Medieval Icelandic tradition relates that Erik the Red and his wife Þjóðhildr (Thjodhildr) had four children: a daughter, Freydís, and three sons, the Explorer Leif Eiríksson, Þorvaldr (Thorvald) and Þorsteinn (Thorstein). Erik himself remained a follower of Norse paganism, unlike his son Leif and Leif's wife, who became Christians. After being baptized by king Olaf Tryggvason, Leif brought the message of Christianity to Greenland, becoming something of an evangelist. While his wife took heartily to the religion, even commissioning Greenland's first church, Erik greatly disliked the faith and stuck to his Norse Gods – which, the sagas relate, led Thjodhild to withhold intercourse from her husband. Thjothhild was the daughter of Jørundur Ulfsson and Thorbjørg Gilsdottir (from whom Gilsfjørd is named). Jørund's mother Bjørg was granddaughter to Irish king Cerball mac Dúnlainge (Kjarval) through his daughter Rafarta.

In this context, about 982, Erik sailed to a somewhat mysterious and little-known land. He rounded the southern tip of the island (later known as Cape Farewell) and sailed up the western coast. He eventually reached a part of the coast that, for the most part, seemed ice-free and consequently had conditions—similar to those of Iceland—that promised growth and Future prosperity. According to the Saga of Erik the Red, he spent his three years of exile exploring this land. The first winter he spent on the island of Eiriksey, the second winter he passed in Eiriksholmar (close to Hvarfsgnipa). In the final summer he explored as far north as Snaefell and into Hrafnsfjord.