Why is it called Greenland?

The name Greenland comes from Scandinavian settlers. In the Norse sagas, it is said that Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He, along with his extended family and thralls (slaves), set out in ships to find the land that was rumored to be to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grønland ("Greenland"), possibly in order to attract more people to settle there. Greenland was also called Gruntland ("Ground-land") on early maps. Whether Green is an erroneous transcription of Grunt ("Ground"), which refers to shallow bays, or vice versa, is not known. It should also be noted, however, that the southern portion of Greenland (not covered by glacier) is indeed very green, at least in summer.

2006-09-21 09:34:17 · answer #1 · answered by jack_daniels 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋

Why Is Greenland Named Greenland

2016-12-30 07:01:47 · answer #2 · answered by rosse 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋

Why Is Greenland Called Greenland

2016-10-01 08:46:38 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋

It was a real estate scam essentially. It was discovered by Eric the Red and in order to get people to colonize it they named it Greenland. I think most people figured it out once they got there. Then oddly enough the found another Island and called it Iceland which is not really bad at all.

I don't think anyone wants to live in Greenland. I live in Denmark and there are tons of Greenlanders here.

2006-09-21 09:36:14 · answer #4 · answered by Constant_Traveler 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋

Apparently, Greenland was named that by Eric the Red in the hopes that it would sound appealing to settlers when he was trying to colonize the area. Apparently, though, the Southern portion does get green in the summer. Iceland has a lot of glaciers and glacial rivers, so while it may not be made completely of ice, it does have plenty of it. I've often heard it said that Iceland is green and Greenland is made of ice. I can't speak for Greenland, but I've been to Iceland, and it wasn't particularly green!

2016-03-13 12:11:53 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋

Historically, Greenland and Iceland were territories wanted by the Vikings when they were in their rape/pillage mode. However, Iceland is actually green , and Greenland is actually Icy. What they did was change the names around so the Vikings landed on Greenland thinking it was gonna be all green and lush but they ended up with ice!

2006-09-21 09:35:15 · answer #6 · answered by kowfeef 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋

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RE:
Why is it called Greenland?

2015-08-10 03:16:07 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋

Timmo, they say it was a Viking who named it Greenland. Usually Leif Ericson gets the blame...or distiction. He wanted to encourage settlement there by other people so he gave it an attractive name. It may also have been that he was there in Summer and it didn't seem so bad. Slan

2006-09-21 09:41:05 · answer #8 · answered by An Bla 1 · 4⤊ 0⤋

It was named by someone who predicted global warming long before it was considered newsworthy

2006-09-21 09:48:42 · answer #9 · answered by Sonny Walkman 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋

Becasue Iceland was already taken.......

2006-09-21 09:33:21 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 5⤋

Why is it called Greenland?

10 answers