Erik the Red
Explorer and founder of the first viking settlement in Greenland
- Fame57.6
- Momentum0.2
- Norway rank#124
Source-basedStable
- Fame57.6
- Momentum0.2
- Norway rank#124
- Scientists rank#229
- Wikipedia33K
Lived 950–1003, aged 53Norway
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Summary
Updated 2026-06-21
A Norse explorer exiled twice — first from Norway as a child, then from Iceland as an adult — who turned the second banishment into a colonization opportunity, naming a frozen island "Greenland" and selling it to settlers who followed him west.
Biography
About
Born around 950 in Rogaland, Norway, Erik Thorvaldsson sailed to Iceland as a boy when his father was banished. He married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir there and raised four children, including Leif Erikson. Around 982, Erik himself was exiled from Iceland for three years. He spent that sentence exploring the land to the west, charting fjords and coastline. When the exile lifted, he returned with stories and a plan, calling the new territory Greenland to attract colonists. The first European settlement took root under his lead. He died there around 1003 during a winter epidemic, never seeing Norway…
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Fame
Stable57.6
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum0.2
Historical23.2
Now attention11.6
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
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Sources
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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