the North American continent was less than ten years.

The distance to Vinland and a hostile local population basically meant that once Leif and a number of other Greenlanders had been to Vinland, explored the area, and spent several winters there, they left and apparently never returned. Leif certainly never made the voyage again. He, like Erik, preferred to spend the rest of his life living in relative comfort at Brattahlid. After Erik’s death, Leif became chief of the Eastern Settlement until his own death when the mantle passed to his son, Thorkel Leifson.

Even though there were no more attempts to settle on Vinland, the Old Icelandic records do mention that an Icelandic bishop, Eric Gnupsson, tried to make the voyage from Greenland to Vinland in 1121. It is not known what happened to the bishop and his name is never mentioned in any records again. Historians assume that his attempt was unsuccessful because three years later a new bishop named Arnald was sent to Greenland. In 1347 Icelandic records also mention a ship that arrived in Iceland loaded with timber from Markland. Apparently, the ship was on its way back to Greenland but was blown off course. This record indicates that even after the Greenlanders abandoned their settlement on Vinland, they may have continued to harvest timber from the North American continent.

Chapter 10 – Erik the Pagan and Christianity in Greenland

The first settlers in Greenland, including Erik and his family, were predominantly pagans who worshiped the Old Norse gods. At the time that Erik and his followers left for Greenland, Christianity was spreading across Europe, but Iceland was still pagan, and the Greenlanders took their beliefs with them.

During the Viking Age, Christianity was already the dominant religion in Europe, but it was slow to be adopted by the Scandinavian countries. Christian priests and monks were sent to Scandinavia to try and convert the Vikings, but the Norse loved their old gods and were slow to let go of their pagan traditions and superstitions. The successful conversion took centuries, but by the end of the Viking Age, most Vikings had converted to Christianity and were baptized and buried in the faith.

When the Vikings finally converted to Christianity, it occurred, for the most part, without violence and bloodshed. One of the factors that made the Vikings adopt Christianity was not because of religious beliefs but rather for practical reasons. Viking traders were beginning to suffer losses because Christian traders and countries began to discriminate against Muslims and pagans. To solve this problem and continue trading in Europe, many Vikings traders merely adopted the signs of Christianity outwardly to protect their business interests. They would wear a cross when trading with Christians but replaced it with Thor’s hammer when they returned to their homes.

In Norway, Christianity only became the dominant religion around 995 when Olaf Tryggvason became king. Little is known about the early life of Olaf Tryggvason. During his youth, he became a mighty Viking warrior who acquired great wealth and fame by raiding and plundering throughout Europe. He campaigned in Britain around 994 AD and it is believed that this is where he was converted to Christianity. When he returned to Norway in 996, he was proclaimed king by the Althing.

Olaf was the first Christian king of Norway and he set about converting the predominantly pagan population to Christianity in a brutal manner. Pagan temples were destroyed and churches were built in their place. Those who refused to convert were killed, tortured, maimed, or banished. After bringing Christianity to Norway, King Olaf was determined to spread his religion to the outlying areas of Iceland and Greenland. King Olaf may have succeeded in converting Norway by force, but Greenland was beyond his control, so there he could not wield the sword as effectively to convince the settlers to convert. He needed to use other techniques.

In Iceland, Christianity was adopted at the Althing in the year 1000. King Olaf sent missionaries to Iceland in the late 990’s but they met with limited success. King Olaf then tried a more aggressive approach. He cut off trade between Iceland and Norway and he threatened to kill Icelanders living in Norway. King Olaf’s actions led to growing tensions between pagans and Christians in Iceland. To prevent a civil war, the adoption of Christianity was put to a vote at an Althing.

By the time the Icelanders adopted Christianity, the Greenlanders had already left the island. Conversion in Greenland was a more gradual and voluntary process and the Althing never mandated it. One of the reasons for this may have been that Erik the Red never embraced Christianity and remained a committed pagan until he died.

This might have been a problem for King Olaf, but an opportunity presented itself when Leif Erikson visited Norway around 997 AD when he was approximately 24 years old. It was not unusual at the time for young Norsemen to serve as retainers in the royal household and the Greenlanders were still very much tied to their Norwegian homeland. This visit was an opportunity for Leif to make political connections and form alliances that would place him in good standing in the future. Before Leif made his voyage to Norway, he, like the rest of his family and most of the other settlers, worshiped pagan gods.

When Leif arrived in Norway, he was welcomed into the court of King Olaf, who knew his father. It appears that the king took quite a shine to the young Greenlander, as Leif was invited to spend the winter in the king’s court. The time Leif spent with King Olaf was to have a lasting influence, not only on Leif but also on the settlement of Greenland and the relationship between Leif and Erik. It was during his visit to Norway that Leif converted to Christianity, and when he returned to Greenland, he took his new religion with him.

This was perfect for King Olaf because the only way that he was going to spread Christianity to the distant shores of Greenland was through converts with influence in the settlements. In Leif, he found just such a person—a young man who was held in high esteem in Greenland and who was able to influence and convert the Greenlanders to the Christian faith. Before Leif and his crew returned to Greenland, they all converted and were baptized. King Olaf then gave Leif the task of spreading the faith to Greenland. According to Erik’s Saga, he even sent a priest back to Greenland with Leif.

Leif clearly took his mission from the Norwegian monarch very seriously, and on his return to the island, he set about converting the Greenlanders to Christianity.  Like his father, Leif obviously had the ear of the people and knew how to persuade them to his way of thinking. Using his influence and reputation as a man of fair judgment and honesty, Leif was able to convert many Greenlanders. Even his mother, Thjodhild, who had been a life-long pagan, converted. In fact, she became so passionate about her new religion that she commissioned the first church ever built in Greenland. This led to some conflict within the family as Erik at first refused to build the church. According to legend, however, he gave in to his wife’s demands when she refused to have sex with him until he built her a church.

In 1932, a group of Danish archaeologists excavating Brattahlid (Erik the Red’s homestead) found the remains of what they assume is Thjodhild’s church. The church could hold between 20 and 30 worshipers and was located close to a communal hall, where people could meet and play board games, and it was surrounded by a wall to keep out farm animals. Later, in 1961, a small horseshoe-shaped chapel was also found on the site as well as the skeletal remains of 144 people. The most interesting skeletons were three that were buried close to the church wall and are believed to be the remains of Erik the Red, Thjodhild and Leif Erikson. Erik may not have been a Christian, but it appears that his remains were ultimately laid to rest by his family in a Christian graveyard. This, however, does not mean that we can assume he had a Christian burial. As a life-long pagan, Erik is far more likely to have had a Viking send-off.

Leif may have found it easy to convert his mother and many of the other Greenlanders, but Erik was an entirely different matter. Father and son may have shared the same adventurous spirit, determination, and leadership skills, but they didn’t always see eye to eye on all things, and in the end, they didn’t share the same religious views. Erik was a bold and brave man who believed strongly in his gods and deities. He clung to his old Norse superstitions and continued to worship his pagan gods. These were, after all, the gods who had protected him for years. They had allowed him to survive raids and battles and sanctioned his expeditions of exploration. They had guided him to Greenland and enabled him to establish a successful settlement there and prosper. Erik the Red would have believed that his pagan gods had clearly favored him and allowed him to become successful, and he was not about to abandon them for a new, and in his mind, untested god.

Norse paganism is not a monotheistic religion. In Norse mythology, there are various spiritual beings, including gods, goddesses, giants, elves, dwarves, spirits, and other powerful creatures that influence the lives of men. There are various worlds in which all these different beings dwell. Asgard is the home of the gods and is a large fortified castle that floats in the air. The gods and goddesses most venerated by the Vikings are Odin, Thor, Loki, Baldur, Frigg, Freya, Freyr, and Njoror. Odin is the ruler of the deities, a powerful war god and seeker of wisdom. He is also the father of Thor who, with his magic hammer, Mjolnir, protect mankind and the realm of Midgard where humans live. Thor is also worshiped as the god of warriors, and Vikings like Erik would have tried to emulate his courage in battle. Then there is Loki, a dangerous and mischievous half-god, half-giant who wreaks havoc among the gods.

The giants live in Jotunheim at the edge of the world and caused chaos and destruction. They are related to the gods but are also their enemies. In Norse legend, Thor hunts giants in order to protect mankind. Besides the gods who live in the air and the giants who live in the world, there are the dwarves who live underground in Svartalfheim. They are the miners and smiths of the mythological world, but they are not short humans, as people tend to imagine, but rather powerful, invisible spiritual beings. The Norsemen also believed in elves, who were demi-gods and land spirits who inhabited everything on land. These land spirits had considerable power over the land and all those who live on it.

Erik the Red would have believed and worshiped in all these Norse gods and deities. One of the gods that he would have wanted to appease and keep on his side was Aegir. As the commander of the sea, Aegir was loved and feared in equal measure by the seafaring Vikings. According to Norse legends, Aegir and his wife, Ran, dwell in a magnificent feast hall beneath the ocean, and Ran is often depicted as drowning unfortunate sailors. When a Norse ship sank, it was believed that the dead sailors would forever dine in Aegir’s Hall.

Like most Norse pagans, Erik believed that every person’s fate was predetermined by the Norns, female deities who ruled the destinies of both gods and men. He would have thought that it was heroic to die in battle and this would have given him courage on the battlefield. But Erik would not have believed in the modern, simplistic view of the Viking afterlife where all warriors who died in battle would reside in Valhalla, the Hall of the Fallen and realm of the god Odin, for eternity. According to Erik’s pagan beliefs, there was more than one Land of the Dead.

Norse mythology is, however, not clear on how a person would end up in one Land of the Dead or another. Warriors were indeed selected to join Odin in Valhalla, where they spent all day fighting one another and committing deeds of great valor. Then at night they would feast and drink. Odin gathered these brave warriors around him, not merely as a reward for their bravery but so that they could fight alongside him at Ragnarok, a battle during which Odin and his warriors were doomed to die. It was, however, not exclusively those who died in battle, but any great warrior or leader who would be useful to Odin during Ragnarok, who might be chosen to reside in Valhalla. Erik may well have believed that he would ultimately fight, feast and drink in Odin’s realm until Ragnarok.

Erik would have known that Valhalla was not the only Land of the Dead, and a Viking did not have to die in battle to enjoy a glorious afterlife. The goddess Freya also welcomed the dead to her hall, known as Folkvang, the Field of the People, but very little information exists about Folkvang or who was chosen to reside there. And of course Vikings who died at sea might well find themselves as guests in the underwater world of Aegir and Ran. The most common Land of the Dead, however, was Hel; an underground world presided over by a goddess of the same name. This was not a place of eternal damnation or torment, like the Christian concept of Hell, but rather a continuation of life in a new place. There, the Vikings believed, one would eat, drink, fight, and do all the things that they had done while they were alive.

The Vikings had no churches, temples or religious hierarchy. They honored their gods in many ways and used symbols to represent their gods and their beliefs. Some of these symbols can be found carved on rune stones, swords, axes, and other items that have survived from the Viking Age. One such powerful symbol that was displayed by many Vikings was Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Carvings of Mjolnir can be found on weapons, boats, and Viking jewelry. Many Viking warriors wore a metal medallion of Thor’s hammer as a necklace, in the same way, that a Christian would wear a cross.

Erik’s pagan beliefs and superstitions were central to his life, and he was not prepared to give them up just because his son returned from Norway with a new faith. Erik most likely believed that his faith in the Norse gods had got him that far in life and they would continue to protect him.

Chapter 11 – The Decline of the Greenland Colony

The founding of the colony in Greenland was probably Erik the Red’s greatest contribution to world history and his most enduring legacy. It certainly earned him his place in the Old Icelandic sagas and in the modern history books, but unfortunately, Erik’s colony was not able to survive for as long as his story has endured. For half a century, there was a colony of Norse families who lived in Greenland, and at the height of its existence, the Viking population numbered between 3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants living on 300 to 400 farms.  Even though these people always considered themselves Norse and retained strong ties with Norway and Iceland, they were for all intents and purposes Greenlanders. For many, this was the only land they ever knew. It is where they were born, raised, married, had families, and eventually died. Many made successful lives for themselves in this icy and often harsh environment, becoming very wealthy and influential. Greenland was more than a mere outpost; it was a well-established settlement where the majority of Greenlanders spent their entire lives and for the most part, we assume, were happy.

But unfortunately, the Norse population of Greenland did not survive into the modern age. The land that Erik the Red and his followers struggled so hard to tame could sadly not support their descendants forever. Eventually, life on Greenland became too hard for those living in this harsh environment. Approximately 500 years after Erik had explored Greenland and decided to make it his home, both the Eastern and Western Settlements had been abandoned. Theories and speculation abound as to why life on the island became unsustainable, forcing the Norse to eventually abandon it, but the exact reasons remain unknown. Perhaps one day through historical research and archeological finds, the answers may reveal themselves, but the island has yet to give up all its secrets. What is known is that sometime between the 15th and 17th centuries the entire Norse population of Greenland vanished.

Most historians agree that it is unlikely that one single catastrophic event destroyed the settlement. It is far more likely that a combination of factors led to the demise of both Viking settlements and eventually forced the Greenlanders to abandon their lifelong homes and move to other more hospitable and sustainable regions. The Little Ice Age, a period during which Europe and North America experienced unnaturally cold, harsh winters, could have contributed to the decline of the settlement. As a result of these harsh conditions, crops would have failed and this would have been followed by widespread famine throughout the region. Everyday life would have been extremely hard, and farming on Greenland would have become borderline. But this alone would not have driven the Greenlanders from their homeland. They would still have been able to survive by shifting their focus from farming to seal hunting, fur trading, and fishing.

One can speculate that the Greenlanders were farmers at heart, who hunted and fished to supplement their income, and that they continued to try and farm for as long as possible. As grazing on the island became sparse, there is archeological evidence that they shifted their focus from large cattle to smaller livestock such as sheep and goats.

Changing fashions in Europe may also have contributed to the decline of the settlement. As tastes on the European continent changed, there would have been less demand for the natural resources that the Greenlanders had access to. Their biggest exports for centuries were walrus tusks, seal pelts, and unicorn horns, and as these declined in popularity, so did the economy of the island.

The decline of the settlement took place around the same time as Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas, so it is possible the world was just changing. With new territories to explore and trade opportunities opening up in the west, Europeans probably no longer had a use for Greenland. The cold, icy landmass to the north no longer held any fascination for Europeans as they now turned their attention to the Americas and everything that the vast, unexplored continent had to offer.

Growing isolation would also have contributed to the decline and eventual demise of the Norse settlement. Ship traffic between Iceland and Norway was becoming more sporadic. Shipbuilding may have improved in the half a century since Erik the Red founded Greenland, but the sea remained treacherous, especially so far north. Icebergs and giant waves were a constant danger in the frigid waters and, with the dwindling demand for resources and products from Greenland, fewer traders were willing to make the long and arduous voyage. In the same way that it had not been worth the Greenlanders’ efforts to travel regularly to Vinland for resources, it was no longer economically viable for traders to make the voyage to Greenland. As a result, not only was it more difficult for the Greenlanders to sell their produce, supplies to the colony became more sporadic and expensive.

Increasing isolation also meant that the Greenlanders were losing touch with their national identity and Norse heritage. Without regular trade and travel to Norway, the Greenlanders were becoming more and more isolated from their homeland and culture, and this would have impacted the mental health of the colony. They may have suffered from depression and lacked the motivation to keep the colony moving forward. Europe was moving forward, the world was changing, and Greenland was being left behind. The colony no longer offered many opportunities for the younger generations. There was no more arable land available for younger son’s and due to the change in climate the land that was available was becoming more marginal for farming, and there was less grazing for livestock. Strong, able-bodied Greenlanders of child-bearing age would have been the first to abandon life on the island. They would have left their childhood homes and families to seek opportunities elsewhere. In the same way that Erik and his followers came to Greenland looking for a better life, the more adventurous Greenlanders were later forced to leave the island to make a better life for themselves. Erik the Red would probably have been sad to see his descendants dispersed and his colony abandoned, but he would surely have admired the tenacity and spirit of the Greenlanders who, like him, were not afraid to leave their homeland and build new lives elsewhere.

The abandonment of Greenland appears to have taken place in an orderly manner. This also suggests that the colony declined slowly due to various factors rather than being abandoned suddenly as a result of one cataclysmic event. Excavations on the island have turned up very few valuables and archeologists believe this indicates that the settlers left slowly in an orderly fashion and took everything of value with them. Besides not knowing why the Greenlanders left, there are also no records of where they went. For the most part, they were most likely assimilated back into Norwegian society. Having kept close ties with Norway for most of the time that the colony existed and because there were no indigenous people on Greenland to influence the Norse culture, the Greenlanders would have retained their Norse identity and could still relate to the Norwegian way of life. This would have made it possible for them to return to Norway and easily adapt to this environment.

After the end of the Greenland settlement, Erik’s family fades into obscurity. This is mostly due to the lack of any surviving historical records from the Greenland settlement. Perhaps, if the settlement had survived to modern times, there would be information about Erik’s descendants. If there are any living descendants of Erik the Red and the rest of the Greenlander’s, they are most likely to be found in modern-day Scandinavia, Iceland and perhaps even North America.

Chapter 12 – Modern Greenland

Half a century after Erik the Red colonized Greenland, the Vikings abandoned their settlements and most likely returned to Iceland, Norway, and the other Scandinavian countries, but that did not mean that Greenland became uninhabited. The island has been inhabited on and off for at least 4,500 years. The ancestors of the Inuit, who are the majority of modern residents, began migrating from the Canadian mainland to Greenland in the 13th century. Like the Vikings, the modern-day inhabitants of Greenland live mostly on the western side of the island. The island currently has a population of approximately 56,500 people and is the world’s least densely populated territory. About one-third of the population lives in the capital city of Nuuk, close to where the Viking Western Settlement was during their time on the island.

One of Erik the Red’s greatest and most enduring legacies is the Scandinavian influence that has endured in Greenland to this day. The Vikings may have long since left the island, but their footprint has remained. Although Greenland is technically part of the North American continent, it has always been under European influence and control. Greenland came under the control of the Norwegian crown in 1262, and their rule lasted until the Norse abandoned their settlements sometime between the 15th and 17th centuries. In the 18th century, Scandinavian explorers returned to Greenland, and in 1814 it became a Danish colony. In 1953, Greenland was made part of the Danish Realm under the constitution of Denmark. In 1979, Greenland was granted home rule by Denmark, and in 2008, Greenland voted in favor of the Self-Government Act that gave them greater autonomy from Denmark. In accordance with the Self-Government Act, Greenland would take greater responsibility for its own coast guard, police force and law courts. There would be a more definite split of future oil revenue, subsidies from Copenhagen would be phased out and Greenlandic would be the sole official language of the island. Today, Greenland is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy under the rule of the sovereign of Denmark. Erik the Red’s descendants may no longer rule Greenland or own large tracts of land on the island, but he is not forgotten and the role that he played in the history of Greenland is still recognized today. The ruins of Brattahlid, near the modern town of Qassiarsuk, attract tourists to the island, and the remains of buildings that Erik built, including the church, are clearly visible. Viking buildings have also been reconstructed on the island in order to give visitors an insight into how the Norsemen lived on Greenland.

Conclusion – Erik’s Legacy

Erik’s colony in Greenland may not have ultimately survived, but the relatively brief time that the Norsemen spent in this harsh and inhospitable land played a vital role in the Viking Age of exploration and expansion. It extended Scandinavian influence and control over the icy northern regions and provided Europe with exotic items such as walrus tusks and unicorn horns. Closer to home, it increased Erik the Red’s wealth and power and enabled him and his family to live like jarls in the new colony he helped build. It also ensured Erik’s place in history.

But Erik’s legacy was not just the founding of the first European settlement on Greenland; it was also his family. Erik was the patriarch of an adventurous and courageous clan, and all his children inherited his determination and indomitable spirit. If it had not been for Erik the Red and his pioneering ways, even the history of America would have been different. Erik may never have set foot on Vinland but his influence on the continent can be felt through his children. Without Erik’s colony on Greenland, Leif Erikson may never have made his epic voyage to Vinland, and Christopher Columbus might well have had the honor of being the first European to set foot on North American soil. Erik not only provided Leif with the base from which to launch his voyage; he also gave him the skills and tools to become one of the world’s most renowned explorers.

Once Erik settled on Greenland and became chief of the Eastern Settlement, he appeared to have put an end to his violent ways and there is no record of him committing any more crimes or murders. He appears to have settled into the life of a successful Viking farmer and trader, becoming wealthy and powerful. He made numerous voyages to Iceland and even Norway, but he never made any more voyages of discovery. Records indicate that he died around 1002 during an epidemic that a group of settlers bought to the island. It is unclear whether Leif Erikson was still in Vinland when his father died, but we know that Leif returned to Greenland and became chief of the Eastern Settlement after Erik’s death. He also then settled down and made no more epic voyages, not even returning to Vinland. When Leif died about 20 years after his father, his son, Thorkel Leifson, became the next chief.

Greenland may seem like a cold and harsh land to many people but to Erik the Red and his family, it was home. It gave them wealth, fame, power, and a lasting place in history. Today Erik the Red is remembered and celebrated, not only as the founder of Greenland but also as a mighty Viking warrior, brave explorer and leader of men.

Timeline of Erik the Red’s life

The exact dates of the major milestones in Erik the Red’s life are not recorded, but a timeline can be drawn up that approximates the most important dates.

Between 950 and 960 AD - Erik Thorvaldsson, better known by his nickname Erik the Red, is born in Rogaland on the southwestern coast of Norway. He is the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson.

Circa 960 - Thorvald Asvaldsson commits murder and is banished from Norway. He takes his family to Iceland and settles in Hornstrandir.

Circa 970 - Erik the Red’s second son, Leif Erikson, is born in Iceland. He also has two other sons and a daughter before he left Iceland.

Circa 980 - Erik fights with his neighbors and is convicted of killing Eyiolf the Foul. He is banished from Haukadal and moves further north to Oxney with his family.

Circa 982 - Erik is again found guilty of killing his fellow Norsemen and is banned from Iceland for three years.

982 to 985 - Erik and his crew explore Greenland.

Circa 985 - Erik returns to Iceland.

Summer 986 - Erik the Red sets sail with 25 ships and approximately 300 followers to establish a settlement on Greenland. Only 14 ships survive the voyage. The Vikings form two settlements in Greenland, and Erik is elected paramount chief of the Eastern Settlement. He establishes a farm named Brattahlid.

Circa 999 – Erik’s son, Leif Erikson sails to Norway. On the way, he stops at the Hebrides where he fathers a son, Thorgils, with Thorgunna, the daughter of a local chief. In Norway, Leif Erikson spends the winter in the household of King Olaf Tryggvason and is converted to Christianity.

Circa 1000 –Leif Erikson returns to Greenland, but soon afterward, he takes a small group of Vikings and sets sail on a voyage of discovery to the North American continent. Leif and his crew establish a small settlement in an area that he calls Vinland and which historians believe could be modern-day Newfoundland. Erik the Red almost accompanies Leif on this historic voyage, but he falls off his horse shortly before the expedition is due to leave Greenland. Seeing this as a bad omen, he decides to remain behind in Greenland.

Circa 1002 – Erik the Red dies in Greenland during an epidemic.

Circa 1003 – Leif leaves the settlement at Vinland and returns to his father’s estate at Brattahild in Greenland. He becomes chief of the Eastern Settlement and never returns to Vinland.

Between 1004 and 1010 – The Greenlanders make more voyages to Vinland. Erik the Red’s son, Thorvald, is killed by the local inhabitants in North America and is the first European to die on the continent.

Circa 1010 – The settlement at Vinland declines and fails mainly due to attacks from indigenous tribes and unsustainability.

Circa 1025 – Erik’s son, Leif Erikson, dies and his grandson, Thorkel Leifson, becomes chief of the Eastern Settlement

Between the 15th and 17th Century – The Norse settlements in Greenland decline and are eventually abandoned.

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https://norse-mythology.org/cosmology/valhalla/

http://www.populationfun.com/greenland-population/

https://www.q-files.com/history/vikings/everyday-life-in-viking-times/

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/04/viking-seafarers-may-have-navigated-legendary-crystals

www.viking.no

http://vikings.wikia.com/wiki/Viking

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/greenland-population/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland

Books and Articles

Danver, Steven (2010); Popular Controversies in World History: Investigating History’s Intriguing Questions

A.M. Reeves et al; The Norse Discovery of America

The Icelandic Saga Database: The Saga of Erik the Red (sagadb.org/eiriks_saga_rauda.en.pdf)

Groenlendiga Saga (notendur.hi.is/haukurth/utgafa/Greenlanders.html)

D.J. Williamson et al; The Rules of Revenge; Viking Justice (All About History, Issue 059)

Davis, Graeme; The Cult of Thor (All About History, Issue 057)