Erik the Red Leads Settlers to Greenland

Erik Thorvaldsson, remembered as Erik the Red, was born in Rogaland, Norway, around 950. While he was still a child, his father Thorvald Asvaldsson was banished from Norway after committing acts of manslaughter. The family sailed west to settle in the Hornstrandir region of northwestern Iceland. Erik later married Thjodhild Jorundsdottir and built a farmstead called Eiriksstadir in Haukadalr. However, Erik soon encountered legal troubles of his own, echoing the path that had driven his father into exile.

Around 982, according to the Icelandic sagas, Erik became embroiled in local feuds after his thralls caused a landslide on a neighbor's farm. The neighbor's kinsman, Eyjolf the Foul, killed the enslaved men, prompting Erik to kill Eyjolf and another man named Hrafn the Dueller. Banished from Haukadalr as a result, Erik relocated to Breidafjordur. There, another dispute arose when an associate named Thorgest refused to return Erik's inherited ornamental wooden pillars. Erik recovered the pillars by force, sparking a clash that left Thorgest's sons and several others dead. The matter was submitted to the local assembly at the Thorsnes Thing, which sentenced Erik and his supporters to three years of outlawry.