Eric the Red

Eric the Red was a 10th century Viking explorer of Norwegian decent who became the first European in Greenland.

After being temporarily banished from Iceland for murder, Eric set out to explore islands west of Iceland. He later founded a settlement in Greenland with other Norsemen.

The settlement eventually flourished but later failed, possibly owning to weather-induced famine or struggles with the island native peoples.

Eric's son was Viking explorer Leif Ericsson, who is credited with the European discovery of North America, almost 500 years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Leif settled in Newfoundland.

The Vinland Sagas, the Saga of Eric the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders are the Icelandic sagas that tells their tale.