Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir

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A cast of a statue of Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir and her son made by Ásmundur Sveinsson in Laugarbrekka , Iceland

Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir - German: Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir - (* in Laugarbrekka on Snæfellsnes ) was an explorer who lived in Iceland around the year 1000 .

She may have been the first woman to give birth to a child of European descent in America (circa 1004) .

origin

Guðríðr was born in Laugarbrekka around 980 as the daughter of Þorbjǫrn Vífilsson , an Icelandic chief and pagan priest ( Gode ), and of Hallveig Einarsdóttir, a daughter of Einarr frá Laugabrekka . Her paternal grandfather was Vífill, an Englishman from a distinguished family who had come to Iceland as a slave with Auðr djúpúðga Ketilsdóttir before the year 900, but was released by Auðr and provided with land in Vífilsdalur.

Life

According to the saga of Erik the Red, Guðríðr was a beautiful and in every respect extraordinary woman who was also one of the first Christians in Iceland. After turning down a marriage proposal, she left Iceland with her father, who sold his land to join Erik the Red with 30 men in Greenland. This gave Þorbjǫrn land on Stokkanes , where he settled.

Guðríðr was married to Þórir, a Norwegian, who was shipwrecked on a reef off Greenland with his ship, on which Guðríðr and 13 men were crew . Leif Eriksson , who had just returned from his voyage of discovery from Vinland in North America, rescued the crew and took Guðríðr and her husband into his father's farm in Brattahlíð . Due to an epidemic, however, Þórir and a large part of his team died soon afterwards.

Guðríðr married his second marriage at Erik the Red's estate in Brattahlíð (now Qassiarsuk ) his son, Þorsteinn Eiríksson . In Greenland at that time there was great interest in the Vinland in Newfoundland in what is now Canada, recently discovered by Leif Erikson (around the year 1000) . Guðríðr's husband, Þorsteinn Eiríksson, wanted to take the opportunity to build a new life in Vinland. Guðríðr's father Þorbjǫrn Vífilsson made his ship available to him for this expedition, in which Guðríðr and 25 men also took part. However, the expedition was unsuccessful due to bad weather. Soon afterwards Þorsteinn died of an epidemic in Greenland, but before that he predicted a successful future for Guðríðr and a large number of offspring. She then moved to the court of her brother-in-law Leif Erikson in Brattahlíð.

In the same summer, a merchant ship came to Greenland from Norway, owned by an Icelandic chief from Reynines in Skagafjörður in northern Iceland , Thorfinn Karlsefni , whose line of ancestry after the saga of Erik the Red up to Björn Eisseite , the son of the legendary Danish and Swedish King Ragnar Lodbrok reaches back from the house of the Ynglingers . Thorfinn was taken in by Erik the Red in Brattahlíð over the winter and fell in love with his widowed daughter-in-law. Soon after, Guðríðr married Thorfinn Karlsefni, the third marriage. Thorfinn also wanted to visit the promising Vinland and organized an expedition with two ships and 160 people on board, including his wife Guðríðr and his brother-in-law Þorfinnr Eiríksson.

Guðríðr gave birth to their son Snorri Þorfinnsson in America . He is believed to be the first American-born European to leave a large number of offspring in Iceland. After three years the expedition returned to Greenland. Thorfinn traveled with Guðríðr and his son Snorri via Norway to Iceland and returned to his estate in Glaumbær near Skagafjörður.

After her son's marriage, Guðríðr went on a pilgrimage to Rome , where her son Snorri had a church built near the estate in Glaumbaer during her absence . After her return she became a nun and lived as a hermit .

Children and offspring

Guðríðr had the following offspring with Thorfinn Karlsefni:

  • Snorri Þorfinnsson from Glaumbær in Skagafjörður
    • Hallfríðr Snorradóttir
    • Þorgeirr Snorrason
    • Steinunnr Snorradóttir ∞ Einarr Ketilsson, son of Grundar-Ketill
      • Þorsteinn Einarsson ranglátr
        • Guðrún Þorsteinsdóttir ∞ Jorund Gunnarsson
  • Þorbjǫrn Þorfinnsson
    • Þórunn Þorbjarnardóttir

literature

  • Jón R. Hjálmarsson: The History of Iceland from Settlement to the Present. Reykjavík 1994. ISBN 9979-51-093-5
  • Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson: "The Vinland Sagas, The Norse Discovery of America" ​​Graenlendinga Saga and Eirik´s Saga, Penguin Classics, Middlesex, England, 1965
  • Farley Mowat, West Viking: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America (1965) ISBN 978-0771066924

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Guðriðarkirkja í Grafarhólti: nafngift http://gudridarkirkja.is/sokn/kirkjuhusid/ Accessed: May 25, 2010
  2. ↑ Árni D. Júlíusson, Jón Ólafur Ísberg (ed.): Íslands sagan í máli og myndum . Reykjavík (Mál og Menning) 2005, p. 24
  3. ↑ cf. Homepage of the Glaumbær museum courtyard: http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20070503000148/www.skagafjordur.is/displayer.asp?cat_id=1894 Access: May 25, 2010
  4. ↑ Árni D. Júlíusson, Jón Ólafur Ísberg (ed.): Íslands sagan í máli og myndum. Reykjavík (Mál og Menning) 2005, p. 24
Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .
personal data
SURNAME Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir (Icelandic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Explorer
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Laugarbrekka
DATE OF DEATH 11th century