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Eric
the Red
Eric
the Red (lived about 950-1001), Norwegian explorer, the
first European to explore Greenland and to found a colony
there. His second son, Leif Eriksson,
is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to reach
North America.
Eric,
whose patronymic was Thorvaldson, was called Eric
the Red because of his red hair. When his father was exiled
for manslaughter, Eric left Norway with him, and the family
settled in Iceland. In 980-81, faced with manslaughter charges
himself, Eric decided to explore land sighted by his friend
Gunnbjörn Úlfsson to the west of Iceland. The course Eric
followed took him to the island he named Greenland. Returning
to Iceland, he persuaded several shiploads of relatives
and friends to join him in colonizing the new land in about
985. Because the eastern coast was sheathed in ice, he rounded
Cape Farewell in the south and founded a settlement called
Brattahlid. Others of his party established another settlement
near present-day Nuuk (Godthåb). Both communities were on
the western coast.
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Norwegian-born
explorer Eric Thorvaldson was the first person to
explore Greenland, and he founded the first community
on the island in about 985. The explorer began his
journey to avoid a manslaughter charge in Iceland,
where he had settled with his family. He became
known as Eric the Red because of his red hair.
THE
BETTMANN ARCHIVE
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An
injury prevented Eric from accompanying his son Leif on
the voyage that eventually took him to Vinland (North
America) in about 1001. He died the winter after Leif returned
home. Another son, Thorvald, also visited Vinland.
"Eric
the Red," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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