BookOtheDay’s Reviews > The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women > Status Update

What a strange way for Hervor to die! Especially since it isn't even likely! Who wrote this, a misogynist? On to more random stuff, thrown together in a confusing jumble.

See, in the space of less than 100 words we go from where our Hervor was from, the importance of all hist sources, women were warriors to a look at housing in this town at this one time. Slow down! I'm out of breath just typing it.

Reminder to self: never do a goodreads author again! This is so frustrating because it is such an interesting topic. I know there's only so much one can do with so little surviving evidence (it's much easier to learn about the objects preserved). But we jump all over the place with Hervor's story and I just wish for more. Here's hoping there's more Viking research!

ed the world? I know, I know, there's limited data on this stuff, but surely someone's done something on that. I have a feeling it just would be a lot more boring to research than a successful replica of a Viking ship. :( As we near the end, I feel that I've learned a lot about Viking culture and something about it's real valkyries. I feel like I could have learned more if this had been better organized.

Ish. The goodreads author ending (see my notes on Master & Apprentice) is kicking in! The stuff we should have addressed way earlier and like, maybe made the book about is being squeezed in here. What is Estonian culture? Will we ever get to the end of Hervor's story - or more relevant, will the author find the pages to hypothesize her death? Why can't we get more on how Christianity took over the world and how it

Like even as we learn more about textiles and clothing, I'm left wondering, how did the tradition of female warriors end? Along with the other victims of Christianization? Did some people resist? I feel like the lede is buried in this book. We sort of sometimes stray into what you expect it to be about: famous Viking women, the life of Hervor, life for females in Viking land then. Focus!

I wish the author had spent more time going into the Christianization of Europe, esp since it has so much to do with her premise. Her premise btw is rooted in the feminism that is just on the cusp of realizing that society will allow women to do most anything if it needs it and then tell them they can't when they no longer do. Highly recommend reading sections at the back before starting the book.

And here the other shoe starts to drop, so to speak. Yes, all of this was done for slavery, there was plenty of rape and the Viking empire doesn't sound too great. And the author's politics really showing as well. The Greek/Roman empires seemed successful to me. And of course Vikings retired. Few people, especially well ones, are always interested in a violent lifestyle. Many hist recs are for exceps, not the rule

See, like here: "the city surrendered to Aethelflaed, the warrior queen of Mercia. After the death of King Alfred the Great, it was she, his daughter, who led . . ." SO is Alfred's daughter Aethelflaed or a dif woman? Specify, people, specify! Also good old culture studies, ever unaware that in the heat of surviving, people sometimes just don't follow all of these societal rules that they might not even be aware of.

I do now understand even more why people said Snorri just made up stuff. Why, why, why would an ancient but advanced society want to spray people with blood? This is where disease comes from! Am starting to get a little tired of one of my favorite authors, academia coauthored by cocaine :( Page 80 even the formatting took some - it forgot a para break. Seriously, take a breath and organize! Const all over the place!