Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir

Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir was an Icelandic woman of the early 11th century CE, who, according to the Sagas of Icelanders, settled first in Greenland, and then sailed with her family westward and landed in Newfoundland. She gave birth to a son, Snorri, the first recorded birth to a European traveler in the Americas.

Gudrid is one of Scandinavia’s most famous medieval women. She was born on the Icelandic farm Laugarbrekka to parents descending from freed slaves who had been brought to Iceland during the Settlement Period (late 9th century). Gudrid outlived three husbands and went on a pilgrimage to Rome later in her life.