Erik the Red

First one in the list of the most famous Vikings of all time is Erik the Red. Erik the Red, often known as Erik the Great, is a character who more than most personifies the ferocious reputation of the Vikings. Due to the color of his hair, Erik was given the nickname Erik the Red. Erik eventually founded Greenland, but only after being expelled from Iceland for killing several men. Erik's father, Thorvald Asvaldsson, had been banished from his native Norway for manslaughter, thus it was evident that violence and exile ran in the family. Erik (actual name Erik Thorvaldsson) earned the nickname "Erik" due to his aggressive personality and long, wavy red hair. He was credited with founding the first settlement in Greenland according to historical and Icelandic saga traditions. He was born in the Jaeren neighborhood of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, according to Icelandic sagas. Leif Erikson, a well-known Icelandic explorer, was one of Erik's sons.

The Icelandic sagas claim that earlier Norsemen may have discovered and attempted to inhabit Greenland before Erik, despite the fact that popular history claims he was the first to do so. Tradition attributes the discovery of the land mass to Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, also known as Gunnbjörn Ulf-Krakuson. Strong winds had pushed Gunnbjörn toward the region he termed Gunnbjörn's skerries over a century before Erik. However, Gunnbjörn has received little attention in the history of Greenland because of the discovery's unintentional nature. Snaebjörn galti had also traveled to Greenland after Gunnbjörn. Galti was in charge of the first unsuccessful Norse attempt to colonize Greenland, according to historical records. Erik the Red, however, was the first permanent European occupant.