ABSTRACT
According to the manuscript catalogues of the National Library of Iceland, a large number of women's biographies are preserved in the collection: under the keyword ævisögur (life stories/biographies) the names of more than 150 women appear in the catalogues. On closer scrutiny, however, the majority of these turn out to be obituaries or memorial pieces written to commemorate a deceased relative or friend. These accounts generally include information on the family background and descent of the subject and the principal facts about her life, such as details of spouse(s), children and where the subject lived, along with grandiloquent praise of the character of the woman in question. The form of such writings is formulaic, presenting an idealised image of the subject, without providing any insight into how she lived her life. An example of such a biography is Líf-saga Mad. Þuríðar sál. Jónsdóttur (The Life Story of the Late Madame Þuríður Jónsdóttir), written about 1800. Þuríður was born in 1747:
With respect to the daily ways and conduct of this friend to God, the late Madame Þuríður, she was a humble woman and gentle in all her relations, even-tempered, faithful to all, especially those in need; another hand to her honourable husband and an ornament to her home, also a warm and caring mother to her beloved children, and practised the word of God with excellence, having the fear of Him always before her eyes; and revealed herself to be a good God-fearing woman, towards both great and small, far removed from the travails of the world; and for this she was loved by all who knew her. 1
