Apr 12, 2018
The Roles of Women During the Viking Age
Vikings are often pictured as muscled blonde men in horned helmets sailing around in dragon shaped boats, raping and pillaging as they please. In the modern day, Vikings have become a staple in TV shows such as History Channels, “The Vikings,” and the Norwegian comedy series, “The Norsemen”. Many times the Viking women are completely left out of the equation.
This is unfair, as Viking women had several roles in their society. One of their most prominent roles was in textile production. They made clothing, sacks, and even produced the sails of the ships [1]. Most of the evidence for women’s roles comes from grave goods. Grave goods are the possessions the person owned during their lifetime, or represent that persons place or role in society. Nicolaysen’s barrow 113 is a good representation of a female grave. Found on the Norde Kaupang farm in southern Vestfold it contains the body of a female Viking who was cremated, which was typical for the Middle Viking Age. Her grave contained a spindle whorl (used in creating textiles), a horse bit and stirrups, cooking utensils, and the two oval brooches that marked every female Viking’s grave [2]. Using the evidence of grave goods it can be determined that women’s roles in textile production was an important one.
Women could own property and gain inheritance. One of the most famous burials discovered was the Oseburg Ship Burial. Found in Norway, it contains two women as well as a ship, 12 horses, 2 oxen, and 4 dogs [3]. This burial was massive, and was a demonstration of these women’s wealth and social standing. This can help historians conclude that women could gain an independent social ranking, and gain wealth separate from their husbands or fathers [4].
Another form of evidence for determining women’s status were runestones. A runestone is sort of like how we picture gravestones today, a marker that tells the story of the person who is buried there. Unlike our gravestones, runestones also tell about the person who paid for them to be made. One famous runestone is from Bro, Sweden. It was purchased by a woman named Inga, who had several runestones made to honor the deaths of her sons and two husbands. She tells how they died, and that they were honorable men [5]. Her runestones also credited her sons and husbands for her inheritance. She gained a large amount of money, and she wanted to honor them for this. While this story is sad, it opens the door for historians to look at how inheritance passed down through families, and proved women could be first in line.
The Viking culture had strong ideas based on family and each member of the family had specific roles. Women helped care for the family’s farm and businesses. This is evidenced through graves of women and men [6]. The way in which someone was buried also helps historians know the persons roles in life. Men were typically buried in boat burials, to show they had been out to sea and explored. Women were sometimes buried alongside the men, but it was rare to find a woman in boat grave by herself. The burial Ka. 259 Grave V holds a female in a boat burial [7].
Another thing many historians look into is the Viking Sagas. A Saga is a story that tells about a hero and their struggles, or the achievement of the society as a whole. While these Sagas are not truth, they can be used to learn about how Vikings lived and viewed each other. One saga called, “A Warrior Woman,” tells the story of the Viking woman Lagerda who helps the hero Ragnar in helping defeat his enemies. Because of her courage and strength Ragnar wants to marry her [8]. This shows that the Vikings had positive stories about women as warriors.
The female Viking lived a life that was mainly focused on working in the household as well as running the family farm. They had several rights among the men through inheritance and marriage laws. These women helped Viking society in its success, and although often overlooked or misrepresented, had an important place in their society.
[1] Jesch, Judith. Women in the Viking Age. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1991.
[2] Marianne Moen. The Gendered Landscape: A Discussion on Gender, Status and Power in the Norwegian Viking Age Landscape. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2011.
[3] The Oseberg Ship. ca 834. Oak Wooden Vessel, 21.40m by 5.10m. Viking Ship Museum, Oslo, Norway. http://irisharchaeology.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/oseberg-viking-ship.jpg?x55472.
[4] Marianne Moen. The Gendered Landscape: A Discussion on Gender, Status and Power in the Norwegian Viking Age Landscape. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2011.
[5] Jesch, Judith. Women in the Viking Age. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1991.
[6] Graham-Campbell, James, and Dafydd Kidd. “House and Home.” In The Vikings, 75–85. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1980. [7] Marianne Moen. The Gendered Landscape: A Discussion on Gender, Status and Power in the Norwegian Viking Age Landscape. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2011.
