Erik the Red Facts & Worksheets

• The Icelanders established two colonies on the southwest coast: the Western Settlement, located near present-day Nuuk, and the Eastern Settlement, or Eystribyggð, in what is now Qaqortoq. Many contend that the Middle Settlement was a component of the Western Settlement, although it eventually expanded. 
• The sole two regions appropriate for farming were the Eastern and Western Settlements, both established on the southwest coast. In order to obtain food and other valuable commodities, such as seals, ivory from walrus tusks, and beached whales, each settlement dispatched an army of men to forage in Disko Bay above the Arctic Circle during the summers, when the weather was more conducive to travel.
• Erik constructed the estate of Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement, which is located in the vicinity of Narsarsuaq in a region now known as Qassiarsuk. Erik was a highly respected and affluent individual who held Greenland’s title of paramount chieftain. The settlement prospered, expanding to 5,000 residents dispersed across a substantial area along Eriksfjord and neighbouring fjords. The original celebration was joined by groups of immigrants who were fleeing overcrowding in Iceland. Nevertheless, an epidemic that ravaged the colony killing many of its prominent citizens, including Erik himself, was brought by a group of immigrants who arrived in 1002. 
• Nevertheless, the colony recovered and endured until the Little Ice Age rendered the land unsuitable for European lifestyles in the 15th century, shortly before Christopher Columbus’s initial voyage to the Americas in 1492. The colony’s decline was also influenced by pirate incursions, conflict with the Inuit expanding into the Norse territories, and Norway’s abandonment of the colony.

NORSE COLONY IN GREENLAND & LATER LIFE OF ERIK THE RED

• Erik and his people returned to Breidafjord after their three-year exile. Erik declared his intention to establish a permanent residence in the new country and invited others to join him. He chose the moniker Greenland for the government, hoping it would attract individuals to join him. The name is appropriate for the areas selected for settlement despite the sagas implying it was an act of propaganda. They provide a striking, verdant contrast to the otherwise barren landscape.
• According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Erik was accompanied by 35 ships. The Book of Settlements indicates 25 ships; however, both sources concur that only 14 vessels arrived at their intended destinations. The remaining vessels were either destroyed or driven back to Iceland by storms. This occurred in either 984 or 985 CE, as the sources indicate that the voyage occurred 14 or 15 winters prior to Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, which is believed to have occurred in 999 or 1000. Archaeological evidence has since verified that Norse people did, in fact, establish a settlement in southern Greenland during this period. 
• The Saga of the Greenlanders contains nine settlers’ names and the territories Erik granted them. Their families and employees are seldom acknowledged. It is believed that the original saga was composed in the 13th century. Two manuscripts, Hauksbók (14th century) and Skálholtsbók (15th century), preserve it in slightly differing versions. Despite its title, the saga primarily chronicles the life and expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his wife Gudrid, which are also detailed in the Saga of the Greenlanders.
• Erik significantly elevated his status by making himself the paramount chief of Greenland. According to The Saga of Erik the Red, he was held in the highest esteem, and everyone referred to his authority. According to certain sources, Leif, Erik’s son, is believed to have introduced Christianity to Greenland around the year 1000. Thjodhild is reported to have embraced the new faith and constructed a modest church in Brattahlid despite Erik’s strong opposition. Erik maintained that the priest who was brought to the colony was a swindler and that his son Leif had committed a negative deed by inviting him, which counterbalanced his positive deed of saving a shipwrecked crew from death, as stated in The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason. 
• The Saga of Erik the Red and The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason both assert that Erik was reluctant to convert to Christianity, even though The Saga of the Greenlanders states that Erik never converted to Christianity. The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason also states that Erik was baptised alongside all other Greenlanders on Leif’s advice. The claim that Christianity reached Greenland prior to 1015 has been vigorously contested; however, no pagan burials have been discovered in the region. Furthermore, archaeological evidence from the initial settlement suggests that there was a cemetery near a small Christian church at Brattahlid, where individuals may have been interred beginning in the 990s.