Erik The Red Trivia Quiz

Answer: Erik Thorvaldsson

As the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, Erik's name would be Erik Thorvaldsson. Erik was descended from the line of Viking explorers who discovered Iceland. His great-great grandfather, Oxen-Thorir, was the brother of Naddodd, who it is said, discovered Iceland while traveling from Norway on his way home to the Faroe Islands. He named the land Snowland, but the island came to be known as
Iceland.

(Note that the armor shown in the picture is of a much later period).

Answer: His hair was red.

Sources agree that Erik had red hair and a red beard, however, some also suggest that his nickname had to do with his "fiery temper". In truth, very little is known about Erik's disposition. While he was exiled from his home for the crime of manslaughter, it appears to be a rather common occurrence in Viking communities.

Answer: Norway

Erik was born in Rogaland, in the western part of Norway. Evidence has been found that suggests that people had been living there much earlier than Viking times. Archeological finds dating to the Stone Age include a skeleton of a boy.

Answer: Iceland

The family moved to Hornstrandir in northwestern Iceland, where Erik married and began to raise a family. He and his wife, Tjodhilde, had four children, including the famous Leif. This is a replica of the longhouse where the family lived near Eiríksstaðir.

Answer: Ornamental house beams he had inherited.

The saga is a bit unclear, however, Erik apparently inherited some ornamental house beams from his father, who brought them from Norway. Erik left the beams in the safekeeping of a friend, but when he tried to retrieve the beams, they were unavailable. Several men were killed when Erik tried to seize the beams. Erik had already been in trouble in Hawksdale, where he lived after he was married, and that had led to the family moving again. For his part in the dispute over the setstokkr, Erik was banished from Iceland for three years.

Answer: False

Although Erik established the first permanent European colony on Greenland, he was not the first to discover the island. Gunnbjörn Ulfsson is given credit for being the first to sight Greenland, and at least one other attempt was made to colonize the island before Erik was successful.

Answer: He wanted to attract colonists.

The story is that the Vikings gave Iceland a nasty-sounding name to keep people away; Erik wanted people to settle with him in Greenland, so he made the name sound as appealing as possible. In reality, of course, Iceland should be Greenland, and Greenland should be Iceland!

Answer: Nuuk

Erik and his group of colonists made two settlements in Iceland - the Eastern Settlement and the Western Settlement. He lived in the Western Settlement, which is close to the current capital of Nuuk. Both of the settlements were located on the southern part of the island, and the only part where it was possible to farm.

There is evidence that each settlement also sent explorers to hunt in the Arctic Circle region.

Answer: 500

About the same time Columbus (pictured) was getting ready to sail west to reach the east, the Viking colonies were abandoned. There are many probable reasons to explain this: shortly after the founding a group of new immigrants is believed to have brought the plague with them to the colony.

Although many died, the colonies were inhabited until cold weather, pirate raids, and conflicts with the natives brought an end to the settlements in Greenland at the end of the 15th century.

Answer: False

The Erik saga says that Leif was planning to take his dad exploring with him, however, Erik fell off his horse on the way to the ship, and this was taken as a bad sign. He stayed at home, and died shortly after, probably of the plague that was brought by the new settlers around 1002.