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The Valkyries’ Loom: The Archaeology of Cloth Production and Female Power in the North Atlantic
Using textiles to understand gender and economy in Norse societies
In The Valkyries’ Loom, Michèle Hayeur Smith examines Viking textiles as evidence of the little-known work of women in the Norse colonies that expanded from Scandinavia across the North Atlantic in the ninth century AD. While previous researchers have overlooked textiles as insignificant artifacts, Hayeur Smith is the first to use them to understand gender and economy in Norse societies of the North Atlantic.
This groundbreaking study is based on the author’s systematic comparative analysis of the vast textile collections in Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands, materials that are largely unknown even to archaeologists and span 1,000 years. Through these garments and fragments, Hayeur Smith provides new insights into how the women of these island nations influenced international trade by producing cloth (vaðmál); how they shaped the development of national identities by creating clothing; and how they helped their communities survive climate change by reengineering clothes during the Little Ice Age. She supplements her analysis by revealing societal attitudes about weaving through the poem “Darraðarljoð” from Njál’s Saga, in which the Valkyries—Óðin’s female warrior spirits—produce the cloth of history and decide the fates of men and nations.
Bringing Norse women and their labor to the forefront of research, Hayeur Smith establishes the foundation for a gendered archaeology of the North Atlantic that has never been attempted before. This monumental and innovative work contributes to global discussions about the hidden roles of women in past societies in preserving tradition and guiding change.
In The Valkyries’ Loom, Michèle Hayeur Smith examines Viking textiles as evidence of the little-known work of women in the Norse colonies that expanded from Scandinavia across the North Atlantic in the ninth century AD. While previous researchers have overlooked textiles as insignificant artifacts, Hayeur Smith is the first to use them to understand gender and economy in Norse societies of the North Atlantic.
This groundbreaking study is based on the author’s systematic comparative analysis of the vast textile collections in Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands, materials that are largely unknown even to archaeologists and span 1,000 years. Through these garments and fragments, Hayeur Smith provides new insights into how the women of these island nations influenced international trade by producing cloth (vaðmál); how they shaped the development of national identities by creating clothing; and how they helped their communities survive climate change by reengineering clothes during the Little Ice Age. She supplements her analysis by revealing societal attitudes about weaving through the poem “Darraðarljoð” from Njál’s Saga, in which the Valkyries—Óðin’s female warrior spirits—produce the cloth of history and decide the fates of men and nations.
Bringing Norse women and their labor to the forefront of research, Hayeur Smith establishes the foundation for a gendered archaeology of the North Atlantic that has never been attempted before. This monumental and innovative work contributes to global discussions about the hidden roles of women in past societies in preserving tradition and guiding change.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 3, 2020
35 people are currently reading
401 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 2, 2023
This book was much more scholarly than I expected, especially with such a provocative title. I read over the unlimited notations within the sentences that were the resources for the author’s interpretations of the evidence researched. I found her perspective refreshing. It amplifies that there is danger in interpreting the past through modern eyes. I believe she was successful in presenting a clear argument of textile history from the female perspective. The Conclusion chapter summarizes her work well for those of us are not as scholarly. Well done!
July 15, 2024
I thought due to recommendation, that this would be something completely different. What I got was a highly academic consideration of Nordic women's influence on their culture through the cloth crafts they made. It was interesting but dry at times. This is not for everyone but those interested in fashion history and Nordic cultures during the Middle Ages to the 1800s should definitely read this.
September 23, 2024
Listened to this as an audiobook on a long drive after seeing a review in Spin Off magazine. The narrator is fantastic if you listen to the audionbook. Overall, I learned a lot from this book, enjoyed some of the textile description, and the premise was interesting. However, as a whole, the book did not really deliver on that premise. The title hints at a gendered story of a time, a place, and its textiles.
The first couple chapters explored some of the mythological connections between women and textiles which was fascinating as were later descriptions of how much labor would have been put in to produce the cloth needed to sustain a family. I was expecting more of that sort of material but instead after the first two chapters it began to feel simply like a textbook.
There is A LOT of technical information including archaeological and carbon dating data with little explanation to help a lay person understand-- forcing the reader to rely on the author's analysis which overall felt unrelated to the promised premise.
The first couple chapters explored some of the mythological connections between women and textiles which was fascinating as were later descriptions of how much labor would have been put in to produce the cloth needed to sustain a family. I was expecting more of that sort of material but instead after the first two chapters it began to feel simply like a textbook.
There is A LOT of technical information including archaeological and carbon dating data with little explanation to help a lay person understand-- forcing the reader to rely on the author's analysis which overall felt unrelated to the promised premise.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2024
When I first decided to read this book, I was somewhat worried that it would be grotesquely feminist, but it wasn't. This book actually captures and explains one of the big reasons I love doing fiber arts. Something about yarn and fabric creates this cathartic feeling in me of being tied to the women in my past who also worked with yarn and fabric. It fills me with this warmth and wonder and nostalgia almost in a way few things do when I think of my connection to the past. This book expresses that beautifully. Fiber arts has been a source of creative outlet, expression, and power for women throughout history. It was so much fun to learn about and this book felt fairly accessible for someone who isn't an archaeologist.
Side note: My husband often teases me that I'm doing "witchcraft" when I'm winding yarn up using my ball winder and swift. So, the fact that Viking men looked at similar activities and went "mm, yeah...that's witchcraft" as well was hilarious for me.
Side note: My husband often teases me that I'm doing "witchcraft" when I'm winding yarn up using my ball winder and swift. So, the fact that Viking men looked at similar activities and went "mm, yeah...that's witchcraft" as well was hilarious for me.
September 6, 2025
i am by no means a formal scholar of textiles and unfortunately lack necessary knowledge to be able to understand a lot of the data included in this book, but i did find it absolutely fascinating to learn how cloth was made and how important it was during the viking age
Currently reading
November 3, 2020Just started reading this. I'm looking forward to reading the same animated voice that comes across in Smith's live presentations.
June 9, 2025
This is a hard book to rate. I occasionally see the phrase "reads like a novel." That is not this book. This is nonfiction, and it reads like nonfiction. It's dense, full of museum catalog numbers and charts. I listened to the audiobook, which I think suffered from the lack of charts and illustrations. (They were available via a link mentioned early on in the narration, but referencing charts while driving to work listening to an audiobook is impossible.) On the other hand, a friend read the paper copy and said the charts interrupted the flow of the book. So maybe there were just a lot of charts.
At the same time, as a spinner who is interested in history, this book had a lot of amazing information. While there were times when following the audiobook was a bit of a challenge, I still found myself really interested in all of the information that the author had to share. She did her research, and then some.
I had two major arguments with the book. First, I felt as though the goal of showing how cloth production showed female power was a little weak. There was an introductory chapter or so where she talked about fiber production being primarily women's work, which gives us a solid look at some of the lives of women. Then toward the end she talked about fiber production becoming industrialized and how the move from women working in the home to men working in factories changed the fiber industry. But I felt like in the bulk of the book she did not really relate how her findings supported or proved female power. Reading between the lines, there's some implication of her central thesis, but I'm not convinced she proved her point.
Second, I feel that the book could have been improved by some additional information by what was meant by some of the technical spinning and weaving terms. As a spinner, I could understand most of the spinning jargon, but didn't entirely understand some of the implications. And I'm not a weaver, so there was definitely information that I didn't absorb about weaving simply because the terminology was above my head.
Just generally, I think this book would be more valuable and would reach/appeal to a larger audience if it had some explanations of the technical processes.
But for all that, this was a really good book. Invaluable perhaps is the better word. I think that this book will probably encourage others to continue her studies and expand upon them. I appreciate having had a chance to read it.
At the same time, as a spinner who is interested in history, this book had a lot of amazing information. While there were times when following the audiobook was a bit of a challenge, I still found myself really interested in all of the information that the author had to share. She did her research, and then some.
I had two major arguments with the book. First, I felt as though the goal of showing how cloth production showed female power was a little weak. There was an introductory chapter or so where she talked about fiber production being primarily women's work, which gives us a solid look at some of the lives of women. Then toward the end she talked about fiber production becoming industrialized and how the move from women working in the home to men working in factories changed the fiber industry. But I felt like in the bulk of the book she did not really relate how her findings supported or proved female power. Reading between the lines, there's some implication of her central thesis, but I'm not convinced she proved her point.
Second, I feel that the book could have been improved by some additional information by what was meant by some of the technical spinning and weaving terms. As a spinner, I could understand most of the spinning jargon, but didn't entirely understand some of the implications. And I'm not a weaver, so there was definitely information that I didn't absorb about weaving simply because the terminology was above my head.
Just generally, I think this book would be more valuable and would reach/appeal to a larger audience if it had some explanations of the technical processes.
But for all that, this was a really good book. Invaluable perhaps is the better word. I think that this book will probably encourage others to continue her studies and expand upon them. I appreciate having had a chance to read it.
September 27, 2024
I tried hard, but I got half way through and had to DNF this one.
I could appreciate how niche this topic is to Nordic people specifically, and bringing Indigenous people into the discussion would’ve been great if it wasn’t tone deaf.
How the Indigenous people to the Arctic are spoken about in this book is unnerving down to using a slur used to describe the Inuit. It doesn’t even really acknowledge Indigenous people living in Greenland just “to the Arctic” and on “North America” where we apparently didn’t have technologies that the Norse graced us with?
This however did spark thoughts of how Indigenous and Norse relations may have influenced each other. From the Sami they lived amongst in their homelands, to the Inuit of Greenland… by downgrading the Indigenous people we are robbed of the full story of Norse fabric making practices.
I could appreciate how niche this topic is to Nordic people specifically, and bringing Indigenous people into the discussion would’ve been great if it wasn’t tone deaf.
How the Indigenous people to the Arctic are spoken about in this book is unnerving down to using a slur used to describe the Inuit. It doesn’t even really acknowledge Indigenous people living in Greenland just “to the Arctic” and on “North America” where we apparently didn’t have technologies that the Norse graced us with?
This however did spark thoughts of how Indigenous and Norse relations may have influenced each other. From the Sami they lived amongst in their homelands, to the Inuit of Greenland… by downgrading the Indigenous people we are robbed of the full story of Norse fabric making practices.
October 29, 2023
With quite a lot of interesting historical crafting facts, this book was not reading very easy. Which is why it took me so long to get through. I loved to learn everything this book had to offer, and that's why I chose to buy and read it, but I found it hard to stay focused after some time.
But I'd like to thank Michèle Haywire Smith for putting in the work and research that was going into this book. There's a lot to learn.
But I'd like to thank Michèle Haywire Smith for putting in the work and research that was going into this book. There's a lot to learn.
June 14, 2025
A little break from fiction to get back into some academic reading- been wanting to read this since it came out in 2020 and finally got around to it. Smith did a great job explaining the cultural and historical significance of cloth. My only gripe is that she introduced new Marie tap in the conclusion. Obsessed with the power inherently in weaving.
August 30, 2024
Would probably be a lot easier to understand if I knew anything about weaving or math
January 11, 2025
Very good info.
December 9, 2025
If your interested in gender studies and knitting this is for you if not then it can come off as a bit dry.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews