Page 68 - All About History 58 - 2017 UK

Daughters of Freyja

Surprisingly, divorce was a relatively easy affair if her husband was away. Even in circumstances the right to inherit property and land.
for the Vikings, for both men and women. Wives where a woman held some form of political A woman who was mistress of her own
had the same rights as their husbands to end their power, perhaps because of her wealth, she was property, or owned her own estate, was
marriage and they were often the ones to initiate still responsible for the running of the home. That known as ‘the lady of the house’ in reference
a divorce. A woman could request a divorce if she being said, it was also women who held absolute to Freyja, whose name literally meant ‘the lady’,
caught her husband wearing feminine clothing authority when it came to the household and so in honour of her popularity.
and, in turn, he could divorce her if she wore they still exercised influence in this way. Along with running the household, a woman
masculine clothing. In some cases, a marriage The situation was slightly different for widows, was also expected to provide her husband with
could be ended if a wife and her husband had especially those of a high status. These women children. For this reason, sacrifices to Freyja
not slept together for three years or, quite simply, had the right to marry whoever they wished and formed part of the wedding ceremony in the hope
because the couple were unhappy. could distribute their wealth however they saw that the goddess would bless the newlywed couple
The most popular reason that was cited in the fit. It was not uncommon for aristocratic widows with fertility. The sacrifice was usually a sow, the
sagas for divorce was violence — if a man slapped to be able to support themselves as women held animal associated with Freyja.
his wife three times in front of witnesses, she
could go for a divorce. Compared to modern court Freyja had her own hall where
proceedings, Norse couples simply had to state those who died in battle could go
their reasons in front of witnesses before it was
officially confirmed. The division of property was
also an easy process as each party essentially left
the marriage with what was originally theirs.
Although Norse women had a substantial
level of independence when it came to marriage,
they were still in an inferior position compared
to the men in their society. It is easy, with sagas
depicting tales of Freyja, shield maidens and
strong, fierce women, to fall into the wishful trap
that women held in a far more superior position
than would be expected of the time.
Regardless of her greater freedom in terms of
marriage, a Norse woman’s role was primarily to
manage the household and the farm, particularly
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Freyja, as depicted by
Johannes Gehrts
An illustration
of Freyja that
accompanied
Wagner’s opera
Das Rheingold