Page 69 - All About History 58 - 2017 UK

Daughters of Freyja

Maidens

The debate surrounding the existence of female Viking warriorss
The grave of the Birka Warrior, a female, not a male. Now the game 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 Mediev l h l d
eval chronicler Adam
Viking fighter. Buried alongside the Viking warriors were all male. of Bremen s spoke of f
remains were gifts of weapons, the The issue is that, despite this “war-like” e” women in
d
skeletons of two horses and a board recent archaeological revelation, there north hern Sweden and
d
game. The latter may seem strange is no concrete evidence that shield Gra rammaticus mentioned d
h
but it is an indicator that the deceased maidens actually existed. To begin shield maid dens, but neither
h ld
b
was a strategist and military leader. with, the old Norse term ‘vikingar’ elaborated f further. Then again,
A Viking pendant
The conclusion that the grave itself only applied to men and not there are many cultural ref ferences representing Freyja
belonged to a high-ranking warrior to women, so technically there ca to shield d k
an
h ld maidens in Viking
l
ll
has existed for almost 130 years but be no such thing as a female Vi Viking iconograph hy as well as literature, A hand-drawn illustration of Freyja from a 17th-century
h h
in recent months it has been proven fighter. The majority of infor ormation which may one d day prove their Icelandic manuscript
h
that the skeleton is actually that of concerning female warrio iors originates true exi istence. .
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

The woman was buried
with a board game,
indicating that she was a
strategic thinker.

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

ve
d to
She would also be called upon during childbirth, rituals dedicated to her, which managed to survive how do we know that Norse women continued
which was a dangerous and uncertain experience even after the adoption of Christianity. It is re lly to worship Freyja after the decline in paganism?
reall
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