Born: 834 CE (circa), Norway
Died: 900 CE (circa)
Country most active: Iceland
Also known as: Unn the Deep-Minded, Aud Ketilsdóttir
This biography was originally published in the World History Encyclopedia and was written by Joshua J. Mark. It is shared in line with the Encyclopedia’s policies under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Unn the Deep-Minded (9th century CE, also known as Aud the Deep-Minded and Unn- or Aud Ketilsdóttir) was the daughter of Ketil Flatnose of Norway who fled to Scotland following the rise of Harald Fairhair (r. 850-933 CE) in Norway. When her father and her son Thorstein died she understood her position in Scotland was precarious and went first to the Orkneys in the north and then to Iceland which she explored before settling down. She commanded a crew of men who were so loyal to her that none would enter into marriage contracts which might jeopardize Unn’s property or power.
She presided over her family and lands in southern Iceland literally up until her dying day. On the day of the marriage of her grandson, Olaf Feilan, she oversaw the preparations and service and then retired nobly to her bedchambers where she died in her sleep.