The next segment of Gudrid’s journey begins with her third husband, a wealthy merchant named Thorfinn Karlsefni. The name “Karlsefni” translates to “promising boy” or “makings of a man,” foreshadowing his future feats. Other etymological derivatives include “thorough man; “sterling man”, but most literally “The-Stuff-a-Man-Is-Made-Of.” This promising now-young-man’s lineage proved equally promising in the ways of travel and colonizing, as his great-grandfather was part of the original individuals who helped to settle Iceland. Various members of that same familial line would follow Eirik the Red in colonizing Greenland. So her new husband was not just an established and successful merchant and sailor, but one who possessed the makings of a resolute adventurer, the scion of a long line of other adventurers. Gudrid’s third marriage signifies a historically prevalent part of her life, and not just because she married an influential individual—Thorfinn would follow Leif Eriksson’s trail to the untamed and unsettled Vinland, and most fatefully, Thorfinn would bring Gudrid with him.
A little after 1000 AD, Thorfinn decided to journey to Vinland to make a settlement despite previous unsuccessful attempts. And thus Gudrid becomes more than just a wife and fair woman, she becomes a woman crossing oceans, and reportedly only one of five women that were on that crossing to Vinland.
Vinland presents its own level of mystery and is the source of debate for many scholars to this day. The exact location of Vinland is unknown, and many have attempted to pinpoint it through the physical and geographical descriptions found in the written sagas. The practice of naming newly discovered lands based on their features seems to have been a common practice amongst the medieval Norse—for example, Helluland or “Slab-land” (named for its rocky features), as well as Markland or “Forest-Land”, for obvious reasons. The name Vinland follows this same pattern of behavior, translates to “Wine-land.” Based on descriptions provided in the Vinland Sagas, this seems to be a reference to the rich amount of vegetation, including wild grapes, that allegedly grew there. Grapes, being one of the most distinguishing elements of Vinland, have served as a key element of tracking its location, or at least, have inspired compelling theories to its location. The most paramount locative suggestion is the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as it does grow similar plants to what is described in the Vinland sagas, as well as the infamous grapes, as alleged by Jacques Cartier in the mid-1500s.
Vinland’s obscureness extends far beyond its natural exports. If Vinland was so rich and promising, why was it so difficult for the Norse to settle there? The answer is complex. Archaeologist Brigitta Wallace stipulates that distance most certainly was an issue. It would’ve been incredibly difficult to travel that far with larger groups of people, on seas that seemed to be unkind. We see this in the accounts of Thorstein Erikkson, Gudrid’s second husband, who, according to both sagas, seemingly drifted all summer in the sea due to bad weather, and never made it to the shores of Vinland. He barely made it back to Greenland.
Wallace also states that it would have been difficult to establish a permanent settlement because the Greenlanders lacked the variety of traded resources that they had more readily access to in Iceland and Greenland. The most pressing issue seems to have been conflicts with the indigenous tribes of Vinland, dubbed derogatorily by the Norse as “skraelings” or “scruffy wimps.” We do have included in the sagas are some physical descriptions of these skraelings. In the Greenlander’s Saga, one of the skraelings is described to have reddish-brown hair, pale skin, and large, gaping eyes. It is unclear who exactly the skraelings were in Vinland, though most academic theories surmise that the Vinland skraelings could’ve been the ancestors of the Micmac Tribe, the Beothuk, and the Montaignais, as well as the Dorset Eskimos.
Though conspicuously difficult to deal with, these characterization of the skraelings seems to escape Gudrid, at least for a while. As author Nancy Marie Brown states, in translations of the Vinland Sagas, Gudrid is characterized as a woman who “knows how to behave among strangers.” But what exactly does this mean? In the Greenlander’s Saga, we find two initially friendly interactions between the Norse and the skraelings. The second, with Gudrid is at the forefront. By this time, the Norse had built fortified walls around their settlement. They had already established a trading system with the skraelings, as the skraelings would throw their furs over the wall, waiting to be let into the enclosure. Once inside, a skraeling woman approached Gudrid while she tended to her infant son. Gudrid beckoned her closer, and introduced herself as Gudrid, and the Skraeling woman mimicked her words, also saying “I am Gudrid.” This interaction contrasted sharply with what happens next; immediately after, the Skraeling woman was startled by a loud commotion and disappears. Gudrid found that a Skraeling man has been murdered by one of Thorfinn’s men as he was allegedly trying to take some of their weapons. Whether it was the Norse or the skraelings who instigated this violence, it is ultimately irrelevant, as what matters most is that this interaction would subsequently devolve their tentative relationship, and further violence and conflict that would lead to the expulsion of Thorfinn and Gudrid’s group. What is interesting, is that we see more of a glimpse of Gudrid’s character, especially as one who indeed good among “strangers.” The skraelings and previous Vinland exploration groups had come into conflict before. Yet Gudrid does not respond to the Skraeling woman here with suspicion or unwelcomeness. She beckons this unfamiliar woman not just towards herself, but also closer towards her newborn son. And perhaps this is the most important characterization we have of her yet—more than being a beautiful woman and singer, she is disarming and affable in nature, so much so, that she can establish comfortability with individuals across cultures.
As we know, Gudrid gave birth to her son Snorri while abroad, becoming the first European woman to give birth in North America. Much of what we know of Norse birthing practices and views on pregnancies also derives from Norse tales and sagas. As Jenny Jochens discusses, the Norse seemed to regard pregnancy as a “heaviness.” Despite this connotation, women for the most part were in fact, not weighed down by their pregnancies, and kept laboring right up until they actually went into labor. Traveling did not seem to be an imposition either, which sheds light on Gudrid’s condition as well. One would think that being pregnant would prove to be troublesome and at the very least, less than ideal, for sea-travel or attempting to settle in an inhospitable land. Jochens references the record of a woman giving birth to twins without aid, all the while shepherding sheep. The actual process of birth was viewed as a shedding of that weight, or a “lightness.” A woman would typically kneel while giving birth, with aids, who were other women, that would support either her legs or arms; this posture would devolve then into a knee and elbow position. As women were only present at the birthing, and these “helping women” were typically trained for this process, it is unclear exactly how then, the birthing of her son Snorri would have been like in these unfamiliar settings, nor is it described in detail in either of the Vinland sagas. We can only picture what Gudrid’s labor would look like had she been back in either Greenland or Iceland.
Despite their efforts, Thorfinn and Gudrid’s group’s settlement was ultimately unsuccessful due to conflict with these skraelings, and they fled to Norway having lost several ships in various attempts to leave. While this might have been the end of Gudrid and Thorfinn’s Vinland adventures, this would surely not be the end of Gudrid’s illustrious life. —Andie Valles
Additional Readings:
https://www.medievalists.net/2013/11/why-did-vinland-fail
Nancy Marie Brown. 2008. The Far Traveler. HMH.
Jochens, Jenny. “Reproduction.” In Women in Old Norse Society, 1st ed., 65–97. Cornell University Press, 1995. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1tm7jbv.7.
Seaver, Kirsten A. 1998. The Frozen Echo : Greenland and the Exploration of North America, C. A.D. 1000-1500. Stanford, Calif. ; London: Stanford University Press.