Paramount chieftain
Template:Short description Template:DistinguishThe rulers of the ancient Norse settlements in Greenland were called paramount chieftains.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="The Canadian Encyclopedia 2018">Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Leif Ericson, son of Erik the Red, beginning about 1000, after his father's death.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</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" />