Q&A
Nancy Marie Brown disproves the myth that Viking women stayed at home while the men went to fight
What evidence, both archaeological and literary, do we have for female Viking warriors?
In 1878, on the Swedish isle of Birka, an archaeologist unearthed a Viking warrior seated on a saddle surrounded by weapons. For over 100 years, this burial, numbered Bj581, was considered the ultimate Viking warrior’s grave. In 2017, DNA tests proved the bones were female.
Five years earlier, in 2012, near the village of Hårby in Denmark, an intricately detailed figurine of gilded silver, about an inch tall, in the shape of a woman carrying a sword and shield was discovered. Similar depictions have been found throughout northern Europe.
These archaeological finds mirror the dozens of women warriors found in medieval Icelandic and Old Norse histories, laws, sagas, poetry, and myths. But the manuscripts containing these texts were written in the 1200s about women who lived 200 to 400 years earlier. Some of these women are mythological and some are real – but I don’t think we can always tell those categories apart.
The archaeological finds also require interpretation. We can’t say if the images showing a woman with weapons are meant to represent real people or mythological valkyries. We can’t even say, with 100 per cent certainty, that a body buried with weapons was a warrior. But if Bj581 cannot be called a warrior’s grave, then neither can any other Viking burial with weapons.
Who are some famous examples of female Viking warriors?
My favourite warrior women in the Icelandic sagas are the two Hervors in The Saga Of Hervor and Thornbjorg in The Saga Of Hrolf Gautreksson. The first Hervor opens her father’s grave to retrieve his heirloom sword. She is described as “strong as a man” and it is stated that “as soon as she was able, she practised more with a bow and a sword and shield than at sewing or embroidery.” Then, “taking a warrior’s gear and weapons, she went alone to a place where there were some Vikings.” She joined their band and “after a little while … became the leader.” The second Hervor commands the border fortress between the Huns and the Goths. She is said to be happier in battle than other women were when chatting with their suitors. She goes down fighting and is avenged by her brother.
Thornbjorg also grew up practising martial arts and a
