Thorey V of Vinland (The Kalmar Union)

Thorey IV briefly reigned over Vinland in the early 17th century. Generally she is regarded as a presiding over a lively and hedonistic court with little or no consequence to the country as a whole, which considering her short reign, has given her a perhaps unjustified reputation. This seems to be coloured considerably by her activities as a princess, which influenced many contemporary accounts, rather than as a queen, and by comparision to the austere and intolerant rule of her half-sister Freydis.

Following Queen Maídis's second marriage, to Eythor Hjaltisson, Thorey and her brother Sigurjón were removed from the royal court and sent to Karantóborg to be educated. The strict-minded Hjaltisson frequently admonished the queen, their protectors and their tutor for imagined 'failings' in their upbringing. But physically distant from the royal court, they were mostly free to indulge in whatever interested them at the time; be it ships and naval warfare in Sigurjón's case, or music, theatre and court life in Thorey's. By the time they were teenagers, Hjaltisson was dead and the Princess and Prince were presiding over a 'merry' court with frequent plays and feasts arranged for visitors. Sigurjón became legendary for his drinking prowess and Thorey too was noted for 'immoderate drinking' as well as a competitive streak. A masque, put on in celebration of Thorey's engagement to Prince Mikkael of Abernakriga in March 1617, descended into a drunken brawl between men of the Lord of Karantóborg and visiting Icelanders, supposedly started by Thorey suggesting Vinlanders could drink more than the Icelanders.

Thorey's relationship with her mother appears to have been good. Although they corresponded frequently (the letters mostly still surviving in the Royal Library) they rarely met following her move to Karantoborg. Letters from Freydis to Thorey show a different relationship, supposedly they never met at all, and Freydis appeared to think it was her duty to save her half-sister and Vinland from eternal damnation. Her letters are full of pleas to ensure all Vinlanders follow the 'word of God', to pursue war against the 'Papists' of Álengiamark and Erie, and to follow a godly path in her own life.

When Thorey succeeded her mother in October 1617 some ministers advocated publicly repremanding Freydis for her 'presumption to dictate the country's business'. Thorey thought this was over the top and merely asked her not to attend the coronation ceremony (which was a small private affair compared to the lavish pomp of modern times). Freydis was heavily pregnant at the time anyway and accepted though did not change the tone of her letters.

The letters increased in volume and length following the Prague Revolt of 1618 (see Fifty Years War). Vinland was nominally part of the Schmalkaldic League even though this body had largely been replaced by the Danish-run Protestant Empire. Thorey was present in Isafjordhur for the 'Bohemia debate' in the Althing during the autumn of 1618 though her presence in the Puritan-dominated chamber was resented by many. Freydis's allies in the chamber urged the queen and nobility to aid the Lutherans. Thorey herself seemed receptive, she planned to address the chamber herself, in armour, much like her great-grandmother Asdis III had done during the Leifian War of Religion, though the dream of gloriously marching on Vienna or Munich was eventually abandoned. Sigurjón, now Admiral of Vinland's navy, laid bare the inadequecies of the fleet; any serious movement of troops across the Atlantic could be intercepted easily by Luxembourg. More realistically a potential seizure of Luxembourg's Carib property was mooted instead, but again this would require considerable preparation. The Althing provided funds for the establishment of a dedicated Admirality and the building of 3 warships.

Thorey's marriage to Prince Mikkael of Abernakriga lasted only three weeks as he died after 'suffering a fit'. She was reported to having been with child from this brief liaison though had a miscarriage. Rumoured relationships with various nobles abounded, and seem likely considering frequent veiled acknowledgements in her copious surviving correspondence. One of the most prominent of her alleged suitors was Mattías Baldursson, Earl of Markland and Vinland's Rigsmarsk. Whilst a princess her court was usually filled with lesser landowners, foreign dignatories (if they decided to venture that far west) and merchants. Once queen she took to a more itinerant lifestyle, moving around the country to stay either at the crown's properties or those of her nobles. Her travelling court naturally became less renowned for excess, noted for dressing more modestly and choosing her companions more carefully. In 1620 the new Danish ambassador Dirich Vinstrup remarked that 'her royal highness was entertaining, playing the cittern well and singing in a very agreeable tone. Though fond of playing games and jokes on her companions she is certainly nothing like the wild tales I have been led to believe. She drinks very modestly'. That same year she asked her favourite writers not to write any more 'frivolities' but instead concentrate on 'morality'. In other words Thorey had seen the change in mood in the country toward austere Puritanism and went with it.

Her efforts to be seen as a 'warrior queen' having failed she turned instead to the spiritual realm. Many of the religious reforms attributed to Freydis were actually initiated during Thorey's reign, such as the Witchcraft Act of 1620 which authorised the establishment of dedicated witch courts separate from established county courts, or the Bible Act of 1619 which banned the printing or distribution of any Bible save for the official 'Vinlandic Bible'.

Thorey would fall ill during an epidemic of scarlet and rheumatic fevers which struck Vinland, Eikland and Kyreyja in the summer of 1620 and, considerably weakened, would die in April 1621. She would be succeeded by her half-sister Freydis.