Letter by Guðríður Símonardóttir

This is the copy of a letter sent by Guðríður Símonardóttir (1598-1682), enslaved during a raid by Barbary pirates on the Westman Islands in 1627 and brought to Algeria. The letter is addressed to her husband, Eyjólfur Sölmundarson, who had escaped the slave raiders and was still living in the Westman Islands; he died shortly before his wife’s return. Guðríður was one of 34 Icelandic slaves to be freed in 1636, 27 of whom returned to Iceland. Guðríður Símonardóttir’s letter describing her experiences is the only surviving letter from an enslaved Icelandic woman among the captives, albeit preserved only in a copy. Unfortunately, there is a lacuna in the bishop’s copybook, and only the first leaf survives.