Flaming red hair gave the Viking Eric Thorvaldson his well-known nickname.

Eric (or Erik) was a Norwegian-born mariner, who became the first European to explore Greenland, though it seems other Norsemen had been there before him. He named it Greenland to indicate that it was more visually appealing that Iceland.

Eric was escaping murder charges in Iceland, where his family had settled. Eric’s father had been exiled from Norway for similar crimes. Now Eric persuaded his relatives to move again and travel with him to form a colony on Greenland.

Several shiploads arrived in the new land in 985. They formed settlements on the southwest coast, as the east coast was covered in ice. Eric was the paramount chief and the settlements flourished

Eric’s son Leif Ericson (or Eriksson) is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to reach Vinland, (North America), 500 years before Colombus. He named the area Vinland or Wineland after the many grapes he saw growing as he sailed along the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland.