Spotlight: Erik the Red

Erik the Red was one of these explorers. Long before Columbus and Magellan, and other explorers, Portuguese and Spanish, Viking explorers sea traveled. Erik the Red is an interesting historical character, bearing neither the science nor faith of later explorers, famous or not. Erik the Red was first banished from Norway for some killings, then later again from Iceland, again for killing. With that banishment, Erik and some of his followers made the 500 mile sea crossing to the west. They sailed around the southern tip of the island, finally settling in a less frozen part of Greenland.

Greenland’s Discovery and Founding

Erik the Red was not the first explorer, sea traveling and bold, to visit Greenland, but his is the most famous. In the century prior, one explorer, Gunnbjorn Ulfsson, had visited the island of Greenland, and there had even been an unsuccessful colonization attempt. Erik spent three years, from 982 to 985 exploring Greenland, settling in an area that looked to offer a climate similar to that of Iceland. Much of Greenland is frigid and arctic, the growing season short, and the climate inhospitable and challenging. When he returned to Iceland at the end of his banishment, he began to attempt to encourage others to make the journey that he as an explorer, seaworthy and brave, had. He named the inhospitable and icy island Greenland in an attempt to make it seem welcoming and prosperous. The settlers in Greenland, under the rule of Erik the Red, built two settlements in the only land of Greenland suitable for farming, and fished and hunted seal and other arctic animals in the more hospitable summers.

Erik the Red’s Legacy

While Erik the Red left a settlement in the rough and challenging land of Greenland, his son is more remembered as an explorer, famous and successful. Erik the Red’s son, Leif Eriksson, founded a colony in North America, Vinland. Erik the Red’s exploits as an adventurer and explorer, famous and interesting are recounted in “The Saga of Erik the Red”.