Viking Women of the Viking Age

Viking Women of the Viking Age: There were great differences between women and men in the Viking Age. The Viking women still had a much stronger position than what women had elsewhere in Europe at this time.

The women’s work and social position were primarily linked to the family and the farm. As a housewife and chief in charge of the household of a family, she certainly had a lot of power. The symbol of this was that she was handed the keys to houses and chests where the family’s food supplies and valuables were kept. When many of the men of the Viking Age were traveling, she also had to make decisions that were normally within the man’s area of ​​responsibility.

Farm and land were the very foundation, also in the maritime Viking society. Therefore, marriage was first and foremost a political and economic agreement between families. (See Love)

But – women could also do things that were not related to farming and women’s crafts. They could be priestesses and craftsmen. They could trade and be poets. Maybe they were also warriors?

The Strong Viking Women of the Viking Age Saga

In the sagas we meet strong, proud and independent women, many of whom are described as strong-willed, manipulative and uncompromising. It seems that they have been brought up to be both self-conscious and power-hungry. At the same time, we see that young women are being married off to confirm alliances between families. One would think that they had received an upbringing that emphasized obedience and self-sacrifice.

It may seem that there is a contradiction between these two roles that the Viking women should fit into. Are these two completely different role models? Or could it be that the gender roles in the Viking Age were much more complex than one gets the impression through the picture that is usually drawn of the people who lived 1000 years ago?

Runestone in Gävleborg County There were female rune carvers. This is toasted by Gunnborga, (Photo Wikimedia Commons)
Runestone in Gävleborg County
There were female rune carvers. This is toasted by Gunnborga, (Photo Wikimedia Commons)

SOURCES THAT CAN TELL ABOUT THE WOMEN OF THE VIKING AGE:
– Runestones
Both initiative and power were required to raise runestones. Nevertheless, we see that many rune stones are erected by or for women, but fewer than those erected by and for men.

In Denmark there are about 220 rune stones. 23 of these were erected by a woman. 11 is erected in memory of a woman. In addition, there are stones that women have traveled with men. On the runestones, women are in most cases praised for virtues other than men: Men are praised for warlike endeavors or long journeys. Women are praised for skilled housekeeping and other traditional women’s pursuits.

At Dynnasteinen, Gunnvor wrote about his young daughter Astrid: “Gunnvor , Thrydriksdatter, made a bridge in memory of her daughter Astrid. She was the most skilled girl in Hadeland. ”
On another runestone, Odinisa receives these words of remembrance from her husband: “No better housewife will come to Hassmyra to look after the farm”
Ramsundberget runestone says that: Sigrid made this bridge, Alrik’s mother Orm’s daughter, for the soul Holmgers Sigröd’s father her husband. ”
Runestone on Rimsø: (approx. 900) tells that: Thore, Enride’s brother, erected this stone after his mother. The death of a mother is the worst thing that can happen to a son.

We also know the name of a woman who was a rune artist herself, Her name was Gunnborga. «Åsmund and Fartegn they erected this stone after Torkel, their father, on Vattrång. Gunnborga the Good carved this stone ”. (Gävleborg County)

– Artistic forms of expression such as:
Carvings, jewelery, tapestries, tapestries etc. can give us a picture of women and their lives.

– Foreign contemporary sources
There are some foreign contemporary accounts that describe Viking women. Most of them, both Western and Eastern, are shocked by the freedom that Scandinavian women have.
More about this under LOVE MARRIAGE )

From Njål’s saga. Gunnar meets Hallgerd at the court. (Ill. Andreas Bloch)
From Njål’s saga. Gunnar meets Hallgerd at the court. (Ill. Andreas Bloch)

– The legislation and the parliament
The oldest parts of the legislation were not written down until the 1000s, but the legislation is conservative and has elements that go far back in time. The parliament was the legislative and judicial power.

The Althing was an old institution that existed long before the Viking Age. It was a kind of public meeting for a limited area, for example a settlement. All free men had a duty to attend the trial. Women and disabled men could meet if they wanted to. This also had practical reasons. Scattered settlements and large distances meant that some had to stay at home on the farm even though the thing was set. And – the farm and the household were the responsibility of the women.

Eventually we got Lagting which applied to a larger area. It then became impractical for so many to travel over large areas, and representatives, or “envoys”, were chosen. This probably happened in Håkon the Good’s time, in the middle of the 10th century, and it may have been at this time that women’s “voting rights” disappeared. Nevertheless, it was the case that a widow could take on public office and attend the Lagting instead of her husband.

According to the law, Scandinavian women had more rights than women elsewhere in Europe at this time. However, they did not have the same rights as men.

ex:
– A king could be accepted as a royal subject, even if it was only royal ancestors on the mothers’ side.
– Women could inherit land from their children who died without descendants.
– A woman could also inherit land from her parents, even if she only got half as much as
their brothers. This is probably because the woman also received a dowry from her parents.
– This dowry she brought with her into the marriage. The man gave her a similar sum in
morning gift. Both became the woman’s property in the event of a divorce.
In Harald Hårfagre’s saga we hear that the young Gyda refuses to marry Harald before he has
In Harald Hårfagre’s saga we hear that the young Gyda refuses to marry Harald until he has “united Norway into one kingdom”
(Harald Hårfagre’s Saga, illustration in Werenskiold)

Already Harald Hårfagres gave the law the most severe punishment for rape. He also banned prostitution. For her sake, he immediately protected the honor of all women by issuing a law punishing rape with land grabbing, or a fine of sixty marks that repealed the outlay. (…)

Harald also ordered that all free-born women who had worked as prostitutes should be taken to the royal court. He punished them with bondage until they could afford to buy themselves free. For each of them, it cost three brands of the same value. This is how those who wanted to be honorable could be. No one could exceed the limits of decency without punishment. ” (Historia rerum Norwegicarum)

– Myths and religion
Norse mythology is full of women. There are eyes, mists, witches, valkyries, gygres and gydjer etc.

As spies, women could stand for priesthood on an equal footing with men. Also as wolves, a kind of female shaman, they were highly respected. It was Frøya who taught the art of sorcery and divination to the gods. Both men and women could practice silk magic, but usually these arts were performed by women.

– Sagas and quatrains
The sagas describe women as strong, proud, independent and vindictive. In the saga, we also meet women who urge men to take revenge to maintain the family’s honor. An example is Sigrid Skjalgsdatter who gives the spear Selshevneren to Tore Hund:

This figure found in 2009 is called Odin from Lejre. Is Odin dressed in women’s clothing? Or could it be Frigg or Frøya sitting in the high seat Lindskjalv? Grimnismål says that
This figure found in 2009 is called Odin from Lejre. Is Odin dressed in women’s clothing? Or could it be Frøya or Frigg sitting in the high seat Lindskjalv? Grimnismål says that “Odin and Frigg sat in Lidskjalv and looked like wolves all over the world.” (Photo Wikimedia Commons)

“Here is the spear that stood through Asbjørn, my son, and there is still blood on it, so it will be easier for you to remember how it is in the wound you saw on Asbjørn, your nephew. If you want to make a vessel piece now, then let this spear go out of your hands so that it would stand in Olav Digre’s chest. And I say that, you should be every man’s niding if you do not
avenges Asbjørn. “- This spear came next to pierce St. Olaf.
But the women themselves were not in danger of losing their lives due to questions of honor. On the contrary; a man who laid hands on a woman had lost her honor and brought shame on her family.

Sometimes it also happened that the women avenge themselves, as in the story of Hallgerd and Gunnar from Lidarende in Njålssaga:
Enemies have surrounded the farm. Gunnar manages to keep them from life with his bow, but then the bow string breaks. Gunnar asks to get two locks from Halgerd’s head to make a new bow string. She then reminds him that he once gave her a slap, and refuses to give him any of his hair. Gunnar accepts this, and thus he is killed.

– Archeology
The archeological material has more men’s graves than women’s graves. However, women’s graves can be as large and as richly equipped as men’s graves, but the grave gifts are different. The women’s graves have equipment intended for female pursuits. Instead of tools, weapons and hunting dogs, the women brought household utensils, textile tools, jewelry and lap dogs on the journey to the next life.

And the richest tomb we know from the Viking Age belongs to a woman: the Queen of Oseberg

WOMEN IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL
The saga has little information about the earliest part of the Viking Age. Here the graves are our best source of knowledge about gender roles. The dead receive grave gifts that can indicate what he or she was doing while they were alive. We must nevertheless face the fact that archeology can also give us a picture that does not correspond to reality:

Grave gifts from Sweden’s richest grave, the women’s grave from Tuna, approx. 300 AD. (Photo Gunvor Jansson, Statens historiska Museum, Stockholm)
Grave gifts from Sweden’s richest grave, the women’s grave from Tuna, approx. 300 AD. (Photo Gunvor Jansson, Statens historiska Museum, Stockholm)

– Usually we use the objects found in a grave to determine if the deceased is a man
or woman. This is called archaeological gender determination.
– Only a few people with high status were buried with rich burial gifts in large burial mounds.
This means that we know little about the lives of ordinary people.
– If we find then find rich women’s graves, this should be a strong indication that
this woman held a high position in society.
( See: Frans-Arne Stylegar: Grave and kinship in the Iron Age).
Let’s take a look at what archeology can tell us about the development of women’s status:

– Younger Roman times and migration period (200 – 500 AD): The
grave material from these centuries before the Viking Age gives an indication that in several places in Scandinavia we have more and richer female graves than male graves.

Man’s graves: The quality of the grave gifts seems to be lower the older the man is.
Gauseldronningen, Stavanger, from about 850, One of Norway’s richest women’s graves. Ill: Ragnar Børsheim
Gauseldronningen, Stavanger, from about 850, One of Norway’s richest women’s graves. Ill: Ragnar Børsheim

The women’s graves: The richest graves belong to women who are between 50 – 60 years old. This may indicate that the status of women increases with age.
In the Iron Age, also in Viking times, young girls were given away as gifts to confirm alliances between families. The most expensive gift a chief could give away was his own daughter.
But – when we see that the richest graves belong to well-adult women, this is a strong indication that these women must have had a different foundation for their status and power than just being a valuable “gift”.

– Viking Age

First part of the Viking Age: It looks like there are as many female graves as male graves.
In the middle of the Viking Age: Only every 4th grave can with certainty be said to belong to a woman.
Based on this, it seems that women from the middle of the Viking Age had to have a higher status than men in order to have the type of burial that is reflected in the archaeological material. This may indicate that women during the Viking Age generally had a lower status than they had before.

Others believe that this may be due to changing fashions; it may be that the bowl buckles that are normally used to determine women’s graves, gradually went out of fashion throughout the ninth century. Some have also suggested that fire burials at this time may have become more common for men than for women.

(In the last part of the Viking Age, people were not buried with grave goods because Christianity was introduced.)

– Archaeological gender
determination Sex determination is usually made through the grave goods that the deceased has received, among other things because there are often few or no skeletal remains left in the graves.

Double grave from Gerdrup; Denmark (1981). To the left, a man lying with his hands and feet tied. He is probably a male slave who was sacrificed. To the right is a woman buried with a spear and a knife. (Christensen & Bennike 1983)
Double grave from Gerdrup; Denmark (1981). To the left, a man lying with his hands and feet tied. He is probably a male slave who was sacrificed. To the right is a woman buried with a spear and a knife. (Christensen & Bennike 1983)

Graves interpreted as male graves : Those that contain, for example, weapons, riding equipment, forging equipment, ring pens.

Graves interpreted as female graves : Those that contain, e.g. bowl buckles, brooches, necklaces with many pearls, keys
Graves that are interpreted as a double burial with man and woman : Those that contain both “female” and “male” objects.
In Scandinavia, many graves have been found that contain both male and female objects, including bowl buckles together with weapons. Such graves are normally interpreted as being a double burial where a man and a woman are buried together.

But what if a woman died and was buried with a weapon about 1100 years ago? If we found her grave, she would probably be classified as a man.

– Crossing gender boundaries?
But sometimes we find graves that force us to reconsider our ideas about gender roles in the Viking Age. Sometimes the archaeological material shows that both men and women could cross gender boundaries.

– DNA examinations of skeletons
By carrying out osteological examinations (DNA analyzes) on the grave material instead of determining the sex of the graves based on objects, the researchers have identified:

– male skeletons with female grave goods
– female skeletons with male grave goods
Men have even been found buried in women’s clothing. Why? Were they transvestites? Were they shamans? We do not know. (See: Tina Lauritzen and Ole Thirup Kastholm: Transvestite Vikings?

The sagas tell of women who went on Viking expeditions and voyages of discovery. Here Frøydis in Vinland as she is portrayed in the saga museum in Iceland.
The sagas tell of women who went on Viking expeditions and voyages of discovery. Here Frøydis in Vinland as she is portrayed in the saga museum in Iceland.

WOMEN IN MALE-DOMINATED PROFESSIONS
Sources can also tell about women who broke gender barriers and engaged in «atypical female occupations».

Viking Women of the Viking Age: Women who travel and trade

The
saga The saga tells that women could take part in Viking expeditions. The most infamous of these long-distance women was Frøydis, Eirik the Red’s daughter. She took the initiative for one of the wine country trips. When some native peoples attacked the settler families, the Vikings fled, including the men. But Frøydis, who was pregnant, bared her breasts, sharpened her sword against her chest and howled in a war. The attackers were so frightened that they fled.

Another example is the settler woman Aud the deep-seated. Like men, she led an expedition and found land in Iceland, and in the same way as men, she gave land to her companions. She behaves in every way as the head of the family.

Rune stones
A runic inscription on a stone slab at Ryssgraven in Sweden states that: «Ingerun, Hård’s daughter, had the runes carved after herself. She wanted to go east and out to Jerusalem. Foot carved the runes. ”

The stone slab at Ryssgraven was destroyed around 1850 when a road was made in the area, but fortunately a drawing was made before the destruction took place.

– Archeology The archaeological material shows that women traveled as far as Greenland and Russia. We usually say that these women joined their husbands on the Viking expeditions, although the saga tells of women who themselves took the initiative for long journeys.

Celtic reliquary with the inscription Ranuaik a kistu. (Photo Christer Hamp)
Celtic reliquary with the inscription Ranuaik a kistu. (Photo Christer Hamp)

A Celtic reliquary, found in Norway, (now in the Copenhagen Museum), has a runic inscription that says that: Ranuaik a kistu (Ranveig owns the casket).

The runic inscription does not mention any man. Nevertheless, the common interpretation is that a traveling Viking has brought the casket to his wife back home in Norway. But maybe Ranveig himself had been on the Isle of Man and got hold of the casket?

In Scandinavia, women’s graves with bowl weights and weights have been found. Such scales were used to weigh precious metals and spices. The women in these tombs were probably “traders.”

Viking Women of the Viking Age: WOMEN AS WARRIORS
Women who fight are described in Norse literature as Valkyries or shield maidens .

– Some were heavenly beings, such as the Valkyries in Valhal.
– Others were half heavenly, half earthly, ie earthly women with supernatural powers.
We often meet them in heroic jokes and in ancient sagas.
– Still others were earthly women who dressed in men’s clothes and fought like men.
The words valkyries and shield maidens are often used interchangeably, also in Norse literature, but originally they must have meant a difference.

Valkyries were probably originally used for divine women warriors, or preferably the Valkyries Odin sent to the battlefield to retrieve the fallen. (You never hear that Odin’s Valkyries are really fighting). The word Valkyrie means “he who chooses the fallen” (GN valkyrja, from the word valr (the fallen) and GN kjosa (choose)

Woman driving a carriage, picture stone from Gotland.
Woman driving a carriage, picture stone from Gotland.

Shield maidens may have been used about earthly female warriors. The word Skjoldmøy simply means «woman with shield / woman who fights » (GN skjaldmær , of skjald (shield) and mær (møy)

The goddess of love Frøya was seen as the foremost of the Valkyries. She arrived at the battlefield in a carriage pulled by cats. Here she selected half of those who had fallen in battle and took them home to Folkvang. The other half, those that Frøya did not want, got a place at Odin in Valhall.

– Skjoldmøyer – poetry or reality?
Valkyries and shield maidens were certainly part of the mental universe of the Viking Age; we meet them both in literature and in art. But did these female warriors exist in reality?

Today we usually say that shield maidens, as well as Valkyries, are just mythical figures, and that we should rather ask the question: Why did the myth of these female warriors arise?

Although we do not like the idea of ​​the Scandinavian “warrior woman”, we must take into account that there are not many centuries that separate the Viking Age and the migrations, as Germanic tribes roamed with children and women as (involuntary) participants in battles both against the Romans and against each other. We should therefore not completely disregard the fact that even in the Viking Age there were some women who were “shield maidens”.

The Oseberg carpet that was found together with the Oseberg ship is a visual story of a religious procession. Many of the figures, including women, carry spears. Why? Are they female warriors?
The Oseberg carpet that was found together with the Oseberg ship is a visual story of a religious procession. Many of the figures, including women, carry spears. Why? Are they female warriors? (Ill. Pinterest)

– Female warriors in the literature ·
Sagas and skull poems tell colorful stories about female warriors. One of them is Sigrdrifa. The name means “he who gives victory”. She appears in the legendary circle around Sigurd Favnesbane, and in some places is also called Brynhild.

– Sigrdrifamál
The poem Sigrdrifamal tells about the valkyrie Sigrdrifa. Valkyries had the power to decide who would win a battle, and Sigrdrifa had, against Odin’s wishes, given victory to a young chief. Odin punished her for eternal sleep up in Hindarfjell.

Sigurd Favnesbane rides up to this mountain. He sees a strange light that reaches all the way to the sky. As he approaches, he can see a tower of shields, and inside this “shield castle” lies a sleeping man, surrounded by his weapons. Sigurd removes the helmet and sees that the warrior is not a man, but a woman wearing a chain mail that seems to have grown stuck in the skin. Sigurd cuts up the chain mail with his sword, and Sigrdrifa wakes up.

Brynhild wakes up and greets the day. (Illustration by Arthur Rackham)
Brynhild wakes up and greets the day. (Illustration by Arthur Rackham)

Sigurd asks her to tell him what he should do to become wise. Sigrdrifa starts by praying. This is the only prayer that has been handed down to us from prehistoric times. And it’s not at all a well one would expect to hear from a warrior:

All day,
all day’s sons, all
Night with near guilt
With gentle eyes
on us they should
sign us sitting here!

Whole aces , whole faces, heal
you holy earth,
goals and wisdom know
me and you generous
and healing hands in life . (From Sifrdrifamál )
Then Sigrdrifa takes a horn and gives him the memorial drink. She talks about the magic of the runes, and about what qualities a hero must have. These too are of a spiritual and intellectual nature; wisdom, eloquence, poetic ability, ability to heal and cure disease. (See Sigrdrifamal )

“Valkyrie” by Peder Nicolay Arbo, 1880, National Gallery

– Saxo , Danish historian, writes like this about shield maidens:

In ancient times, women were given among the Danes, who transformed their feminine beauty into a masculine being and spent almost all their time on warlike sports, so that their bravery would not be dulled by the contagion of opulence.

For they hated every kind of lustful life, and yet hardened body and soul by endurance and exertion, and renouncing the softness of all female weakness, they compelled the female soul to succumb to male cruelty, and so eagerly put on the military that one could tempted to believe they were no longer Women.

It was especially those who had strong souls or were distinguished by slender, tall bodies that used to strike at that life. As if they forgot the vessels in which they were born, and preferred harshness to affectionate words, they offered battle instead of caresses, thirsted for blood and not for kisses, lay down after war rather than the sports of love, and crossed spears in those hands. , they should have used at the loom, thought not of the bridal bed, but of death, and attacked with sharp weapons the men whom they might have delighted with their beauty. (Saxo Grammaticus, Danish Chronicle, circa 1200 AD)
– Foreign accounts of female warriors
There are foreign contemporary sources who tell of female Scandinavian warriors.

“The Red Maiden” That Attacked Ireland
An 12th-century Irish chronicle, The War of the Irish with the Foreigners , tells the story of a female warrior named The Red Maiden. The book gives a list of Viking fleets that attacked Munster in the 10th century. The last of these fleets was led by The Red Maiden.

Riding woman with spear on one of the pillars in Urnes stave church.
Riding woman with spear on one of the pillars in Urnes stave church.

– Female warriors among the Vikings who attacked Byzantine in Bulgaria 971
A Greek historian (Johannes Skylitze) from the latter part of the 1000s, says that the Scandinavian ruler in Kiev attacked Byzantine in 971 where he suffered defeat. The victors were startled when they saw armed women among the fallen Vikings.

– Female warriors in the art The
Oseberg rug that was found together with the Oseberg ship is a visual story about a religious procession. Many of the figures, including women, carry spears. Why? Are they female warriors?

Another example is a riding woman with a spear on one of the pillars in Urnes Stave Church. A third is a small figure of a woman with a sword and shield that was found in Denmark in December 2012. She has been interpreted as a Valkyrie.

– Female warriors in archeology
Sometimes we find some weapons buried with women. This may have other reasons than that the women were warriors. But a few graves can hardly be explained in any other way.

– Skjoldmøya from Aunvoll
One of them is the so-called skjoldmøya from Aune or Aunvoll, North Trøndelag. The grave was found by a farmer who was to cultivate new land. It contained the skeleton of a young woman, about 20 years old. She was buried with complete equipment for a Viking warrior:

A small silver figure of a woman with a sword and shield, found in Denmark in December 2012. She has been interpreted as a valkyrie. Odense Museum, Photo Wikimedia Commons)
A small silver figure of a woman with a sword and shield, found in Denmark in December 2012. She has been interpreted as a valkyrie. Odense Museum (Photo Wikimedia Commons)

– a sword
– an axe
– to spyd
– arrowheads
– the fragment of a shield
(See Lars F. Stenvik. Trøndelags Historie, volume 1. 2005)
– The small shield island from Solør
Another grave was found in Solør, Østfold, in 1900. It is dated to the 10th century. The grave contains the skeleton of a young woman, 18 – 20 years old. She was slenderly built, with a small skull, and was not taller than 1.55 m.

This little woman was buried with a complete warrior outfit:

– et zouget sverd
– an ax – a spear
The ride of the Valkyries (Maleri William T. Maud, 1890)
The ride of the Valkyries (Maleri William T. Maud, 1890)

– 5 arrowheads
– a shield
– the skeleton of a horse
– bissel
– some other tools
(See Per Hernæs. Nickolay, Archaeological Journal, Uio. C 22541 ag)
Why had these women brought so many weapons with them on the journey to the next world? The most obvious explanation is that they were female warriors.

Or: Could it be that the weapons symbolized something, perhaps power? Were the women sacrificed? Could it be that these women participated in the battles as silk women? Literary sources say that magic was sometimes used on the battlefield.

Se:
A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics
Viking warrior women? Reassessing Birka chamber grave Bj.581

VOLVA – FOREIGN WOMAN AND MAGIC
A volve was a kind of highly respected priestess, or a female shaman who used silk to look into the past and future. She was a link between gods and humans. Sometimes volva knew more than the gods. In the well-known poem Volusspå – the wolf’s prediction – we hear that Odin goes to the Volvo to learn about the past and future.

Odin and Volva, (Lorentz Frølich, 1895)
Odin and Volva, (Lorentz Frølich, 1895)

The word itself comes from volr = (magic) wand. We can translate volves to the staff bearer.

– Kraften i seid
There were different types of magic: seiðr, galdr, vardlokk, gandr, útiseta, Fjölkyngi, fróðleikr, Sorldómr, gerningar, ljóð, taufr…

It is first and foremost seidr , in addition to magic and cairns we hear about in connection with the wolves. In mythology we hear that it was Frøya who taught the aces the art of sorcery and divination. Both men and women could use seid, but seid was primarily seen as a female trait.

Tacitus (ca. 100 AD) says that “the Germans think there is something sacred about women, something psychic”.

In the hymn “Oddrun crying” we hear galdr (song) being used to help with a childbirth. Borgny is to have children with his secret lover Vilmund. The birth becomes difficult, and her friend Oddrun comes to work. Then the children are born.

(..)

The Seidmen on Skrattaskjær (Ill. Halfdan Egedius in Olav Tryggvason’s saga)
The Seidmen on Skrattaskjær (Ill. Halfdan Egedius in Olav Tryggvason’s saga)

At the knee to the island
mildly she sat down. Rich goal Oddrun,
frame goal Oddrun,
bitter magic
for Borgny ho kvad.

Boy and girl
were then born;
two happy children
got the course to Høgne
– Seidmenn
In Olav Tryggvason’s saga we hear that a fully loaded ship with seidmenn came to Avaldsnes to cast a spell on the king. He captured the Seidmen and had them tied up at Skrattaskjær where they drowned.

Volva Gudrid as she is portrayed in the Saga Museum, in Iceland
Volva Torbjørg as she is presented in the Saga Museum, in Iceland

Men who used seid had to cross the gender barrier in a way that was not always socially and morally accepted. They were called ” argr “, homosexuals. Odin also crossed this gender barrier and dressed like a woman when he used that magic called seid. In Lokasenna we hear, among other things, that Loki mocks Odin by saying that he dressed like a woman and engaged in seiding like a wolf.

“Seiding dei said
on Samsøy you drove,
troll in the volve-way;
i trollkjering-hâm
over the world you went
kjering-gjerd I call that. ”
(See: Brit Solli 2002: «Seid. Myths, shamanism and gender in the Viking Age», Oslo)

– The mighty volva known from sagas, quatrains and myths.
Those who practiced seid could see everything that was hidden in the past and future. They also had power over life and death. They were highly respected but also feared .

In his work of magic, Volvo could use drums and various types of magic songs, such as magic and vardlokk . She could also use herbs to get into a trance. The best known description of such a wolf is by Torbjørg in Eirik Raude’s saga. There she uses songs in a magical ritual to end the famine that is ravaging Greenland.

– Volva in archeology.

Finds from what may be a wolf grave on Øland. An iron rod was found in the grave, among other things. The body was dressed in bear fur, and the woman was buried in a shipwreck that contained sacrificial animals and humans. The National Museum in Stockholm. (Photo Wikimedia Commons)
Finds from what may be a wolf grave on Øland. An iron rod was found in the grave, among other things. The body was dressed in bear fur, and the woman was buried in a shipwreck that contained sacrificial animals and humans. The National Museum in Stockholm. (Photo Wikimedia Commons)

Until recent decades, we have seen little of Volvo in the archaeological material, perhaps because we did not know what to look for? Among the objects that are now believed to characterize a vault is, above all, the staff, which is sometimes made of iron.

It is known approx. 40 graves with poles In Scandinavia, most of these are found in rich graves which show that volva must have belonged to the highest social level in society.

Other objects used to identify a wolf grave are: chairs, feathers, amulets, herbs, carriages, “male” objects such as weapons, and other strange objects – perhaps also horses and dogs.

– Oseberg. Tomb for queen or volve?
The Oseberg funeral is the richest of all burials from the Viking Age. It is dated to 834 AD. Two women were buried in the Oseberg ship.

In 2008, DNA results and X-ray studies showed that the oldest of the two women was around 70 – 80 years old. She has been called the Queen Oseberg, people have thought that she was the grandmother of Harald Hårfagre. New research does not support this theory. She’s too old. She also had a hormonal disease that gave her a masculine appearance. It is unlikely that she could have given birth to a child.

Oseberg wagon and one of the animal head posts. These may have been used in religious processions. (photo Wikimedia Commons)
Oseberg wagon and one of the animal head posts. These may have been used in religious processions. (photo Wikimedia Commons)

The youngest of them was about 50 years old when she died. It has been speculated that she was of a lower class than the older woman, and that she may have been a sacrificed slave. New investigation shows that she died of natural causes. There are no indications that she was of a lower class than the oldest woman. (See Queen Oseberg dies of cancer )

A magnificent funeral like the one in Oseberg will automatically give the impression of royalty. On the other hand, the mysterious circumstances surrounding the burial methods may indicate that one or both of the women were wolves.

– Indications of volve burial in Oseberg The
burial contained perhaps the most characteristic volve symbol; a staff – (or was this a neverlur?)
Among the grave goods were also:
A beautifully carved carriage. We know that such chariots were used for religious processions.
A tapestry that gave a figurative description of a religious procession
Four animal head poles and a rattle. It is possible that these objects were used in religious processions
A chair
Feathers from a pillow
Seeds of cannabis

«Valkyrjens våkenatt». (Edward Robert Hughes,1851 – 1914)

THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD
If in Viking times there were a few women who were shield maidens, then one would expect that there were many “shell maidens” or female poets. But that is not the case. Between the approximately 250 poets we know the name of, only 4 women are called poets in the saga. (Gunnhild kongsmor, Hild Rolfsdatter, Jorunn Skaldmøy, Steingunn).

(Se Judith Jesch, Women in the Viking Age, Woodbridge, Boydell, 1991)

Our contemporaries probably look at making poetry as an appropriate “feminine activity”, but it seems that the people of the Viking Age saw poetry as a masculine skill, perhaps because it was the super-god Odin who taught people to compose?

Another reason may be that the poets were not just poets. They also served as historians, PR agents and journalists. Some of them were warriors as well as poets, and they were in the midst of the dramatic events they later recited.

And if there had been more female poets and saga writers, – then we might have had a more nuanced picture of the women of the Viking Age.