Freydís Eiríksdóttir

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Freydís Eiríksdóttir was the daughter of Erik the Red and half-sister of Leif Eriksson . She lived around 1000 AD. No further details of her life are known.

According to tradition, she first lived in Greenland with her husband Þorvarðr and then was a member of the expedition of Þorfinnr Karlsefni Þordarson , who after the discovery of Vinland tried to establish the first European colony in North America . A year after this expedition, she went on her own trip to Vinland. She invited the Icelanders Helgi and Finnbogi to accompany her on their ships. In Vinland she terminated the cooperation. Helgi and Finnbogi built their own settlements. After visiting Helgi and Finnbogi, she told her husband that she had been raped in the other camp and asked him to avenge this. Þorvarðr moved with his men to the camp of Helgi and Finnbogr and killed the men. Five women survived. Freydís was not yet satisfied and murdered the women himself with her battle ax. Then she returned with Þorvarðr to Greenland, where they were expelled because of their deeds in Vinland.

Another act reported by her is that she led a counterattack against the natives in Vinland and thus became the savior of her people. She took the sword of a fallen man, tore her shirt open, and struck her bare breasts with the sword. The natives are said to have fled in horror.

The 12th chapter of the Erik saga states that the men of the expedition were on the - extremely disorderly to panic - retreat:

[...] because it seemed as if hordes of Skrälingers were harassing them from all sides. And they didn't stop until they got to a safe rock wall. This promised to be able to offer them rear protection (so that they could not be circled).

Freydís came out and saw them back away. She cried: “Why do you run away from such worthless creatures, you are seasoned men; although, it seems to me, you could slaughter them, as you have done many times with the cattle. Give me a gun I think I could fight better than any of you. ”However, they ignored what she was saying. Freydís tried to join them, but she lagged behind because she was not physically in good shape. She went into the wood after them; and the Skrälingers concentrated on them in their pursuit. She passed a dead man; Þorbrandr Snorrason; a flat stone had entered his head; his sword was with him; so she took it and prepared to defend herself with it.

Then the Skrälinger came up to them. She dropped her shirt and rubbed her breasts with her bare sword. This gave them a fright, ran to their boats and fled away. Karlsefni and the rest came to her and praised her for her fanatical work ("zeal").

Footnotes

  1. ↑ [1] Chapter 12, end of the 2nd paragraph of the Erik saga; English translation after John Sephton: Eirik the Red's Saga: A translation. Marples, Liverpool 1880.
  2. ↑ [2] Chapter 12, 3rd paragraph of the Erik saga; Translated from the English translation by J. Sephton, 1880
  3. ↑ [3] Chapter 12, beginning of the 4th paragraph of the Erik saga; Translated from the English translation by J. Sephton, 1880
  4. ↑ Farley Mowat, West Viking: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America (1965) ISBN 978-0771066924

literature

  • Knut Lindh: Vikings. The explorers of America . Piper, Munich 2002, ISBN 3492043690
  • Lutz Mohr , Robert Liese: Vikings between Pomerania and the Arctic Circle. Sagas or truth . Horn-Bad Meinberg: Leo Verlag Robert Liese 1997, 2 arr. 2000 edition, chapter: Freydis - Eriks des Roten Daughter , pp. 121–126. ISBN 3-9805594-0-8
  • THULE, Old Norse Poetry and Prose. Volume XIII: Greenlanders and Faroese Stories . Ed. And trans. by Felix Niedner . New edition with afterword by Siegfried Beyschlag . Düsseldorf-Cologne: Eugen Diederichs Verlag 1965

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Freydís Eiríksdóttir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Daughter of Erik the Red and half sister of Leif Eriksson
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century or 11th century
DATE OF DEATH 10th century or 11th century