2015jarl

Aud married the Norse king of Dublin, Olaf the White, and they had a son, Thorsteinn the Red. Thorsteinn with Sigurd the Mighty won half the lands of Scotland through war but was treacherously murdered in Caithness and Olaf was killed in battle in Ireland.
Worried about what would happen to her, Aud took matters into her own hands and hatched a plan, gathered her kin, slaves and friends, including many men of high birth, and left Ireland for Scotland where over the winter, in a forest, they secretly built a longship. Once ready she gathered her wealth, family and friends and set sail first of all for Orkney. She stayed there awhile and married off one of her many granddaughters, Gro, from whom the Jarls (Earls) of Orkney descend. She seems to have skipped Shetland for some unknown reason and sailed straight to the Faroe Isles where she married off another granddaughter, Olof, from whom the Gate-Beards are descended.
Aud left the Faroes in good weather to travel finally for Iceland. After overwintering with her brother Bjorn, she set off to secure land throughout the Breiðafjörður region of western Iceland and had a great house built there, called Hvamm. She gave freedom and lands to those who had stood by her and made the journey to Iceland saying to them, "Now you shall be rewarded for all your work, for now I do not lack means with which to pay each one of you for your toil and good-will." She lived well and was held in high esteem with many seeking her advice throughout her life.

As she approached old age, she decided that her grandson, Olaf "Feilan" the youngest of Thorstein's children, would be her heir. He was strong and wise and Aud loved him dearly but thought it was time he settled down and got married. He took this on board and Aud provided a lavish wedding feast and invited many guests from near and far. On the first day of the wedding, she greeted her guests with great courtesy but retired early telling everyone to have a good spree and drink up! The next day when Olaf went to wake her, he found her dead. The year was 900AD. Aud, with her treasure, was laid in a ship in a cairn: one of the first and most important settlers of Iceland had passed into legend.
Aud may not have been a rampaging berserker but she was a leader of people, a settler of lands and a fair and dignified ruler, certainly a historical figure featured in many of the sagas and one that left her mark in many lands of the Viking world.

When I first set out on this road in October 2010, I knew exactly who I would represent when the big day came. As news got out, many people suggested to me that this admirable lady would be a suitable choice for me to portray. Aud was born around 830AD in Raumsdal, Norway, to powerful military leader, Ketill Flatnefur (Flatnose) Bjarnarson and his wife, Yngvid Ketilsdottir. Like many at the time, Ketill wasn't keen to stay and bend the knee to King Haraldr Finehair so while two of his sons sailed for Iceland to settle there, Ketill and the rest of his house, including Aud, made for Scotland where he became King of the Hebrides.