Wonder Woman of the Week: Aud the Deep-Minded

Aud the Deep-Minded is one of only a handful of Viking women whose name remains in history. The shield maiden, settler, and explorer is one of one a small number of women specifically named in the Norse Sagas (texts of romanticised history). Aud was born to Norwegian Viking parents and married an Irish Viking husband. After marrying Oleif the White, Aud and her new husband moved to Scotland to join the ranks of Scottish Vikings. There is a gap in information about what happened there with some sources stating Oleif returned to Ireland and died in battle along with Aud's first son. What is known is at some point, Aud left Scotland with her remaining family, neighbors, and slaves; built a ship in secrecy; and sailed with her new company of roughly two hundred peers to Western Iceland.

Upon arrival in Iceland, Aud freed her slaves and gave them land. Aud also likely converted to Christianity during her time in either Ireland or Scotland because one of the first non-residential structures she constructed on her new colony was a Christian temple and historians credit her with bringing Christianity to the island. Six separate late-Medieval sagas that retell the history of the Vikings each name Aud the Deep-Minded and describe the explorer as a warrior, shipwright, politician, explorer, and colonist that was well-respected by her peers, maintained a fair balance of justice, and who helped bring the Scottish Vikings to Iceland. The latter of which archaeologists are becoming increasingly convinced through findings would have been the first Vikings to the island- as opposed to the Scandinavian groups. That means Aud may have even been the first to lead colonists to Iceland.