Auðr Vésteinsdóttir

File:Thorkel at Auda and Asgerda's Bower.jpg

Auðr is the daughter of Vésteinn and the sister of Vésteinn Vésteinsson. She marries Gísli súrsson and lives with him and his brother Þorkell at their farm, Hol.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/gpl_1761178/page/20/mode/1up?view=theater&q=auda |title=The Story of Gisli the Outlaw |date=1866 |publisher=Edinburgh |others= |translator-last=DaSent |translator-first=George Webbe}} Together they care for a foster-daughter, Gúðríðr.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, p. 34).

The main feud of the saga begins when Þorkell overhears his wife, Ásgerðr, talking with Auðr about their previous romantic entanglements.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, pp. 29-33). Gísli's brother-in-law Þorgrímr (or perhaps Þorkell) murders Vésteinn, and Gísli kills Þorgrímr in retribution, for which he is outlawed.

Moving to a newly built home at Geirþjófsfjörður, Auðr manages the household during Gísli's outlawry and sometimes harbours him there.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, p. 68). She is the addressee of much of Gísli's later poetry, where he describes the symbolic dreams he has to her.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, p. 73).

At one point during Gísli’s outlawry, Auðr is approached for help by her nephews, who have killed Þorkell. She sends them away to prevent Gísli from killing them in revenge for his brother.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, pp. 91-2).

Gísli’s main opponent, Eyjólfr grái, attempts to bribe Auðr to give up Gísli with a bag of silver coins. She takes the silver and strikes him in the face with it, declaring that she will never betray Gísli. Eyjolfr attempts to kill Auðr but is prevented by his companion.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, pp. 96-8).

Finally, Auðr and Gúðríðr defend Gísli when he is attacked by Eyjolfr and his men, striking Eyjolfr on the arm with a club.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, p. 107). Gísli is eventually killed in the battle.

After the death of her husband, Auðr travels with Gúðríðr and her nephews to Norway, and then to Hedeby, where they convert to Christianity and go on pilgrimage to Rome.The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (trans. DaSent, pp. 113-4).

Auðr is noted for her role as interlocutor in Gísli's poetry, where she is compared and conflated with the prophetic 'good dream-woman' who appears in his poems.{{Citation |last=O'Donoghue |first=Heather |title=SPEECH, SILENCE, AND SUBJECTIVITY IN GÍSLA SAGA |date=2005-08-11 |work=Skaldic Verse and the Poetics of Saga Narrative |pages=0 |editor-last=O'Donoghue |editor-first=Heather |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/25423/chapter-abstract/192567327?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |access-date=2025-04-21 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-926732-3}}{{Citation |last=Olsen |first=K.E.E. |title=Woman-kennings in the Gísla saga Súrssonar. |date=1996 |work=Studies in English Language and Literature: 'Doubt wisely'. |pages=267–285 |editor-last=Toswell |editor-first=M J |url=https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/woman-kennings-in-the-g%C3%ADsla-saga-s%C3%BArssonar |access-date=2025-04-21 |place=London, New York |publisher=Routledge |editor2-last=Tyler |editor2-first=E M}}{{Citation |last=Quinn |first=Judy |title=“Hvat er þar frá at segja?” Prosimetric Rhythm in the Íslendingasögur |date=2024-12-02 |work=The Prosimetrum of the Íslendingasögur |pages=81–112 |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111280325-005/html?lang=en |access-date=2025-04-21 |publisher=De Gruyter |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783111280325-005/html?lang=en |isbn=978-3-11-128032-5}} He also composes several stanzas in honour of her, expressing his confidence that she will never betray him and his praise at her defence against Eyjólfr.

Auðr and Gísli's loving relationship is highlighted: her response to her and Ásgerðr's compromising conversation is to explain the situation to Gísli and ask for his advice, whereas Ásgerðr intimidates her husband into dropping the matter by threatening to divorce him.{{Cite book |last=Bryan |first=Eric Shane |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Discourse_in_Old_Norse_Literature/IEI3EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Au%C3%B0r+gisli&pg=PA184&printsec=frontcover |title=Discourse in Old Norse Literature |date=2021 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-84384-597-3 |pages=184-6 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=David |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Gender_Violence_and_the_Past_in_Edda_and/z1aCv6mTMKQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Au%C3%B0r+gisli&pg=PA102&printsec=frontcover |title=Gender, Violence, and the Past in Edda and Saga |date=2012-03-29 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-965430-7 |pages=104 |language=en}} Gísli's love for Auðr means that he does not want to be separated from her for long during his outlawry.{{Cite book |last=Research |first=Viking Society for Northern |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Text_Series/UfhhAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Au%C3%B0r+gisli+mutual+love&dq=Au%C3%B0r+gisli+mutual+love&printsec=frontcover |title=Text Series |date=1972 |pages=120 |language=en}} Auðr, and especially the scene where she prevents Gísli from killing her nephews, are interpeted as Gísli's last ties to humanity and community.{{Citation |last=Ólason |first=Vésteinn |title=Gísli Súrsson – a flawless or flawed hero? |date=2012-05-07 |work=Die Aktualität der Saga |pages=163–176 |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110804904.163/html |access-date=2025-04-21 |publisher=De Gruyter |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110804904.163/html |isbn=978-3-11-080490-4}}{{Cite book |last=Merkelbach |first=Rebecca |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Monsters_in_Society/NDrEDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Au%C3%B0r+monsters+merkelbach&pg=PA70&printsec=frontcover |title=Monsters in Society: Alterity, Transgression, and the Use of the Past in Medieval Iceland |date=2019-11-05 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-1-5015-1422-7 |pages=70 |language=en}}

Like Freydís Eiríksdóttir, Auðr and her sister-in-law Þórdís are noted as a women saga characters who personally use violence: Auðr strikes Eyjólfr twice and Þórdís attacks him with a sword.{{Cite book |last=Falk |first=Oren |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Violence_and_Risk_in_Medieval_Iceland/9v4hEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Au%C3%B0r+gisli&pg=PA114&printsec=frontcover |title=Violence and Risk in Medieval Iceland: This Spattered Isle |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-886604-6 |pages=113-4 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Gardela |first=Leszek |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Women_and_Weapons_in_the_Viking_World/MvE1EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Au%C3%B0r+gisli&pg=PT121&printsec=frontcover |title=Women and Weapons in the Viking World: Amazons of the North |date=2021-11-30 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78925-666-6 |language=en}}

Auðr was portrayed by Amy Leslie in a 1902 reading of Gísla Saga by the Viking Society.{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Saga_book_of_the_Viking_Club/j0gNAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=aud+gisli&dq=aud+gisli&printsec=frontcover |title=Saga-book of the Viking Club |date=1980 |publisher=Viking Club |language=en}}

She was portrayed by Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir in Útlaginn (Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli), a 1981 Icelandic film adaptation of Gísla saga. Auðr serves as the film's narrator.{{Citation |last=Guðmundsson |first=Ágúst |title=Útlaginn |date=1981-10-31 |type=Biography, Drama |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083267/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_cdt_t_26 |access-date=2025-04-22 |others=Arnar Jónsson, Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir, Benedikt Sigurðarson |publisher=Isfilm}}

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Category:10th-century Icelandic women