Steinunn Refsdóttir 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 ...

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

active at the end of the 10th century. Two verses by her are preserved, in which she taunts the missionary

Þangbrandr Þangbrandr was a missionary sent to Iceland by king of Norway Óláfr Tryggvason to convert the inhabitants to Christianity. Snorri Sturluson described him as follows: Origins Þangbrandr's origins are uncertain. In no less than two Icelandic s ...

. The daughter of Refr ''hinn mikill'' ("the Great") and Finna, Steinunn was both descended from and married into a powerful family of heathen priest-chieftains (''goðar''). She was the mother of the skald Hofgarða-Refr Gestsson. ''

Kristni saga ''Kristni saga'' (; ; "the book of Christianity") is an Old Norse account of the Christianization of Iceland in the 10th century and of some later church history. It was probably written in the early or mid-13th century, as it is dependent on the L ...

'' (9) and ''

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta'' or ''The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason'' is generically a hybrid of different types of sagas and compiled from various sources in the fourteenth century, but is most akin to one of the kings' sagas. It ...

'' (216) quote two skaldic verses ('' lausavísur'') in which she taunts Þangbrandr, a missionary sent to Iceland by the Norwegian king

Óláfr 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 ...

, attributing his shipwreck to the gods and especially

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, with Christ having offered no help. '' Brennu-Njáls saga'' (102) has the verses in reverse order and adds that before speaking them, she told Þangbrandr he would be better off becoming a heathen: "'Did you ever hear,' she asked, 'how Thor challenged Christ to a duel, and Christ did not dare to accept the challenge?'" Here her verses are in answer to Þangbrandr's asking her who she thinks wrecked his ship, and she has the last word.Zoe Borovsky. "Never in Public: Women and Performance in Old Norse Literature". ''The Journal of American Folklore'' 112.443 (Winter 1999) . pp. 7–10. These verses are among the few testimonies of pre-Christian skaldic poetry composed by a woman that have come down to us.

References

External links

Steinunn's poetry in the original language.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinunn Refsdottir Medieval women poets Icelandic women poets 10th-century births Year of death unknown 10th-century Icelandic poets 10th-century Icelandic women 10th-century Icelandic people