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Authors: Graeme Davis
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many Icelandic genealogies that he is in effect the progenitor of the Icelandic nation. It is probable that all Icelanders today are his descendants. His house in west Iceland has been painstakingly excavated, and a faithful replica built close by. To many in Iceland and beyond, Eirik is simply the archetypal Viking, a figure of his age. 14 However we wish to judge his murderous career, he was a remarkable character. Following the sentence of outlawry passed in 982, Eirik and a tiny band of followers took refuge over winter on an islet in Breithafjordur, a tiny scrap of land. They were literally in hiding, as men with a price on their heads who could be killed by any bounty hunter. Return to Norway was not possible for Eirik as he was an outlaw there, too, while even the stepping-stone islands of Faroe, Shetland and Orkney were effectively closed, as the local chiefs would not have been willing to risk the displeasure of both Norway and Iceland to shelter a man twice outlawed. Dublin would have been a possible destination, but also a high-risk strategy. When it suited the Vikings in Dublin so to do they acknowledged the overlordship of the king of Norway, and delivering Eirik to him â or making him a slave â would have been tempting to them. The winter of 982â83 therefore finds Eirik and his band in hiding and with nowhere to go. The islet they chose reflects their fear and desperation, for it has a deep bay with its entrance obscured from open water by another islet, providing a genuine place of concealment. Presumably the men subsisted on whatever winter stores they had been able to steal, and the marine life of Breithafjordur.
From Breithafjordur it is a short crossing to Greenland. Rather than emulate Snaebjorn in settling on the coast opposite Iceland, Eirik instead explored the coast to the south, rounded Cape Farewell, and realised that the lands on the west coast of Greenland were suitable for both sheep grazing and for agriculture. Eirik and his band staked out land-holdings for themselves, with Eirik himself settling at Brattahlith at the head of Eirikâs Fjord.
In 986 Eirik returned to Iceland with a view to finding settlers to establish a Greenland colony. Though still a man with a price on his head, it seems that the passage of a few years and the good news he brought of available land made his visit possible. In seeking colonists, he found he was pushing at an open door. After a century of Viking settlement, Iceland was effectively full. The land-hunger that had pushed the Vikings west from Norwayhad caught up with them in Iceland, and stories of vacant land to the west were attractive. It was Eirik who christened this new land Greenland. He is credited with saying that he thought people were more likely to come if it had an attractive name, in contrast with Iceland, which he said many early settlers had found an unattractive name. Many modern writers have seized on this to suggest that Eirik was fibbing, and that the name was no more than a scam. Clearly these writers have not been to Greenland. The summer pastures of Greenland have an unrivalled vitality in their brilliant green, unequalled anywhere else. Greenland is certainly an attractive name; it is also an accurate name.
In Iceland, Eirik found enough colonists to fill 25 ships â a number reported as little less than 1,000 people. In 986 they set out from Iceland as pioneers bound for a fertile land where they could carve out farms for themselves.
Of the 25 ships that set out, 11 sank en route without survivors. There can hardly be a better demonstration of the dangers of the Denmark Strait. Doubtless the ships were overloaded, both with people and the materials they needed to start their new homes. Perhaps there was particularly bad weather. Yet even considering these factors, Viking ships were sea-worthy, Viking mariners aware of what they could reasonably carry, and losses at this terrible level â perhaps 400 deaths
From Breithafjordur it is a short crossing to Greenland. Rather than emulate Snaebjorn in settling on the coast opposite Iceland, Eirik instead explored the coast to the south, rounded Cape Farewell, and realised that the lands on the west coast of Greenland were suitable for both sheep grazing and for agriculture. Eirik and his band staked out land-holdings for themselves, with Eirik himself settling at Brattahlith at the head of Eirikâs Fjord.
In 986 Eirik returned to Iceland with a view to finding settlers to establish a Greenland colony. Though still a man with a price on his head, it seems that the passage of a few years and the good news he brought of available land made his visit possible. In seeking colonists, he found he was pushing at an open door. After a century of Viking settlement, Iceland was effectively full. The land-hunger that had pushed the Vikings west from Norwayhad caught up with them in Iceland, and stories of vacant land to the west were attractive. It was Eirik who christened this new land Greenland. He is credited with saying that he thought people were more likely to come if it had an attractive name, in contrast with Iceland, which he said many early settlers had found an unattractive name. Many modern writers have seized on this to suggest that Eirik was fibbing, and that the name was no more than a scam. Clearly these writers have not been to Greenland. The summer pastures of Greenland have an unrivalled vitality in their brilliant green, unequalled anywhere else. Greenland is certainly an attractive name; it is also an accurate name.
In Iceland, Eirik found enough colonists to fill 25 ships â a number reported as little less than 1,000 people. In 986 they set out from Iceland as pioneers bound for a fertile land where they could carve out farms for themselves.
Of the 25 ships that set out, 11 sank en route without survivors. There can hardly be a better demonstration of the dangers of the Denmark Strait. Doubtless the ships were overloaded, both with people and the materials they needed to start their new homes. Perhaps there was particularly bad weather. Yet even considering these factors, Viking ships were sea-worthy, Viking mariners aware of what they could reasonably carry, and losses at this terrible level â perhaps 400 deaths
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