Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland in 982 for killing two men. He spent his three-year exile exploring the next island west, then returned and led settlers there. His naming choice for the new territory — *Grœnland*, 'Greenland' — was?
The Icelandic sagas record his explicit reasoning: 'He gave it that name because, he said, men would be more inclined to go there if it had a favourable name.' It is the earliest documented case of deliberate real-estate marketing in European history. The naming worked: approximately 700 Icelanders sailed in 25 ships in 986. Only 14 ships arrived (a storm in the Denmark Strait sank or turned back the rest), but the Eastern Settlement at Brattahlíð that Erik founded became home to a Norse colony that survived for nearly 470 years.
Read the full story →Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland in 982 for killing two men. He spent three years exploring the next island to the west. He returned, organised a settler expedition of 25 ships, and gave the new territory the most successful real-estate name in medieval European history.
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