How long has Greenland been known? Lydia (7)

We know people have lived on Greenland for at least 4,500 years but it was probably known about long before that. The first Greenlanders were Arctic peoples from the land we now call Canada. But they probably would not have lived there all of the time. It is a very cold place, and there were probably times when it was too cold even for Arctic people. We do know that in 986 a Viking called Eric the Red led a group of Vikings from Iceland to live in Greenland. This seems a bit mean, telling his followers that they were going to a ‘Green Land’ when a lot of it is covered in snow and ice! In the end the Vikings abandoned Greenland after having lived there for about 500 years.