Samuel Peterson’s Reviews > The Northwomen: Untold Stories From the Other Half of the Viking World > Status Update
Samuel Peterson
is on page 222 of 336
I was wondering if we were going to get an Amazon reference. The theory goes is that they come from Eurasia, particularly around the Black Sea near Ukraine. They were trained in horse archery, and this has been a tradition that has continued for countless generations. And now there has been hints that the Birka warrior woman may have adopted this style of fighting with evidence horses and archery in her burial.
— Dec 17, 2025 09:26AM
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Samuel’s Previous Updates
Samuel Peterson
is on page 278 of 336
Just like how women had to step up and work factory and welding jobs Previously done by men before WWII, Viking women might have done the same thing when Viking men went out on raids, journeyed to far off lands, or went on scouting expeditions.
— Dec 19, 2025 06:08AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 275 of 336
"The ancient religion of the North...provided key leadership opportunities for upper-class women. Freyja, for example, was known as an elite goddess who looked with favor on elite women in leadership positions in sacred cults honoring her. And these leadership positions brought public honor and respect."
— Dec 19, 2025 05:56AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 272 of 336
"When the disparate pieces of evidence are taken together, the achievements of these women tell us something interesting: that gender roles in the Viking world were never as narrow and rigid as many researchers long imagined them to be. Some women refused to be bound by traditional thinking, breaking new ground and taking bold new steps."
— Dec 18, 2025 09:22AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 270 of 336
"And as Scandinavians slowly embraced Christian beliefs, women lost a vital source of their influence and power in the North. Churches rose where sacred groves once stood...women were no longer permitted to perform blood sacrifices or perch on high seats...they confessed their sins and listened to the scolding voices of priests who viewed women as inferior beings."
Darn, Christians ruining everything! Lol
— Dec 18, 2025 08:39AM
Darn, Christians ruining everything! Lol
Samuel Peterson
is on page 269 of 336
"As [Gudríd] prayed for the souls of others in the closing decades of the 1000s, the Viking Age itself, which had burned so brightly for more than three centuries in Scandinavia and in a host of Viking settlements to the east and west, was at last coming beginning to flicker and die. The days of Viking lords reclining on their high seats in massive timber great halls in the North...were winding down."
— Dec 18, 2025 08:35AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 264 of 336
Indeed. Greenland didn't have the manpower to split between keeping its settlements and trade operational and sending expeditions to Vinland. Perhaps if this news had been brought to Iceland, Norway, and Denmark, there would've been more pressing motivation?
But, alas, the settlement didn't last very long and there were no explorations by the Vikings into the interior of North America or even the Great Lakes.
— Dec 18, 2025 08:28AM
But, alas, the settlement didn't last very long and there were no explorations by the Vikings into the interior of North America or even the Great Lakes.
Samuel Peterson
is on page 256 of 336
So, academics have known for quite some time that the Vikings had visited North America from The Vinland Sagas, but there was no archeological proof. It wasn't until 1961 that they found and published their proof.
Examples like this, the ruins of Troy, and Babylon lend credence to many legends. It's a pity that white/Christian/Western archeology tends to get more attention and funding, and others are dismissed.
— Dec 18, 2025 08:16AM
Examples like this, the ruins of Troy, and Babylon lend credence to many legends. It's a pity that white/Christian/Western archeology tends to get more attention and funding, and others are dismissed.
Samuel Peterson
is on page 253 of 336
Ah, here we go. The first indigenous people to arrive carried not weapons but furs and skins. They wanted the Viking weapons, but they didn't want to share that sort of technology with the natives.
But the second encounter was not as peaceful. The Vikings were pushed out of their protected encampment by warriors and into the woods, with one of the women fearlessly defiant against the attackers.
— Dec 18, 2025 08:06AM
But the second encounter was not as peaceful. The Vikings were pushed out of their protected encampment by warriors and into the woods, with one of the women fearlessly defiant against the attackers.
Samuel Peterson
is on page 251 of 336
From the looks of things, the Viking explorers from Greenland had arrived in Newfoundland and stayed there for a year to make some new ships and temporary housing before sailing back to Greenland. There were no interactions with Native Americans. At least not yet.
— Dec 18, 2025 08:00AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 249 of 336
"Today, we are fortunate enough to have accounts of the voyages that Erik's children and his extended family made to the northeastern shores of North America...known collectively as The Vinland Sagas."
Which, I believe, was adapted into a manga and anime. Might be worth a watch over Christmas.
— Dec 18, 2025 07:55AM
Which, I believe, was adapted into a manga and anime. Might be worth a watch over Christmas.
