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Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World
Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. They protect some, but guide spears, arrows and sword blades into the bodies of others. Viking myths about valkyries attempt to elevate the banality of war – to make the pain and suffering, the lost limbs and deformities, the piles of lifeless bodies of young men, glorious and worthwhile. Rather than their death being futile, it is their destiny and good fortune, determined by divine beings. The women in these stories take full part in the power struggles and upheavals in their communities, for better or worse.
Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological evidence, Valkyrie introduces readers to the dramatic and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland, a culture able to imagine women in all kinds of roles carrying power, not just in this world, but pulling the strings in the other-world, too. In the process, this fascinating book uncovers the reality behind the myths and legends to reveal the dynamic, diverse lives of Viking women.
Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological evidence, Valkyrie introduces readers to the dramatic and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland, a culture able to imagine women in all kinds of roles carrying power, not just in this world, but pulling the strings in the other-world, too. In the process, this fascinating book uncovers the reality behind the myths and legends to reveal the dynamic, diverse lives of Viking women.
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First published April 2, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
June 6, 2022
Not a subject I knew a lot about going into this non fiction. The audiobook was greatly narrated and intensely interesting and emersive to listen to. Find it very informative without feeling info dumping which is a huge plus when it comes to non fiction. Definitely a subject I want to read more about
November 5, 2020
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Full review to come.
You can find my review on my blog: http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...
Full review to come.
You can find my review on my blog: http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...
June 19, 2021
For the most part, the author carefully marshals and weighs evidence and notes how little we know for certain. She tries to observe the limits of what we can know from archaeology, runestones, and myth and sagas reduced to writing much later, by Christian scholars.
She also regularly speculates that Viking women must have been just like us and felt or done or experienced X - often something a bit simplistic and obvious.
So ultimately, while it was fun to see discussion of familiar characters and scenes from various sagas, the overall effect, for me, was not deeply satisfying.
As a side note, I was a little disappointed not to see, in the discussion of old age and death, any discussion of one of my favorite passages from Laxdæla Saga. Olaf Hoskuldsson is his father's illegitimate son by a very favored slave-girl/concubine, Melkorka, who happens to have been an Irish princess by birth. Olaf confirms his mother’s royal lineage and then accompanies his maternal grandfather to Dublin. Inevitably, “the news that the king was accompanied by his grandson, the son of his daughter who had been taken prisoner at the age of fifteen years, caused great stir. No one was more affected by the news than Melkorka’s nurse. Despite being bedridden with old age and illness she rose and went, without the aid of her stick, to meet Olaf. [...] Olaf received her with open arms, set her upon his lap and told her that her former charge was living in comfort in Iceland.” (Laxdæla Saga 309-10). “Tears of joy came to her eyes” on recognizing Melkorka’s tokens, and “her happiness was doubled by seeing this outstanding young son” (310). Moreover, even though Olaf and the king do not remain in Dublin, but go off fighting, “The old woman enjoyed good health for the rest of that winter” (id.).
In this regard, I'd note Friðriksdóttir does, in fact, discuss Olaf's mother Melkorka (who is certainly worth discussing!). While I don't fault her for not including Melkorka's unnamed old nurse, I do think it's a lovely story that shows a tender relationship between a promising young warrior and an ailing old woman he has never met, a woman surely of little importance socially, who are united in their mutual affection for his mother.
She also regularly speculates that Viking women must have been just like us and felt or done or experienced X - often something a bit simplistic and obvious.
So ultimately, while it was fun to see discussion of familiar characters and scenes from various sagas, the overall effect, for me, was not deeply satisfying.
As a side note, I was a little disappointed not to see, in the discussion of old age and death, any discussion of one of my favorite passages from Laxdæla Saga. Olaf Hoskuldsson is his father's illegitimate son by a very favored slave-girl/concubine, Melkorka, who happens to have been an Irish princess by birth. Olaf confirms his mother’s royal lineage and then accompanies his maternal grandfather to Dublin. Inevitably, “the news that the king was accompanied by his grandson, the son of his daughter who had been taken prisoner at the age of fifteen years, caused great stir. No one was more affected by the news than Melkorka’s nurse. Despite being bedridden with old age and illness she rose and went, without the aid of her stick, to meet Olaf. [...] Olaf received her with open arms, set her upon his lap and told her that her former charge was living in comfort in Iceland.” (Laxdæla Saga 309-10). “Tears of joy came to her eyes” on recognizing Melkorka’s tokens, and “her happiness was doubled by seeing this outstanding young son” (310). Moreover, even though Olaf and the king do not remain in Dublin, but go off fighting, “The old woman enjoyed good health for the rest of that winter” (id.).
In this regard, I'd note Friðriksdóttir does, in fact, discuss Olaf's mother Melkorka (who is certainly worth discussing!). While I don't fault her for not including Melkorka's unnamed old nurse, I do think it's a lovely story that shows a tender relationship between a promising young warrior and an ailing old woman he has never met, a woman surely of little importance socially, who are united in their mutual affection for his mother.
April 29, 2020
It somehow seemed fitting that while I was reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, I was offered an Advance Review Copy of this. It almost seemed like fate. Perhaps the Norns were at work!
This is an impressively scholarly treatise about a fascinating topic. The author begins with the same mythological sources that Gaiman's tales are based on: the Elder (or Poetic) Edda and the Younger (or Prose) Edda. She draws from them what they have to tell us about the way the writers viewed the women of the viking age, via their portrayal of Valkyries and goddesses. Later, she mines the sagas and the archaeological evidence to give a picture of the position and lives of women of various social strata.
Much of this is necessarily speculation, as we have no writings from the point of view of the women themselves, but it's thorough and intelligent speculation.
Parts of this book were definitely 5-star, but I've dropped the rating to 4 simply because there is a lot of repetition, which made some sections a bit hard to get through. But overall, it's excellent, and I recommend it to anyone interested in this topic.
This is an impressively scholarly treatise about a fascinating topic. The author begins with the same mythological sources that Gaiman's tales are based on: the Elder (or Poetic) Edda and the Younger (or Prose) Edda. She draws from them what they have to tell us about the way the writers viewed the women of the viking age, via their portrayal of Valkyries and goddesses. Later, she mines the sagas and the archaeological evidence to give a picture of the position and lives of women of various social strata.
Much of this is necessarily speculation, as we have no writings from the point of view of the women themselves, but it's thorough and intelligent speculation.
Parts of this book were definitely 5-star, but I've dropped the rating to 4 simply because there is a lot of repetition, which made some sections a bit hard to get through. But overall, it's excellent, and I recommend it to anyone interested in this topic.
January 12, 2023
Vraiment très instructif et intéressant tout en restant prudent car comme l'autrice le précise, on ne peut que s'appuyer sur les sagas (qui sont donc fantaisistes) et les quelques fouilles archéologiques.
C'est très bien raconté et expliqué, avec une façon de voir moderne... sans être TROP moderne.
De quoi se faire une meilleure (et réaliste) idée sur ces femmes du Nord qui ont, elle aussi à leur époque, souffert du patriarcat tout en ayant pourtant une place majeure voire même fondamentale au sein de la civilisation viking.
C'est très bien raconté et expliqué, avec une façon de voir moderne... sans être TROP moderne.
De quoi se faire une meilleure (et réaliste) idée sur ces femmes du Nord qui ont, elle aussi à leur époque, souffert du patriarcat tout en ayant pourtant une place majeure voire même fondamentale au sein de la civilisation viking.
April 18, 2020
‘The Women of the Viking World’
This book examines the roles that women played in the Viking world. Ms Friðriksdóttir writes about Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that have the power to choose who lives and dies on the battlefield. Viking myths about Valkyries seek to make the pain and suffering of war worthwhile. In these myths, death is not futile, it is divine destiny.
But who were the women of the Viking world? What were their roles, and how can we learn more about them?
‘This book will introduce readers to the diverse and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland. A culture able to imagine women in all kinds of role carrying power, not just in this world, but as we have already seen, as pulling the strings in the otherworld as well.’
Ms Friðriksdóttir draws on historical and archaeological evidence to shed light on the different roles women might have played. There was more to the ‘Viking Age’ than battle and plunder. I enjoyed reading about the different sagas and the different archaeological finds, about the diversity of life. Ms Friðriksdóttir writes a history of women, with chapters reflecting different stages of life. There are six chapters (as well as an introduction and an epilogue):
1. Infancy and Childhood
2. Between Two Worlds: Teenage Girls
3. Adulthood
4. Pregnancy and Childbirth
5. Widows
6. Old Age and Death
And, for those who want more, there is an extensive bibliography and several illustrations.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in women’s history, as well as anyone with an interest in the ‘Viking Age’.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This book examines the roles that women played in the Viking world. Ms Friðriksdóttir writes about Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that have the power to choose who lives and dies on the battlefield. Viking myths about Valkyries seek to make the pain and suffering of war worthwhile. In these myths, death is not futile, it is divine destiny.
But who were the women of the Viking world? What were their roles, and how can we learn more about them?
‘This book will introduce readers to the diverse and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland. A culture able to imagine women in all kinds of role carrying power, not just in this world, but as we have already seen, as pulling the strings in the otherworld as well.’
Ms Friðriksdóttir draws on historical and archaeological evidence to shed light on the different roles women might have played. There was more to the ‘Viking Age’ than battle and plunder. I enjoyed reading about the different sagas and the different archaeological finds, about the diversity of life. Ms Friðriksdóttir writes a history of women, with chapters reflecting different stages of life. There are six chapters (as well as an introduction and an epilogue):
1. Infancy and Childhood
2. Between Two Worlds: Teenage Girls
3. Adulthood
4. Pregnancy and Childbirth
5. Widows
6. Old Age and Death
And, for those who want more, there is an extensive bibliography and several illustrations.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in women’s history, as well as anyone with an interest in the ‘Viking Age’.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
July 15, 2021
Une véritable mine d’or. Un ouvrage d’une érudition folle mais qui parvient à garder la dimension didactique nécessaire à une lecture fluide et passionnante. Les divers épisodes décrits sont contextualisés et résumés pour permettre la compréhension facilitée des néophytes tandis que les différentes thèses avancées sont corroborées par des relevés historiques (archéologiques ou topographiques). Cette lecture, qui m’a pris du temps parce qu’elle a été une lecture active, nécessitant prise de notes et lectures annexes, a été véritablement passionnante du début à la fin. Je recommande à toute personne qui s’interrogerait sur la place (réelle, et non fantasmée) de la femme à l’ère viking.
November 2, 2020
What an informative look into what life was like for women in the Viking Age. I was enthralled by Johanna's writing style and really enjoyed getting to know the myths vs realities of living in this society.
October 15, 2025
The Norse and Viking aesthetic is unfortunately often associated with an uncomfortable brand of hypermasculinity. The antidote of Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir's Valkyrie (complete with runes on the cover that read "smash the patriarchy") is therefore all the more welcome.
At only 200 pages plus references this is a short book to cover such a large and ambitious topic. But as the author notes, when history is largely recorded by men about men, it can be hard to find reliable sources for women's role in society. Friðriksdóttir draws on all available sources, from archaeology to runestones to written texts, and is cautious to take text-based evidence with a pinch of salt. That said, the societal focus of much of the book necessitates heavy reliance on the sagas and there is a tendency to engage a little too much in storytime at the expense of analytical conclusion.
This is a book designed to appeal to a broad market and Friðriksdóttir writes in a clear and accessible style. The organisation of the book into chapters dealing with subsequent stages of a woman's life - birth, childhood, adolescence, etc. - makes it easy to follow and demonstrates that, even with scant information, it is evident that a Norse woman had different roles and expectations placed upon her at different stages of her life.
This would be a good book for anyone looking to dig further into Viking Age Norse culture than what is presented in media. There are some good arguments and reflections that encourage further discussion. As a prompt to consider women in Norse history, this is a valuable book. Ultimately, though, there is more work to be done and I came away without feeling like I had learnt anything really concrete.
At only 200 pages plus references this is a short book to cover such a large and ambitious topic. But as the author notes, when history is largely recorded by men about men, it can be hard to find reliable sources for women's role in society. Friðriksdóttir draws on all available sources, from archaeology to runestones to written texts, and is cautious to take text-based evidence with a pinch of salt. That said, the societal focus of much of the book necessitates heavy reliance on the sagas and there is a tendency to engage a little too much in storytime at the expense of analytical conclusion.
This is a book designed to appeal to a broad market and Friðriksdóttir writes in a clear and accessible style. The organisation of the book into chapters dealing with subsequent stages of a woman's life - birth, childhood, adolescence, etc. - makes it easy to follow and demonstrates that, even with scant information, it is evident that a Norse woman had different roles and expectations placed upon her at different stages of her life.
This would be a good book for anyone looking to dig further into Viking Age Norse culture than what is presented in media. There are some good arguments and reflections that encourage further discussion. As a prompt to consider women in Norse history, this is a valuable book. Ultimately, though, there is more work to be done and I came away without feeling like I had learnt anything really concrete.
December 15, 2024
I love reading about North European history and mythology, especially when it is focused on women and their lives. I wanted to love this book, but the author is captured by gender ideology. Friðriksdóttir stated that ancient women being buried with weapons could be evidence of a transgender identity. This is a gross, misogynistic misrepresentation of women and women's roles in history, conflict, and war to conform to backwards, women-hating gender ideology. Not once does Friðriksdóttir argue the opposite, though - that males buried with beads, fabrics, and household assortment is evidence of a transgender identity (and there have been Viking male graves dicovered with such items). The sex stereotypes of the 1950s is such a foul lens with which to view ancient women through.
Further, Friðriksdóttir turns to Viking myths and legends where women have donned male clothing and names to fight in wars or conflicts or to sail, as further "proof" of transgenderism in Viking societies. Viking society was a misogynistic culture that had rigid sex stereotypes and required that women and girls divorce themselves from their femaleness in order to engage in behaviours and activities outside what was expected of females. In these stories, all the women or girls returned to her femaleness. This happened up until the end of WW2! Women were refused, barred, and beaten out of 'male' activities , job roles, and spaces for millenia. Women cutting their hair short, binding their breasts, and calling themselves "Bob" to achieve a goal or objective didn't make them male. To argue that the women in history who did this to emancipate themselves from their sex stereotyped cages did actually become male is profoundly misogynistic and dimwitted.
I'm so disappointed in this book. Why is women's history rewritten to conform to transgenderism? - A hateful, narrow-minded, backwards ideology that mandates that women and girls are divorced from our physicality and comply with set sex stereotypes lest you be something else. Forcing 21st-century cult ideology on ancient people and societies makes zero sense.
Further, Friðriksdóttir turns to Viking myths and legends where women have donned male clothing and names to fight in wars or conflicts or to sail, as further "proof" of transgenderism in Viking societies. Viking society was a misogynistic culture that had rigid sex stereotypes and required that women and girls divorce themselves from their femaleness in order to engage in behaviours and activities outside what was expected of females. In these stories, all the women or girls returned to her femaleness. This happened up until the end of WW2! Women were refused, barred, and beaten out of 'male' activities , job roles, and spaces for millenia. Women cutting their hair short, binding their breasts, and calling themselves "Bob" to achieve a goal or objective didn't make them male. To argue that the women in history who did this to emancipate themselves from their sex stereotyped cages did actually become male is profoundly misogynistic and dimwitted.
I'm so disappointed in this book. Why is women's history rewritten to conform to transgenderism? - A hateful, narrow-minded, backwards ideology that mandates that women and girls are divorced from our physicality and comply with set sex stereotypes lest you be something else. Forcing 21st-century cult ideology on ancient people and societies makes zero sense.
May 14, 2024
Anyone with an interest in the experience of women in the Viking Age may have already come across a book on the subject by Judith Jesch which really broke the focus on Men during this era of history.
Well this book is a worthy Successor to the same goal and it is a remarkable achievement.
Johanna takes the rather logical route of exploring the lives of Norse Women (across the whole of Scandinavia and Iceland and Greenland) from their childhood and adolescence, into the role of wife and mothers, and ending with their role as the Elderly of the community and household and how they were treated and respected in death.
It is an astounding peice of research, done with passion, written clear and concise and FULL of so many stories found in sagas, poetry, based on archeological finds and even mythology too.
I implore anyone with a feminist interest in history, especially the Viking Age, to read this book.
You will not regret it. Bravo Johanna, Bravo!
Well this book is a worthy Successor to the same goal and it is a remarkable achievement.
Johanna takes the rather logical route of exploring the lives of Norse Women (across the whole of Scandinavia and Iceland and Greenland) from their childhood and adolescence, into the role of wife and mothers, and ending with their role as the Elderly of the community and household and how they were treated and respected in death.
It is an astounding peice of research, done with passion, written clear and concise and FULL of so many stories found in sagas, poetry, based on archeological finds and even mythology too.
I implore anyone with a feminist interest in history, especially the Viking Age, to read this book.
You will not regret it. Bravo Johanna, Bravo!
April 20, 2025
Very interesting read about the life of women Vikings, it tackled pretty much every aspect of everyday life and it was dense but written well enough that it didn't come off as boring.
December 29, 2022
Interesting look at the social expectations and identities of Viking women as portrayed in the sagas and mythology. I had been hoping for more of a practical exploration of how women of different classes would have spent their days, but the book focuses primarily on written sources without much archaeological information.
August 25, 2022
Sentimientos encontrados con este libro. Por una parte, tiene detrás mucho trabajo de documentación y aporta muchísima bibliografía. Por otra, no aporta nada que no esté ya en los libros de Cat Jarman o Neil Price. El principal defecto es que las fuentes que utiliza la autora son mayoritariamente literarias y no arqueológicas. El 90% de ejemplos son textuales y a menudo se convierte en un compendio de paráfrasis de las sagas nórdicas. El problema es que la autora trata de usarlas para reforzar sus hipótesis dejando de lado los ejemplos que harían lo contrario. Utilizar a personajes literarios para extrapolar cómo eran las personas doscientos años antes de que se escribieran esas sagas es... complicado. La autora no obvia este hecho, advierte que las sagas no son fuentes históricas fiables, pero saca conclusiones de ellas de todas maneras.
Me da mucha rabia, porque estoy de acuerdo con la autora, incluso cuando hace juicios de valor. Creo que las mujeres nórdicas tenían más libertad que en otros lugares y que debía haber muchas que lucharan por mejorar su situación. El problema es que no tenemos pruebas de ello y no podemos darlo como cosa hecha en una investigación sin aportar esas pruebas. Especular acerca de cómo se sentían las personas del pasado es bastante complicado. Quiero decir que no podemos saber si quienes construyeron las pirámides estaban felices de honrar al faraón o pensaban que había que comerse a los ricos.
Qué es este libro:
Una recopilación de escenas en las sagas en las que las mujeres tienen una especial relevancia. Como tal, es completo y aporta muchísima información valiosa, especialmente sobre sagas que no tienen traducción al castellano.
Qué no es:
Un estudio detallado de cómo vivían las mujeres en la época vikinga.
En resumen: es un buen complemento a otros libros sobre la materia, pero gran parte de las conclusiones hay que cogerlas con pinzas.
Me da mucha rabia, porque estoy de acuerdo con la autora, incluso cuando hace juicios de valor. Creo que las mujeres nórdicas tenían más libertad que en otros lugares y que debía haber muchas que lucharan por mejorar su situación. El problema es que no tenemos pruebas de ello y no podemos darlo como cosa hecha en una investigación sin aportar esas pruebas. Especular acerca de cómo se sentían las personas del pasado es bastante complicado. Quiero decir que no podemos saber si quienes construyeron las pirámides estaban felices de honrar al faraón o pensaban que había que comerse a los ricos.
Qué es este libro:
Una recopilación de escenas en las sagas en las que las mujeres tienen una especial relevancia. Como tal, es completo y aporta muchísima información valiosa, especialmente sobre sagas que no tienen traducción al castellano.
Qué no es:
Un estudio detallado de cómo vivían las mujeres en la época vikinga.
En resumen: es un buen complemento a otros libros sobre la materia, pero gran parte de las conclusiones hay que cogerlas con pinzas.
December 24, 2021
This is a fantastic examination of the sources from literature and archaeology about the life and role of Viking Age women. My one criticism is that some passages verbatim retell sagas, useful in context, but laborious to read when trying to get to the analysis.
October 15, 2023
The author looks at the lives of women in the Viking era from cradle to the grave. She mostly uses the various sagas to glean information and to compare and contrast how women were represented in the stories. An interesting book.
Read
December 18, 2023This book busts into the myth of the valkyrie, the mythological women selected by the gods to usher only the bravest warriors to the afterlife, were they battle all day and feast all night. Many of these legends are rooted in the real lives of Viking women. This was a fascinating exploration of the intersection of archeology and literature to examine the true experiences that shaped these stories.
August 14, 2022
An interesting introduction to the Viking world through the eyes of women. I would love to read some saga's now
May 20, 2025
This is a very well researched and well presented treatise of Norse culture. It is a fine education for those who choose to read it.
March 30, 2020
It was a fascinating and informative read that made me discover new things about the women in the Viking world and made me think.
It's well researched, well written and it's an engrossing read.
An excellent book highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
It's well researched, well written and it's an engrossing read.
An excellent book highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
August 13, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this read. I have been wanting to read more Norse related fiction or non fiction for some time. This is a beautiful rendition of various real world facts and sagas from the past mainly highlighting the plight and tales of viking women from both the revolutionary new religion of Christianity and the heavy Heath/pagan days.
I found this incredibly insightful as to how viking folk potentially lived and breathed in their time. The way this book is written with its little sub chapters on various categories from children, marriage and death really broke down what life could have been like for the women of its time. The writing i found was not at all dull and was quite fresh to read something factual that was not going to make me fall asleep or loose interest entirely. The references to some modern day, films, tv shows, plays, operas and books really showed how we still relate to the vikings of old.
I was wow'ed by the lengths some of the females discussed in this , would go to for vengeance, blood feuds, power, sex, love and family. I believe we can relate to some of the tales told in this more than we realize especially given our ever fluctuating society, much like the vikings exploring and plying trade from around the world !
I found this incredibly insightful as to how viking folk potentially lived and breathed in their time. The way this book is written with its little sub chapters on various categories from children, marriage and death really broke down what life could have been like for the women of its time. The writing i found was not at all dull and was quite fresh to read something factual that was not going to make me fall asleep or loose interest entirely. The references to some modern day, films, tv shows, plays, operas and books really showed how we still relate to the vikings of old.
I was wow'ed by the lengths some of the females discussed in this , would go to for vengeance, blood feuds, power, sex, love and family. I believe we can relate to some of the tales told in this more than we realize especially given our ever fluctuating society, much like the vikings exploring and plying trade from around the world !
September 12, 2021
If you’re familiar with the (mostly fictional) Sagas you will not gain any new knowledge from this sleep fest.
June 4, 2020
Sometime during the second half of the 11th century, a Swedish woman named Gerlög went to Torbjörn the Skald and asked him to do something for her. Gerlög’s daughter Inga had recently died, and as Inga’s only living relative, Gerlög came to inherit her own daughter. To avoid any accusations of having come into her inheritance by unlawful means, Gerlög needed to make a public statement of the course of events that led up to her inheriting Inga. Torbjörn the Skald was knowledgeable in runes, and this is the message that Gerlög hired him to carve into the bedrock.
Interpret, you! Germund was given Gerlög as his wife when she was a maiden. Then they had a son, before he (Germund) drowned. And the son died after. Then she was given Gudrik as her husband. He… this… Then they had children. But only one girl survived; her name was Inga. Her Ragnfast in Snottsta was given as his wife. Soon after he died and then the son. And the mother (Inga) came to inherit her son. Then she was given Erik as her husband. Soon after she died. Then Gerlög came to inherit Inga, her daughter. Torbjörn the Skald carved the runes.
This inscription is known as the Hillersjö Hill (Hillersjöhällen) and is included in Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir’s new book Valkyrie. The Women of the Viking World (Bloomsbury, 2020). Valkyrie is a history of the Viking Age that places the women of the time at the center of the story.
The Viking Age is commonly viewed as a time dominated by men where women are barely visible, but Viking society couldn’t function without a tight relationship between men and women. To run a farm, both men and women were needed, which means that women participated in those supposedly all-male Viking expeditions that invaded and settled all the way from Newfoundland in North America to the shores of the Caspian Sea in Central Asia. Because without both men and women working together, those settlements wouldn’t have survived and the iconic Viking ships wouldn’t have been able to set sail.
Jóhanna’s contribution to the study of Viking history and society is immense. In her book, she successfully views the Viking Age from the point of view of its women and in doing so, she refreshingly and unapologetically pushes Viking men to the side.
Her use of source material is broad. In addition to using the sagas, she also uses rune carvings, grave goods, and other archaeological artifacts. Personally, I appreciate the inclusion of the rune carvings seeing as they are the only texts where the Vikings speak to us directly, many of them women like Gerlög. Rune carvings are mainly found in Sweden and using them as source material broadens the view of the Viking world, which all too often ends up focused on the British Isles, France, and Iceland in translation.
Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir’s Valkyrie. The Women of the Viking World provides a new perspective on old knowledge by letting Viking Age women take center stage and speak to us in their own voices.
Interpret, you! Germund was given Gerlög as his wife when she was a maiden. Then they had a son, before he (Germund) drowned. And the son died after. Then she was given Gudrik as her husband. He… this… Then they had children. But only one girl survived; her name was Inga. Her Ragnfast in Snottsta was given as his wife. Soon after he died and then the son. And the mother (Inga) came to inherit her son. Then she was given Erik as her husband. Soon after she died. Then Gerlög came to inherit Inga, her daughter. Torbjörn the Skald carved the runes.
This inscription is known as the Hillersjö Hill (Hillersjöhällen) and is included in Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir’s new book Valkyrie. The Women of the Viking World (Bloomsbury, 2020). Valkyrie is a history of the Viking Age that places the women of the time at the center of the story.
The Viking Age is commonly viewed as a time dominated by men where women are barely visible, but Viking society couldn’t function without a tight relationship between men and women. To run a farm, both men and women were needed, which means that women participated in those supposedly all-male Viking expeditions that invaded and settled all the way from Newfoundland in North America to the shores of the Caspian Sea in Central Asia. Because without both men and women working together, those settlements wouldn’t have survived and the iconic Viking ships wouldn’t have been able to set sail.
Jóhanna’s contribution to the study of Viking history and society is immense. In her book, she successfully views the Viking Age from the point of view of its women and in doing so, she refreshingly and unapologetically pushes Viking men to the side.
Her use of source material is broad. In addition to using the sagas, she also uses rune carvings, grave goods, and other archaeological artifacts. Personally, I appreciate the inclusion of the rune carvings seeing as they are the only texts where the Vikings speak to us directly, many of them women like Gerlög. Rune carvings are mainly found in Sweden and using them as source material broadens the view of the Viking world, which all too often ends up focused on the British Isles, France, and Iceland in translation.
Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir’s Valkyrie. The Women of the Viking World provides a new perspective on old knowledge by letting Viking Age women take center stage and speak to us in their own voices.
November 15, 2021
This is a well-researched, informative book on the role of women in Viking society. With plenty of evidence from the sagas, the author provides a complete picture from birth to death of the various roles women performed in the Viking age. The only things that prevented me from giving it 5 stars are:
1. The book is a bit short. It only has 200 pages of text. (Not including index and bibliography) I felt that in many instances the book could have gained from a bit more length. In particular, I would have loved to have had more of the sagas themselves represented. In many instances the author will say "In XYZ saga, this happened", without actually giving us the lines from the saga. I felt the actual lines of the sagas could have been added.
2. The book has a slightly scholarly feel to it. Considering that the author drew from the sagas for her sources, I found that the writing was not lofty or prosaic like the sagas--it was more clinical.
3. The book is a bit jumpy in its references. There are a lot of instances where the author will mention someone or an incident, and then provide a reference to a previous or future chapter.
Overall though, an excellent book.
1. The book is a bit short. It only has 200 pages of text. (Not including index and bibliography) I felt that in many instances the book could have gained from a bit more length. In particular, I would have loved to have had more of the sagas themselves represented. In many instances the author will say "In XYZ saga, this happened", without actually giving us the lines from the saga. I felt the actual lines of the sagas could have been added.
2. The book has a slightly scholarly feel to it. Considering that the author drew from the sagas for her sources, I found that the writing was not lofty or prosaic like the sagas--it was more clinical.
3. The book is a bit jumpy in its references. There are a lot of instances where the author will mention someone or an incident, and then provide a reference to a previous or future chapter.
Overall though, an excellent book.
April 17, 2020
This was a well-written, carefully researched book on the role of women during the Viking Age. Whether supernatural Valkyrie or goddess, human wife or crone, women played as essential role in ensuring a successful society- although what we may think of when we hear 'Viking Age' is only men in battle. Through close examinations of ancient sagas, archaeological finds, and more, Jóhanna Katrin Fridriksdóttir weaves a fascinating history of women, from birth to death, and the various roles the would have (or might have) played in Viking society. Despite the clearly scholarly research done, the book is written in a way that the average person can access it- understandable and not in an overly scholarly manner. A book I would recommend to any history lover, those fascinated with Viking history, or women's history in society.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
October 28, 2023
I think the topic is very cool but was very difficult to follow the stories since we jumped around from story to story. It may have been easier for me to follow if the stories were told wholly in the beginning and referenced later.
“Revenge is more important to her than the life of her children. Such an utterly uncompromising view, where your own flesh and blood is collateral damage in the zero sum game of honor…”
“This ecstatic reception of the study [of a woman warrior] is a story of the present as much as the past, emblematic of a contemporary shift to recover strong women who have often been unjustly erased from the history books. Our culture has a tendency to understand being powerful with being physically strong and able to subjugate others at least in a context like the viking age. So rather than adjusting and expanding our understanding of power in its many forms we get excited about women warriors who are strong like men.”
“Revenge is more important to her than the life of her children. Such an utterly uncompromising view, where your own flesh and blood is collateral damage in the zero sum game of honor…”
“This ecstatic reception of the study [of a woman warrior] is a story of the present as much as the past, emblematic of a contemporary shift to recover strong women who have often been unjustly erased from the history books. Our culture has a tendency to understand being powerful with being physically strong and able to subjugate others at least in a context like the viking age. So rather than adjusting and expanding our understanding of power in its many forms we get excited about women warriors who are strong like men.”
April 28, 2024
Really good book if you’re solely looking for a textual analysis of late medieval Icelandic Christian fiction and it’s views on women. But this isn’t what the book promises and the author shows a lack of knowledge of, or at least disregard for, non-Icelandic late-Iron Age and early Medieval sources, which would’ve been helpful, and probably altered several arguments. She also demonstrates a rudimentary understanding of the Viking Age archaeological record. While criticism of the archaeological record is fine and at times necessary, this is done to an extreme while there is little to no source criticism of (and a clear over reliance on) Icelandic Christian texts for information on attitudes extant several centuries before they were written. When there is such source criticism, it is highly skewed, applied mostly to episodes that show female agency, while other texts are taken at face value. This clear bias is academically questionable, at best.
October 29, 2022
Friðriksdóttir's title uses Nordic sagas and mythology to extrapolate snippets of Scandinavian women from the eight to eleventh centuries. Topics such as work, marriage, war, death and child-rearing are analyzed with frequent reference to medieval texts and archaeological evidence. Friðriksdóttir is a realist by illustrating the agency of women in these affairs while acknowledging the intense focus on masculinity in the regional culture. Casual readers may have few reference points without first exploring various sagas, but efforts are made to introduce readers to these stories throughout the text. As a result, Valkyrie straddles the line between an accessible and academic work. It's best read an introductory book on the era before picking up this title. For those with a base knowledge, Valkyrie successfully sheds light on the dynamic roles of women during this fascinating period.
June 15, 2020
Valkyrie
This is very well-written and meticulously researched.....all the evidence is produced and discussed before conclusione are drawn. It is a very detailed analysis of what women's lives would have been like in the Viking Age. One particularly fascinating section was the discussion of exactly what the process of making a sail for a Viking longship entailed.....a very labour-intensive process. Textiles were entirely the province of women, and making sails was as essential as making cloth. The illustrations are well-chosen and beautifully riproduce.
One correction: THE RIDE OF THE VALKRIES is the opening of ACT III of Wagner's DIE WALKUERE, not the opening of the opera. Apart from that: well done!
This is very well-written and meticulously researched.....all the evidence is produced and discussed before conclusione are drawn. It is a very detailed analysis of what women's lives would have been like in the Viking Age. One particularly fascinating section was the discussion of exactly what the process of making a sail for a Viking longship entailed.....a very labour-intensive process. Textiles were entirely the province of women, and making sails was as essential as making cloth. The illustrations are well-chosen and beautifully riproduce.
One correction: THE RIDE OF THE VALKRIES is the opening of ACT III of Wagner's DIE WALKUERE, not the opening of the opera. Apart from that: well done!
June 4, 2022
Valkyria är en mycket spännande och intressant feministisk skildring av kvinnornas liv under vikingatiden och i de fornnordiska sagorna och myterna.
Boken lyfter fram berättelser och exempel ur hela livscykeln, från födelse, barndom och uppväxt, via giftermål, hushåll och moderskap, till änkeliv och död, men även ensamstående kvinnor finns omnämnda liksom trollkunniga, sejdkvinnor, hjältinnor, och självklart även livet efter döden.
En sak jag funderar på är det återkommande användandet av samma karaktärer från samma sagor i så många olika kapitel. Först kan man tro att det beror på ett smalt tillgängligt faktaunderlag, men referenslistan i slutet är bara den på 20 sidor, men det är bara en liten detalj och förtar inte att detta är en mycket läsvärd bok.
Boken lyfter fram berättelser och exempel ur hela livscykeln, från födelse, barndom och uppväxt, via giftermål, hushåll och moderskap, till änkeliv och död, men även ensamstående kvinnor finns omnämnda liksom trollkunniga, sejdkvinnor, hjältinnor, och självklart även livet efter döden.
En sak jag funderar på är det återkommande användandet av samma karaktärer från samma sagor i så många olika kapitel. Först kan man tro att det beror på ett smalt tillgängligt faktaunderlag, men referenslistan i slutet är bara den på 20 sidor, men det är bara en liten detalj och förtar inte att detta är en mycket läsvärd bok.
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