My North - 2018 no. 03 | July - Sept

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FLEET

Air Iceland Connect

n w o n k n u e h t s d r wa o T In the Age of Settlement they embarked on a journey into the unknown with their loved ones. The six Bombardier aircraft in our fleet are named after female settlers and Icelandic saga heroines. Still flying high, we uphold their legacies with pride.

Aud the Deep-Minded TF-FXA Q400

Hallgerd Long-Pants TF-FXB Q400

Thorun the Horned TF-FXI Q400

Aud the Deep-Minded was the only woman to lead a settlement expedition to Iceland. She was considered peerless among women, provident and wise, as witnessed by her epithet. She took leave of her husband and sailed to Iceland along with her crew. It is said that her settlement extended across all the valleys of Breidafjordur in West Iceland. Aud was a Christian and was considered to be particularly noble and generous. She gave large estates in her settlement to her crew and made her home at the current church estate of Hvammur in Dalir.

The most infamous heroine of the Icelandic sagas was dashing, long-haired and beautiful. Extremely proud, Hallgerd never took orders from anyone. She started a feud with her neighbour Bergthora; and Hallgerd’s husband, Gunnar, had to pay for a slap he gave her with his life. When besieged by his enemies, Gunnar begged Hallgerd for a lock of her hair to repair his bowstring. She refused and he was killed. But what was the source of her epithet? One explanation is that Hallgerd had particularly long legs. Another that she was originally called “Langbrok”, which means “long-haired”.

Does her epithet refer to a shawl she wore over her head or shoulders? Along with her husband, Helgi the Lean, Thorun the Horned settled in Eyjafjordur, Northeast Iceland, and was the first woman to do so. Thorun was the sister of Aud the Deep-Minded, the most famous of all female settlers. While Thorun and Helgi sailed into the fjord, looking for a place to build their farm, Thorun gave birth to a daughter on a small holm in Eyjafjardara river. Their daughter, Thorbjorg Islet-Sun, was the first native-born resident of Eyjafjordur.

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My North - 2018 no. 03 | July - Sept by Icelandair - Issuu