Erik the Red

Explorer and founder of the first viking settlement in Greenland

  • Fame57.6
  • Momentum0.2
  • Norway rank#168
Source-basedStable
  • Fame57.6
  • Momentum0.2
  • Norway rank#168
  • Wikipedia33K
Lived 950–1003, aged 53Norway
  • Wikipedia
    64 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Rank in Norway
    #168
    Historical Figures
  • Era
    950–1003
    Aged 53
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…

Deep cuts

Era & geography

No era information yet.
Deep cuts

Legacy

No legacy summary indexed yet.
Where to find them

Platforms

No platforms connected yet.

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
57.6
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum0.2
Historical23.2
Now attention11.1
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
Global rank
Country rank
#168
Category rank
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence