Women and Weapons in the Viking World

Gardea has provided a most welcome, cross-disciplinary survey of very diverse source materials. There is still much to discuss of this fascinating subject and this volume opens future avenues of research. * Medieval Archaeology * [It] provides a comprehensive catalogue of findings and an up-to-date view of the research, permitting a better understanding of the question of the warrior woman. However, as the author recalls, only 1% of female 'Vikings' burials found today include weapons ... This book provides an excellent documentary basis for understanding this problem. * BIBLIOTHQUE * Obligatory reading for anyone who wants to approach gender studies in the Viking Age for the first time. * Archeologia Medievale *

Leszek Gardea is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Museum of Denmark. He specialises in the study of the material expressions of Viking Age magic, funerary practices, and interactions between Viking Age Scandinavians and Slavs. He is the author of numerous academic articles and five monographs, including Women and Weapons in the Viking World: Amazons of the North (Oxbow Books, 2021).

List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: the methodological and theoretical framework Entering the Viking world of the dead Funerary diversity Cremation graves Inhumation graves Lost identities and elusive grave goods Warriors and warrior ideals Sex and gender in the Viking Age Amazons of the North: the scope of the book 2. Historiography Researching women in the Viking Age Warrior women in Old Norse studies and Viking archaeology 3. Women and weapons in medieval textual sources Armed women in Gesta Danorum Armed women in Old Norse Literature Women and weapons in the slendingasgur Freyds Eirksdttir rds Srsdttir Aur and urir rhildr Valkkja Not only axes and swords: understanding womens weapons Women and weapons in the fornaldarsgur Hervr Bjarmarsdttir ornbjrg Eirksdttir Other armed women in the fornaldarsgur Armed women in Old Norse mythology Valkyrjur, disir, fylgjur Skai orgerr Hlgabrr Female Giantesses as grinders of war and bearers of arms Armed women of the Viking Age in non-Scandinavian medieval sources thelfld of Mercia Women and war in the account of John Skylitzes Women with weapons in medieval literature: more than literary embellishments 4. Women and weapons in Viking archaeology: the burial evidence Female graves with weapons Swedish female graves with weapons Norwegian female graves with weapons Danish female graves with weapons 5. Interpreting the arsenal of armed women Women and axes in the Viking Age Axes in the Viking Age Axes in Viking Age funerary contexts Miniature axes Interpreting axes in Viking Age female graves Women and axes in textual sources and folklore Women and axes in the Viking Age: conclusions Women and swords in the Viking Age Swords in the Viking Age Swords in Viking Age funerary contexts Women and weaving swords Women and swords in iconography Miniature swords Interpreting swords in Viking Age female graves Women and swords in Old Norse sources Women and swords in the Viking Age: conclusions Women and spears in the Viking Age Spears in the Viking Age Spears in Viking Age funerary contexts Women and spears in iconography Miniature spears Interpreting spears in Viking Age female graves Women and spears in Old Norse sources Women and spears in the Viking Age: conclusions Women and shields in the Viking Age Shields in the Viking Age Shields in Viking Age funerary contexts Women and shields in iconography Miniature shields Interpreting shields in Viking Age female graves Women and shields in Old Norse sources Women and shields in the Viking Age: conclusions Women, bows and arrows in the Viking Age Bows and arrows in the Viking Age Bows and arrows in Viking Age funerary contexts Interpreting bows and arrows in Viking Age female graves Women, bows and arrows in Old Norse sources Women, bows and arrows in the Viking Age: conclusions Women, riding equipment and horses in the Viking Age Riding equipment in the Viking Age Riding equipment and horses in Viking Age funerary contexts Interpreting riding equipment and horses in Viking Age female graves Women and horses in Old Norse sources Women, horses and riding equipment in the Viking Age: conclusions 6. Women and weapons in Viking Age iconography The so-called valkyrie brooches: distribution and materiality (Re)interpreting the so-called valkyrie brooches Freyja and a warrior woman? Sigurr and Brynhildr/Sigrdrfa Other iconographic representations of armed females in Viking Age Scandinavia and England 7. Women with weapons: a cross-cultural phenomenon Warrior women in prehistoric times Female cross-dressers in early modern Europe The Amazons of Dahomey Women in the First and Second World Wars E