Page 69 - All About History - Issue 58-17

Daughters of Freyja

The debate surrounding the existence of female Viking warriors

ThegraveoftheBirkaWarrior, afemale,notamale.Nowthegame from the Icelandic sa sagas, which are
discovered in 1889, has always been has changed as the evidence calls into factually incorrect ct.
held up as the pinnacle of the male question a long-standing norm — that The Medie e chronicler Adam
Viking fighter. Buried alongside the Viking warriors were all male. of Bremen oke of
remains were gifts of weapons, the The issue is that, despite this “war-like e omen in
skeletons of two horses and a board recent archaeological revelation, there nort rn Sweden and
game. The latter may seem strange is no concrete evidence that shield G mmaticus mentioned
but it is an indicator that the deceased maidens actually existed. To begin eldmaidens,butneit
was a strategist and military leader. with, the old Norse term ‘vikingar’ elaborated further. Then again,
A Viking pendant
The conclusion that the grave itself only applied to men and not there are many cultural references representing Freyja
belonged to a high-ranking warrior to women, so technically there an to shield maidens in Vik
has existed for almost 130 years but be no such thing as a female V nography as well as literature, A hand-drawn illustration of Freyja from a 17th-century
in recent months it has been proven fighter. The majority of inf mation which may one day prove their Icelandic manuscript
that the skeleton is actually that of concerning female warri rs originates true existence.

A sketch of the archaeological
grave of the Birka Warrior
No traumatic or stress injuries
The skeletons of two horses were found. Even if they
were found in the grave, were, they could have been
sacrificed to join the person fromhandling a scythe for
buried in the afterlife. chores rather than a sword.
69

Thewomanwasburied
with a board game,
indicating that she was a
strategic thinker.

Swords have traditionally been
associatedwithwarriorgravesbut
There is worry that the bones
are not concrete evidence that the
tested aren’t the right ones. Found
person was a fighter.
in 1880, they were poorly labelled.

She would also be called upon during childbirth, rituals dedicated to her, which managed d how do we know that Norse women continued
which was a dangerous and uncertain experience even after the adoption of Christianity. It is r to worship Freyja after the decline in paganism?
for Norse women. It was hoped that she would difficult to get to grips with the process of pagan Well, there are a number of places, particularly
protect the mother and child, ensuring that the worship, thanks to the lack of contemporary in Sweden, which we know have names derived
birth would go smoothly. As Freyja was known sources that are available today. Indeed there from or that are associated with Freyja. To choose
for her unbridled sexuality, it is unsurprising that are the sagas where a large proportion of the names in honour of her is a testament to the
she was worshipped for her role in fertility. At information regarding Norse mythology derives goddess’ continuing importance in Norse society
one point, it brought her into conflict with Thor’s from, but they were composed in the 13th and to Norse women as a deity of fertility.
brother, Loki, after he accused her of wanton and century, some 200 years after the conversion to Worship of Freyja was certainly at odds with
incestuous behaviour in Lokasenna, one of the Christianity, and for the most part are inaccurate. Christianity. Not only was she a lingering reminder
poems from the Poetic Edda. This also creates another problem, as the men of paganism, but also her sexually vivacious
Such faith was held in Freyja that women are who wrote the sagas typically failed to pay much reputation went against the Christian ideal of a
believed to have taken part in numerous fertility attention to the subject of female worship — so chaste woman. Young lovers would call upon her