Vilborg Davíðsdóttir (born 3 September 1965,

Þingeyri Þingeyri (, regionally also ) is a settlement in the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland. It is located on the coast of Dýrafjörður fjord in the mountainous peninsula Westfjords (in Icelandic language, Icelandic written Vestfirðir). On ...

) is 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 writer and journalist. She lives in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Education

Vilborg has a diploma in journalism, and a BA in English and

Ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

. She wrote her MA thesis in Ethnology about oral tradition and storytelling.

Career

Much of Vilborg's fiction focuses on medieval European history, often with a focus on women and on Iceland and the surrounding area. Her novels ''The Well of Fates'' (1993) and ''The Witches' Judgement'' (1994) concern a slave in the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

era and are influenced by the

Icelandic sagas The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early elev ...

. Her 1997 novel ''Eldfórnin'' follows a 14th-century nun. Her 2005 novel ''Hrafninn'' explores contact between Norse Vikings and

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

.'''' She has written a

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

about Auður Djúpúðga ( Aud the Deep-Minded), one of Iceland's most famous female settlers. In 2019, Vilborg led a tour of

Tiree Tiree (; , ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and fishing are ...

in the

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

, retracing the path of the protagonist. Vilborg's book ''Ástin, drekinn og dauðinn (On Love, Dragons and Dying)'' (2015), was a more personal story, following her husband's journey with terminal brain cancer, and her first year as a widow, during which both her mother-in-law and her father died as well. Some of her books have been translated and published in

The United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Works

*''Land næturinnar'' (2023) *''Undir Yggdrasil'' (2020) *''Blóðug jörð'' (2017) *''Ástin, drekinn og dauðinn'' (2015) *''Vígroði'' (2012) **Published in English as ''Crimson Sky'' *''Auður'' (2009) **Published in English as ''Audur'' *''Hrafninn'' (2005) **Published in English as ''The Raven'' *''Felustaðurinn'' (2002) *''Korku saga - Við Urðarbrunn og Nornadómur'' (2001) *''Galdur'' (2000) **Published in English as ''On the Cold Coasts'' (2012) *''Eldfórnin'' (1997) **Published in English as ''The Sacrifice'' *''Nornadómur'' (1994) **Published in English as ''The Witches' Judgement'' *''Við Urðarbrunn'' (1993) **Published in English as ''The Well of Fates''

Awards and honours

* Icelandic IBBY * The Reykjavik Educational Council Prize

References

External links

Vilborg's website

Podcast interview
by composer Linda Buckley and producer Helen Shaw Icelandic women novelists Icelandic journalists Davidsdottir, Vilborg Davidsdottir, Vilborg 20th-century Icelandic women writers 20th-century Icelandic novelists 21st-century Icelandic women writers 21st-century Icelandic novelists {{Iceland-writer-stub