Within The Saga of the People of Laxardal, the power of the land and nature is physically embodied in the independent female characters of the story, which, in accordance with Viking cultural ideas, reflects the link between the earth and the divine feminine. The saga is set in a time prior to the spread of Christianity across Iceland. Despite this, there are still many major religious influences that can be seen within the series. Focusing on the cultural standards for Viking women as it relates to Christian ideas of incarnation reveals the inherent bond between the Christian Mother of God and Pagan Goddesses of the Earth. Philosopher Athanasius regards incarnation as a sort of exchange of energies between God and humanity— “The Word of God came in His own person, because it was He alone, the image of the Father, who could recreate man made after the image” (Athanasius 114). Interests of the Medieval theologian focused mainly on the mystagogical attributes of the Virgin Mary—the Mother of God. By virtue of this, a mixture of intense awe and a deep respect for the Mother formulated into the Christian concept of the divine feminine. Relatedly, Pagan Goddesses of the land held a mystical power that was integrally linked to their position of womanhood. Laxardal women, while none are explicitly mentioned to be land goddesses, exhibit a unique relationship with the physical world as well as the spiritual world. 

For instance, Unn daughter of Ketil-Flat Nose marks the beginning of a long and distinguished bloodline which she caused to take root in Iceland. Much like Moses of the Bible, Unn paved the way for her people, and, in doing so, inexplicably tied her kin to the surrounding landscape. “…People say it is hard to find another example of a woman managing to escape from such a hostile situation with as much wealth and as many followers. It shows what an exceptional woman Unn was” (Laxardal 6).

Power, strength, and an intense care for their community: Gudrun, another woman of the story, exhibits a multitude of these attributes in her character arc. Themes of the overlay landscape are especially evident in the sequence of Gudrun’s prophetic dreams. The dreamworld contains a direct connection to the spiritual world, thus allowing people on the physical plane to reach a higher state of being. Each of these premonitions, so to speak, hold information about the downfall of four future husbands (Laxardal 66). Some whose loss is beyond Gudrun’s control, but others whom she directed the downfall of. In many ways, Gudrun can be seen as quite ruthless, with one of her husbands simply ‘cast to the tide. “People say things have been cast to the tide when they refer to getting rid of possessions and getting nothing in return” (Laxardal 66). It is of no coincidence that through a spiritual pipeline, knowledge of Gudrun’s marriages is made to be a matter of paramount concern. Traditional views of marriage contain much cosmic symbolism and underline the raw natural energy brought about by the union of two people akin the union of the church and Christ. Exploration of Byzantine iconography reveals an unparalleled emphasis on non-essentialist meaningfulness of personal relationships that engage both the ecology and community. Marriage between a man and woman signified a cosmic shift in the nature of personhood for all parties; the flesh of the man and woman becomes one, just as God embodies the complementarity of male and female all at once. In consequence, responsibility and equality of marital partners was much more common in this time period than the modern reader might assume it to be. Along these lines, women were made to elevate their physical and spiritual status through marriage, allowing them to channel the power of the divine feminine through their actions and their livelihoods. 

The Saga of the People of Laxardal encompasses the storyline of multiple generations, thus enabling the reader to follow the shift from Icelandic Paganism to the spread of Christianity throughout the country. As such, concepts of Viking gender norms merged with medieval curiosities surrounding the birth of Christ; the mixture of these concepts highlights the use of divine femininity as a literary theme and manifests into the characteristics and actions of the women of the saga.