Erik the Red ( 950 â `` c. 1003 ) ( Old Norse : EirÃ kr rauÃ i ; ; ; ; ; ) founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland . Erik Thorvaldsson ( ; 950 â `` c. 1003 a. d ) , known as Erik the Red , is remembered in medieval Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland .