The Women of the Viking World

Valkyries were a prominent topos in the Old Norse Literature and art. A new book introduces us to the texts, the myths and the lengends

Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World
Johanna Katrin Friðriksdottir
Bloomsbury Academic 2020

ABSTRACT

Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. They protect some, but guide spears, arrows and sword blades into the bodies of others. Viking myths about valkyries attempt to elevate the banality of war – to make the pain and suffering, the lost limbs and deformities, the piles of lifeless bodies of young men, glorious and worthwhile. Rather than their death being futile, it is their destiny and good fortune, determined by divine beings. The women in these stories take full part in the power struggles and upheavals in their communities, for better or worse. 

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In Valkyrie, Jóhanna Katrín Fridriksdóttir introduces readers to the dramatic and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland. It was a culture able to imagine women in all kinds of powerful roles, pulling the strings not just in this world but in the other-world too. Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological evidence, this book uncovers the reality behind the myths and legends to reveal the dynamic, diverse lives of Viking women.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jóhanna Katrín Fridriksdóttir works at the National Library of Norway in Oslo, Norway. She has taught at Yale University, USA, and held research posts at Harvard University, USA, and in Reykjavik. Her research focusses on Vikings, Old Norse-Icelandic sagas, mythology and poetry, medieval manuscripts and gender.

FEATURED PHOTO

Three women from Osberg in procession. Drawing Sofie Kraft 1910

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