What did the role of women look like in the Viking Society? And what reveal about the mighty Valkyries in Old Norse literature? The medieval expert and literary scholar Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir tells in her book from the life of the Vikings from birth to death. It evaluated Icelandic sagas as important documents of the socio -political situation. But artifacts such as rune stones also provide information. Even current television series are critically analyzed.
The Nordic sagas are full of existential dramas and bloodthirsty battles. Based on the latest state of research, the author initially illuminates the facts behind the legendary walkers and then devotes herself to the mortal Vikings. She meticulously separates myths from facts and reconstructs the personal stories behind it.
High -born and clever women were able to achieve positions of power. Friðriksdóttir even reports of poets. But most women had to obey their families and husbands and do hard work on the courtyards. The female world was clearly separated from the male.
The book title “Valkyries” is misleading, because these mythical figures are only the hanger for the life of the Viking women. But Friðriksdóttir offers a unique insight into its world, which has so far been little known. Bettina Wurche
Johanna K. Friðriksdóttir
Valkyries – women in the world of Vikings
Ch Beck, 304 pages, € 28, –
ISBN 978-3-406-81754-0