Biography
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About 960, Erik's father was forced to flee Norway
because of "some killings," as The Saga of Eric the Red
recounts. The family settled in a Norse colony on the
coast of Iceland. In much the same manner, Erik was
exiled from Iceland for several murders around the year
982. According to The Saga of Eric the Red, his neighbor
Thorgest borrowed a few wooden bench boards and when
they were not returned to Erik, he sought out an
explanation. When Thorgest refused to return them, Erik
stole them back. In the following chase, he killed
Thorgest's two sons.
The second crime Erik was held accountable for occurred
when Erik insisted upon revenge for the deaths of his
slaves who had "accidentally started a landslide" on
Valthjof's farm. Valthjof murderously punished the
slaves for this misfortune. Erik did not take kindly to
this and so slew Filth-Eyjolf and was eventually
convicted of these murders and was forced into exile
from Iceland. This event led him and a group of
followers to travel to the lands nearly 500 miles west
of Iceland - lands that had supposedly been explored by
Gunnbjorn. Nearly a century earlier, Gunnbjorn had been
swayed by harsh winds towards a land he called "Gunnbjarnarsker"
("Gunnbjörn's skerries"). Gunnbjorn's accidental
discovery pushed him aside in the history of Greenland
and Erik the Red has been dubbed the genuine discoverer.
Even though Erik the Red is given credit for being the
founder of Greenland, he was not the first to discover
it nor the first to try and settle it. Before him was
Gunnbjorn Ulf-Krakuson who is credited with first
sighting the land mass and after him was Snæbjorn Galti.
Galti according to records from the time was the first
Norseman to try and colonize Greenland, an attempt
though that ended in disaster. Then on the timeline
comes Erik who traveled around the southern tip of the
island, soon to be called Cape Farewell, and eventually
reached a part of the coast that for the most part was
devoid of any ice and subsequently had conditions
similar to those of Norway that promised growth and
prosperity. According to The Saga of Eric the Red, he
spent his three years of exile exploring this land. The
first winter, he spent on the island of Eiriksey, the
second winter he had time in Eiriksholmar which was
close to Hvarfsgnipa and the final summer, he explored
as far north as Snaefell and in to Hrafnsfjord. When
Erik returned to Iceland after his term of banishment,
he brought with him stories of "Groenland". Erik
purposely gave the land a more appealing name than
Iceland to lure potential settlers. He explained,
"people would be attracted to go there if it had a
favourable name." This was ultimately done though to
gain favor among people as he knew full well that in
order for Greenland to be successful he needed as many
people on board as possible. His salesmanship proved
successful as many people (especially "those Vikings
living on poor land in Iceland" and those that had
suffered a "recent famine") were convinced that
Greenland held great opportunity.
After spending the winter in Iceland, Erik returned to
Greenland in 985 with a large number of colonists and
established two colonies on its west coast: the Eastern
Settlement, which he named Eystribyggð, in modern day
Julianhåb, and the Western Settlement, Vestribyggð,
close to present-day Godthåb. There was eventually a
Middle Settlement that was established but many people
suggest this was part of the Western Settlement. The
Eastern and Western Settlements, which were actually
both on the southwest coast, proved to be the only two
areas suitable for farming. During the summer when the
weather conditions were more conducive to travel, each
settlement would send a band of men to hunt in Disko Bay
above the Arctic Circle for food and other valuable
commodities such as seal (used for rope), ivory from
tusks, and beached whales if they happened to be so
lucky. In these expeditions, they probably encountered
the Inuit (Eskimo) people, who had not yet moved into
southern Greenland.
For much of the time that the Norse were present on
Greenland, they had a very tough life which demanded
finding a balance between maintaining population levels
and finding enough food and supplies to get by on. Most
of the time they got by just enough to continue their
societies. Despite this constant struggle with their
surroundings, at its peak the Norse there "numbered
around 4000." The Eastern Settlement had around "190
small farms, 12 parish churches, a cathedral, an
Augustinian monastery and a Benedictine nunnery." Even
though smaller, the Western Settlement still had "90
farms and four churches" while the smallest Middle
Settlement had only around "20 farms." Despite enjoying
what some might consider a reasonable amount of time on
Greenland in conjunction with varying times of successes
and failures, the settlement here was not to last and
the reasons for this are best described by Jared
Diamond. He argues a five step process that explains the
"collapse" of civilizations and offers Greenland as a
stunning example of said process. For starters, the
Norse had found a "virgin" piece of land that they
immediately started to change and alter in to what they
considered to have the greatest reward but eventually
this led to the over damaging of the environment.
Secondly, they had been away from familiar peoples for
so long that most of their past friendships and
alliances had fallen away which in many ways hurt some
of their trading and eventual protection. Third and
fourth, it is argued that a change in climate patterns
in the north had driven the Inuits down in to forced
contact with the Norse which led to violence and hostile
attitudes from their "neighbors." Finally, the argument
can be made that they failed to fully adapt to their
current surroundings. They were clinging too much to the
ways of life that had been so familiar to them before
and was ultimately unavailable to them from Greenland.
Despite the apparent failures toward the end of the
Greenland colonies, the importance must not be forgotten
as they marked one of the great stepping stones in Norse
expansion and exploration.
In Eystribyggð, Erik the Red built the estate Brattahlíð,
near present-day Narsarsuaq, for himself. His title was
that of paramount chieftain of Greenland and there Erik
was both greatly respected and wealthy. The settlement
venture involved twenty-five ships, fourteen of which
made the journey successfully; of the other eleven, some
turned back, while others were lost at sea.
The settlement flourished, growing to over 3000
inhabitants over a considerable area along Eriksfjord
and neighboring fjords. The original party was joined by
groups of immigrants escaping overcrowding in Iceland.
However, one group of immigrants that arrived in 1002
brought with it an epidemic that decimated the colony,
killing many of its leading citizens, including Erik in
the winter of 1003. Nevertheless, the colony bounced
back and survived until the Little Ice Age made the land
marginal for Europeans in the 15th century, shortly
before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492. The
colony's abandonment by Norway, pirate raids, and
conflict with Inuit moving into the Norse territories
were other factors in its decline.
As far as is known, Erik the Red and his wife, Þjóðhildr
(Thorhild), had four children. He had a daughter,
Freydís, as well as three sons, the explorer Leif
Eiríksson, Þorvald (Thorvald) and Þorsteinn (Thorstein).
He was a pagan, unlike his son Leif and wife who built
the first Christian church in the Americas on their farm
(though it has been speculated, it is unlikely that Leif
was the first to bring Christianity to Greenland). His
son Leif was the first Viking to explore the land of
Vinland (North America). Leif invited his father on the
voyage but according to legend Erik fell off his horse
on his way to the ship and took this as a bad sign,
leaving his son to continue without his company. Erik
died the winter after his son's departure. He may have
been converted by his wife Þjóðhildr while on his
deathbed.