In real life, Leif Eriksson is chiefly credited in history for being the first Viking to discover North America. Likewise, his father Erik is remembered for being the first Viking to discover Greenland. All the way until his death, Erik the Red developed colonies in Greenland. Valhalla keeps Erik the Red's Greenland discovery relatively accurate, as this is the land where Leif and his sister Freydis (Frida Gustavsson) call home and travel from to the Danish settlement Kattegat.
Named for the color of his hair, Erik the Red was really Erik Thorvaldsson and was born in Norway in 950 AD. His family moved to Iceland when he was a child after his father Thorvald Asvaldson was exiled from Norway for manslaughter. Just as Valhalla mentions, Erik himself was exiled for manslaughter, which led to the discovery of Greenland. In real life, Erik the Red then went back to Iceland and told settlers about his new land after the end of his three-year exile.