The founders of the Moscow brewery Velka Morava, Sergey Novak and Vladimir Semyonov, as well as the founder of the One Tonna brewery, Alexander Belkov, have opened a pub-restaurant “Eric Ryzhiy” on the Arbat. Representatives of the institution told The Village about this.
The owners decided to open a pub after a joint trip to Northern Europe. To launch the project, Kirill Eremeev, who has 18 years of experience in the restaurant business, was appointed as the manager. On account of his participation in the opening of the Pallazio Ducale restaurants of Tatiana Kurbatskaya, Arkady Novikov's projects A Club and Pavilion, as well as Fish of the Kirill Gusev restaurant syndicate and the pilot restaurant of the T-Bon chain.
The brand and bar manager in the project is Stanislav Obraztsov, who is responsible for everything related to beer, its assortment, as well as advertising. Obraztsov is best 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 and more than 300 bottled craft beer and cider 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 somewhere else in Russia you can simultaneously find beer from these breweries in taps. In addition, the pub is supplied with sorts of craft beer, which are produced at the breweries of the owners Velka Morava and Odna Tonna. Prices for draft beer - from 170 to 290 rubles, for beer in bottles - from 180 to 1,500 rubles.
Arseniy Zinchenko, a young chef from Yalta, is in charge of the kitchen at Eric Ryzhem. Among the appetizers and salads, the menu includes home-salted Norwegian herring (300 rubles), chicken wings (380 rubles), salad with grilled mackerel fillets, mini potatoes and fresh radishes (420 rubles). They also offer soups: Norwegian soup made from sockeye salmon, pike perch and trout with cream and bisque shrimp sauce (290 rubles) and beef goulash soup (290 rubles). For hot meals, you can order grilled mackerel with mini-potatoes and baked cherry tomatoes (420 rubles), Viennese schnitzel (400 rubles) or beef rib with crispy eggplants 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 assortment of draft beer and cider. Visitors who value "intimacy and quiet rest" are offered to stay on the ground floor under brick arched vaults of the 19th century. For those who appreciate the atmosphere of a pub more, there are places on the first and second floors.
Eric the Red
| Eirik Raudi | |
| Eiríkr rauði Þorvaldsson | |
| Birth name: |
Eric Torvaldson |
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BiographyThe troubles due to the violent disposition continued in the new place. Around 980, Eirik was sentenced to three years of exile from Iceland for two murders. In one case, he killed a neighbor who did not want to return the borrowed boat, in the other, he avenged his slaves killed by another Viking. Executing the sentence, Eirik decided to sail west and reach the land, which in clear weather can be seen from the tops of the mountains of western Iceland. She lay at a distance of 280 km from the Icelandic coast; According to the sagas, the Norwegian Gunbjörn sailed there earlier in the 900s. Eirik sailed west in 982 with his family, servants and cattle. Floating ice prevented him from landing; he was forced to go around the southern extremity of the island and landed in a place near Julianshob (Kakortok). During his three years in exile, Eric did not meet a single person on the island, although during his travels along the coast he reached Disko Island, far northwest of the southern tip of Greenland. At the end of his term of exile, Eirik the Red returned to Iceland in 986 and began to incite the local Vikings to move to new lands. He named the island Greenland (Norwegian Grønland), which literally means "Green Land". Controversy continues over the appropriateness of this name. Some scientists believe that at that time the climate in these places, thanks to the medieval climatic optimum, was mild, and the coastal areas of the south-west of the island were indeed covered with dense grassy vegetation. Others believe that the name was chosen for "advertising" purposes - to attract more settlers to the island. According to the sagas, Eirik the Red sailed from Iceland with 25 ships, of which only 14 with 350 settlers reached Greenland, and founded the first European settlement Eystribyggd (Eastern Settlement) on the island. The evidence of the sagas is corroborated by the results of radiocarbon analysis of archaeological finds that were found at the site of the former Brattalid (now Kassiarsuk), the residence of Eirik the Red near present-day Narsarssuaku, and date back to about 1000 AD. Although Eirik himself retired, his sons continued their research. Around the year 1000, Leif Eriksson discovered what he called Vinland - the territory of modern North America. Eirik's other sons, Torvald and Thorstein, also made expeditions there. Leif Eriksson also brought a priest from Norway who baptized Greenland. Unlike his wife and sons, Eirik never accepted Christianity and remained a pagan until the end of his life, and was skeptical of Christianity. see alsoNotes (edit)Categories:
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. See what "Eric the Red" is in other dictionaries:Eric the Red- (Eric the Red), Norwegian. navigator 10 century. Left Iceland approx. 984 in search of new lands on 3. Having discovered Greenland, he returned there on the trail. year with a group of colonists from Iceland and founded a settlement in the region of Bredefjord. His son Leif Eriksson approx. ... ... The World History Red: The Wiktionary contains an article "red". Red is the color orange, a color intermediate between red and yellow. Redhead ... Wikipedia Eric the Red. Eric the Red (Eirik Raudi, Old Norse. Eiríkr rauði, 950 1003) discoverer of Greenland. Icelandic Viking of Norse origin. It is considered the first European to establish a settlement in Greenland. Son of Torvald Asvaldson and ... ... Wikipedia The wanderings of various characters from the Vinland sagas to the territory of modern America The Greenlandic saga (Icelandic Grænlendinga saga) is an Icelandic saga describing the travels of the Vikings to Greenland ... Wikipedia A polar bear hunter on a kayak. Hunting and fishing have always been important parts of life in Greenland. Currently, 84% of the surface of Greenland is occupied by glaciers, which limits the area of human ... Wikipedia An island near the north. east shores of the North. America. In 981, a resident of Iceland, Eirik Turvaldson, nicknamed Raudi (red-haired), went in search of a large western town already known to Icelanders. land. Soon he approached her and to her south. found extremities ... ... Geographical encyclopedia This article or section is a rough translation of the article in another language (see Checking translations). It could have been generated by a program by a translator, or it could have been made by a person with little knowledge of the original language. Can you help ... Wikipedia |
Eric the Red Torfin Karlsefni
Normans were the names of the strong and courageous inhabitants of the coast of the winding deep fjords of Norway, the wooded valleys of Sweden, the low-lying plains of Denmark blown by the fresh sea breeze. From time immemorial they are accustomed to finding food for themselves at sea. The soil of their harsh, foggy homeland, covered with forests, was infertile, and they learned long ago to build light narrow ships decorated with the head of a dragon, and boldly set out on them to fish, overseas trade and plunder weaker neighbors.
Young people who did not find the use of their strength and courage at home, people who committed murder under a hot hand and were forced to flee from bloody revenge, courageous, freedom-loving fighters who did not put up with the oppression of the leaders, united in fighting squads and under the leadership of the king, the "sea king" , went to sea for booty and glory.
The stories of the successful Vikings returning home with ships laden with loot further encouraged new campaigns. The Normans devastated and burned cities and villages in France and Italy, robbed and killed the inhabitants.
Divided into many small and smallest duchies, principalities, counties, abbeys and baronies, torn apart by countless wars and quarrels, European countries were helpless in the face of the brave Norman pirates. Appearing on the shores of Ireland in 795, the Normans captured its northern, western and southern coasts within twenty years and began to conquer the interior regions 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 the beginning of the 11th century, the Normans took possession of almost all of England (where they were called "Danes").
In the 9th century, the Normans made their way along the rivers deep into Germany and France, robbed and burned German cities Cologne, Hamburg, Aachen, Trier and Worms, the French cities of Paris, Tours, Orleans, Troyes, Shanon and Dijon. At the end of the 9th century, the Normans had already conquered northern France. After that, they marched 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 he died, he asked to be buried in the Luna Cathedral. A sad procession entered the besieged city, unarmed soldiers carrying the coffin of the leader. But during the funeral service, the lid of the coffin suddenly threw back, Hastings rose from the coffin, killed the bishop with a blow of the sword and, distributing the swords hidden in the coffin to his soldiers, began the massacre. The city was captured and plundered.
Other detachments of the Normans - the Varangians - through the mouth of the Neva, along the great path - "from the Varangians to the Greeks" - reached Byzantium, and there they became bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors. The conquest of the Russian lands by the Normans (Varangians), the reign of the Rurikovichs also belong to the VIII-X centuries. Some chronicles indicate that the Vikings were summoned to the kingdom by the Russians themselves, which in general is rather doubtful.
Some of the Normans headed northwest. Around the middle of the 9th century, the Normans discovered Iceland. The nature of this country, its fish-rich fiords, snow-covered mountain peaks, green meadows very much reminded the Normans of their homeland. Colonists from Norway and from Ireland, then captured by the Normans, rushed to Iceland.
In the X century, Eric, nicknamed the Red, expelled from Norway for the murder, sailed to Iceland. But in Iceland, too, the quarrelsome Viking quarreled with the colonists, and he was again driven away. Gathering a band of brave men, Eric went to look for new lands.
Eric the Red
After a dangerous and exhausting voyage, the fugitives saw glaciers of unknown land sparkling in the sun. Bizarre icy mountains floated in the blue sea, and the air was crowded with birds. Eric called the country he discovered the Green Country (hence the name Greenland).
Eric decided to settle in a new country and brought people there from Iceland and Norway. In the fjords of the west bank, he founded two settlements. The Normans were engaged in fishing and hunting for seals, walruses and whales, birds, polar bears, reindeer and polar foxes. The colonists did not break ties with their homeland and sold furs, walrus tusks and blubber there, and in exchange they received iron, timber, bread and fabrics.
The Normans who soon settled in Greenland began to look for new, warmer and more fertile lands. In 999, the ship of Eric the Red's son, Leif Eriksen, sailing from Norway back to Greenland, was caught in a storm. For a long time the ship rushed in the fog along the cold stormy sea, with difficulty dodging collisions with white icebergs suddenly emerging from the mist. The storm ended, the sun dried their clothes and warmed the chilled, exhausted sailors.
A wooded shore was visible 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. Brooks rang out, rolling down the high bank into the sea. This was America - New England today. So 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 spoke about Vinland - the Land of Grapes, where there is a warm climate, a lot of game, where you can get the forest so necessary for the Greenland colonists.
Another Viking became interested in Eriksen's stories - Torfinn Karlsefni, who came from Iceland to Greenland in 1002. A year later, he organized a three-ship expedition to Vinland discovered by Leif.
Einar Jounsson's statue of Thorfinn Karlsefni (1920) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
One hundred and sixty people went with him. Since the Normans hoped to settle in the new Western countries, they took with them everything that could be needed in the new place - even a few cows and bulls. The ships sailed along the shores of Greenland, past the 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 haze of the sea. The ships sailed south into the open sea.
The sea was deserted. Only in the distance could be seen fountains released by whales and majestic icebergs floating slightly swaying on the waves.
Finally, the sailors saw a blue streak on the horizon. It was the current Labrador. The high bank was covered with huge flat slabs. The breakers roared below. Sharp rocks protruded above, and fragments of clouds clung to them. The sailors named this land Helluland - the Land of Flat Stones.
But it was not the beautiful Vinland - the Land of the Grapes, which Leif Eriksen spoke about. We sailed further south. Two days later, a new land opened up for the travelers.
The rugged coast was covered with a gloomy coniferous forest. Thorfinn named this land Markland - Woodland (now Newfoundland). Here the travelers stopped to rest. The hunters, armed with bows, spears and darts, went deep into the thicket and in the evening returned with rich prey - deer and elk.
The ships went further south. The wind that was blowing from the right, from the shore, was getting warmer. Two days later we sailed to the open sandy shore. Stopped again to rest. When the sailors were gathering dead wood for a fire on the shore, they came across the keel of a ship half-covered with sand. So, they were not the first to visit this place. Probably, some European ship crashed here, and its crew, apparently, died. The Normans called this place Kalames (Cape Carinae), now it is Cap Breton in present-day Canada.
For the winter, Thorfinn stopped at Teamfiord (fjord of the Currents), sending one ship further south in search of the coveted Vinland. The ship returned with grapes and wild wheat — Vinland was not far away.
Wintering in 1003-1004 in Teamfiord went well. It was warm in the wooden huts. There was a lot of game around.
Only by spring did the game disappear, and then people had to starve. In the spring one ship sailed to Vinland, but the wind brought it to the shores of Ireland. There the Normans were taken prisoner and made slaves.
Later, Thorfinn sailed himself 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 sea bay. It was Vinland. Deciduous forests rustled here, long-awaited grapes and wild wheat were here. On the shores of the lake, the Normans built huts and overwintered there.
The second wintering in America (winter 1004-1005) was even more successful than the first. But one spring evening, a multitude of leather canoes appeared on the lake. The natives sailed - short, sturdy, red-skinned, fur-clad people whom the Normans called the Skelings. The Skelings began trading with the aliens, but the bull that escaped from the fence frightened the natives so much that they hurriedly left the lake, fleeing from an unprecedented monster. Three weeks later they returned and, having quarreled over something with the Normans, attacked them. The Normans, protected by helmets and chain mail, armed with swords, prevailed, and the natives were repulsed. Yet the Normans returned north to Markland, where they spent the winter of 1005-1006, and from where they traveled south to Vinland. But when in the summer of 1006 strife broke out among the colonists, Thorfinn decided to return to Greenland.
Thus ended the Norman attempt to colonize the American coast. The Normans subsequently went several times to Markland for the forest, but gradually the path to the west was forgotten. Only the old legends of Iceland and Greenland have 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 establish the exact limits of their voyages, since their records are very short and poor in details. It was especially difficult for them to describe those areas where the banks were completely overgrown with forests 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 depths of America and that this journey was full of tragic adventures. In 1898, Swedish immigrant Olaf Oman was clearing a wooded area near Kensington, Minnesota (in the United States) and uprooted an aspen stump whose roots were entwined with rough-hewn stone. An inscription was carved into the stone, but Oman could not read it. When the stone was cleaned, he saw that the inscription was made in runic letters. Here is a translation of it by Hjalmar Holland:
“Eight Goths and 22 Norwegians, on an exploration journey from Vinland across the West, camped on two rocky islands a day's march north of this rock.
We left the camp and went fishing one day. When we returned, we found 10 people red with blood and dead. Save from evil. The next three lines, carved into the edge of the stone, read: (We) have 10 (people) from our party at the sea to watch our ship 14 days from this island. Year 1362 ".
University of Minnesota professor Breda was the first to read the inscription on the stone and declared it to be a crudely made forgery.
They talked a little about the stone and forgot. For nine years he served as a threshold in the barn of Oman.
Fortunately, it lay with the letters down, and therefore they survived. The scholar Holland, who has carefully studied the inscriptions on the stone, vigorously 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, at least until 1830. But at that time there could not have been people in Minnesota who had the knowledge to carry out such a forgery.
And who needed it? Three geologists studied the carved marks and found them to be very ancient.
This is how Holland explains the story of the stone inscription found by Oman. The visit of the Normans to Vinland and Markland was not an accidental episode. The colony in Greenland continued to exist for some time, and the colonists sometimes brought 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 convert 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 got 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 along its banks, swam to the mouth of the Nelson River. Here they left their ship and some of the people. Another part of the expedition went up the river, to Forest lake and to the Red River, that is, to an area close to present-day Kensington.
Here, in order to honor the memory of the fallen comrades and 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. The colonists suffered from scurvy and rickets. From Norway and Iceland, ships brought a terrible epidemic - "black death" (plague). During the 15th century, the Norman population of Greenland became almost completely extinct, and in the 18th century, when the Norwegians and Danes began to colonize Greenland again, they, except for abandoned cemeteries and ruins of dwellings, did not find any traces of the Normans there.
At the end of the 15th century, when Columbus visited Iceland, communication with Greenland, and even more so with America, had long been interrupted.
But among the Icelandic sailors, monks-chroniclers and old peasants, there were still legends about the voyages of their ancestors far to the west and about the beautiful Country of Grapes - Vinland.
The end of the 10th century in history was marked not only by major military and political conflicts, but also by the colonization of Greenland by Scandinavian settlers. The "green country" owes its discovery to the Norwegian Eric the Red (950-1003), who went in search of new lands, as he was expelled from Iceland for his violent temper.
Eric Rauda (Red): family, first difficulties
Not much information has been preserved about the childhood and youth of the discoverer. It is known that Eric the Red was born in Norway, not far from Stavanger, on the Yerenne farm. His bright sunny hair color did not go unnoticed, soon the nickname Red was stuck behind him. As a teenager, he and his family were forced to leave their homeland due to a blood quarrel between his father and neighbors. They sailed westward and settled on the Hornstrandir Peninsula. At this time, the migration to Iceland had already ended, so they got far from the best lands on the rocky coast.
When Eric the Red grew up, he tried to escape from poverty and constant need. After the death of his father, he by hook or by crook moves to the south of Iceland and marries a girl from a wealthy family in the Haukadal district. It seemed that things were going uphill: with the dowry of his wife, Eric was able to purchase a plot and equip a farm. However, the problems were not long in coming.
Hot blood
It should be noted that in fiction, Eric the Red, like other Vikings, has a somewhat ennobled image, but in fact his real life was a series of endless skirmishes, including bloodshed and robbery.
Having barely managed to get married, the future navigator was involved in a quarrel with a neighbor, whose estate was robbed by Eric's slaves. The conflict was aggravated when one of the relatives of the injured neighbor, not tolerating resentment for the damage caused, killed Eric's people. But the young warrior did not remain in debt. He committed lynching and killed this relative and his friend. As a result of these actions, he was expelled from the Haukadal district.
After the verdict, leaving the estate in a great hurry, Eric the Red forgot to seize the family carved pillars, which were a sacred value for every family. Torgest (the owner of another neighboring farm) appropriated someone else's property, which later served as the beginning of new troubles.
Exile
In the following winter, the young Viking roamed with his family on the islets of the Breidafjord district, enduring all the hardships of exiled life. With the onset of spring, he decides to return to Haukadal to collect his ancestral pillars and other property left behind in a hurry. But the dishonest neighbor categorically refused to give them away. Eric and his friends were forced to hide in the nearest forest, waiting for the time when he went somewhere on business or hunting. Seizing the moment, they made their way to the estate and returned the pillars, believing that this was the end of the story. However, in those harsh times, nothing was for nothing. The attempt to return their property turned into another bloodshed. Torgest, discovering the disappearance of the pillars, rushed in pursuit of Eric. In the ensuing scuffle, he lost his sons and followers.
New deaths have stirred up eminent families. They forced the heads of the districts of Haukadal and Breidafjord to officially declare Eric Torvaldson (Red) outlawed. Numerous supporters of Torgest in the spring of 981 took military action against the restless Norwegian. As a result, despite support and friends, Eric was declared an exile for a period of three years.
Searching for land
Sources tell very little about the most epochal discovery of the Scandinavian navigator Eric the Red. It is known that, carrying out the sentence, he says goodbye to his friends and decides to go in search of the land discovered earlier by the Norwegian Gunnbjorn, when his ship was thrown to the west by a storm. Taking the same course off the coast of Iceland, Eric moves between 65-66 ° N latitude, making good use of the tailwind. After four days of travel, he and his men found themselves off the east coast of an unknown land.
After a series of unsuccessful attempts to break through the ice to the coast, the navigators moved along the coastline to the southwest. Contemplating the lifeless ice deserts and mountainous landscape, they approached the southern fjords, and from there, through the strait, headed to the west coast. Here the ice began to gradually recede. Tired travelers landed on a small island, where they spent the winter.
Expedition of 982
In the summer of 982, Eric the Red with a small team set out on a reconnaissance expedition and discovered to the west a coast cut by many deep fjords. He enthusiastically marked the sites for future farms. Further (according to the modern Canadian prose writer F. Mowat), on some coastal peak, the discoverer noticed high mountains in the western direction. It is noteworthy that on fine days beyond the Strait of Davis it is quite possible to see the icy peaks of Baffin's Land Island.
Having overcome the strait, the Vikings reached the Cumberland Peninsula, where they were able to explore the mountainous terrain of the entire eastern coast. There they spent most of the summer fishing: hunting walruses, storing fat, collecting walrus bones and narwhal tusks. In the future, it is the discovery of Vestr Obygdir ("Western Desert Regions") that will play a significant role in the difficult life of the Greenlandic colonists.
Southwest coast of Greenland
Based on sources, in the summer of 983, Eric the Red headed from the Arctic Circle to the north, where he discovered the island and the Disko Bay, the Nugssuaq and Swartenhoek peninsulas. He was able to reach Melville Bay (76 ° north latitude), thus exploring another 1200 km of the west coast of Greenland. This land filled with beauty amazed the Norwegian with an abundance of living creatures: polar bears, reindeer, arctic foxes, whales, walruses, eiders, gyrfalcons.
After persistent research, Eric found several suitable flat places in the southwest, relatively sheltered from the harsh winds of the north and with dense green vegetation in the summer. The contrast created between the icy desert and this area was so impressive that the red-haired navigator called the coast "Green Land" (Greenland). Of course, this name did not correspond to a large island, which has only 15% of its territory free of ice cover. Some chronicles claim that Eric, with a beautiful word, intended to attract his compatriots in order to persuade them to resettle. However, the beautiful name originally related only to the picturesque areas of the southwestern coast and only in the 15th century did it spread to the entire island.
The first settlers of the "Green Land"
At the end of the established period of exile, Eric the Red returned safely to Iceland (984) and began to persuade the local Scandinavians to move to the "blessed paradise". It should be noted that at that time Iceland was full of disaffected people, many of whom were emigrants of the last streams. Such families readily responded to the call of the navigator to go to the "Green Land".
In June 985, according to the Erik the Red sagas, 25 ships with settlers on board sailed from the coast of Iceland, but only 14 of them were able to reach South Greenland. The ship's ships fell into a terrible storm, and some part, unable to cope with the elements, sank into the sea or was thrown back to Iceland by a storm.
On the western coast of the island, in the previously noted fjords, Eric and his compatriots formed two settlements - East and West. The reliability of the chronicles is confirmed by the results of archaeological finds that were found in the place where the estate of Erik the Red (now Kassiarsuk) was organized.
Living in a harsh land
The colonists settled in a narrow strip along the sea, it was pointless for them to move deeper into the island. Under the leadership of Eric, they settled in new places, mainly engaged in fishing and hunting. Their lands also had excellent pastures for livestock brought from Iceland. In the summer season, when the settled weather favored travel, an appeal was made among the male population to hunt in Disko Bay, which is beyond the Arctic Circle.
Greenlanders did not break ties with their homeland, because their lives depended on this communication. They sent there furs, blubber and walrus tusks, and in return received iron, fabric, bread and wood. It was because of the last resource that great difficulties arose on the island. The forest was sorely lacking. It was available in abundance on Labrador, located near Greenland, but sailing behind it in the harsh climate was almost impossible.
Family, faith and the last journey
The biography of Eric the Red does not give a detailed picture of his family life. There is an assumption that in marriage he had three sons and a daughter. Firstborn Leif took over his father's craving for sea travel. He became the first Viking to visit Vinland in North America, near what is now Newfoundland. Other sons also took an active part in various expeditions.
It is known that, having a difficult character, Eric often reproached his wife and his children for the priest brought to the island, who managed to baptize most of the adult population. The navigator himself remained faithful to the pagan gods to the end, and treated Christianity with frank skepticism.
The discoverer of Greenland spent the last years of his life on the island. The sons called their father to sail, but he, shortly before the ship was sent, fell from his horse and saw this as a bad sign. Without tempting fate, Eric Torvaldson remained on land and died in the winter of 1003. Legends tell that people from all over the island flocked to Cape Geriulva to pay last respects to it. The funeral procession descended to the sea, and on the Viking ship, the ashes of Eric the Red were betrayed to the fire, he made his last journey.
Erik Thorvaldsson / Erik the Red was born in 950, died around 1003. Medieval Icelandic Viking believed to have founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland.
According to Icelandic legend, Eric Thorvaldsson was born in Rogaland, Norway, and was the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson. Most likely, he earned the nickname "Red Erik" for the color of his hair. His father was kicked out of Norway for murder; he and his family sailed westward and settled on the Hornstrandir Peninsula in northwestern Iceland.
Later, the Icelanders sentenced to exile and Eric - because of "a series of murders", committed by him in about 982-m. After Torvaldson 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, yearning for revenge, sent a killer and another person to the next world. Relatives of one of those killed demanded the expulsion of Red Erik. After another bloody incident, when Thorvaldson had dealt with the two sons of a certain Thorgest and "several other men" on Öxney, a meeting was called. Eric was outlawed for three years.
After the expulsion, Torvaldson decided, together with his supporters, to get to the mysterious and little-known lands. He circled the lower tip of the island (Cape Farewell) and swam up the west coast. Eric discovered the western land, mostly free of ice, and, according to legend, spent three years exploring the open spaces. When his sentence expired, Thorvaldson returned to Iceland with the incredible story of the land he discovered, Greenland.
Scientists hypothesize that the climate in Greenland was milder at the time, but most likely Red Erik simply came up with such a name ("Green Land") to make the island more attractive to potential settlers. He managed to convince many, especially from among the "Vikings who live in the poor Icelandic lands", and suffered from the last famine, that they will live in a new way on the new land.
In 985, Thorvaldson returned to Greenland with a large group of colonists. Two colonies were founded on the southwest coast. In the summer, when the weather allowed for travel, men were called from each settlement to hunt in Disko Bay beyond the Arctic Circle. Thus, the Greenlanders received food and other valuable goods, including walrus tusks and whale bones for trade with Europe.
In the Eastern Settlement (Eystribyggð), Erik rebuilt an estate near present-day Narsarsuaq, and was highly respected by the settlers as a leader. Together with Torvaldson, 25 ships went to the lands of Greenland, of which only 14 successfully reached. Some of the ships turned back, and some disappeared into the sea without a trace. In 1002, a group of new immigrants brought an epidemic with them to the island. In a thriving colony of about 5,000 people, many people died from the disease, including those who made a significant contribution to development. The disease knocked down Red Erik himself.
According to legend, Thorvaldson and his wife had four children: daughter Freydís and sons Leif Eiríksson, Thorvald and Thorstein. Eric until the end of his days was a supporter of Norse paganism, while his wife and son Leif converted to Christianity.
Leif Eiriksson inherited his father's wanderlust and became the first Viking to explore Vinland, part of North America, probably near present-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. Torvaldson stayed on land, sending his son alone, and died in the winter of 1003 after Leif's departure.
