Explorations
Image size 51 cm x 45 cm/ 20 inches x 17 3/4 inches
NOK: 3 000,-
Against this background, the story of Eirik the Red emerges from the chilly landscape of Iceland. He came to Iceland with his father, Thorvald,
due to a killing perpetrated in his hometown of Jæren in south-west Norway. Iceland
had been discovered in the first half of the 9th century and a stream of emigrants had made the way to it for a new life,
though by about 930 AD the period of colonization had almost abated.
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Heritage
Image size 54 cm x 41 cm/ 21 inches x 16 inches
NOK: 3 000,-
These settlers brought with them a heritage of communal law and justice that had been used in their own
small villages in Norway and Denmark - the type of law which had been easily transplanted in England. Eirik was an outstanding leader, but a rebel too. Like his father, he soon found
himself an outlaw in Iceland. The Icelandic Thorsnes court banished him for three years from the country for a murder he
allegedly committed - Eirik took to sail and left to serve his punishment.
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Eirik leaves for Greenland
Image size 52 cm x 43 cm/ 20 1/2 inches x 17 inches
NOK: 3 800,-
Turning adversity to advantage, Eirik sailed westwards in search of a land that he'd heard of from other
sources. He found Greenland; reaching it at a place he called Midjokul. He then sailed southwards along the coast to find out if the
country was habitable. For three years he explored the coastline; giving names to each place he surveyed and visited.
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Greenland Calls
Image size 41,6 cm x 64,5 cm/ 16 inches x 25 1/2
inches
NOK: 3 000,-
The following summer of his third year - having served his period of exile - Eirik returned to Iceland,
bringing with him news of a land worth settling in. He called this new discovery Greenland, saying that by giving it a good name people would want to live there. After wintering
in Iceland, 25 ships in 985 AD set sail to Greenland packed with people hoping for a new life under Eirik’s
leadership. Only 14 ships made it, the rest being wrecked or turning back in bad weather. But Eirik established a farm at Brattahlid,
where he remained for the rest of his life.
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