Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir was a Norse woman born in Laugarbrekka, Iceland (where this picture was taken), around 980. She traveled to North America, or “Vinland,” with a group of settlers who subsequently returned home due to problems with the indigenous population, but while there Guðríður gave birth to a son, the first European born in North America. The story of her remarkable life and extensive travels is long but pretty amazing and can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudrid_Thorbjarnardóttir

She is best known for her appearances in “The Saga of Eirik the Red” and “The Saga of the Greenlanders,” known collectively as the “The Vinland Sagas” and is revered by Icelanders.

Another picture posted this morning of a lone church set in a desolate landscape: