The Far Traveler - The voyages of a Viking Woman

I am a great fan of Nancy Marie Browns books. She has written a very good book about my employe, Snorri Sturlusson, and another  one of my favorite books, the story of Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir. The book can be purchased here in the Snorrastofa Bookstore, and in the US at www.harcourtbooks.com  

"Five hundred years before Columbus, a Viking Woman named Guðríður sailed off the edge of the known world.  She landed in the New World and lived there for three years, giving birth to a son before sailing home.  Or so the Icelandic sagas say. Even after archeologist found a Viking longhouse in Newfondland, no one belived that the detalis of Gudrids story were true.  Then, in 2001, a team of scientists discovered what may have been this pioneering woman's last house, buried under a hay field in Iceland, just where the sagas suggested it could be.

 Joining scientists experimenting with cutting-edge technology and the latest archeological techniques, and tracing Gudrids steps on land and in the Sagas, Nancy Marie Brown reconstructs a life that spanned - and expanded - the bounds of the then-known world. She also sheds new light on the society that gave rise to a woman even more extraordinary than legend has painted her and illuminaters the reasons for its collapse."   This amazing woman, Gudríður Þorbjarnardóttir, was born in Snæfellsnes in west Iceland.  When she was around 15 years old, her father and her emigratet to Greenland, to her fathers good friend Eiríkur The Red.  There Guðríður married the younger brother of Leifur Eiríksson, Þorsteinn.  The young couple decided to sail in the trail of Leifur and try to find Vinland, but they got some very bad weather, ships went down and Þorsteinn drowned.   Guðríður managed to get back to her father inlaw Eiríkur, and along came another young man from Iceland, Þorfinnur Karlsefni.  They married, and the rest of the story you have to read in the book!   But this amazing woman travelled around the known and unknown world, she did not only sail to America, but later in life she went on a journey to Rome.    Thanks to Nancy for writing this book, I can really recomend it.  

The Snorrastofa guest reception is now open all days from 10 to 18 hours.  You are welcome, also just to visit our shop which has a good selection of  books.