Thorvald Asvaldsson

Thorvald Ásvaldsson (Old Norse: Þórvaldr Ásvaldsson) was the father of the colonizer of Greenland, Erik the Red, and grandfather of Leif Erikson, who visited North America centuries before Christopher Columbus. Thorvald's father was Ásvald Ulfsson, whose father was Ulf Oxen-Thorisson, whose father was Oxen-Thorir, brother of Naddodd, discoverer of Iceland.

Thorvald Ásvaldsson was born in Norway. He was exiled from Norway in c. 960, during the reign of King Haakon the Good (son of Harald Finehair), “because of some killings.” He left with his son Erik to northwest Iceland, where he died before 980. According to the "Grænlendinga Saga," “There was a man called Thorvald, who was the father of Eirik the Red. He and Eirik left their home in Jaederen, in Norway, because of some killings and went to Iceland, which had been extensively settled by then;”