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Erik the Red was a tough Viking explorer who was born in Norway around 935 A.D. He is best known for being the first European to explore and colonize Greenland. Erik the Red is also known as Eric the Red, Eirik the Red, Eirik Raude, Erik Thorvaldson, and Eirik Thorvaldson. The “Red” in his name was because of his red hair. His first great voyage began in 982 when he was exiled from Iceland for killing two men during a feud. His punishment was being forced to stay away from Iceland for three years. So, Erik picked a crew and went to sea looking for unexplored land. He had heard a rumor that there was land west of Iceland and that is where he and his crew headed.
Erik and his crew sailed the Atlantic Ocean until they found the land they were looking for. The east coast of the land was completely covered in ice so they sailed on along the coast. On the southwest shores, the party found ice-free land with green pastures.
Three years later, Erik returned to Iceland and told the people living there about the beautiful place he called Greenland. He described the land as a place with rich soil for farming, caribou and fish for food, and bears and foxes to hunt for furs. At that time, Iceland had become crowded; farmland was scarce and some people were unhappy with their ruler and the land that Erik described sounded to inviting to pass up.
In 986, about 25 ships left for Greenland under the command of Erik the Red, but only 14 made it to their destination. Some had turned back and others were lost at sea. Nonetheless, those who arrived safely, although angry about Erik’s deceptive description, began a successful colony and were joined by others who left Iceland either to escape the overcrowding or leave behind a ruler with whom they did not agree. In 1003, one wave of new immigrants brought with them an epidemic that killed many of the settlers including Erik.
Leif Erikson was the second son of Erik the Red. He was an Icelandic explorer whom historians believe was the first European to set foot on North American land. His name is also spelled Ericsson, Eriksson, or Eiriksson. The story of his adventures was recorded by several Icelandic writers in the 13th and 14th centuries, but each of the stories have very different details, so it is hard to determine the exact events of Erikson’s explorations.
Erikson, nicknamed Leif the Lucky, set sail with a crew of about 35 men from Greenland around the year 1000. They landed in the vicinity of Newfoundland, which Leif named Vinland. They returned to Greenland in the spring of 1002. Historians have found remains of an ancient Norse settlement on the southern tip of Newfoundland where it is believed that Erikson first landed.
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