Editing Paramount chieftain (section)

{{Short description|Ancient Norse rulers of Greenland}}
{{distinguish|Paramount chief}}The rulers of the [[Norse settlements in Greenland|ancient Norse settlements in Greenland]] were called '''paramount chieftains'''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018">{{cite web |date=12 October 2018 |title=Leif Eriksson |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/leif-ericsson |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413193628/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/leif-ericsson |archive-date=13 April 2021 |access-date=6 March 2023 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref> The first chieftain was [[Erik the Red]], the founder of these settlements.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018" /> The seat of the chieftainship was [[Brattahlid]], his family estate.<ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018" /> 

Norse settlement of Greenland, and along with it the system of paramount chieftainship, began with Erik the Red in 985 or 986.<ref name=":0" /> The settlements were abandoned around the 1400s, after declining throughout the 1300s, for disputed reasons.<ref name=":0" />

The first three of the island nation's chieftains were:
*[[Erik the Red]], or Erik Thorvaldsson, the nation's first chieftain and its first settler, began rule in 985 or 986.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Milligan |first=Mark |date=2021-04-27 |title=The Vikings of Greenland |url=https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/04/the-vikings-of-greenland/138815 |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=HeritageDaily - Archaeology News |language=en-us}}</ref>
*[[Leif Ericson]], son of Erik the Red, beginning about 1000, after his father's death.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Groeneveld |first=Emma |title=Leif Erikson |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Leif_Erikson/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Thorkell Leifsson]] succeeded his father, Leif, by 1025.<ref name=":1" />
It is unknown whether Leiffson's descendants continued to be the paramount chiefs of Greenland, although it is known that the seat of the paramount chieftainship continued to be at Brattahlid.<ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018" />