The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1981, Qupperneq 14

12
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SPRING, 1981
equipped to avenge my sons; and I do not
want to live in shame.” Then turning to his
household he says: “Be of good heart — Put
your faith in the mercy of God for he will not
let you bum both in this world and the
next.” (Ch. 129) The basic principle of
human relationship was honor. For the
violation of honor, there was no effective
remedy but revenge, which usually meant
the shedding of blood. The lot of the women
was particualrly difficult. They were sup-
pressed and supervised in turn by father,
brothers, husbands or sons. It was a cruel
men’s world. Marriages were usually ar-
ranged by the father of a girl, often without
consulting her or seeking her approval. To
be a true helpmate to her husband a woman
was expected to engage in all sorts of in-
trigue, and exhortations to revenge for in-
sults suffered. Some of them did this with
true conviction; others became introverts in
the process, and turned their white fury
upon their loved ones. The women of Ice-
land have travelled a long way from the
degradation of the Saga age, to the triumph
of Iceland’s most famous woman of our
day.
I.
AUDUR, THE DEEP MINDED —
PRINCESS AND PAUPER
She is the first woman mentioned in Ice-
landic history, and is spoken of in the ear-
liest available records of the original
settlers. In the Book of Settlements, (Land-
namabok) there is a record of 430 indivi-
duals who settled in Iceland, and Audur is
the only woman in the group. She enjoys
this distinction not only due to her sex, but
also because of her background and pre-
vious history. She was bom a princess, and
when she came to Iceland she was the
widow of King Olaf the White, who had
ruled a part of Ireland until he fell in battle.
But Audur was obviously a resourceful and
courageous woman. When tragedy struck
she would not allow herself to be crushed,
but took to the woods with a large number of
her followers. There they built a ship which
was dragged down to sea when completed
and used for transportation for herself and
company, first to Scotland, then the Ork-
neys, then to the Faroe Islands, and finally
to Iceland where she settled. She assumed
possession of a very large portion of western
Iceland, including what is now most of the
municipality of Dalasysla. Out of this large
area she staked out a number of farms which
she gave to her slaves whom she set free,
and to other followers and friends. It is
believed that much of the Celtic influence
which is clearly present in the Icelandic
people even unto this day is due to the
settlers who came with Audur from Ireland
and the island adjacent to the north coast of
Scotland. Not much is known of Audur
personally, except that she was the “great
lady” of Iceland in her day. She lives to this
day in the traditions of this area, and place
names perpetuate her memory. A place
where she is said to have had breakfast one
day is called Dogurdames, (Breakfast
Head). Lady-like she seems to have been
concerned about her hair, as she is said to
have lost a comb in a place which now bears
the name of Kambsnes. (The promontory of
the comb.)
Audur stood apart from the original
settlers of Iceland in that she was perhaps
the only baptized Christian among them.
There was, however, no priest in her com-
pany and she built no churches in her wide
domains. But she is said to have conducted
worship services in the hills which came to
be known as Krossholar (The Hills of the
Cross) where she had crosses erected. It is
said that her family abandoned the Christian
faith after her death, and that they built a
temple for heathen worship where the
crosses formerly stood. This became one of
the first known cemeteries in Iceland as
these people believed that upon dying they
would literally go into the hills.
Audur’s story ends with a peculiar tale