Thorvald Eiriksson was the son of Erik the Red

Erik the Red

Erik Thorvaldsson , known as Erik the Red , is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, he therefore...

 and brother of Leif Erikson. According to the sagas

Sagàs

Sagàs is a small town and municipality located in Catalonia, in the comarca of Berguedà. It is located in the geographical area of the pre-Pyrenees.-Population:...

, he was part of an expedition for the exploration of Vinland

Vinland

Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...

.

He was an honorable man. As he was unloading his longboat, for no apparent reason, a "Uniped

Uniped

The term uniped refers to a person or creature with only one foot and one leg, as contrasted with a biped and a quadruped . Moving using only one leg is known as unipedal movement. There are no known animals which have naturally evolved with only one leg, although through accidents The term...

," as the saga calls it, ran up to Thorvald and shot him in the belly with a bow and arrow, a wound which had led to his death. His last words were said to have been, "This is a rich country we have found; there is plenty of fat around my belly. We've found a land of fine resources, though we'll hardly enjoy most of them." Thorsteinn Eiriksson was also said to be Thorvald's brother.