If you’d listened to the historians and archaeologists a couple of decades ago, they would have said that all the Viking warriors were men, and that any references to female Viking warriors was myth.

It was accepted that, when more advanced methods of determination were absent or unavailable, that a grave belonged to a man it is contained weapons and to a woman if it contained keys. (Really ?)

Then, in 2017 further tests were carried out on a skeleton found at Birka, and it was found to be that of a woman. What was special about the finding was that it had long been ‘known’ that this was a grave of an accomplished  and noble warrior leader. Buried with this warrior was not just a few weapons of the same type, but an array of different types of weapons (a sword, an axe, a spear, armour-piercing arrows, a sax, two shields, two stirrups) indicating that this warrior was skilled with many weapons and so was likely the commander of a group of Vikings.

So, what a surprise it was when it was found to be a woman!

Also buried with this woman warrior, which pointed to her being someone of noble standing, were items such as gaming pieces, dice and the possible remains of a gaming board, as well as one mare and one stallion. Possible shards of a mirror were also found, as well as remnants of an ornate cap

Of course, it was not unusual for women warriors to feature in Norse mythology (as seen in my earlier post here) But these stories were not seen as a reflection of true life. What is being emphasised now, however, is that the roles of women and men in Norse society were not as rigid as once thought. Sure, it appears that women did tend to have more roles associated with the home or base camp. And Viking raiding groups were mainly made up of men. However, the importance of both groups underpinned the success of the whole community, and consequently women held a certain amount of power, particularly when their husbands were away.

So how did misconceptions and assumptions so easily become accepted truths by scientists?

It is quite likely that the Viking stories, handed down to us via the Norse Sagas, had been ‘sanitised’ by the Christian chroniclers. Snorri Sturluson, who wrote a great deal of the source material, did so in the early thirteenth century. He was a Christian, and it is possible that the idea of women in power offended his sense of what was acceptable. Therefore, he may have amended his retelling of the stories, so that his Christian audience was not outraged or offended by the stories.

“The Real Valkyrie – The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women” by Nancy Marie Brown imagines the life of the woman in the Birka grave by attributing to her the character of Hervor in the old Norse poem, the Saga of Hervor. This is a great read which weaves fact and fiction together, as well as adding some wonderful contextual history.

I want to finish with an extract from Hervor’s Saga, reproduced here from Brown’s book.

She was a Valkyrie and rode on the wind and the sea.

She practised more with spear and shield and sword than at sewing or embroidery.

She was a woman hard through and through and a highly expert warrior.

She would do battle in the forefront of the most valiant warriors. Everyone marvelled at her matchless feats.

I am a shield-maid. I was in battle with the King of Gardariki and our weapons were red with blood.as heroes we were widely known – with keen spears we cut blood from bone.

Let’s ride out hard, with naked swords held high, away from here.