Gudrid Thorbjarnardaughter (Gúðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir)

Gudrid was the daughter of Hallveig Einarsdaughter and Thorbjörn Vifilsson, an Icelandic estate owner who had come upon hard times and therefore moved his household to Greenland with Eirik. In Greenland she married Thorsten Eiriksson. She may have been married earlier to Thor (Thórir), nicknamed Eastman, Austrmaðr, “the Norwegian”, an Icelandic trader whom Leif rescued from a shipwreck off the coast of Greenland. After Thorsten’s death Gudrid moved to the household of Eirik the Red or Leif. There she met and married Thorfinn Karlsefni.

Gudrid was Christian and is described as stunningly beautiful and gracious in manners. Although well liked by everyone, Gudrid was considered socially inferior to her husband by Karlsefni’s mother who at first shunned her. After Karlsefni’s death Gudrid established a nunnery on the Icelandic estate and retired there. At one point she may have made a pilgrimage to Rome.

Chapters in Books

• Keneva Kunz, trans., [Gudrid Thorbjarnardaughter in] The Saga of the Greenlanders, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000
• Keneva Kunz, trans., [Gudrid Thorbjarnardaughter in] Eirik the Red's Saga, The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, preface by Jane Smiley, introduction by Robert Kellogg, 2000