Invasion of the Viking women: Wives joined warriors when they came to Britain

Invasion of the Viking women: Wives joined warriors when they came to Britain

Forget Hagar the horrible - it was more like Helga the terrible.
Viking women accompanied their male partners to Britain in far greater numbers than had been previously thought, a study has shown.

* Almost half of all bodies in burial grounds researchers examined were those of women
*Some were carrying swords and shields
Source

Interesting for many reasons. Many that the preconceived notion of Viking life is more so changing, as research continues. Especially to see that women played a bigger role than once thought. More Norse female items were found than those used by men, indicating that Viking women settled as well.

Celtic women fought beside their men. Often.

My wife has her own swords. The tradition carries on.

And just so you know, "Viking" is a verb. It was Norse for "Plundering" or "Raiding".

Norse, Swedish and Finland men and women warriors went Viking.


Cool stuff, huh?

Cuhail

reply to post by dreamingawake


I wonder how long untill this is made in to a lifetime movie haha

reply to post by Cuhail


True enough. Many of the Briton women also fought alongside the men, often bare-breasted. We belong to a Viking association here in France, my wife carries a short sword and dagger. Look at the Brythonic uprising against the Romans in AD 61. Boudica led an army to victory and sacked Colchester and London before being deatfeated in the field. At one point, the Romans were in danger of being kicked out of Britain.

Again, the Amazons featured prominantly in the Trojan wars. Women warriors almost go back to the dawn of time.

S+F

That's very interesting. Usually when you think of the Viking raids you think of a bunch of guys rowing a boat over and chopping heads and looting and pillaging. I've got about 95% Norwegian blood and the rest is Swedish so this is a new thing to read more about for me. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Don't forget Boadicea (or however she is spelt).

She led her Britons against the Viking invaders and everyone else who annoyed her.

Watch out for stroppy women!

reply to post by Cuhail

Pretty awesome indeed.
I'm still in the process of picking my SCA persona for battles and such. I've always been drawn to swords and the warrior presence so might go with that. Now it's Celtic vs Norse

reply to post by catwhoknowsplusone


Yes she was bad ass, although her name was Boudica and led the revolt against the Romans in AD 61, see my post above. She never fought against the Vikings.

reply to post by catwhoknowsplusone

Hell yeah!
For those interested Boudica: www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by dreamingawake


lots of Norse in the SCA lol.

Norse culture was pretty even handed when it came to the sexes,they didn't need woman's liberation, they had it great to hear they are finding evidence of female vikings.

was also a story of a female (can't think of name right now) who was said to have fought off the nasty Indian warriors that attacked the settlement in vine land. so was evidence they COULD fight. but to hear they were among the raiders is cool. wonder if they WERE called Valkyries. what is interesting is that i haven't heard of it in the sagas, wonder if they got "sanitized" at some point?

reply to post by dreamingawake


I must of missed that thread of yours. Thanks for that. I will take time to scan through it.

This thread may be of interest to you.

octavia83.tripod.com...