Flourished Tenth Century
Viking Explorer

Early Life and Exile. Erik Thorvaldson, or Erik the Red, son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, was born into a prominent Norwegian family sometime in the tenth century. When his father was exiled on account of manslaughter, his family moved to Iceland, which had been explored and settled by Vikings around 874. After his father's death, Erik married and moved southward to land owned by his new bride's family in Haukadale. There he prospered, until a violent feud with a neighbor resulted in his own exile from his house and lands. Erik moved once again, but in a little time a new feud arose with a man named Thorgest. True to the epithet he had earned in his youth, the red-haired Erik proved himself to be of a fiery temperament: two of Thorgest's sons were killed, and Erik was banished from Iceland for...