Short answers, pulled from the story.
Erik the Red, born Erik Thorvaldsson around 950 CE in Rogaland, Norway, was a Norse explorer credited with founding the first successful European settlement in Greenland. He established the colony around 985 after being exiled from Iceland for three years, and held the title of paramount chieftain of Greenland until his death around 1003 CE.
Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for three years around 982 after a series of violent feuds. The dispute that sealed his banishment involved the killing of Eyjolf the Foul and Hrafn the Dueller, followed by a fight with a man named Thorgest in which Erik killed two of Thorgest's sons. The Thorsnes Thing, a legal assembly, outlawed him from Iceland.
Erik the Red deliberately named the island Greenland to attract settlers, reasoning in his own words that people would be more willing to go there if it had a favorable name. He chose the name after exploring the island's western coast during his three years of exile and finding ice-free stretches with conditions similar to Iceland.
Erik the Red departed Iceland for Greenland in 985 with a fleet of 25 ships. Only 14 arrived. Some ships turned back, and others were likely lost at sea. The survivors established two colonies on the southwest coast: the Eastern Settlement near present-day Qaqortoq and the Western Settlement near present-day Nuuk.
Erik the Red died around 1003 CE during a winter epidemic that struck the Greenland colony. A group of immigrants who arrived in 1002 brought the disease with them, killing many of the settlement's leading citizens. Erik died in the winter following his son Leif Erikson's departure for Vinland.
No. The Icelandic sagas credit Gunnbjörn Ulfsson with the first sighting of Greenland, roughly a century before Erik, after strong winds accidentally drove him toward islands between Iceland and Greenland. An outlaw named Snæbjörn galti also attempted to settle Greenland about eighty years before Erik, but that expedition failed. Erik is credited as the first successful permanent settler.