In the summer of 874 CE, Vikings burned the halls of Asbjorn Skerryblaze, Jarl of the “Southern Isles,” the Hebrides. The raiders killed the jarl and his companions, but only after they enslaved the women and children of the jarl’s household. One of those enslaved was Asbjorn’s young daughter, Arneid. In a single night, Arneid lost her family, her home, and her nobility, freedom, and honor, but this was not the end of her story. Arneid survived the brutality, isolation, and despair of enslavement to find love, wealth, and honor regained; she would become a central figure in one of the most important families in eastern Iceland during the Viking Age. Yet, we know almost nothing about her. Arneid appears briefly in only two sources, Landnámabók and Droplaugarson Saga, and to date, she has received little scholarly attention. This lecture explores Arneid’s world and considers themes of honor and shame, and of nobility and slavery. It follows her incredible journey across the stormy North Sea from the Southern Isles to the interior of Scandinavia, and then to Reydarfjord in eastern Iceland. Hers is a story of a tragic fall and a dramatic rise.
