Eirik the Red is a famous Scandinavian navigator. He is considered the person who founded the first settlement in Greenland, as well as a pioneer. He got his nickname “redhead” for the distinctive color of his beard and hair. His son Leif was the first to set foot on the shores of America, and he is considered its main pre-Columbian discoverer.
Biography of a Scandinavian
It is reliably known that Eirik the Red was born in Norway. At that time, there was a king named and his father was Thorvald Asvaldson. Torvald could not control his emotions well, so one day he decided to kill. For this crime, he and his family were expelled from the country. The Asvaldsons had to settle in Iceland.
But even in the new place, his violent temper made it difficult to get along with others. In addition, his son Eirik the Red also adopted his excessive emotionality. Around 980, he himself was sentenced to three years of exile for two murders. First, he took the life of a neighbor who would not give up a borrowed boat, and then took revenge for his slaves, who were killed by another Viking.
Obeying the sentence, Eirik decided to sail west to reach land that was visible in clear weather from the mountain peaks in western Iceland. As it turned out, she was located about three hundred kilometers from the coast. Sagas have been preserved in Norwegian folklore, according to which another famous Norwegian Viking, whose name was Gunbjorn, sailed there about a century ago.
Eirik's Journey
Eirik Ryzhik set sail in 982. He took his entire family with him, as well as livestock and servants. At first, floating ice prevented him from landing ashore for a long time. Therefore, he had to go around the island from the south and go ashore in the area of the modern Greenlandic town of Qaqortoq. This was Greenland.
The hero of our article spent three years on the island, without meeting a single person during this time. Although he repeatedly made attempts to find someone. He explored almost the entire coastline, even reaching Disko Island on his boat, which is located northwest of the southern tip of Greenland.
In 986 his exile from Iceland expired. He returned and began to convince local residents to move to new lands. Now you know which island was discovered by Eirik the Red. Moreover, he gave it its name. Literally translated from Norwegian, Greenland means “Green Land”.
Disputes about how appropriate this name is still continue to this day. Some scientists put forward hypotheses based on the fact that in the Middle Ages the climate in these places was milder. Therefore, the coastal areas located in the southwest of the island could indeed be covered with dense green grassy vegetation. Others are convinced that this name was some kind of advertising gimmick of the Scandinavian navigator. Thus, he simply tried to attract as many settlers as possible with him.
If you believe the sagas that can be found in Norwegian folklore, 30 ships that sailed from Iceland set off on the journey after the hero of our article. The fate of most of them was not as successful as Eric Thorvaldson himself. Only 14 ships, carrying 350 settlers, reached the shore. Together with him, Eirik founded the first settlement in Greenland. It was called the Eastern Settlement.
Archaeological finds subjected to radiocarbon analysis suggest that the residence of Eirik the Red himself was located near the modern city of Narsarssuaq. The discovered objects date back to approximately 1000.
Discoverer Family
When Eirik himself had already retired, his sons continued his work. He instilled in them a passion for research. As a result, it was (the son of Eirik) who discovered Vinland around the year 1000. This is the territory in which North America is located today. Other sons of the hero of our article, Thorstein and Torvald, also made long-distance expeditions to another continent.
In addition, it is known that Leif Eriksson brought a priest directly from Norway who baptized Greenland. But in the biography of Eirik the Red, there is no mention of the fact that he converted to Christianity. Most likely, he remained a pagan, unlike his wife and sons. Information reached us that he was extremely skeptical about the new religion of his fellow tribesmen.
Greenland
Today Greenland is the largest island on Earth. The rights to it belong to Denmark, it is an autonomous unit of Denmark.
From the history of this island it is known that before its discovery by the Vikings, Greenland was inhabited by Arctic peoples. But long before the Norwegians arrived, the island was completely deserted. The ancestors of modern Inuit began to settle here only in the 13th century.
The Danes began colonizing it in the 18th century. Only during the Second World War did Greenland manage to separate from the Danish kingdom, moving closer to Canada and the United States. But after the victory over fascism, the Danes again regained control of Greenland. The largest island on Earth was proclaimed an integral part of the kingdom.
In 1979, Greenland received broad autonomy. Now she even has her own football team, which competes in tournaments under the auspices of FIFA and UEFA.
Viking Campaigns
During the era of great geographical discoveries, Eirik the Red became one of the first who was drawn to distant, unexplored places.
In which spanned the 9th-11th centuries, the Scandinavians actively traveled in different directions. They sailed to both Ireland and Rus'. Usually along the way they were engaged in hunting, trading and robbery. It is known that Iceland was discovered around 860, establishing a number of colonies there. At the same time, the Vikings often sailed to the West. Therefore, modern science believes that they were the first Europeans to reach the shores of America. It was then that the first genetic contact with the indigenous inhabitants of North America occurred.
First trip to America
It is believed that the Norwegian Viking Gunnbjorn was the first to reach the shores of Novaya Zemlya around 900. During the voyage, he lost his course; the travelers were saved only by the fact that they noticed Greenland on the horizon. This discovery inspired his other tribesmen to new expeditions and discoveries.
So Eirik the Red used exile to discover new lands and expand horizons. The climate of Greenland, to which he sailed, was very harsh, but he still convinced some of his fellow tribesmen to follow him and establish a settlement in a new place almost from scratch.
Eirik's sons in America
Officially, the first Viking to set foot on the American shore was Eirik's son, Leif. He visited the country of the Valans, as Helluland was called, around the year 1000. Markland (“forest country”) and Vinland (“wine country,” presumably Newfoundland or New England) were also discovered. His expedition spent the whole winter there and then returned to Greenland.
His brother Thorvald founded the first Viking settlement in America in 1002. But they didn't last long there. Soon the Norwegians were attacked by local Indians, who were called Skraelings. Torvald was killed in battle, his comrades returned home.
The descendants of Eirik the Red made two more attempts to colonize America. One of them involved his daughter-in-law named Gudrid. In America, she even managed to establish trade with the local Indians, but still did not stay long.
Eirika's daughter Freydis took part in another voyage. She failed to establish contact with the Indians, and the Vikings had to retreat. In total, the Norwegian settlement in Vinland lasted for several decades.
Evidence of the discovery of America by the Vikings
Interestingly, the hypothesis about the discovery of America by the Vikings existed for many years, but it did not find clear evidence. Although the Norwegians discovered a map of the northeastern coast of America, it was considered a fake. It was only in 1960 that the remains of a Norwegian settlement were discovered on the territory of Canadian Newfoundland.
Erik the Red Thorfin Karlsefni
The Normans were the name given to the strong and courageous inhabitants of the coastline of the winding deep fiords of Norway, the wooded valleys of Sweden, and the low-lying plains of Denmark blown by the fresh sea wind. From time immemorial they were accustomed to obtaining their food at sea. The soil of their harsh, forested, foggy homeland was infertile, and they had long learned to build light, narrow ships, decorated with the head of a dragon, and boldly sailed them into the open sea for fishing, overseas trade and robbery of weaker neighbors.
Young people who could not find use for their strength and courage in their homeland, people who committed murder in the heat of the moment and were forced to flee from bloody revenge, brave, freedom-loving fighters who did not put up with the oppression of their leaders, united into fighting squads and under the leadership of the king, the “sea king” , went to sea for booty and glory.
The stories of successful Vikings returning to their homeland with ships loaded with booty further incited them to new campaigns. The Normans devastated and burned the cities and villages of France and Italy, robbed and killed the inhabitants.
Divided into many small and minute duchies, principalities, counties, abbeys and baronies, torn apart by countless wars and quarrels, European countries were helpless before the brave Norman pirates. Appearing on the shores of Ireland in 795, the Normans within twenty years took possession of its northern, western and southern coasts and began to conquer the interior of the country. At the beginning of the 9th century, the Normans plundered and devastated Scotland and northern England; at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th centuries, the Normans captured almost all of England (there they were called “Dans”).
In the 9th century, the Normans made their way along the rivers into the depths of Germany and France, robbed and burned the German cities of Cologne, Hamburg, Aachen, Trier and Worms, and the French cities of Paris, Tours, Orleans, Troyes, Chanon and Dijon. At the end of the 9th century, the Normans had already captured northern France. After that, they walked along the French coast to Spain, plundered the coast inhabited by the Moors near Seville and the coast of Morocco and reached Italy.
If the Normans failed to take the city in battle, they resorted to cunning. So, when the leader of the Normans, Hasting, failed to take the Italian city of Luna by storm, the Normans announced to the besieged that Hasting had died and that before his death he asked to be buried in Luna Cathedral. A sad procession entered the besieged city; unarmed soldiers carried the coffin of the leader. But during the funeral service, the lid of the coffin suddenly fell back, Hasting stood up from the coffin, killed the bishop with a blow of his sword and, distributing the swords hidden in the coffin to his fighters, began the massacre. The city was captured and plundered.
Other detachments of Normans - the Varangians - through the mouth of the Neva, along the great route - “from the Varangians to the Greeks” - reached Byzantium, and there they became bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors. The conquest of Russian lands by the Normans (Varangians) and the reign of the Rurikovichs also date back to the 8th-10th centuries. Some chronicles indicate that the Varangians were called to the throne by the Russians themselves, which is generally quite doubtful.
Some of the Normans headed to the northwest. Around the middle of the 9th century, the Normans discovered Iceland. The nature of this country, its fiords rich in fish, snow-covered mountain peaks, and green meadows very much reminded the Normans of their homeland. Colonists from Norway and Ireland, then captured by the Normans, flocked to Iceland.
In the 10th century, Eric, nicknamed Red, who was expelled from Norway for murder, sailed to Iceland. But in Iceland, the quarrelsome Viking quarreled with the colonists, and he was driven out again. Gathering a band of brave men, Eric set off to look for new lands.
Eric the Red
After a dangerous and tiring voyage, the fugitives saw the glaciers of an unknown land sparkling in the sun. Bizarre ice mountains floated in the blue sea, and there was a hubbub of birds in the air. Eric called the country he discovered the Green Country (hence the name Greenland).
Eric decided to settle in a new country and brought people from Iceland and Norway there. He founded two settlements in the fiords of the western bank. The Normans were engaged in fishing and hunting seals, walruses and whales, birds, polar bears, reindeer and arctic foxes. The colonists did not break ties with their homeland and sold furs, walrus tusks and blubber there, and in exchange received iron, timber, bread and fabrics.
Soon the Normans who settled in Greenland began to look for new, warmer and more fertile lands. In 999, the ship of Erik the Red's son, Leif Eriksen, sailing from Norway back to Greenland, was caught in a storm. The ship rushed for a long time in the fog across the cold, stormy sea, barely dodging collisions with white icebergs that suddenly floated out of the darkness. The storm ended, the sun dried the clothes and warmed the chilled, exhausted sailors.
A wooded shore could be seen in the distance. The ship approached him. Gentle hills covered with thickets of wild grapes ran down to the sea. Wild wheat grew on the southern slopes. Streams rang as they rolled from the high bank into the sea. This was America - today's New England. This is how the Normans discovered the New World five hundred years before Columbus.
Returning to Greenland, Leif Eriksen showed branches of wild grapes and ears of wild wheat and talked about Vinland - the Land of Grapes, where there is a warm climate, a lot of game, where you can get the forest that Greenlandic colonists so needed.
Another Viking, Thorfinn Karlsefni, who came from Iceland to Greenland in 1002, became interested in Eriksen’s stories. A year later, he organized an expedition on three ships to Vinland discovered by Leif.
Statue of Thorfinn Karlsefni by Einar Jonsson (1920) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
One hundred and sixty people went with him. Since the Normans expected to settle in new Western countries, they took with them everything that could be needed in a new place - even a few cows and bulls. The ships sailed along the coast of Greenland, past rocks covered with snow and ice, past glaciers sliding into the sea, bird colonies and seal rookeries. Then the shores of Greenland disappeared into the sea haze. The ships sailed south into the open sea.
The sea was deserted. Only in the distance were the fountains released by whales visible, and majestic icebergs floated by, gently swaying on the waves.
Finally, the sailors saw a blue stripe on the horizon. This was the current Labrador. The high bank was covered with huge flat slabs. The breakers roared below. Sharp rocks stuck out above, and fragments of clouds clung to them. The sailors called this land Helluland - the Land of Flat Stones.
But this was not the beautiful Vinland - the Land of Grapes, which Leif Eriksen spoke about. We sailed further south. Two days later, a new land opened up before the travelers.
The rugged coastline was covered with gloomy pine forest. Thorfinn named this land Markland - Forest Country (now it is Newfoundland). Here the travelers stopped to rest. The hunters, armed with bows, spears and darts, went deeper into the thicket and in the evening returned with rich prey - deer and elk.
The ships went further south. The wind, blowing from the right, from the shore, became warmer and warmer. Two days later we sailed to an open sandy shore. We stopped again to rest. When the sailors were collecting dead wood on the shore for a fire, they came across the keel of a ship half-buried with sand. This means they were not the first to visit this place. Some European ship must have been wrecked here, and its crew apparently died. The Normans named this place Kalames (Cape Keele), now Cap Breton in what is now Canada.
Thorfinn stopped for the winter in Teamfjord (Current Fjord), sending one ship further south in search of the desired Vinland. The ship returned with grapes and wild wheat - Vinland was not far away.
The wintering of 1003-1004 in Teamfjord went well. It was warm in the wooden huts. There was a lot of game around.
Only by spring the game disappeared, and then people had to starve. In the spring, one ship sailed to Vinland, but the wind carried it to the shores of Ireland. There the Normans were captured and made slaves.
Later, Thorfinn himself sailed in search of Vinland. We sailed for a long time. For several days the Normans saw nothing but water. It was getting warmer and warmer. Finally the shore appeared in the distance. The ships entered the mouth of a river flowing from the lake and flowing into the bay. It was Vinland. Here the deciduous forests rustled, here were the long-awaited grapes and wild wheat. The Normans built huts on the shore of the lake and spent the winter there.
The second wintering in America (winter of 1004-1005) was even more successful than the first. But one spring evening, a lot of leather canoes appeared on the lake. The natives arrived - short, strong, red-skinned, fur-clad people whom the Normans called Skelings. The Skelings began trading with the newcomers, but a bull breaking out of the fence frightened the natives so much that they hastily left the lake, fleeing from an unprecedented monster. Three weeks later they returned and, having quarreled with the Normans over something, attacked them. The Normans, protected by helmets and chain mail, armed with swords, gained the upper hand, and the natives were repulsed. Nevertheless, the Normans returned north to Markland, where they spent the winter of 1005-1006 and from where they traveled south to Vinland. But when discord began among the colonists in the summer of 1006, Thorfinn decided to return to Greenland.
Thus ended the Normans' attempt to colonize the American coast. The Normans subsequently went to Markland several times for timber, but gradually the path to the west was forgotten. Only the ancient legends of Iceland and Greenland preserved the memory of these campaigns. The Saga of Eric the Red tells about the exploits of the heroes who discovered Greenland and America.
Modern scholars consider it almost proven that the Normans, and in particular Karlsefni and his comrades, reached what is now North Carolina. However, it is not possible to accurately establish the limits of their voyages, since their records are very brief and poor in detail. It was especially difficult for them to describe those areas where the banks were completely overgrown with forest and had few distinctive features. In any case, the descriptions made by the Normans give a generally correct picture of the climate, topography and harbors of the American coast.
We have information that the Normans even made a journey into the interior of America and that this journey was full of tragic adventures. In 1898, Swedish immigrant Olaf Ohman was clearing a wooded area near Kensington, Minnesota (USA), and uprooted an aspen stump whose roots were entwined in rough-hewn stone. There was an inscription carved into the stone, but Oman could not read it. When the stone was cleaned, he saw that the inscription was made in runic writing. Here is its translation by Hjalmar Holland:
“8 Goths and 22 Norwegians, on an exploratory journey from Vinland through the West, camped at two rocky islands a day's march north of this stone.
We left camp and fished for one day. When we returned, we found 10 people red with blood and dead. Save from evil. A further three lines, carved on the edge of the stone, read: (We) have 10 (men) of our party by the sea to watch our ship 14 days' journey from this island. The year is 1362."
University of Minnesota professor Breda was the first to read the inscription on the stone and declared that it was a crude fake.
They talked about the stone a little and forgot about it. For nine years it served as a threshold in the Oman barn.
Fortunately, it lay with the letters facing down, and therefore they were preserved. The scientist Holland, who has carefully studied the inscriptions on the stone, strongly defends their authenticity. Experienced foresters have established that when the aspen fell under the uprooting, it was seventy years old, therefore, the inscriptions on the stone were carved, in any case, before 1830. But at that time there could not be people in Minnesota who would have sufficient knowledge to carry out such a forgery.
And who needed it? Three geologists studied the carved signs and found them to be very ancient.
Here's how Holland explains the story of the stone inscription Oman found. The Normans' visit to Vinland and Markland was not an accidental episode. The colony in Greenland continued to exist for some time, with the colonists sometimes bringing timber from America. They entered into relations with Indians, married Indian women and gradually moved away from Christianity. There is evidence that King Eriksen sent missionaries to Greenland in 1355 to reconvert the colonists to Christianity. However, upon arriving in Greenland, the missionaries learned that some of the colonists had moved to Vinland; then they also swam there. First they came to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, and then, following in the footsteps of their fellow tribesmen, they rounded Labrador, entered Hudson Bay and, following its shores, swam to the mouth of the Nelson River. Here they left their ship and some of the people. The other part of the expedition went up the river to Lake of the Woods and the Red River, that is, to an area close to present-day Kensington.
Here, to honor the memory of their fallen comrades and to mark the most distant point of their journey, they made an inscription on a hewn stone.
In Greenland itself, life became worse and worse, the climate became more and more harsh, ships sailed to Norway and Iceland less and less often. The colonists suffered from scurvy and rickets. From Norway and Iceland, ships brought a terrible epidemic - the “Black Death” (plague). During the 15th century, the Norman population of Greenland almost completely died out, and in the 18th century, when the Norwegians and Danes began colonizing Greenland again, they found no traces of the Normans there, except for abandoned cemeteries and ruins of dwellings.
At the end of the 15th century, when Columbus visited Iceland, communication with Greenland, and even more so with America, had long been severed.
But among the Icelandic sailors, chronicler monks and old peasants, legends still lived about the voyages of their ancestors far to the west and about the beautiful Land of Grapes - Vinland.
The founders of the Moscow brewery Velka Morava, Sergei Novak and Vladimir Semenov, as well as the founder of the One Ton brewery, Alexander Belkov, opened the pub-restaurant “Erik Ryzhiy” on Arbat. Representatives of the establishment told The Village about this.
The owners decided to open the pub after traveling together in Northern Europe. To launch the project, Kirill Eremeev, who has 18 years of experience in the restaurant business, was appointed manager. He has participated in the opening of Tatyana Kurbatskaya’s “Pallacio Ducale” restaurants, Arkady Novikov’s “A Club” and “Pavilion” projects, as well as “Fish” of the restaurant syndicate of Kirill Gusev and the pilot restaurant of the “T Bon” chain.
The brand and bar manager for the project is Stanislav Obraztsov, who is responsible for everything related to beer, its assortment, and advertising. Obraztsov is known for his work at the 1516 brewery and the Craft rePUBlic bar. The assortment of the new pub on Arbat includes 54 varieties of draft beer and more than 300 bottled craft beers and ciders from Russian and foreign small breweries, such as Nøgne Ø, De Molen, BrewDog, To Øl, Hornbeer, Haand, 7Fjell, Emelisse. Obraztsov notes that it is unlikely that anywhere else in Russia you can find beer from these breweries on tap at the same time. In addition, the pub supplies craft beers produced at the breweries of the owners Velka Morava and One Ton. Prices for draft beer range from 170 to 290 rubles, for bottled beer - from 180 to 1,500 rubles.
A young chef from Yalta, Arseniy Zinchenko, is in charge of the kitchen at Eric the Red. Among appetizers and salads, the menu includes home-salted Norwegian herring (300 rubles), chicken wings (380 rubles), salad with grilled mackerel fillet, mini potatoes and fresh radishes (420 rubles). They also offer soups: Norwegian fish soup made from sockeye salmon, pike perch and trout with cream and shrimp bisque sauce (290 rubles) and goulash soup with beef (290 rubles). For main course, you can order grilled mackerel with mini potatoes and baked cherry tomatoes (420 rubles), Wiener schnitzel (400 rubles) or beef rib with crispy eggplant in soy-honey sauce (550 rubles). For dessert - homemade cheese cake (250 rubles) and apple roll (250 rubles).
Eric the Red has three floors. Each of them has its own selection of draft beer and cider. Visitors who value “intimacy and quiet relaxation” are offered accommodation on the lower ground floor under brick arched vaults of the 19th century. For those who value a pub atmosphere more, there are places on the first and second floors.
The wave of craft pubs that have covered the capital has led to the fact that the “beer” crowd goes to most of the openings less and less often. And really, what is there to see? New beer? All suppliers are the same. Design? Everyone is already sick and tired of Edison light bulbs sticking out of water pipes. Nevertheless, the opening of the pub-restaurant “Eric the Red” on Old Arbat caused a great stir. In my opinion, everyone who was at least somehow connected with beer came to the opening.
Beer restaurants have been located in this room “since ancient times.” Starting from “Schveik” in the 90s and ending with “Kruzhka” recently. A little further, in the same house in Soviet times, there was a store that sold draft kvass year-round (this was a rarity) (and maybe beer, I didn’t pay attention to that then). So it's a place with traditions.
The pub has two floors and a basement. On the first and second there is just a pub with snacks. There is a restaurant in the basement where food is served by waiters. Music can also be played there, which by the way cannot be heard on the upper floors, which is of course a big plus. Some people want to play some music and dance, while others just sit and chat.
The most important thing is that the bars have different beer on all three floors! Keep this in mind. I don’t know how many taps there are. I think about 45-50 in total. Plus a bottle. The choice is worthy. First of all, this is, of course, the assortment of “One Ton” and “Velka Morava”, the beer that they brew and which they import. After all, these breweries own the restaurant. Beer prices are average in Moscow and, of course, cheaper than in most establishments on Arbat.
The main question is where to start, because... this beer was supposed to be the thousandth check-in on untappd.com. Vasily Smirnov suggested - Odin’s Tipple. Imperial stout from the Norwegian brewery Haand Bryggeriet.
Odin's Tipple(Norway, Drammen) - 11% alc. Vasily was right (Vasily will not give bad advice!). The most powerful and at the same time balanced thing! Strong aroma of roasted malt, chocolate and creosote. Moderate sweetness and dry aftertaste complemented, again, by dark chocolate, willow bark and coffee. Definitely "A+".
Then I wanted a domestic manufacturer.
Red Sonja(Russia, Zhukovsky) - 6.2% alc. Ginger IPA. Collaboration with Oleg Edigarov. Soft but noticeable Christmas tree aroma. There is a little ginger in the taste, it burns a little. In the aftertaste, black currant overlays the ginger. It’s the berry, not the “cats pissed.” Plus a soft but noticeable bitterness. Great balance of everything. With age, you begin to appreciate balance, and not the perversion and extremeness of taste :) I’ll also give it “A+”, and let those who disagree name another, better ginger IPA :)
We tried “One Ton” and moved on to “Velka Morava”.
Anniversary Baltic Porter(Russia, Moscow) - 7.7% alc. But here’s the bummer, sir. Or sawed in the wrong sequence. It seemed quite watery for 20% density. Burnt flavor is not bad, but it is balanced by sweetness or bitterness. It seems that it has been heavily fermented and there is no body left. Although the burnt food, I repeat, is not bad. Grade “C+”, but need to try separately.
Towards the end we were treated to Urbock 23° in a new can (previously it seemed to only be in bottles). It's not on the menu. Stepan Chunikin brought it.
Urbock 23°(Austria, Worchdorf) - 9.6% alc. This is what I understand as doppelbock! Straight port or maltliquor. Aroma of dried fruits. Sweet, even cloying, but tasty. The alcohol is not felt at all. Caramel, candy, dried fruit and port in the barrel on the finish. Grade "A"
Volodya "Nikshychko" with the largest Chinese shipowners
Erik Thorvaldsson/Erik the Red was born in 950 and died around 1003. Medieval Icelandic Viking who is believed to have founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland.
According to Icelandic legend, Erik Thorvaldsson was born in Rogaland, Norway, and was the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson. Most likely, he earned the nickname “Red Eric” for the color of his hair. His father was kicked out of Norway for murder; he and his family sailed west and settled on the Hornstrandir Peninsula in northwestern Iceland.
The Icelanders later sentenced Erik to exile because of a “series of murders” he committed around 982. After Thorvaldson found a wife and built a farm, problems began with his slaves. His slaves were killed by a friend of the owner of a neighboring farm, and Eric, thirsting for revenge, sent the killer and another man to the next world. Relatives of one of the murdered men demanded the expulsion of Red Eric. After another bloody incident, when Thorvaldson killed two sons of one Thorgest and "several other men" on Oxney, a meeting was called. Eric was declared an outlaw for three years.
After the expulsion, Thorvaldson decided, together with his supporters, to reach mysterious and little-known lands. He rounded the lower tip of the island (Cape Farewell) and sailed up the west coast. Eric discovered the western land, mostly free of ice, and, according to legend, spent three years exploring the expanses he found. When his sentence expired, Thorvaldson returned to Iceland with an incredible story about the land he had discovered, Greenland.
Scientists have suggested that at that time the climate in Greenland was milder, but most likely Red Eric simply came up with such a name (“Green Land”) to make the island more attractive to potential settlers. He managed to convince many, especially among the “Vikings living in the poor Icelandic lands” and those affected by the last famine, that they would live in a new way in the new land.
In 985, Thorvaldson and a large group of colonists returned to Greenland. Two colonies were founded on the southwest coast. In the summer, when the weather allowed travel, men from every locality were called up to hunt in Disko Bay in the Arctic Circle. Thus, the Greenlanders received food and other valuable goods, including walrus tusks and whale ivory, for trade with Europe.
In the Eastern Settlement (Eystribyggð/Eastern Settlement), Eric rebuilt an estate near present-day Narsarsuaq, and as a leader he was highly respected among the settlers. In total, 25 ships headed to the lands of Greenland together with Thorvaldson, of which only 14 successfully reached. Some ships turned back, and some disappeared into the sea without a trace. In 1002, a group of new immigrants brought an epidemic to the island. In a prosperous colony, already numbering about 5,000 people, many people died from the disease, including those who made a significant contribution to development. The disease also affected Red Eric himself.
According to legend, Thorvaldson and his wife had four children: daughter Freydís and sons Leif Eiríksson, Thorvald and Thorstein. Eric was a supporter of Norse paganism until the end of his days, while his wife and son Leif converted to Christianity.
Leif Eiriksson inherited his father's wanderlust and became the first Viking to explore the land of Vinland, a part of North America, probably near modern-day Newfoundland. They say that Leif, now known in history as Leif the Happy, invited his father to sail with him, but Eric fell from his horse on the way to the ship - and took this as a bad sign. Thorvaldson remained on land, sending his son alone, and died in the winter of 1003 after Leif's departure.
