#thorgunna

[er-cryptid]

Leif Erikson

-- born in 970

-- from Iceland

-- son of Erik the Red

-- siblings      -- Thorvald      -- Thorstein      -- Freydis

-- explorer

-- had two sons with the noblewoman Thorgunna      -- Thorgils      -- Thorkell

-- first European to land on continental North America

-- died in 1020

-- succeeded as chieftain by Thorkell

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[welcometothewarren]

Eyrbyggja Saga Week 9

so thorgunna’s entire story is fuckin wild, huh?

i actually love the idea that thorgunna walking around the larder is a counterpoint to thorolf becoming a draugr.  her reinforcing the rules of hospitality and generosity in contrast with thorolf’s relative greed during his life is so interesting.  i love the otherness of thorgunna too - something about the way she enforces her very specific boundaries and her notably stiff mannerisms and speech is both endearing and relatable to me as an autistic person.  i have to confess i don’t actually know if the motif of a witch refusing to let anyone else touch their tools was commonly in use at the time but thorgunna and her rake seems like a fairly obvious and literal example of this.

[systlin]

Modern heathens; IDK I just don’t know if naming children after the gods is respectful :/

Actual Norse Sagas; Meet Thorgir, Thorkil, Thordis, Thorgunna, Thorbir, Thorir, and Thorbjorn, and those are just the people named after Thor in this one saga.

[randomontheinternet]

Our Life Voiced Names A-Z

I heard some people wanted a list of the voiced names so far, so I took the time to copy down all of the names from A to Z. The names are under the cut to not clutter.

A

Aaron

Aayria

Abby

Ace

Adrienne

Aeon

Aeriie

Aesilng

Aga

Aine

Aisha

Aisling

AJ

Aki

Akira

Akua

Alaina

Alex

Alexis

Alfonzo

Ali

Alice

Alijah

Alison

Alvis

Alyssa

Amanda

Amber

Amelia

Amy

Anaïs

Andra

Andre

Andrew

Andri

Angel

Angela

Angie

Anima

Anita

Anna

Anna-Maria

Anne

Annie

Annika

Anthony

Antoine

Aoife

Arabella

Aram

Ari

Arielle

Arrow

Arthur

Arturo

Arty

Ash

Asher

Ashla

Ashleigh

Ashlyn

Aspen

Asteria

Astrid

Athena

Atticus

Audrey

Aura

Aurora

Austin

Autumn

Ayanna

B

Barbie

Basil

Beach

Beata

Bec

Becky

Bee

Belen

Ben

Bethany

Bia

Blue

Bobbi

Bonnie

Boyd

Braden

Brian

Briana

Brielle

Brittany

Brooke

Brooklyn

Bryony

Bunni

C

Cadence

Cai

Cam

Cami

Cara

Carmine

Casey

Cassidy

Cato

Cecilia

Cecily

Celestia

Cerise

Chance

Chantal

Chara

Charlie

Charmaine

Chelle

Chris

Christie

Christina

Chuck

Ciara

Ciaran

Cillian

Claire

Cléo

Coco

Col

Conny

Cookie

Cora

Cori

Corrina

Cristal

Cristina

Crystal

Cygnus

Cyina

D

Dan

Dani

Dante

Daphne

Dara

Dayton

December

Denny

Deremy

Desiree

Desmond

Destiny

Devyn

Dexter

Diamond

Diana

Diane

Dorothy

Duane

E

Eddie

Eden

Elaine

Elda

Eleanor

Elegance

Elena

Elenus

Elissa

Eliza

Elle

Ellie

Eluned

Elysa

Ember

Emilith

Emily

Emma

Emmy

Enjel

Ennae

Eric

Erica

Erii

Erin

Ester

Eve

Evren

Ezekiel

Ezra

F

Felicia

Felicity

Felix

Fianna

Finist

Finn

Flynn

Francesco

Franklin

G

Gabrielle

Gaby

Gail

Garnet

Gavin

Gemma

Genevieve

Gerry

Gigi

Gin

Giulia

Glen

Grace

Gray

Gwen

H

Haley

Halima

Hana

Hannah

Hanni

Haru

Hazel

Heather

Helena

Héloïse

Hime

Hiyori

Hollis

Holly

Hon

Hunter

I

Ian

Iga

Illidan

Imani

Irene

Iris

Isabel

Ishan

Isla

Isolde

Issa-Kabeer

Ivy

J

J.R.

Jacob

Jade

Jaden

Jaiet

Jake

Jan

Janice

Jas

Jasmine

Jasper

Jatin

Javi

Jax

Jay

Jaycie

Jazz

Jeannie

Jeff

Jemma

Jen

Jennifer

Jenny

Jess

Jesse

Jessica

Jessinia

Jill

Jinx

Joanie

Joanna

Joelle

Johanna

Jordan

Jordanna

Joseph

Josh

Josie

Joy

Juleyma

Juli

Julia

Julianne

Julien

June

Jupiter

Justina

K

Kaden

Kai

Kala

Kaleton

Kalina

Karat

Karen

Kat

Kate

Katelyn

Katrina

Kay

Kel

Kellie

Ken

Kendi

Kenton

Kevin

Kia

Kiara

Kiba

Kie

Kien

Kim

Kimberly

Kimory

Kira

Kirsty

Kisa

Kit

Knox

Kodie

Kozmo

Kra

Kristen

Kyan

L

Laëtitia

Lanz

Laura

Lauren

Lavender

Leaf

Leann

Leina

Leo

Leon

Leslie

Letty

Levi

Lex

Lexi

Lia

Libbi

Lidia

Lilith

Lillian

Lily

Lindsay

Lindt

Linley

Lisette

Liss

Livia

Lotus

Lucy

Luke

Luna

Lyla

Lyric

Lvsander

Lysella

M

Maddy

Madeline

Mae

Maggy

Mahari

Mai

Maia

Mali

Mallory

Malyia

Mandy

Marcel

Marcella

Marcia

Marco

Margaret

Mari

Maria

Marianne

Mariposa

Maris

Marissa

Marlene

Martina

Mary

Mary-Elizabeth

Mason

Matina

Matthew

Maus

Max

Maya

McKenzie

Megan

Mel

Melanie

Melissa

Melly

Melody

Merlin

Mia

Mich

Michael

Michelle

Michiko

Mickie

Mikaela

Mikey

Mimi

Mina

Minette

Mini

Mira

Miranda

Mishal

Missy

Mizuki

Molly

Monica

Mordaine

Morgan

Morgana

Moriah

Morina

Muriel

Mykaela

N

Nakira

Nancie

Natalie

Natasha

Nathaniel

Neelam

Nessa

Nessi

Niamh

Nicole

Nier

Night

Nikki

Nina

Noah

Noe

Noel

Nui

O

Oda

Oliver

Olivia

Ollie

Omar

Onyx

Opal

Ori

Osmond

Oumou

P

Paige

Parvati

Patience

Patrice

Patricia

Patrick

Peter

Philippe

Phoebe

Phoenix

Polly

Priya

Q

Querriana

Quinn

Quinniece

R

Rachel

Rain

Rainie

Ran

Randi

Raphaël

Raven

Rayne-Beau

Rayraye

Rebecca

Reed

Rei

Reina

Rémi

Ren

Revan

Rhiannon

Rhi-Rhi

Rhyne

Rika

Riley

Rini

Riona

Risa

Riven

Riza

Robyn

Rory

Rosa

Rose

Rosetta

Rosie

Rowan

Runa-Lucienne

Ruth

Ryan

Rye

S

Sabrina

Sage

Salem

Sam

Samantha

Sammi

Sandy

Sara

Saro

Sasha

Savannah

Season

Selena

Selkie

Serena

Shaelei

Shakyra

Shay

Shayla

Sheena

Shelbie

Sid

Sienna

Silvia

Simmy

Simon

Sinead

Skye

Skyla

Skylar

Soffia

Soleil

Sonja

Sora

Soraya

Stacey

Star

Stefan

Stevie

Stella

Steph

Stephanie

Stephen

Story

Susan

Suzy

Sydney

T

Tama

Tammy

Tanisha

Tanya

Taylor

Ted

Teddy

Terra

Terrence

Terry

Thomas

Thorgunna

Tiago

Tida

Tobias

Toki

Tokiko

Tom

Tommy

Tomoko

Trey

Tricia

Tristan

Twila

Tye

U

Uma

Undyne

V

V

Vaeril

Van

Vandy

Vaughn

Vaylin

Velise

Venla

Vera

Verly

Verv

Vesper

Vi

Vicky

Victor

Vina

Vincent

Violette

Vivi

Vivienne

W

Wendy

Westley

Whispthera

Winnie

Wonder

X

Xander

Xavier

Xiri

Y

Yasmin

Ylthin

Yon

Yoonie

Yuki

Yukino

Yuli

Yvette

Yvonne

Z

Zachary

Zack

Zae

Zariyah

Zayla

Zen

Ziya

Zo

Zoey

[norsereadalong]

Eyrbyggja Saga Prompts Week 9

Welcome to Week Nine of Eyrbyggja Saga! This week (Nov. 30th 2020) we’re reading chapters 46-51, as laid out in Hermann Pálsson’s translation. This week’s section starts off as follows:

 Steinthor of Eyr and his men rowed to the boat-shed at Bakki and hauled the boat ashore….They had an easy journey and got back safely.

Þá er þeir Steinþór af Eyri koma til nausta á Bakka settu þeir þar upp skip sitt….og tókst þeim allt greitt um sína ferð og komu með öllu heilu heim.

 Below are some prompts to invoke discussion. You don’t have to answer them (unless you want to), and you’re welcome to ask questions of your own for the group to discuss! We ask that you participate at least once a week in one form or another, be it through a response paragraph, fanart, etc., but you’re free to choose whatever topic you’d like. Remember to DM a link to your responses to @edderkopper so we can find them!

1.     What might the author be attempting to convey with Thorgerd’s reaction to Bergthor’s death wound? How is this subtle hint different than how the author depicts Thorodd and Thurid’s relationship in Chapter 47 and why does Snorri have to clean up the mess? As a refresher—Thorgerd is the wife of Thormod, the elder brother of Bergthor.

2.     The Icelandic Commonwealth was subject to Summon Days, where lawsuits were heard, and administrative matters attended to in one of the 4 (and later 5th) Quarter courts.

Do you find this system helpful in settling the compensation disputes after the Battle of Vigra Fjord in which every man dead canceled each other out? Are the laws depicted as preventing crime or settling the aftermath and can this be related to the honor-system and the independent fighting spirit so sought after in the sagas? How do you feel about one man’s death being compensation for Thorleif Kimbi’s suffered assault?

3.     Let’s see…what did we learn in Chapter 49! Christianity comes to Iceland as everyone knows in 999/1000 C.E. after a very interesting debate! Iceland practices proprietary churches in which private land could be converted into a place of worship wherein the owner of the land gained proprietary profits! Well…obviously, the conversion was not as simple as that, but I’m curious to see what y’all know about the conversion of the Icelandic Common-wealth and what might have been the incentives to convert!

Some readers have highlighted the importance of conversion and power in previous prompts, but what is to be gained and what is to be lost? Why convert after all this time?

Bonus points if you can name the three “exceptions” demanded by the Pagan worshippers of the island before they converted! As always, there will be article links related to this featured below for the curious.

 4.     It is the lady of the hour, the one you have all been waiting for! Thorgunna is a famous figure in Old Norse scholarship, but who really is she? This isn’t the first witchy woman we’ve encountered, but what clues does the author gives us that might demarcate her as “witchy,” or “other,” compared to other characters? What foreshadows her demise, and is her awakening comparable to Thorlief Twist-Foot as a kind of Christian draugr?

 5.     Why does Thorgunna feel the need to appear before the farmers, and what is she doing besides fixin’ the weary coffin-bearers a nice little snack? What cultural lesson is learned with the burning of the clothes?

As promised, some additional readings and links! I know we go a little heavy on the Ármann Jakobsson, but he is a prolific writer, always makes his texts accessible, and is the king of Icelandic saga spookiness! If you find an article but can’t get access it, or want recommendations, just DM at @cousinnick and I’ll try to get a PDF to you!

Ármann Jakobsson. “Vampires and Watchm: Categorizing the Mediaeval Icelandic Undead.”  Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2011, Vol. 110.3., pp. 281-300.

Ármann Jakobsson. The Troll inside You: Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North. Earth, Milky Way: Punctum Books, 2017.

Ármann, Jakobsson. “The Taxonomy of the Non-Existent: Some Medieval Icelandic Concepts of the Paranormal.” Fabula, 2013, vol. 54, pp. 199-213. 

Late and Peaceful: Iceland's Conversion Through Arbitration in 1000. Jenny Jochens. SpeculumVol. 74, No. 3 (Jul., 1999), pp. 621-655 (35 pages)Published By: The University of Chicago Press

Kanerva, Kirsi. The Role of the Dead in Medieval Iceland: A Case Study of Eyrbyggja Saga. 2011.

Kanerva, Kirsi. “Restless Dead or Peaceful Cadavers? Preparations for Death and Afterlife in Medieval Iceland.” Dying Prepared in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe. ed. Anu Lahtinen and Mia Korpiola, Leiden: Brill, 2018.

Laurin, Dan. The Everlasting Dead: Similarities Between The Holy Saint and the Horrifying Draugr. Scandia, 2020. N. 3.

[theparanormalperiodical]

Spook Of The Day #126 • A medieval haunting takes place in Iceland

This tale takes us back to the 13th century.

Thorgunna rocked up to Iceland one day, and stayed with a woman named Thuirda. To earn her keep, she became a servant to her. However, she doesn’t perform this role very long when she dies. But just before she takes her final breathe, she tells her roommate “burn my bedding and give the rest of my stuff to the local monks or like evil will come k”.

Thuirda is a bad roommate.

She takes the bedding for herself, and unleashed hell upon her neighbours. Accidents, unexplained attacks, illnesses, and worst of all, a group of ghouls that hang around the main hall.

To clear the area of the evil, a trial lead by a priest banishes them from the area.

Love a ghost story, even the ones from *does maths* uhhh 700 years ago? Follow this blog to see a new ghost story everyday and/or maths.

[vampireadamooc]

Thorgunna, ghostly vampiress, takes out half a town. Circa a 1855 retelling anyway.

This excellent old lady having, a short time previous to her death, appointed one Thorodd her executor, and the wife of the said Thorodd having covetously induced her husband to preserve some bed-furniture which the deceased particularly desired to have have burnt, a series of ghost-visits ensued.  Thorgunna requested that her body might be conveyed to a distant place called Skalholt ; and on the way thither her ghost appeared at a house where the funeral party put up. But the worst visitations occurred on the return of Thorold to his own house. On the very night when he reached his domicile, a meteor resembling a half-moon glided round the walls of the apartment in a direction opposed to the apparent course of the sun (an ominous sign), and remained visible until the inmates went to bed. The spectral appearance continued throughout the week ; and then one of the herdsman went mad, evidently under the persecutions of evil spirits. At length he was found dead in his bed ; and, shortly after, Thorer, one of the inmates of the house, going out in the evening, was seized by the ghost of the dead shepherd, and so injured by blows, that he died. His spirit then went into partnership with that of the herdsman, and together they played some very awkward and alarming pranks. A pestilence appeared, of which many of the neighbors dies ; and one evening something in the shape of a seal-fish lifted itself up through the flooring of Thorodd's house, and gazed around.

    The terrified domestics having in vain struck at the apparition, which continued to rise through the floor, Kiartan, the son of Thorodd, smote it on the head with a hammer, and drove it gradually and reluctantly into the earth, like a stake. Subsequently, Thorodd and several of his servants were drowned ; and now their ghosts were added to the spectral group. Every evening, when the fire was lighted in the great hall, Thorodd and his companions would enter, drenched and dripping, and seat themselves close to the blaze, from which they very selfishly excluded all the living inmates ; while from the other side of of the apartment, the ghosts of those who had died of pestilence, and who appeared gray with dust, would bend their way toward the same comfortable nook, under under the leadership of Thorer. This being a very awkward state of affairs in a climate like Iceland, Kiartan, who was now master of the house, caused a separate fire to be kindled for the mortals in an out-house, leaving the great hall to the specters; with which arrangement their ghostships seemed satisfied. The deaths from the pestilence continued to increase ; and every death caused an addition to the phantom army.

    Matters had now reached so serious a pitch, that it was found absolutely necessary to take some steps against the disturbances of the neighborhood. It was accordingly resolved to proceed against them by law ; but previously to commencing the legal forms, Kiartan caused the unfortunate bed-furniture, which had been at the bottom of all the mischief, to be burnt in sight of the specters. A jury was then formed in the great hall ; the ghosts were accused of being public nuisances within the meaning of the act in that the case the made and provided ; evidence was heard, and finally a sentence of ejectment was pronounced. Upon this, the phantoms rose ; and, protesting that they had only sat there while it was lawful for them to do so, sullenly and mutteringly withdrew, with many symptoms of unwillingness. A priest them damped the room with holy-water – a solemn mass was performed, and the supernatural visitors were thenceforth non est inventus.

Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol 10 December 1854 to May 1855 EXCERPT from pgs 681-685; “Vampyres”

[ecec333]

Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson (c. 970 – c. 1020) was a Norse explorer from Iceland. He was the first known European to have set foot on continental North America (excluding Greenland), before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada. Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vinland may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station. Leif was the son of Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse settlement in Greenland and of Thjodhild (Þjóðhildur), both of Norwegian origin. His place of birth is not known, but he is assumed to have been born in Iceland, which had recently been colonized by Norsemen. He grew up in the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement in Greenland. Leif had two brothers, whose names were Thorsteinn and Thorvaldr, and a sister, Freydís. He also had two known sons: Thorgils, born to noblewoman Thorgunna in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement. Thorvald Asvaldsson was banished from Norway for manslaughter and went into exile in Iceland accompanied by young Erik. When Erik was himself banished from Iceland, he travelled further west to an area he named Greenland, where he established the first permanent settlement in 986. Tyrker, one of Erik's thralls, had been specially trusted to keep in charge of Erik's children, as Leif later referred to him as his "foster father". Leif and his crew travelled from Greenland to Norway in 999 AD. Blown off course to the Hebrides and staying for much of the summer, he arrived in Norway and became a hirdman of King Olaf Tryggvason. He also converted to Christianity and was given the mission of introducing the religion to Greenland. The Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, both thought to have been written around 1200 contain different accounts of the voyages to Vinland. The only two known strictly historical mentions of Vinland are found in the work of Adam of Bremen c. 1075 and in the Book of Icelanders compiled c. 1122 by Ari the Wise. According to the Saga of Erik the Red, Leif apparently saw Vinland for the first time after being blown off course on his way to introduce Christianity to Greenland. According to a literal interpretation of Einar Haugen's translation of the two sagas in the book Voyages to Vinland, Leif was not the first European to discover America: he had heard the story of merchant Bjarni Herjólfsson who claimed to have sighted land to the west of Greenland after having been blown off course. Bjarni reportedly never made landfall there, however. Later, when travelling from Norway to Greenland, Leif was also blown off course, to a land that he did not expect to see, where he found "self-sown wheat fields and grapevines". He next rescued two men who were shipwrecked in this country and went back to Greenland (and Christianised the people there). Consequently, if this is to be trusted, Bjarni Herjólfsson was the first European to see America beyond Greenland, and the two unnamed shipwrecked men were the first people known to Europeans to have made landfall there. Leif was described as a wise, considerate, and strong man of striking appearance. During his stay in the Hebrides, he fell in love with a noblewoman, Thorgunna, who gave birth to their son Thorgils who was later sent to Leif in Greenland. However, he did not become popular. After Leif's first trip to Vinland, he returned to the family estate of Brattahlíð in Greenland, and started preaching Christianity to the Greenlanders. His father Erik reacted coldly to the suggestion that he should abandon his religion, while his mother Thjóðhildr quickly became a Christian and built a church called Thjóðhild's Church. Leif is last mentioned alive in 1019, and by 1025 he had passed on his chieftaincy of Eiríksfjǫrðr to another son, Thorkell. Nothing is mentioned about his death in the sagas—he probably died in Greenland some time between these dates. Leif's successful expedition in Vinland encouraged other Norsemen to also make the journey. The first apparent contact between the Norse and the indigenous people, who the Norse later referred to as skrælingjar, was made by his brother Thorvald, and resulted in hostilities and killing. In the end there were no permanent Norse settlements in Vinland, although sporadic voyages at least to Markland for forages, timber and trade possibly lasted for centuries. The casual tone of references to these areas may suggest that their discovery was not seen as particularly significant by contemporaries, or that it was assumed to be public knowledge, or both. Knowledge of the Vinland journeys might have spread around medieval Europe, as writers such as Adam of Bremen made mention of remote lands to the west. It has been suggested that the knowledge of Vinland might have been maintained in European seaports in the 15th century, and that Christopher Columbus, who claimed in a letter to have visited Iceland in 1477, could have heard stories of it.

Wikipedia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Erikson_Awards

[apokemonanditstrainer]

Gourgeous piece of art made by my dear friend Isa, also Josmir Art (Thorgunna) on Facebook. Even chibi Hoshi seems to have a crush on her own fanart. 😍✨💖 I really love when people make me these gifts, thanks so much Isa 😻 #originalcharacter #fanart #gift #traditionalart #josmirart #copic #appretiation #hoshithebakeneko #bakeneko #nekogirl #neko #catears

[systlin]

You know what, SHOULD Thorodd have burned all Thorgunna’s fine linens after she died as she asked? Yes probably, but let’s be REAL here, Thorodd did what we all would have and quite frankly Thorgunna was being very unreasonable about the whole thing; some women worked HARD on those fine linens and you’re being very selfish to want them destroyed just ‘cause you can’t use them any longer, Thorgunna, and coming back as a ghost was just petty.