Erik the Red was born in Stavanger, Norway. His father, Thorvald Asvaldsson, murdered a man, so the family was exiled to Iceland. Erik also got into some trouble in Iceland, and was exiled in 982. Erik had heard of the travels of Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, who discovered some islands west of Iceland. Erik decided to explore these islands, and found land at a place he named Midjökull. But the weather there was very harsh, so Erik left and continued south, reaching land again at an island he named Erik’s Island. Erik spent his winter, as well as the following one, at Erik’s Island. Erik was no longer exiled from Iceland, so he returned the summer of 985. But when the fights with his neighbors began again, Erik decided to start advertising his new found land. He called his land Greenland, to make it sound nicer than it actually was.