The Sacred Flame

Ættir: Unn the Mindful and Family Sovereignty

August 01, 2023 Mathias Nordvig Season 1 Episode 7
Ættir: Unn the Mindful and Family Sovereignty
The Sacred Flame
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The Sacred Flame
Ættir: Unn the Mindful and Family Sovereignty
Aug 01, 2023 Season 1 Episode 7
Mathias Nordvig

In this episode we follow in the footsteps of Unn the Mindful, one of the few known women leaders of a settlement in Viking Age Iceland. We explore the reasons her family left Norway for Iceland and what we can learn from her example today. This episode is about family sovereignty: the difference between "family values," a talking point made up by people who want to control our lives, and a sovereign family that defines itself on its own terms without submitting to outside forces. What does it mean to be a member of a family? What does "family" even mean? And how was this all understood in ancient times in the North? 

Show Notes

In this episode we follow in the footsteps of Unn the Mindful, one of the few known women leaders of a settlement in Viking Age Iceland. We explore the reasons her family left Norway for Iceland and what we can learn from her example today. This episode is about family sovereignty: the difference between "family values," a talking point made up by people who want to control our lives, and a sovereign family that defines itself on its own terms without submitting to outside forces. What does it mean to be a member of a family? What does "family" even mean? And how was this all understood in ancient times in the North?