Auður the deep minded ?

This picture brings thoughts back to the women of the  icelandic Sagas. The  Independent and deep minded women of the North.  One of them was Auður, a queen that settled in the west of Iceland.

Auður the deep minded was married to the warrior king  "Olafur Hvíti "  conquering the shire of Dublin.  Olafur was killed in a battle in Ireland. Auður had a son, Thorstein "the red" whom conquered the half of Scotland but was betrayed and killed.  After learning of the death of her son, Audur commissioned a Knarr, a  ship  built for Atlantic voyages, her ship was built secretly in the forest. After its completion, Audur sailed for the Orkneys where she married off her granddaughter Groa, the daughter of Thorstein "the red",  then Audur sailed for Iceland.

On her ship were twenty men, which were under her command, proving that she was respected, capable, independent and strong-willed. In addition to the crew, there were other men on her ship, prisoners from Viking raids near and around the British Isles. Audur gave these men their freedom once they were in Iceland.  She also gave them land to farm on and upon which they could make a living.   Audur was a baptized and devout Christian, and is credited with bringing Christianity to Iceland.  Auður herself, settled in the Dalir in west Iceland, her farm named Hvammur. 

Hvammur was the birthplace of Snorri Sturlusson in 1179. Snorri beeing the youngest son of "Hvamms" Sturla  ( b.1116) and Guðný Böðvarsdóttir ( b. 1148).  Dalir, and Hvammur,  is a place worth visiting, dramatic history behind every hill.  

Auður appears  in several icelandic Sagas; Landnámabók, Njáls saga, Laxdæla saga, Eyrbyggja saga, Eiríks saga rauða and Grettis saga.

Picture:  Kristín Jónsdóttir  www.kristinjons.com