Thorstein Eiriksson ( ) was the third and youngest son of

Erik the Red Erik Thorvaldsson (), known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first European settlement in Greenland. Erik most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color o ...

. Almost nothing is known about Thorstein's life. According to the Vinland Sagas, Erik the Red settled in Greenland around 986 with his wife and three grown sons, Leif,

Thorvald Thorvald is from the ''Old Norse'' name ''Þórvaldr'', which means "Thor's ruler". Despite this pagan origin, the name survived the conversion of Scandinavians to Christianity and remains popular up to the present. Thorvald may refer to: * Thorv ...

and Thorstein.Seaver (2000) After Leif had sailed west from Greenland and discovered

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland () was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. The name appears in the V ...

, Thorvald organized and led a second expedition to this new country. The natives, called Skraelings by the Norse, attacked Thorvald and his men. Thorvald received a fatal wound and was buried in Vinland. His crew returned to Greenland.Horsford (1892) Thorstein subsequently set sail for Vinland to retrieve his brother's body, along with his wife Gudrid. The ship was beset by bad weather and never reached Vinland. By the first week of winter they had returned to Greenland and landed at Lysufiord in the Western Settlement where they sought shelter with the families living there. That winter an epidemic swept the settlement killing Thorstein and several others.

Notes

References

* * * * *

Thorstein Eiriksson Thorstein Eiriksson ( ) was the third and youngest son of Erik the Red. Almost nothing is known about Thorstein's life. According to the Vinland Sagas, Erik the Red settled in Greenland around 986 with his wife and three grown sons, Leif, Tho ...

History of Greenland {{Iceland-bio-stub