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Concept
Saga of Erik the Red
Summary
The Saga of Erik the Red, in Eiríks saga rauða (), is an Icelandic saga on the Norse exploration of North America. The original saga is thought to have been written in the 13th century. It is preserved in somewhat different versions in two manuscripts: Hauksbók (14th century) and Skálholtsbók (15th century).
Despite its title, the saga mainly chronicles the life and expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his wife Gudrid, also recounted in the Saga of the Greenlanders. For this reason it was formerly also called Þorfinns saga karlsefnis; Árni Magnússon wrote that title in the blank space at the top of the saga in Hauksbók. It also details the events that led to the banishment of Erik the Red to Greenland and the preaching of Christianity by his son Leif Erikson as well as his discovery of Vinland after his longship was blown off course.
The Viking conqueror of Dublin, Olaf the White was married to Aud the Deep-Minded, who became a Christian. Following Olaf's death in battle, she and their son Thorstein the Red left Ireland for the Hebrides, where Thorstein became a great warrior king. Upon his death, she sailed to Orkney, where she married off Thorstein's daughter, Groa, and then to Iceland, where she had relatives and gave extensive land grants to those in her party.
Erik the Red's thralls start a landslide that destroys a farm, leading to a feud that results in Erik's banishment first from the district and then from Iceland; he sails in search of land that had been reported to lie to the north, and explores and names Greenland, choosing an attractive name to encourage colonists. Where he settles becomes known as Eiriksfjord.
Thorbjorn, a son of a well-born thrall who had accompanied Aud the Deep-Minded and been given land by her, has a daughter named Gudrid. One autumn, he proudly rejects a marriage proposal for her from Einar, a wealthy merchant who is also the son of a freedman. However, he is in financial difficulties; the following spring he announces he will leave Iceland and go to Greenland.
Official source
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