It is not easy to read her name, especially if the original spelling is respected:Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir. But she is an interesting character for several reasons. First, the fact that she is a woman that the Viking sagas speak of without mythological implications. Second, having been the mother of what is supposed to be the first European born in America, Snorri Thorfinnsson, himself famous for his active role in the Christianization of Iceland.
The documentary sources to know this subject are the so-called Vinland Sagas. One is the Saga of Erik the Red , a 13th-century work that chronicles the journey of a group of Norwegian Vikings from Iceland to the west, with the discovery and colonization of Greenland first and Vinland later.
The protagonist of the first tour is the one who gives the work its name, Erik Thorvaldsson, alias el Rojo (although it is possible that other Norsemen arrived on the island before him, failing, however, to settle), while the second is his son Leif Eriksson (whose brother, Thorvald, founded the village of Leifsbúðir, which is identified with the archaeological site of L'Anse aux Meadows, in Newfoundland).
Another source is the Saga Grœnlendinga , written in the 14th century and better known as the Saga of the Greenlanders because its protagonists are the same as the previous one. But in reality it is not about the only characters and, in fact, to the Erik Saga the Red also called Saga by Thorfinn Karlsefni and Snorri Thorbrandsson , referring to two others who tried to stay in the new land, failing to go to war with the skraelingar (literally, skraeling means barbarian or savage) and having to leave the village. Nor should we forget Bjarni Herjólfsson, the man who had sighted Newfoundland, Labrador and Baffin Island, prompting Leif Eriksson to go in search of wood for Greenland.
In this context, let us place ourselves in Iceland in the 10th century; specifically, on a farm called Laugarbrekka that is on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, in the western part of the island, famous because the homonymous volcano is located there through which the protagonists of Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth enter . Now it is a National Park where mythology places two births:that of Bárður Snæfellsáss, hero of another saga (this one of a more fantastic nature because he is the son of a human and a troll), and that of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, as indicated by a sign to the entry, the latter around the year 980.
Gudrid's father was the local chieftain Thorbjorn, but it would not be in Laugarbrekka where the events unfolded but in a much larger and more distant island:Greenland. There they emigrated together with her husband, Thorir, on the journey made by Erik Thorvaldsson (the aforementioned Erik the Red , whose nickname perhaps came from the color of his hair) and about thirty other adventurers, half of whom died during the journey. It was not the case of Gudrid, her father and her husband, who managed to save themselves thanks to being rescued by Leif Eriksson on the high seas.
They landed at the colony of Brattahlíð, founded by the Red in the southwestern part, not far from Tunulliarfik Fjord, which protected it from strong ocean storms. Archaeological remains of that farm are still preserved, where, by the way, it is believed that the first Christian church in America was built.
The Christianization of Scandinavia began in the eighth century; in the case of Norway, during the reigns of Haakon the Good -who had been educated in England- and his successor Harald II, although there were ups and downs and other kings tried to return to paganism. Olaf I imposed the new faith with blood and fire, being during his mandate when the cross arrived in Greenland.
Precisely Gudrid personified an example of that difficult period of religious transition, just when she had just become a widow after Thorir died in the harsh winter. During a banquet, a völva (priestess, seer) called Þórbjörg lítilvölva (Thorbjörg the little völva ) she dressed in a picturesque way (black cloak, a black sheepskin hood, cat skin gloves, staff) she requested the collaboration of the women to sing together the varðlokur , some traditional songs with which the spirits that were part of the seidr were invoked , that is, Nordic sorcery of a shamanic nature.
It turned out that the only one who knew them was Gudrid, who had learned them as a child. But there was a problem:she professed Christianity, so she refused to participate. In the end they convinced her with the argument that the ritual would be beneficial for everyone and would not affect her beliefs. Thanks to the varðlokur , Thorbjörg was able to receive the influence of the spirits, see the future and prophesy that the arrival of spring would end the famine they suffered; and to Gudrid he augured a long and prosperous life.
Later, Gudrid married Thorstein Eriksson, the third son of Erik the Red. and Leif's younger brother, who planned to embark for Vinland in order to recover the lost body of the other brother, Thorvald, killed in the aforementioned confrontation with the skrælingar . Thus they arrived at Lysufjord, the name of a fjord that also served to baptize an American enclave where they stayed for a winter, along with the other members of the expedition.
Thorstein was going to stay longer because he, like others, died of an epidemic; Of course, he appeared to his wife, the sagas say, to predict that she would marry an Icelander with whom she would have numerous offspring.
Indeed, Gudrid returned to Brattahlíð and married Thorfinn Karlsefni, a wealthy merchant who, according to the Landnámabók (Book of Settlement , a 12th-century manuscript on the discovery and settlement of Iceland), was a direct descendant of Björn Ragnarsson, the eldest son of Ragnar Lodbrok. The point is that Thorfinn was convinced by his new wife to organize a colonizing expedition to Vinland. It consisted of sixty men and five women, including Freydís Eiríksdóttir, another daughter of Erik the Red ( possibly from a different mother than Leif, although it is not clear).
Gudrid accompanied her husband, something providential for history because after three years in Vinland, she became pregnant and gave birth to what is considered the first European born in America on record:Snorri Thorfinnsson. The exact date is not known but it must have been between the years 1005 and 1013, probably in L'Anse aux Meadows. Snorri, however, would not live long in that land because his relations with the Skrælingar (almost certainly the Beothuk Indians, a branch of the Algonquians) became increasingly tense and, as we said before, the Vikings chose to leave.
Freydís Eiríksdóttir, tells the Saga of the Greenlanders , who had fought the enemy with the bravery of a man, was not satisfied and convinced two brothers, Helgi and Finnbogi, to organize a second trip to Vinland sharing half expenses and benefits. They did so, but they soon plunged into bitter disputes that ended with the murder of the brothers and their followers. Freydís personally hacked the women to death, since no one wanted to do it. Returning to Brattahlíð she told Leif that Helgi and Finnbogi had preferred to stay in Vinland, and although he eventually discovered the truth, he did not want to punish her as he deserved, limiting himself to cursing her descendants.
Instead, when Gudrid and his people returned to Iceland, they settled in Seyluhreppur, where Thorfinn owned a farm called Glaumbær. According to the Saga of Erik the Red the couple had two more children, Þorbjörn and Björn, before she was widowed for the second time. Snorri inherited the estate and married, also having a couple of offspring:a girl, Hallfrid, who would later give him a grandson who became bishop of Skálholt, and a boy, Thorgeir, who was also the grandfather of a prelate.
In fact, there would be several more bishops in the different branches of the family, since, as we said at the beginning, it played an important role in the Christianization of the island.
A good example of this is the pilgrimage to Rome that Gudrid made in her last years, after Snorri got married. It is said that he even managed to meet with Pope Benedict VIII, although in reality there is no evidence to prove it. When she returned to Iceland, she took the robes of a nun and took up residence in what was Glaumbær's first church, built by her son, just as her second husband had predicted in that ghostly apparition. She lived cloistered for the rest of her days, which ended around the year 1019.
In 2002, a team of American archaeologists unearthed the ruins of an ancient longhouse on the north coast of Iceland, in the municipality of Sauðárkrókur. Some think it was part of the Glaumbær farm.