Female Viking Warriors

[edyzmedieval]

Yes - they existed. And it's now confirmed by genetics. :knight:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.23308/full



Results

The genomic results revealed the lack of a Y-chromosome and thus a female biological sex, and the mtDNA analyses support a single-individual origin of sampled elements. The genetic affinity is close to present-day North Europeans, and within Sweden to the southern and south-central region. Nevertheless, the Sr values are not conclusive as to whether she was of local or nonlocal origin.

Discussion

The identification of a female Viking warrior provides a unique insight into the Viking society, social constructions, and exceptions to the norm in the Viking time-period. The results call for caution against generalizations regarding social orders in past societies.


Raises a couple of interesting questions about the Viking warrior culture - turns out they accepted women as warriors too. :book:

[spmetla]

Interesting to have it confirmed.

I always assumed they had female warriors anyhow. The pre-christian germanic cultures have too many 'shield maidens' as opposed to damsels in distress that I'd have no doubt that there'd be woman warriors as well. Myths tend to say more about the society them come from and their ideals. Boudicca though of a different culture and time is a good example of a celtic warrior woman, it'd be no stretch to assume the the germanic/scandinavian warrior cultures had the same prior to adopting Christianity.
Don't forget that Freyja was also a goddess of war and received half the dead of battles. The other half went to Valhalla.


I've never thought it as prolific as portrayed in TV dramatizations such as 'Vikings' and 'The Last Kingdom' do.

[El Barto]

There's always Freydis in Grænlendinga saga. But - nice!

[Crandar]

The article is misleading, nothing has been confirmed and it is actually more probable that the woman in the tomb had nothing to do with fighting.
Only thing proved is that a skeleton, of fragile health and with no combat wounds, that may have been buried with weapons belonged to a malnourished woman.

Imo, the results have been exaggerated in a very unscientific manner, in order to attract donators and publicity.

https://www.academia.edu/30959621/People_in_Transition_Life_in_the_M%C3%A4laren_Valley_from_an_Osteological_Perspective

All credit goes to sumskilz and MMFA in TWC.

[Vincent Butler]

Interesting to have it confirmed.

I always assumed they had female warriors anyhow. The pre-christian germanic cultures have too many 'shield maidens' as opposed to damsels in distress that I'd have no doubt that there'd be woman warriors as well. Myths tend to say more about the society them come from and their ideals. Boudicca though of a different culture and time is a good example of a celtic warrior woman, it'd be no stretch to assume the the germanic/scandinavian warrior cultures had the same prior to adopting Christianity.
Don't forget that Freyja was also a goddess of war and received half the dead of battles. The other half went to Valhalla.


I've never thought it as prolific as portrayed in TV dramatizations such as 'Vikings' and 'The Last Kingdom' do.

Probably not as common as some media portrayals, but I would not be surprised if they had some. I would have to read it again, but I have read "Egil's Saga" (I was given the book The Sagas of Icelanders several years ago) and don't remember anything about female warriors in it, so it was probably not the norm. Much of the Saga takes place outside of Iceland, and much is in Scandinavia. Also, outside of the deities, there is not much mention of them in the Prose Edda. Then again, maybe the other Sagas mention them, I have only read the first.

Good points, though, guys about the roles of the females in Norse mythology and their part with battles, especially Freyja. My question is, what does Freyja want with them? Is she creating her own army? Aha! She is planning on seizing power after Odin's army gets destroyed and he killed at Ragnarok!

[El Barto]

Probably not as common as some media portrayals, but I would not be surprised if they had some. I would have to read it again, but I have read "Egil's Saga" (I was given the book The Sagas of Icelanders several years ago) and don't remember anything about female warriors in it, so it was probably not the norm. Much of the Saga takes place outside of Iceland, and much is in Scandinavia. Also, outside of the deities, there is not much mention of them in the Prose Edda. Then again, maybe the other Sagas mention them, I have only read the first.
As I've pointed out, read Grænlendinga Saga and see about Freydis. But any female warriors were the exception rather than the norm in any case.

Good points, though, guys about the roles of the females in Norse mythology and their part with battles, especially Freyja. My question is, what does Freyja want with them? Is she creating her own army? Aha! She is planning on seizing power after Odin's army gets destroyed and he killed at Ragnarok!
Suggested reading (http://montrose.is/sgvy/archives/) (;)).

[Crandar]

https://www.academia.edu/34564381/FEMALE_VIKING_REVISED

[Montmorency]

A critical approach to methodology is important, but more important I think is acknowledging that in archaeology as in textual analysis when we are reconstructing something, whether physical artifact or anthropological projection, we are not learning anything new. Rather, we are applying existing or available knowledge to a coherent picture of the subject. These pictures therefore aren't very stable and we are better off entertaining multiple coherent applicable interpretations simultaneously.

So while competing interpretations and models are available and encouraged, keep in mind that it is difficult to think of an archaeological arrangement that could definitively prove the existence of female warriors or inform us on their exact roles and relations, even as there is no possible arrangement that allows us to reject their existence.