Erik the Red is credited with the discovery of Greenland; he ushered in the country’s Viking era. According to sagas, Erik the Red migrated to Iceland in 960 AD. His father, Porvaldr Asvaldsson, was exiled from Norway for instigating crimes. Porvaldr took his entire family to Iceland, and settled there.
From the top of the mountains of western Iceland, another island that lay to the west was clearly visible. It lay across 289.6 kilometres of water. When Eric was exiled for three years as a punishment, he sailed west to that scenic island, and spent three years there.
After he returned to Iceland, Erik exaggerated the merits of the island he had explored. He deliberately named the island ‘Greenland’, to make it sound green and fertile.
Erik the Red was a born leader. He went on another voyage to Greenland later, leading a fleet of 25 long-ships. On board were around 500 men and women, domestic animals, and all the other elements required to create a new existence in a new place.