In the fishing village of Garður, at the tip of Iceland’s Southern Peninsula, Una Guðmundsdóttir’s life left a mark that stretched far beyond her small house near the harbour. Born in 1894, Una became both a cornerstone of local education and a national figure for her reputed supernatural abilities.
Early hardship and community roots
Una’s childhood was shaped by loss. Her mother died when Una was only eight weeks old, and her father drowned before her fifth birthday. She and her siblings were taken in by Sigurlaug Sveinbjarnardóttir, with whom Una lived for almost three decades. Loss would visit Una again: years after adopting a daughter named Stefanía Guðríður Kristvinsdóttir, she endured the pain of her early death at just 27.
A pioneering path in Icelandic education
Starting to teach local children when she was only sixteen, Una actively contributed to Garður’s educational landscape while Iceland’s minimum school age remained at ten. She led one of the country’s earliest primary schools, barnastúka Siðsemd nr. 14, first as headmistress for two decades and then as deputy head. Her house, called Sjólyst, became not only a school but sometimes the local library. It was a centre where children struggling to learn found encouragement and older pupils received extra help. Una’s support of community life extended to temperance activism and staging local plays.
Connections beyond the everyday
Throughout her life, Una grew well known for what many considered otherworldly abilities. Locals called her the völva of Suðurnes (the Southern Peninsula), reflecting an ancient Icelandic word for a seer. Her reputation for psychic insight and healing drew neighbours and strangers alike. Children would bring her injured birds to care for, and grown visitors sought her counsel. One book, written in 1969 and swiftly selling out, focused on Una’s extraordinary experiences and brought wide attention to her second, lesser-seen role as a psychic.
Remembering Una’s influence
Although the fate of many old homes in Garður was demolition, local residents saved Sjólyst. Moves to restore it as a museum began with a group formed in 2011, aiming to keep Una’s legacy visible in the town she had shaped. Her story continues to inspire, with efforts underway to document her singular place in Iceland’s cultural history.
