She completed a Candidate's degree in 1969 and enrolled the same autumn in the University of Göttingen in Germany to study linguistics and comparative grammar.
Alongside her studies in Germany, Guðrún was hired to oversee the Arkiv für Gewässernamen Deutschlands for the Academy of Science in Mainz.
[1] During her career, Guðrún has held many positions related to her field and written numerous academic papers for domestic and international conferences and journals, as well as having given around 200 lectures in Iceland and abroad.
[1] Her projects have primarily been focused on three areas: the history of vocabulary, loan words in Icelandic, and the study of personal names.
[5] The articles Áhrif Biblíunnar á íslenskar nafngjafir[6] and Das isländische Personennamensystem[7] are examples of her work in the third area.
Guðrún has also written several articles about Icelandic Biblical translations, e.g., Breytingar Guðbrands biskups á Nýja testamenti Odds Gottskálkssonar.
From 2005 to 2009, she collaborated on the series Vítt og breytt for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service collecting regional dialect vocabulary and words from the spoken language.
As a representative of the University Dictionary, she sat on a committee for the creation of a KWIC index for the Bible in 1981, holding the position of project manager.
She was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon on 17 June 2007 for her work in lexicography and study of the Icelandic language.
[19] She was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in 1991 for the book Nöfn Íslendinga, along with Sigurður Jónsson from Arnarvatn.
She was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize in 2005 for the work Íslensk tunga I-III, along with Höskuldur Þráinsson and Kristján Árnason.