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Auður djúpúðga ('deep-minded') was the only woman to lead a settlement expedition to Iceland. She was considered peerless among women, provident and wise, as witnessed by her epithet. After losing her husband and only son, she sailed to Iceland along with her crew. It is said that her settlement extended across all the valleys of Breiðafjörður in West Iceland. Auður was a Christian and was considered to be particularly noble and generous. She gave large estates in her settlement to her crew and made her home at the current church estate of Hvammur in Dalir.

The most infamous heroine of the Icelandic Sagas was dashing, long-haired and beautiful. Extremely proud, Hallgerd never took orders from anyone. She started a feud with her neighbour Bergthora, and Hallgerd’s husband, Gunnar, had to pay for a slap he gave her with his life. When besieged by his enemies, Gunnar begged his wife for a lock of her hair to repair his bowstring. She refused and he was killed. But what was the source of her epithet? One explanation is that Hallgerd had particularly long legs (langbrok means 'long pants'). Another is that the original meaning of the word is 'long-haired'.

Does her epithet refer to a shawl she wore over her head or shoulders? Along with her husband, Helgi magri ('Helgi the Lean'), Þórunn hyrna settled in Eyjafjörður, Northeast Iceland, and was the first woman to do so. Þórunn was the sister of Auður djúpúðga, the most famous of all female settlers. While Þórunn and Helgi sailed into the fjord, looking for a place to build their farm, Þórunn gave birth to a daughter on a small holm (islet) in Eyjafjarðará river. Their daughter, Þorbjörg hólmasól, was the first native-born resident of Eyjafjörður.