Ingunn Arnórsdóttir (12th century;

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: ;

Modern Icelandic Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian language, it ...

: ), was an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic scholar. She belonged to the

Ásbirningar family clan The Ásbirnings or Ásbirningar (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) were a powerful family clan in the medieval Icelandic Commonwealth. They dominated Skagafjörður in the 12th and 13th centuries until their last leader died in the Battle of Haugsn ...

and was the daughter of Arnór Ásbjarnarson and sister of Kolbeinn Arnórsson. She was the first woman in Iceland to receive a formal academic education and to serve as a teacher. Ingunn Arnórsdóttir was a student at the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

school of Bishop

Jón Ögmundsson Jón Ögmundsson or Ögmundarson (; 1052–23 April 1121), also known as John of Hólar and St. Jón Ögmundarson or Ögmundsson (), was an Icelandic Catholic bishop. In 1106, the second Icelandic diocese, Hólar, was created in the north of Ice ...

(reign 1106–1121) at Hólar. She was the only female student at the school and the first woman in Iceland to study Latin and have an academic education. After having completed her studies, she became a teacher at the school. She is said to have taught many Icelandic men, two of whom later became

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. Jóns saga ins helga mentions Ingunn Arnórsdóttir in a description of the students who attended the school at Hólar. She is described as a young, orderly, female student called Ingunn who was in every way an equal to the male students, and a generous teacher who taught many students grammar. She is also said to have sewed and done various other handiwork related to the Saints' sagas. Ingunn Arnórsdóttir was also one of the sources for Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar, a biography of the Norwegian King

Olaf Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken ( Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King ...

, written by the 12th century monk Oddur Snorrason at Þingeyrar. In 2017, The Reykjavík city executive council decided to name one of the streets in Vatnsmýri designated for student housing ''Ingunnargata'' after Ingunn Arnórsdóttir.

References

Further reading