Erik the Red
950 CE – 1003 · aged 53
Explorer and founder of the first viking settlement in Greenland
- Born
- 950 CE · Jæren
- Died
- 1003 · Brattahlíð
Life timeline
Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.
- 950 CEBornBorn in Jæren
- 1003DiedDied in Brattahlíð
Loading from Wikipedia and Wikidata…
Biography
Erik Thorvaldsson (c. 950 – c. 1003), known as Erik the Red (Norwegian: Eirik Raude), was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first European settlement in Greenland. He most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color of his hair and beard.
According to Icelandic sagas, Erik was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson. When Thorvald was banished from Norway, the family sailed west to Iceland. During Erik's life in Iceland, he married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and had four children, including Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson. Around the year of 982, Erik was exiled from Iceland for three years, during which time he explored Greenland, eventually culminating in his founding of the first successful European settlement on the island. Erik died there around 1003 CE during a winter epidemic.
Text from the Wikipedia article Erik the Red, CC BY-SA 4.0
About this information
- No dated events from their life are recorded yet, beyond birth and death.
Dates and life events come from this person’s Wikidata entry.
We only show events that the sources give a date for. Anything without a date is left out rather than guessed.