Eric the Red

Eric the Red fl. 10th cent., Norse chieftain, discoverer and colonizer of Greenland. He left (c.950) Norway with his exiled father and settled in Iceland. A feud resulting in manslaughter led to his banishment (c.981) from Iceland for three years. He sailed c.982 to seek land reputed to lie W of Iceland. The discovery of Greenland followed, and Eric and his Viking followers spent three years exploring the south and west coasts. On his return to Iceland he promoted a colonizing venture and is said to have given Greenland its attractive name to encourage settlers. He led (c.986) to the new land a group of 25 ships, of which 14 arrived, carrying about 500 people. Eric established a farmstead, Brattahlid, near present Julianehaab and was a leader of a southern settlement at Osterbygd. He resisted in vain the introduction (c.1000) of Christianity by his son Leif Ericsson . Although the colony grew to approximately 1,000 settlers, it gradually died out; other Norse settlements in Greenland, however, survived.

Eric the Red (c.940–c.1010) Norse explorer. Exiled from Iceland for manslaughter in 982, he sailed in search of land to the west, exploring Greenland and establishing a Norse settlement there in 986.

Eric the Red (active late 10th century) Norse chieftain, who settled on Greenland. Born in Norway, he was then banished from Iceland after a murder. He set off to the west, and discovered the land he named Greenland in c.981. Returning to Iceland, he organized a party of colonists who set out in c.985.