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+--- Thread: Did a Viking woman named Gudrid really travel to North America in 1000 A.D.? (/thread-9895.html)
Did a Viking woman named Gudrid really travel to North America in 1000 A.D.? - C C - Mar 4, 2021
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-viking-woman-named-gudrid-really-travel-north-america-1000-years-ago-180977126/
INTRO: More than 1,000 years ago, a woman named Gudrid sailed off the edge of the map with her husband and a small crew, landing in what the Vikings called Vinland and what is now Canada. She lived in and explored Newfoundland and the surrounding environs for three years, bearing a son before returning home to Iceland. Ultimately, she made eight crossings of the North Atlantic Sea and traveled farther than any other Viking, from North America to Scandinavia to Rome—or so the Viking sagas claim.
But did Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, the “far traveler,” really exist? And, if so, did she really set foot in the Americas 500 years before Christopher Columbus?
Definitive answers to these questions will remain out of reach unless physical evidence or more reliable documentation emerges—highly unlikely scenarios. Still, says Nancy Marie Brown, author of the 2007 biography The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman, Gudrid’s story suggests that “Viking women were as courageous and as adventurous as Viking men and that there were far fewer limitations on the life of a woman in those times than we may think.” (MORE)
RE: Did a Viking woman named Gudrid really travel to North America in 1000 A.D.? - Syne - Mar 4, 2021
So a myth, if true, with no physical or corroborating evidence?
IOW, just a bare assertion. 9_9
RE: Did a Viking woman named Gudrid really travel to North America in 1000 A.D.? - Zinjanthropos - Mar 5, 2021
I like this Wiki part: Gudrid was married to a Norwegian merchant named Thorir.[2] According to this account, Leif Eirikson rescued Gudrid and fifteen men from a skerry, brought them safely to Brattahlíð, and invited Thorir and Gudrid to stay there with him. That winter, Thorir died of illness.
After watching some of the Vikings TV series an illness was a having a sword run through your neck. Sounds like Leif had eyes for Gudrid.
RE: Did a Viking woman named Gudrid really travel to North America in 1000 A.D.? - C C - Mar 5, 2021
(Mar 5, 2021 07:44 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: I like this Wiki part: Gudrid was married to a Norwegian merchant named Thorir.[2] According to this account, Leif Eirikson rescued Gudrid and fifteen men from a skerry, brought them safely to Brattahlíð, and invited Thorir and Gudrid to stay there with him. That winter, Thorir died of illness.
After watching some of the Vikings TV series an illness was a having a sword run through your neck. Sounds like Leif had eyes for Gudrid.
I guess she'll surely be a character in the "Valhalla" spin-off. Similarly, we shouldn't expect any more strict adherence to the legends than would be the case if the latter were historical or archeological facts.
RE: Did a Viking woman named Gudrid really travel to North America in 1000 A.D.? - Yazata - Mar 5, 2021
(Mar 4, 2021 07:13 PM)C C Wrote: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-viking-woman-named-gudrid-really-travel-north-america-1000-years-ago-180977126/
INTRO: More than 1,000 years ago, a woman named Gudrid sailed off the edge of the map with her husband and a small crew, landing in what the Vikings called Vinland and what is now Canada. She lived in and explored Newfoundland and the surrounding environs for three years, bearing a son before returning home to Iceland.
I have no way of knowing about this particular woman, but it certainly looks like Vinland was intended to be a permanent settlement. And that implies that women were present.
Quote:Ultimately, she made eight crossings of the North Atlantic Sea and traveled farther than any other Viking, from North America to Scandinavia to Rome—or so the Viking sagas claim.
Maybe, maybe not. We know that Vikings visited the Mediterranean. Were some of them the same Vikings that had been in the far northwest Atlantic? Possible, I guess. Was one of them this particular woman? Dunno.
Quote:But did Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, the “far traveler,” really exist? And, if so, did she really set foot in the Americas 500 years before Christopher Columbus?
Perhaps. If not her, it's clear that some Vikings did, including some women most likely.
Many figures from history are only known from scanty sources like this, and we don't really doubt the historical reality of most of them. I'm inclined to accept her as an actual historical person, though not with 100% certainty. (I don't have 100% certainty about anything.) It's possible that her story was subsequently embellished for whatever reason. Hard to say. Viking culture was very focused on brave deeds and audacious exploits.
RE: Did a Viking woman named Gudrid really travel to North America in 1000 A.D.? - Zinjanthropos - Mar 5, 2021
(Mar 5, 2021 08:14 PM)C C Wrote:(Mar 5, 2021 07:44 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: I like this Wiki part: Gudrid was married to a Norwegian merchant named Thorir.[2] According to this account, Leif Eirikson rescued Gudrid and fifteen men from a skerry, brought them safely to Brattahlíð, and invited Thorir and Gudrid to stay there with him. That winter, Thorir died of illness.
After watching some of the Vikings TV series an illness was a having a sword run through your neck. Sounds like Leif had eyes for Gudrid.
I guess she'll surely be a character in the "Valhalla" spin-off. Similarly, we shouldn't expect any more strict adherence to the legends than would be the case if the latter were historical or archeological facts.
Yah, it was Gudriddens Thorir. (sorry about that, couldn’t resist)